The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has called for reconciliation between militant groups opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, who have been fighting each other for control, claiming over 1,000 lives.

An audio message by ISIS leade Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi said that the opposition groups should focus on fighting the Syrian regime.

Over 10,000 Buddhist monks gathered at a conference in Burma, passing a motion that will restrict marriage between Buddhist women and men of different faiths.

The motion will be submitted to Burma’s parliament in the hope that it will become law, alongside a motion that will restrict the right of Burma’s Rohingya Muslims to vote.

Israel’s Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, summoned a group of European ambassadors today, to complain about what he described as a ‘one-sided approach’ to Israel’s conflict with Palestine.

The meeting comes after Israeli Prime Minister, on Thursday, criticised the EU’s concern over newly announced settlements.

The California State Assembly Education Committee has unanimously adopted a bill to include education on the Armenian genocide into the state curriculum.

"When did the EU call in the Palestinian ambassadors to complain about the incitement (they espouse) that calls for Israel's destruction?" said Netanyahu to foreign journalists on Thursday.

See below for extracts from report on human rights violations in West Papua by Gemima Harvey for The Diplomat.

See here for full article.

The people of West Papua have been calling for self-determination for half a century – a struggle for liberation from an Indonesian military occupation that has seen as many as 500,000 Papuans killed. A recent development in this long campaign is the suspicious death of a commander of the rebel Free Papua Movement (OPM), Danny Kogoya, on December 15. The cause of death, as described in the medical report, was liver failure, bought on by the presence of “unusual chemicals in his body,” raising concern that he was poisoned.

"Their widespread and systematic nature indicates a structural pattern: rape is still used as an instrument of war and oppression".