The governments of Austria and The Netherlands announced that ministers would be boycotting the Euro 2012 football tournament, being co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland, due to Ukraine's treatment of the imprisoned former prime minister, Yuliya Tymoshenko.

Austria said the decision was a "mark of solidarity" with Tymoshenko.

Prosecutors have urged the Special Court for Sierra Leone to sentence former Liberian president Charles Taylor to 80 years imprisonment.

Sudan has pledged to end fighting with South Sudan and abide by the terms of aUN resolution passed yesterday.

The UN Security Council has passed a resolution threatening to impose sanctions on Sudan and South Sudan.

The resolution, drafted by the US, called for the Sudans to resume talks on disputed issues within two weeks.

US president Barack Obama has urged China to improve its human rights record.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Obama did not answer questions about the case of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who is thought to have sought refuge in the US embassy in Beijing, but said that China would be stronger if it improves on its human rights issues.

The British Government has announced measures to exclude individuals who are thought to have committed human rights abuses.

The new rules were announced in the Foreign Office’s annual Human Rights Report, which was released today.

At the moment, only individuals who are viewed as a threat to national security are refused entry.

The Bahraini foreign minister, Khalid Al Khalifa, urged the people of Bahrain to vote against an Al Jazeera film - 'Shouting in the Dark' - in an online poll for the UK's Bafta Television Awards this year.

Declaring that the Indian central government is becoming less relevant to governance today, Manu Joseph writes in the New York Times, that “the very idea of “national” is also fading in a de-centralised India:

The Secretary General of the United Nations is making a landmark visit to Burma.

Mr Ban is due to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and pressed the government for more democratic reforms.

The Secretary General was denied a meeting with Ms Kyi during his last visit in 2009.

The Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng is safe in US custody according to a human rights group.

US-based ChinaAid confirmed that high-level talks between Chinese and US officials are underway.

A former peace envoy has said that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad could face war crimes charges over the brutal crackdown by his security forces on opponents of the Syrian regime.

Britain has announced restrictions on exports to the Argentine military on Thursday.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said in a statement to the House of Commons that the export controls will take effect immediately.

China and the Philippines have been involved in a standoff for two weeks at the Scarborough Shoal over territorial rights, raising concerns that miscalculation by either side could result in severe consequences to that region.