Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said his country would continue to support Syrian rebels if President Bashar al-Assad was not removed through a political process, reports Reuters.

Speaking to press at the sidelines of the international Syria peace talks in Vienna, Adel al-Jubier said,

"We will support the political process that will result in (Assad) leaving, or we will continue to support Syrian opposition to remove him by force."

Myanmar’s electoral commission announced today that Aung San Suu Kyi’s Opposition National League for Democracy had won a majority of the seats in Parliament, officially confirming the NLD’s victory in last Sunday’s election.

Votes are still being counted, but the Electoral Commission confirmed that the NLD has taken at least 348 of 664 seats in both houses of parliament, representing a two-thirds majority of the contested seats. Full results are not expected for several days.

The International Criminal Court said it had evidence of international forces subjecting detainees to physical and psychological abuse, reports Reuters.

The court has been investigating alleged crimes committed by all sides in Afghanistan since 2003.

The latest report by the ICC that US domestic investigations into alleged crimes committed in Afghanistan and not resulted in convictions or risen high up the chain of command.

Myanmar’s President Thein Sein sent his congratulations to Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi on her opposition party’s victory in Sunday election, seen by many as conceding defeat. President Sein, a former general, has led the military-backed government since 2011.

In a statement delivered in a Facebook message by the President’s spokesperson, he stated, “the government will respect and follow the people’s choice and decision, and work on transferring power peacefully according to the timetable.”

Spain’s Constitutional Court agreed today to hear the Spanish government's appeal against a secession resolution passed by Catalonia’s regional parliaments. The resolution lays out a process to establish a Catalan republic within 18 months.

In a press conference prior to the ruling, Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy said, “[t]his is blatant disregard for the state’s institutions. They are trying to do away with democracy. I will not allow it.”
 

The arrest of a prominent Biafra activist has sparked protests by hundreds of people in Nigeria's south.

Nnamdi Kanu, who supports the creation of an independent Biafra and is the director of a banned radio station, was arrested last month and is still being held despite a court order to free him, his mainly ethnic Igbo supporters say, according to the BBC.

Activists told the BBC that five demonstrators were killed and several injured after the police opened fire in the city of Port Harcourt.

Farc's leader Rodrigo Londono Echeverri said he ordered his organisation to stop buying arms in September.

Mr Echeverri said this showed the rebel group's commitment to scaling down the conflict with the Colombian army.

See more on the BBC here.

A former British soldier has been arrested over the Bloody Sunday killings in Derry, which left 14 Catholic protestors dead.

British troops opened fire on a civil rights march by Catholics in the city in the north of Ireland in January 1972, during the height of the Troubles.

The 66 year old who was arrested is a former member of the Parachute Regiment and is thought to be questioned in Belfast over the deaths of William Nash, Michael McDaid and John Young.

Kate Nash, whose 19-year-old brother, William, was killed on Bloody Sunday, said she welcomed the news.
"I had a call this morning from the police liaison officer that deals with our family," Ms Nash said to the BBC.

"She said that they had arrested a soldier and that he was being questioned. She said she wanted the family to know first before it went out on the news.

Myanmar’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, said that it expects it has won about 70% of the seats in Myanmar’s historic election this past weekend. Over 90 parties contested for the 498 seats in Myanmar’s parliament. While official results have been slow in coming out, the BBC has reported that 48 of the 54 seats reported have been won by the NLD.

Turnout for the election was estimated at about 80% of the 30 million who were eligible to vote. The Rohingya Muslim community were not among those eligible.

While many are concerned about possible issues with transition, in an early and significant result, the speaker of the Lower House of Parliament conceded defeat in his constituency to the NLD candidate. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to speak on the Rohingya issue, but with U.S. backed economic sanctions on the country, it will be a critical issue for the new parliament to address.

When Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi contested in Myanmar’s last free election in 1990, she led her democratic party to win 80% of the seats, against military proxies. The military then arrested and detained her for a period of almost 15 years until she was finally released for the last time in November 2010.