Over 100 countries have signed a “code of conduct” at the United Nations pledging not to vote against credible Security Council resolutions that seek to prevent or end genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

France and Britain, both permanent members of the UN Security Council signed up to the pledge, but the other 2 members – Russia, China and the United States – did not.

Liechtenstein's Foreign Minister Aurelia Frick, who launched the initiative, said the code was "a catalyst for a culture of zero tolerance for atrocity crimes within the council."

A North Korean boat strayed into its southern neighbour's waters and was fired at, according to Yonhap news agency.

South Korea's navy fired five shots at the North Korean boat, when it crossed the disputed maritime border between the countries.

Pyongyang said the shooting was a "serious provocation". Its official KCNA news agency said the boat was conducting a "routine" operation.

The Indonesian government on Friday forced the cancellation of events marking the 50th anniversary of mass killings, at a literary festival in Bali.

The government threatened organisers that the whole festival would be cancelled if they did not comply with the order.

Fifty years ago over 500,000 Indonesians were killed in a purge against the then-popular Communist Party, which had over 3 million members.

The Free Syrian Army has rejected offers of military support from the Russian government, stating that they could not be trusted.

A spokesperson for the western-backed rebel alliance told the BBC that Moscow's help was not needed.

"[Russian President] Vladimir Putin, is assisting a regime that indiscriminately kills their own people," Issam al-Reis said.

"How could we trust the Russians' help?"

The US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the ongoing violence in the West Bank and Gaza.

In a meeting held in Jordan, Mr Kerry and President Abbas discussed steps to ease tensions.

Earlier in this week, the US Secretary of State managed to secure Israel’s agreement to place video surveillance around mutual holy sites that had seen recent unrest.

Making a press statement from Jordan alongside Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Mr Kerry said,

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has responded to controversial comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, by saying that Germany was responsible for the Holocaust, in which millions of Jews were killed by Germany during the Second World War.

Mr Netanyahu had claimed that Adolf Hitler only wanted to expel Jews from Europe, and that it was Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini who told him: "Burn them."

The United States will not turn a blind eye to shortcomings in Myanmar’s election next month said a top US diplomat for Asia.

Speaking in a congressional hearing in Washington, Assistance Secretary of State Daniel Russel said that the US was “deeply, deeply concerned” about the treatment of Myanmar’s Rohingya Musllim population.

The China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) reached a deal with the mainly state owned EDF  Energy for a new nuclear power plant in Somerset on Wednesday.

The deal will see the Chinese corporation pay a third of the cost for the new power plant which is expected to cost £18bn.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Palestinians and Israel to step away from escalating conflict on a snap visit into the region.

Stating that the violence was undermining Palestine’s hope for statehood and long term stability in the region, the UN Secretary General said,

The European Court of Human Rights stated that a Turkish politician who was convicted for denying the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire was genocide was wrongly prosecuted.

The ECHR ruled that Dogu Perincek had not called for "hatred or intolerance" when he stated "the Armenian genocide is a big fat lie" in 2005.

He had initially been sentenced by a Swiss court for racial discrimination for 2007.