The US government has given the go-ahead for ferry services to resume between Cuba and Florida, after a 50-year hiatus.

A number of ferry companies say they have been given licenses, according to the BBC.

Havana Ferry Partners of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said it had a licence on its Facebook page.

"This is a historical event. Thanks to President Barack Obama, to whom we are very grateful, for his leadership," the firm wrote.

The Norwegian Refugee Council says a record 38 million people have been displaced from their homes by conflicts across the world, in a report released today.

Describing the numbers as “the worst figures for forced displacement in a generation,” Secretary General Jan Egeland said it “signalled our complete failure to protect innocent civilians”.

The United Nations has promised a “robust” military offensive in response to the killing of two Tanzanian peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The attack, suspected to have been carried out by the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), also injured thirteen others.

It comes after the Congolese army said it had killed 16 of the Islamist militants during fighting over the weekend.

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Mogadishu earlier today, the first such visit by an American in his position.

Mr Kerry met with Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at the airport amidst tight security and said: "Next time I come, we have to be able to just walk downtown".

"I visited Somalia today because your country is turning around," he said.

The US supports the Somalian government in its fight against al-Shabab militants, who control vast swathes of land in the Horn of Africa.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said that all sides involved in potential war crimes committed in Gaza could face investigation, including middle and low ranking Israeli soldiers.

In an extensive email interview with Haaretz, Fatou Bensouda said that if a formal investigation was to be opened, it would be carried out with the purpose of  “bringing stronger cases against those most responsible” for the alleged crimes committed.

She went on to say that it “will of course look into the alleged crimes committed by all sides to the conflict”.

“If an investigation is opened in any given situation, my office will be guided by a policy of investigating and prosecuting those most responsible for the commission of mass crimes,” said Ms Bensouda.

“That is the general rule. In accordance with my office’s new strategic plan, where appropriate, we may indeed investigate and prosecute notorious perpetrators whose conduct has been particularly egregious or a number of lower- or mid-level perpetrators, building upwards, and thereby bringing stronger cases against those most responsible."