The Iraqi Kurdish President Monday said the Kurdish region in Iraq would seek formal independence from the rest of Iraq.

“The Time is here for the Kurdistan people to determine their future and the decision of the people is what we are going to uphold,” said Massoud Barzani in an exclusive interview to CNN.

Barzani added that he would argue the case for an independent Kurdistan to the US Secretary of State, who is due to visit Erbil on Tuesday.

Explaining the need for an independent Kurdistan he said:

An investigation into genocide against Chinese leaders in Tibet has been dropped by the Spanish High Court.

The case, brought by a Tibetan monk with Spanish citizenship, was dismissed as it did not comply with new legislation that limits Spain's ability to investigate crimes against humanity committed abroad, the High Court said.

Israel launched launched air strikes at nine targets in Syria, responding to the killing of a 14 year old boy in the Golan Heights by a missile attack on Sunday.

See here, here and here.

Egyptian court Monday jailed three AL-Jazeera journalists on charges of aiding terrorists and endangering national security.

Former BBC correspondent Peter Greste, former CNN journalist Mohamed Fahmy and a local producer Baher Mohamed were jailed for seven, seven and 10 years respectively.  Four other students and activists involved in the cases were also jailed for 10 years.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry, today, pledged ‘intense and sustained’ support to Iraq whilst noting that the country would only survive when leaders took steps to bring it back together, reports the BBC.

"The support will be intense and sustained and if Iraq's leaders take the necessary steps to bring the country together, it will be effective," Kerry told reporters in Baghdad.

Iran’s head of state, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said today that he opposed US intervention to quell the intensifying conflict in Iraq, reports The Guardian.

“We strongly oppose the intervention of the US and others in the domestic affairs of Iraq. The main dispute in Iraq is between those who want Iraq to join the US camp and those that seek an independent Iraq,” said Khamenei to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani earlier said that it would support the current Iraqi government to combat the Islamic militants.

Russia is redeploying troops to the Ukrainian border and arming and training pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, said US officials Friday.

Tanks and heavy artillery departed towards the border a senior US official told the Washington Post.

Hours after a declared ceasefire Friday night, pro-Russian separatists attacked Ukrainian posts on the border with Russia, reports The Independent.