The ruling Awami League has secured victory in the Bangladeshi parliamentary elections on Monday, in a poll that was marred by violence, a low voter turnout and boycotted by the opposition.

Led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League won 232 of the 300 seats available, about half winning unopposed, with a voter turnout of just over 20%. Election related violence flared across the country, leaving at least 20 dead in 2 days and some 70 polling stations set alight.

Western governments, who refused to send election monitors, are reported to be considering withdrawing trade benefits from Bangladesh over the tumultuous election. The US State Department commented on Hasina’s victory, noting that they were “disappointed”, and went on to say,

“With more than half of the seats uncontested and most of the remainder offering only token opposition, the results of the just-concluded elections do not appear to credibly express the will of the Bangladeshi people”.

The Bangladeshi elections were also a point of discussion in a New York Times editorial entitled “Democracy in Peril in Asia” and a Bloomberg editorial entitled “Bangladesh Needs Real Elections”.

When questioned on the threat of economic sanctions from the West, Hasina responded,

“Why? What has Bangladesh done? I don’t understand why they will impose sanctions. Bangladesh hasn’t done anything. It’s our opposition that has done terrorist activities.”

Iran has warned that imposing new sanctions against the nation will sabotage nuclear talks.

Responding to a sanctions bill being pushed by American senators to place new embargos on Iran's oil exports, Marzieh Afkham, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said:

"Approval of any new sanctions will be tantamount to terminating the ongoing nuclear talks,"

See report by Xinhua.

A former British Royal Marine has launched an appeal against a jail sentence handed down to him, for murdering an injured Taliban fighter in 2011.

Sgt Alexander Blackman, was found guilty of murder in November 2013, and given a minimum sentence of 10 years alongside a dishonourable discharge from the marines. Blackman, who had served 15 years in the marines, was the first British soldier to face a murder charge relating to the conflict in Afghanistan, since it began in 2001.

Both the verdict and minimum sentence are to be challenged. See more from the Guardian here.

The murder was filmed by Blackman's helmet camera, where he is heard to tell his colleagues,

“Obviously this doesn’t go anywhere fellas. I just broke the Geneva Convention.”

Five Cambodian land activists were arrested in a continuing clamp down by government authorities on public dissent.

The five activists were detained  as they prepared to rally in front of the French Embassy reported the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights (LICADHO).

The activists were from the Boeunh Kak community, who have seen hundreds of acres of their residential land appropriated for private development.

China called for an immediate end to the violence taking place between the government and opposition in South Sudan, as peace talks progressed poorly.

China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, said that his country was gravely concerned about the violence. Speaking to reporters in Addis Ababa, where the peace talks are taking place, Wang Yi said,

"China's position with regard to the current situation in South Sudan is very clear. First, we call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and violence."

A senior South Sudanese army official was killed in an ambush near the rebel-held town of Bor. The general is thought to have been involved in the advance of government troops on Bor, with fighting continuing for the control of the town.

Talks between the two sides have stalled after the government said it would not accept pre-conditions to talks, as the rebels have demanded the release of what they say are political prisoners.

Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh are set to be won by the ruling Awami League, as violence plagued the country leaving at least 17 dead.

Heavy security was seen at polling booths across the country, with voting suspended at over 160 polling stations and more than 70 being set alight by protestors.

Tensions have flared after the leading opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, decided to boycott the elections, with over half the seats now being uncontested.  International observers have also declined to send election monitors to the country, with the EU, USA and Commonwealth declining.

Cambodian authorities today banned all public gatherings and summoned two opposition leaders of police questing, in what is seen as a response to months of escalating public dissent to the rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The clampdown included clearing protesters from public spaces after a clash between protesting garment workers and police, last week, left four people dead.

Opposition leaders have been calling for the Hun Sen to step down after he retained power in summer elections which international observers found to  be riddled by irregularities .

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights today welcomed the decision by Nepal's Supreme Court that amnesties should not be granted for serious crimes, committed during the internal conflict.

Commenting on the decision, taken on Thursday, the High Commissioner, Navi Pillay, said:

A group of around 70 former prisoners from the Basque liberation movement Eta have expressed regret for violent acts they had perpetrated.

A statement was read out at an event in the Basque town of Durango, which said that they "accepted full responsibility for the consequences of the conflict".

The group said they recognised the "multilateral damage" resulting from their actions and as such “will act responsibly with positive and constructive will and vision."