South Sudan’s armed forces have admitted to shooting down a United Nations helicopter killing all four crew members, earlier on Friday.

South Sudanese army spokesperson Philip Aguer stated that one of their artillery units had spotted the aircraft, suspecting that it would  resupply rebels led by David Yau Yau. Aguer said,

"We regret the incident,"

The United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide has released a statement warning of a risk of growing sectarian violence in Syria, as violence continues in the country.

In a statement expressing concern that religious or ethnic groups may be increasingly targeted, Adama Dieng said,

“I am deeply concerned that entire communities risk paying the price for crimes committed by the Syrian Government,”

An Israeli-Arab MP, Haneen Zoabi, has been barred from re-election by Israel's electoral authority on Wednesday, citing her presence on the Gaza flotilla in May 2010.

Claiming that she was "negating Israel's existence as a Jewish state" and that her actions illustrate "support for an enemy state or terrorist organisation", Israel's Central Elections Committee voted 19 to 9 in favour of blocking Zoabi's candidacy for the general election in January 2013. One member abstained.

The UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has jailed one of the key organisers of the Rwandan genocide to 35 years behind bars.

The last trial by the ICTR saw Augustin Ngirabatware convicted of genocide, incitement to commit genocide and rape as a crime against humanity.

"For these crimes the court sentences you to 35 years in prison," Judge William Hussein Sekule told the former government minister.

Ngirabatware was put on trial at the court in Tanzania, after his arrest in Germany in 2007.

US soldier Robert Bales could face the death penalty, if he is found guilty of the murder of 16 Afghan civilians, the US Army says.

Sgt Bales is accused of committing the killings In Kandahar province on March 11 this year.

According to prosecutors, Sgt Bales left his base and went into a nearby village, entering a house and shooting 22 civilians, mostly women and children. A total of 16 were killed.

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday authorised a military intervention led by African states to help defeat Islamist militants in northern Mali.

The resolution, drafted by France, authorises the deployment of an African-led intervention force to be known as AFISMA, for an initial period of one year. The resolution also authorised the EU and other UN member states to help rebuild national security forces in Mali.

Russian President Vladmir Putin has warned of the conflict in Syria continuing “forever” and has insisted that Russia is not propping up the Syrian regime.

Speaking at a news conference, Putin said,

"We are not concerned about the fate of Assad's regime. We understand what is going on there and that the family has held power for 40 years,"

British Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that there is a ‘strategic imperative to act’ in Syria and called for wider support for the Syrian opposition, including supplying arms to Syrian rebels.

Speaking in the House of Commons Cameron said,

"A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Syria on our watch, with over 40,000 dead and millions in need of urgent assistance as a hard winter approaches."

Beijing has warned Australia against continuing the discrimination against Chinese companies seeking to invest in Australia, saying it could jeopardise Astralia's future role in China's growth.

Australia recently banned Chinese firm Huawei from working on the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Chen Yuming, said that Australia has nothing to fear from China’s rise and urged Canberra to allow more investment, reported The Australian Financial Review.

The European Court of Human Rights has told Russia to pay over 500,000 Euros to the families of eight men apparently abducted by security forces in Chechnya.

The men who disappeared between 2002 and 2004 are all presumed dead.

The judges at the EU court said that four human rights articles had been violated by Russia, and also highlighted many deficiencies in the authorities’ investigations.