China’s Foreign Ministry expressed regret that North Korea had launched a rocket in to space despite strong opposition from the international community.

In a statement released on Sunday, the ministry spokeswoman Hua Cunying said,

“China expresses regret that North Korea, in spite of the pervasive opposition of the international community, insisted on using ballistic missile technology to carry out a launch.”

The condemnation came as  the UN Security Council looks to hold an emergency meeting on the issue, reports Reuters.

The North Korean government has fired a long range rocket, claiming that it was putting an earth observation satellite into orbit.

However, it is thought that the rocket was a test of banned missile technology, part of efforts to develop nuclear weapons technology.

The US and Japan condemned the launch and have requested, alongside South Korea, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

The US has released nearly 200 photographs linked to abuse by its military, after a freedom of information request.

Images published include bruises and cuts on prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, however the Pentagon said none of the pictures were of detainees held in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.

A Pentagon spokesperson said the photos had "come from independent criminal investigations into allegations of misconduct by US personnel".

The European parliament this week recognised the crimes committed by Islamic STate against Christians and other religious minorities as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In a resolution, passed unanimously, the European Parliament called for the UN Security Council to refer the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and for the crimes to be recognised by the them as a genocide.

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British Airways will resume flights from London to Tehran from July reports Reuters.

The head of BA’s network planning division, Neil Conttrell, said,

“The recent lifting of sanctions opens up exciting new prospects for Iran as a tourist destination and with its rich heritage, unique architecture and world-class food it’s unsurprising Tehran is tipped to be a popular destination for 2016.”

Last week, Iran struck a $27 billion deal to but 118 Airbus jets and a dozen A380 jumbo jets.

The United Nations envoy halted his attempts to launch Syrian peace talks on Wednesday after Syria’s army, backed by Russian air strikes made major advances on the opposition held areas around Aleppo.

Nagaland may be given a separate official flag under the final accord expected between India’s government and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), reports the Hindustan times.

According to sources from the negotiations, the decision for the north-eastern state of India to have its own flag is almost agreed on.

A separate flag is one of the 33 demands made by the NSCN, who have been in talks with the Indian government since an end to the armed conflict in 1997.

The United Nations announced the formal start of peace talks for Syria on Monday and urged world powers to push for a ceasefire as Syrian forces backed by Russian air strikes launched their biggest offensive in a year, reports Reuters.

Reiterating that the opposition representatives had not formally accepted the UN peace talk process, Monzer Makhous form the High Negotiations Committee told press,