Heavy fighting erupted between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters on the border with Lebanon, leaving two Israeli soldiers and one UN peacekeeper dead.

Missiles were launched at Israeli targets in the Shebaa Farm area in the Golan Heights, which is occupied by Israel and claimed by Lebanon as their territory. The Israeli army responded by launching artillery fire and air strikes into southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said the attacks were in response to an Israeli air strike last week which killed several of its fighters.

The Egyptian government slammed “reviews by some Western countries” over the killing of an Egyptian activist and other protestors in pro-democracy protests last week.

Shaimaa al-Sabbagh, a 31-year-old activist, was shot dead during the protests marking the fifth anniversary of the uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak. Her death, captured in graphic images and shared across social networks, was reportedly caused by the firing of guns by Egypt’s security forces and has sparked outrage across the country.

While the Egyptian government initially denied security forces were involved in the death, they have since stated an investigation into the killing has been opened.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry though slammed “Western reports” of the deaths, saying “it is strange how such reviews failed to convey the reality, choosing to turn a blind eye to acts of killing, burning and horror conducted by supporters of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group”.

The prime minister of Papua New Guinea said most of the refugees being held at the Australian-run detention centre in Manus Island are not genuine asylum seekers and are to be deported “within weeks”.

Describing most of the refugees as “economic migrants”, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill told ABC,

"Most of the other people who are in the processing centre: we're now talking to their governments and we will start repatriating many of them in a very short time."

Protests involving hundreds of asylum seekers erupted at the detention centre earlier this month, with many stating their asylum claims have not yet been processed.

Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition told the BBC "[Mr O'Neill] is in no place to know whether they are [economic refugees] or not… There has been no determination assessment."

He went on to add that the news of deportation "undermines confidence that there is any respect for refugee law".

Clashes between peacekeepers and protestors at a UN base in Mali have left at least two people dead and several injured, including two UN officers.

Protestors had gathered to voice their opposition to reports of a UN plan to create a buffer zone in the region around Gao, claiming it would favour separatist Tuareg militants.

Local radio journalist Aboubacrine Abouhayata and witness Attouyoube Maiga told AP news agency that UN officers fired live rounds of ammunition.

"Here in the morgue in Gao we have at least three dead protesters, some killed by gunshot wounds... There are also several serious injuries," a hospital official is quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

Survivors from the Auschwitz concentration camp marked the 70th anniversary of its liberation by calling on the international community to never be bystanders in the face of genocide, as world leaders paid tribute on Tuesday.

At a ceremony in Auschwitz to mark the occasion, Holocaust survivors spoke in front of dozens of world leaders urging them to ensure such atrocities that took place at the concentration camp, occur never again.

“You should never be a bystander”, said Holocaust survivor Roman Kent at the site in Poland. "We survivors do not want our past to be our children's future.”

Approximately 1.1 million were killed at the camp between 1940 and 1945, before Soviet troops loiberated it. The overwhelming majority of those killed were Jewish.

“A minute in Auschwitz was like an entire day, a day was like a year, and a month an eternity,” continued Kent. “How many eternities can one person have in a single lifetime?”

Tributes came from leaders across the world with US President Barack Obama saying,

“Honouring the victims and survivors begins with our renewed recognition of the value and dignity of each person. It demands from us the courage to protect the persecuted and speak out against bigotry and hatred. This anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made confronting this terrible chapter in human history and on our continuing efforts to end genocide.”

Nine civilians including five foreigners were killed after militants attacked a hotel in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Tuesday.

Officials have said that the dead include one US and one French citizen.

The Corinthia Hotel is used by foreign diplomats and government officials. The UN Support Mission in Libya (Unsmil) has hosted various workshops at the venue.

A twitter account linked to the Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Leading funders of the International Criminal Court will reject calls from Israel to cut funding officials told Reuters.

The second largest donor of the ICC, German government said it “couldn’t imagine” cutting funding.

Officials from France, Britain and Italy, told Reuters that their governments, who are the third, fourth and fifth largest funders of the ICC, would not change policy.

Members of the Syrian opposition aimed to work out common demands to present to the Syrian government which is due to arrive in Moscow for negotiations later this week.

Expectations for a breakthrough in negotiations are low as several opposition members refused to attend the talks, citing Russia’s history of backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, reports Reuters.

Fighters from the Syrian-Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) have declared Kobani as liberated from Islamic State.

Officials said they had driven out the militants, ending four months of intensive fighting in the strategic town on the border with Turkey.

YPG spokesperson Polat Jan said on Twitter: "Congratulations to humanity, Kurdistan, and the people of Kobane on the liberation of Kobane."

Rocket attacks on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol by pro-Russian militants that targeted civilians violated international could be considered as war crimes, said the UN political chief on Monday.

Speaking at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, Jeffrey Feltman, said, that the attacks “knowingly targeted civilians,” adding that, “the perpetrators must be held accountable and brought to justice.”