The president of the Central African Republic, Michel Djotodia, has offered peace talks to the leaders of Christian militias, in order to resolve the sectarian violence that has gripped the country.

Hundreds of people have died in clashes between former members of the now extant Seleka, Djotodia’s Muslim rebel group which helped him into power after a coup, making him the first Muslim leader in this Christian majority country.

Catalans have reacted defiantly after Spain’s pledge to block an independence referendum in Catalonia, which was announced for November 9 2014 yesterday.

Speaking to Russia Today, Miquel Strubell, member of a pro-independence grassroots organization, the Catalan National Assembly, said the Spanish state has to open negotiations with Catalonia.

The United Nations has confirmed that it collected evidence of at least one large scale chemical weapons attack in its latest report on Syria, indicating that a further four more attacks it investigated were likely due to chemical weapons.

The report, compiled by UN inspectors in Syria, confirmed that, regarding an alleged attack in Ghouta on the 21st of August of this year,

In 2009 Rwanda sought to extradite 4 genocide suspects from the UK for trial in Rwanda, a request that was turned down by the UK High Court. When the UK sought to investigate the suspects themselves, and requested “mutual legal assistance” from Rwanda, the request was turned down.

Catalan parties seeking the right to self-determination in the Spain’s  north-eastern Catalonia region, today, agreed on the wording of an independence referendum that is proposed for November 2014 despite staunch opposition from the Spanish government.

Outlining the purpose of the referendum the Catalan regional government head, Artur Mas, described the main questions referendum looked to ask, stating

The Democratic Republic of Congo has signed a peace deal with M23 rebels, after defeating the group based in the east of the country, with the help of UN forces.

The deal was signed in Nairobi and did not include an amnesty for war crimes, said the DRC's spokesperson Lambert Mende to the BBC.

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The US and UK have suspended 'non-lethal' aid to the Syrian opposition after warehouses storing resources were seized by the Islamic Front, which quit the Free Syrian Army last week, reports the Reuters news agency.

The US embassy spokesperson in Ankara said the suspension was to "to inventory the status of US equipment and supplies provided to the SMC".

"As a result of this situation the United States has suspended all further deliveries of non-lethal assistance into northern Syria," he added.

Echoing his comments, his British counterpart said,

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, condemned what he said was the Iranian government's undue acceptance of Western influence.

The Fars news agency quoted Major General Mohammad Jaffari as saying on Tuesday yesterday,