A bank has become the first Chinese firm to be given approval by the US to acquire a US bank.

State owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s (ICBC) plans to take over the US subsidiary of the Bank of East Asia have been approved by the US Federal Reserve.

Recordings of phone calls made during the first few days of the Libyan unrest provide evidence of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi ordering the killings of suspected opposition activists.

Over 12,000 messages were picked up in intercepted messages between the former Libyan Prime Minister, Al Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, and a loyalist Tayeb al-Safi.

According to one transcript, released by Al Jazeera, Saif al-Islam can be heard instructing al-Safi to "take care of the Gamal Abdel Nasser base in Tobruk".

Bomb blasts in the Syrian capital Damascus, which have killed at least 55 people and wounded another 400, have drawn international condemnation.

The UN Security Council condemned the attacks and urged all sides to 'immediately and comprehensively' implement UN Special Envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan for Syria.

Syrian officials blamed the car bombs near a military intelligence office on ‘foreign-backed terrorists’.

Al-Jazeera's English news channel closed after the Chinese government expelled a correspondent, refusing to renew her press credentials.

Melissa Chan, an American citizen and political journalist, left China on Monday night.

According to Al-Jazeera, the government has refused to allow a replacement correspondent too, however, the channel's Arabic service remains unaffected.

Hong Lei, a spokesperson at China's Foreign Ministry, said,

Ukrainian officials announced that Friday's summit of EU state leaders would be postponed, after a widespread boycott by leaders across Europe in protest at the treatment of Ukraine's opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko.

Thirteen leaders across the EU have pulled out including from Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy.

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Official figures obtained by the Yorkshire Post show that the UK Border Agency has recommended ‘adverse immigration action’ against 207 individuals in Britain, suspected of committing war crimes in their native countries.

Individuals from countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are accused of torture, genocide and crimes against humanity.

Last year the UK repealed a law, allowing private individuals to initiate prosecution against foreign war crimes suspects. It is unknown whether police are investigating any of the suspects.

Turkey has confirmed it will not be arresting or extraditing Iraq’s Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi.

The Turkish deputy prime minister said al-Hashemi was in Turkey for medical treatment and the government would not hand over someone it had supported.

Interpol issued an international red notice for Mr Hashemi’s arrest, who is accused of running death squads targeting Shia officials, on Monday, following a request from the Iraqi government.

Human Rights Watch has stated that the Syrian military is guilty of war crimes committed during a two-week offensive, whilst the UN special envoy Kofi Annan was negotiating with the Syrian government in early April. 

Stating that the intensity of the conflict in Syria has reached that of an “armed conflict under international law”, the New York-based NGO, has said that international humanitarian law was applicable in the country, with any violations being classified as war crimes.

After meeting with India’s Minister for External Affairs S M Krishna, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has praised the country for cutting down on its crude oil imports from Iran.

Commenting on steps taken by Indian refineries to seek other sources of crude oil other than from Iran, currently India’s second largest supplier, were commended by Clinton, as Iran becomes increasingly targeted by sanctions over its nuclear programme. India is also currently Iran’s second largest customer of crude oil.

A South African court has ordered prosecutors to investigate Zimbabwean officials accused of torturing opposition figures in 2007.

The judge said South Africa has a duty under international law to investigate crimes against humanity.

Prosecutors and the police previously refused to investigate Zimbabwean officials travelling to South Africa, citing ‘political considerations’.