escalation
, he
blamed Israel for
the violence, but said all militant groups in Gaza must also stop firing. The move will be a test of Hamas's authority.
A conference in Turkey which aimed to unify the Syrian opposition has instead exposed
division
s within its ranks. Kurdish activists
pulled out
after accusing other participants of marginalising them and ignoring the Kurdish issue. Syrian Kurds complain of decades-long discrimination against their community.
The Sudanese authorities are to issue new banknotes following the announcement that the newly independent country of South Sudan will launch its own currency. The Sudanese central bank governor Mohamed Kheir al-Zubeir told the BBC that South Sudan should
surrender
the two billion Sudanese pounds it was holding as they would soon be worthless.
"Our position is just to give it to us because it is valueless. We do not want to buy it; we want to just, they surrender it to us because it's valueless after they give the value to the Southern Sudanese citizens; then it is valueless."
Another three North Korean footballers at the Women's World Cup have tested positive for banned steroids, bringing the total
caught up
in the scandal to five. Fifa says the North Koreans have blamed a traditional Chinese remedy based on musk deer glands, which they said was given to the players after some of them were struck by lightning.