A GROUP of Papua New Guinea soldiers have taken control over the military, arresting the defense chief and demanding the restoration of the ousted PM. It is assumed that the conflict between Peter O'Neill and Sir Michael Somare, both of whom claim to be the Prime Minister, grounds this mutiny. The self proclaimed commander, retired Colonel Yaura Sasa who is a former defence attache to Indonesia, is the leader of the soldiers. He has warned that the military will take action unless Michael Somare, a former prime minister, is reinstated following the order by the national supreme court last month.

A NEW Zealand judge has refused to bail Kim Dotcom, the founder of file-sharing website MegaUpload, due to fears he might try and flee the country. Accused of copyright infringement, the German national was arrested along with three others in a raid by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. The four men are accused of costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue by offering pirated copies of movies, TV programmes and other content. US officials have also announced that Dutch police have recently arrested a fifth man in connection with the case.

EU FOREIGN ministers have agreed to sanctions banning all new oil contracts with Iran due to concerns over the country's nuclear programme. The embargo, which also freezes the assets of Iran's central bank in the EU, has been dismissed as “unfair” by Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast. US President Barack Obama declared that the agreement, formally adopted by EU foreign ministers on Monday, demonstrated international unity against the “serious threat” posed by Iran's nuclear initiative.

MIKE LAZARIDIS and Jim Balsillie, co-chief executives of BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM), have resigned due to investors’ pressure. The pair have faced a lot of criticism in recent years as Apple's iPhone and Google's Android system outran their email-focused BlackBerry. Thorsten Heins, who joined the company in 2007, took over as CEO on Saturday. The new CEO’s most immediate concern is to sell RIM's current lineup of BlackBerry 7, deliver on a software upgraded PlayBook tablet by February, and to launch the BlackBerry 10 phones later this year.

SRI LANKA has expelled 161 Muslim preachers belonging to the Tablighi Jamaat group for ignoring visa regulations. According to immigration officials, the group's tourist visas did not permit them to preach in mosques and local Muslims have complained about the immoderate nature of their teachings. The group have been ordered to leave by 31st January, although Muslim members of the Sri Lankan government have expressed concern at the decision and will meet with other officials in a bid to delay the move.

THE US state department has denied a permit for the 2,700km Keystone XL Pipeline project between Western Canada and Texas. Already approved by Canada, the Republican party championed the project as a way to create thousands of much-needed jobs and improve the potential for US energy dependence. However, the state department made the decision to reject the proposal on the grounds that they had been given insufficient time to review the plans.

LAST YEAR, the failure of the international community to act quickly and decisively enough meant thousands of people in Africa needlessly lost their lives. In a joint report issued by Oxfam and Save The Children, it is claimed that aid agencies took over 6 months to respond to imminent famine warnings in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Save The Children's Chief Executive condemned the current state of affairs, stating that "We can no longer allow this grotesque situation to continue; where the world knows an emergency is coming but ignores it until confronted with TV pictures of desperately malnourished children.”

WIKIPEDIA HAS confirmed it's English-language site will "go dark" on Wednesday in a 24-hour protest againstthe Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), two bills for preventing online piracy, that are due to be debated in Congress. SOPA's supporters say the legislation is designed to stop revenue flowing to "rogue websites", giving both content owners and the US government the power top request court orders to shut down sites associated with piracy.