US President Barack Obama arrived in the West Bank on Thursday to a more prickly welcome from Palestinian leaders than the warm embrace he won in Israel the day before.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Thursday all support would be given to ensure the swift extradition of Democratic Republic of Congo warlord Bosco Ntaganda to the International Criminal Court.

North Korea on Thursday threatened strikes on US military bases in Japan and Guam, escalating tensions as suspicion deepened that Pyongyang was behind a cyber attack on South Korean broadcasters and banks.

Jailed Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan was set to call a "historic" ceasefire on Thursday, raising expectations for an end to a three-decade conflict with Turkey that has cost tens of thousands of lives.

President Barack Obama travels to the West Bank on Thursday to meet Palestinian leaders dismayed by his failure to meet expectations that he could help deliver them a state.

Hundreds of mourners massed ahead of the cremation of a co-founder of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge, highlighting the stark divide between supporters and victims of the brutal communist regime.

Sri Lankan pro-government activists protested outside the US embassy in Colombo on Thursday as the UN Human Rights Council was set to vote on a resolution pressing for a war crimes probe against Sri Lanka.

US President Barack Obama will travel to the West Bank Thursday to meet Palestinian leaders dismayed by his failure to make good on soaring expectations that he could help deliver Middle East peace.

The North Korean army on Thursday threatened a possible strike against US military bases in Japan, in response to the use of nuclear-capable US B-52 bombers in joint military drills with South Korea.

The United States offered bounties of $5 million each for the arrest of two Americans, including a man known as the rapping jihadist, said to have joined Islamic militants in Somalia.

The North Korean army on Thursday threatened a possible strike against US military bases in Japan, in response to the use of nuclear-armed US B-52 bombers in joint military drills with South Korea.

North Korea issued an air raid warning and put its military on alert Thursday, South Korea's Unification Ministry said, in what appeared to be a drill at a time of heightened tensions.

A deal to normalise ties between Serbia and Kosovo is close and could be sealed next month, the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said, following high-level talks in Brussels.

Britain, France and the United States called Wednesday for a United Nations inquiry into accusations by the Syrian government and the opposition of chemical weapons attacks.

Sudan and South Sudan have pulled back troops from their disputed boundary in a first step to establish a demilitarised border zone, the African Union said on Wednesday.

Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, who turned himself in at the US embassy in Rwanda for extradition to the International Criminal Court, will be transferred to The Hague within days, the court's chief prosecutor said Wednesday.

The International Criminal Court will not drop the crimes against humanity charges against Kenyan president-elect Uhuru Kenyatta, The Hague-based court's chief prosecutor said Wednesday.

President Barack Obama Wednesday accepted Israel would not cede its right to confront Iran's nuclear threat to the United States, seeking to assuage anxiety over his commitment to the Jewish state.

West and Central African ministers have pledged to cooperate to halt the spread of sea piracy in the region at a meeting in Benin, West African bloc ECOWAS said Wednesday.

President Barack Obama notified Congress Wednesday that it would launch trade talks with the European Union aimed at forging the world's largest free-trade area.