Burundi officials announced on Thursday that they are planning to resign from its membership in the International Criminal Court. This statement was made due to ICC prosecutor’s will to investigate last year’s riots that caused the death of hundreds of people. Violence emerged as a result of President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial re-election. His decision to run for a third term violated the constitution and sparked unrest and revolt lead by citizens. This declaration is the first step on a very long way to withdraw from the ICC. President Pierre Nkurunziza and vice-president Gaston Sindimwo have already prepared a draft law to be discussed in the national parliament. 

The President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to bring an end to the 52-year long civil conflict just a few days after the Colombians have rejected the peace deal in the referendum. Santos dedicated the prize to all his compatriots and specifically to the sufferers of the long-lasting conflict. But Colombians are strongly divided and it is not clear whether the prize will shift public opinion or only strengthen their positions. The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognized Santos for his attempt in bringing peace to Colombia. Kaci Kullmann Five, the chairwoman of the committee, said: “The committee hopes that the peace prize will give him strength to succeed in this demanding task,” and: “Further, it is the committee’s hope that in the years to come, the Colombian people will reap the fruits of the reconciliation process.”

Jordan saw a continuation of over week-long protests against a recently announced gas deal with Israel. A demonstration took place in Amman on 30^th September and gathered about 2,000 participants, and since then several smaller acts of protests have taken place in the country. Opponents of the deal claims that it represents a threat to Jordan’s sovereignty, whereas the government argues that it is merely an economic agreement that is necessary given current energy supply problems.

Indonesian Air Force this week carried out the largest trainings in its history near several islands in the South China Sea. "We tend to show our presence in the region. We have enough aviation to act as a deterrent", - said the representative of the Indonesian Air Force, Jamie Triandria. Over 2 thousand soldiers took part in the maneuvers during two weeks. Russian-made aircraft and American F-16 fighters were used on trainings, stated by Triandiria. Other parts of the Indonesian armed forces did not take part in the maneuvers which had ended on Thursday.

Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is set to become the next United Nations secretary- general and replace South Korea's Ban Ki-moon. Guterres was the head on the UN refugee agency for ten years until he now emerged as the new favorite. Fifteen Council members agreed to put his name forward to a formal vote. The process to appoint the UN secretary - generally happens usually in a two- stage process. Hereby, a candidate is firstly, recommended by the Security Council and must secondly then be approved by the 193- member General Assembly. Thirteen candidates have been considered and the Security Council members could vote on each candidate by either selecting "encourage," "discourage" or "no opinion." Guterres received 13 "encourage" votes and two votes with "no opinion" and thus emerged as a new favorite.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnert harshly criticised Israel, accusing it of undermining ‘the pursuit of peace’ with its recently announced West Bank settlement expansion plan. He also claimed that this move contradicts earlier assurances given by Israel to the US. US Department of State strongly condemned the plan, arguing that it represents a breach of Israeli commitments and ‘[calls] into question Israel's commitment to achieving a negotiated peace.’ According to the US, UK and UN the plan, which was approved on Wednesday 28^th September, envisions about 300 housing units and an industrial area in Shiloh, next to an existing Shvut Rachel settlement.