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The government of Iraq ordered 10 television networks to shut down Sunday, accusing them of stroking sectarian violence in the countries north, news sources report.

The order from the Communications and Media Commission banned networks, including Qatar-based satellite network Al Jazeera, eight outlets aimed at Iraq's Sunni minority and the Shiite network Al-Anwar, for what it called "unprofessional" and "unethical" conduct, CNN reports.

The CMC said it believes that the network's 'rhetoric' promoted misleading and exaggerated content aimed at "disturbing the civil and democratic process," Al Jazeera reports.

The Sunnit outlets, based outside Iraq, have been critical of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government since fighting last week between government troops and Sunni tribes in northern Iraq let more than 100 people dead, CNN reports.

Al Jazeera claims that more than 215 people have been killed in clashes between security forces and Sunni Arab protesters.

The city of Boston and the surrounding area have been placed under lockdown amid a massive manhunt for the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, after the first suspect died following a shootout with police, news sources report.

The operation started late on Thursday when a police officer was killed on a Boston area MIT university campus, Al Jazeera reports. Authorities say the officer was shot while sitting in his vehicle and that they believe the bombing suspects were responsible, CNN reports.

Police then shot one of the men after a wild car chase in which the suspects hurled explosives at pursuing officers, CNN reports.

He died shortly afterward at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre from multiple bullet wounds and what appeared to be a blast injury, Al Jazeera reports.

Police believe they are the same people identified in images released Thursday by the FBI that show two men walking together near the marathon finish line right before the bombing that killed three people Monday, Al Jazeera reports.

CBS has reported that the two men are from the Chechen region of Russia. The suspect still on the run has been identified as 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Residents have been warned to not open their doors as police conduct their door-to-door, street-by-street search, Al Jazeera reports

Microsoft Studio's creative director has resigned from the company after comments he made on Twitter attracted critical media attention.

Adam Orth, whose comments on always-on internet connections in home video game consoles launched a wave of anti-Microsoft sentiment last week, is no longer with Microsoft, Polygon reports.

"Sorry, I don't get the dram around having an always on console," Orth tweeted in response to rumors that Microsoft's next-generation console will require an constant internet connection to play games, according to Game Informer.

In a following Tweet, Orth suggested that people upset at the idea "deal with it," according to Polygon.

Microsoft declined to comment on Orth's alleged departure when reached Wednesday, according to Polygon.

The company, however, issued a public statement last week apologizing for "inappropriate comments made by an employee" claiming that Orth's tweets did not represent the views of the company, Game Informer reports.

Five Egyptians were killed and eight wounded in clashes between Christians and Muslims, new sources report.

Four Coptic Christians and one Muslim were killed when members of the polarized communities began fighting in El Khusus, a town north of the Egyptian capital, Reuters reports.

A Reuters reporter witnessed the aftermath of the clashes, which resulted in the burning of a Coptic day care center and an apartment inhabited by Muslims. Several shops belonging to Christian traders were also damaged.

Residnets said the violence broke out when a group of Christian children were discovered drawing on the wall of a Muslim religious institute, Al Jazeera reports.

Relgious leaders from both communities sought to calm and condemn the violence Saturday, Al Jazeera reports. Police increased security in El Khusus to head off further sectarian riots.

Violence between Egyptian Christians and the Muslim majority have increased since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 freed hard-line Islamist factions from to act out after years of being repressed, Reuters reports.

President Morsi, a former Muslim Brotherhood member, has promised to protect the rights of Coptic Christians, who make up 10 percent of Egypt's 84 million population, since he was elected in June last year, according to Al Jazeera.

A growing hunger strike among Guantanamo Bay detainees has drawn the concern from The International Committee of the Red Cross, news sources report.

The organisation, which is empowered under the Geneva Conventions to check on the treatment of prisoners of war, said that it sent a delegation to the U.S. military prison, where more than 30 inmates are said to be on a hunger strike, Al Jazeera reports.

The group of one doctor and another member of the Geneva-based humanitarian organisation arrived a week earlier than planned due to the rising tensions at the base, according to the BBC.

Pentagon spokesman Maj Jeff Pool reported Tuesday that 31 of 166 detainees held at the facility in Cuba are refusing food, up from 21 last week, the BBC reports.

The inmates are protesting what they see as a failure by the U.S. to resolve their fate, according to the BBC. Many detainees at Guantanamo Bay are being held on indefinite detention without charge.

News of the intensifying hunger strike were accompanied by complaints from some detainees that they are being denied access to drinking water and are being exposed to "extremely frigid" temperatures, Al Jazeera reports.

An Iranian fighter jet reportedly targeted an unmanned U.S. Predator drone over the Persian Gulf this week, news sources report.

The F-4 plane came as close as 16 miles to the drone, but broke off pursuit after the pilot of a U.S. escort plane warned the Iranian craft to depart, the Huffington Post reports.

No shots were fired in the incident, though earlier reports had suggested the U.S. war plane fired a flair to warn the Iranian pilot, according to the Huffington Post.

The drone was conducting routine classified surveillance over international waters. It and the two U.S. aircraft escorting it never entered Iranian airspace, CNN reports.

Iran has a history of challenging U.S. surveillance efforts in the region, CNN reports. In December 2011, a sensitive U.S. Sentinel drone was captured by Iran after it crashed while gathering intelligence on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. In November, a Predator was fired on by an Iranian warplane.

Obama administration officials told CNN that it is concerned these Iranian actions could unintentionally trigger a conflict in the Persian Gulf.

Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto discussed the shortcomings of the company's new Wii U game console in an interview with Time, and promised that the system's user interface would be improved.

Miyamoto addressed user complaints regarding the interface, according to Game Informer.

Game Informer pointed out a number of highlights from the interview, including that there will be a system update by summer that will make the Wii U "very much improved over how it's performing currently."

In the Time interview, Miyamoto praised the new types of games that can be created using the Wii U's touch screen GamePad, citing its use as an additional screen, and bringing together TV and computer functionalities.

Wii U sales have been sluggish since the system's launch in Nov. 2012. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata took personal responsibility for the slow sales, and declared a 100 billion yen profit goal for the next year, according to Game Informer.

Development of LucasArt's next major Star Wars video game might have been put on hold, news sources report

Three unrelated sources intimate with the game's development told Kotaku that the game, codenamed Star Wars 1313, has had work on it frozen since Disney acquired LucasArts from founder George Lucas last fall.

The game made a successful showing at the Electron Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2012, according to IGN, but not much of it has been seen since.

LucasArts refused to comment on the project when contacted by Kotaku, other than to assure them that 1313 has not been cancelled.

The game was allegedly originally conceived as a tie-in for a planned live-action Star Wars TV show, but after that project was put on hold, the concept for the game was re-written, the unnamed sources told Kotaku.

The Disney purchase of LucasArts is said to have realigned the company's gaming division to focus on the new trilogy of Star Wars, Kotaku reports.

1313 had been rumored to be coming to current generation consoles, but if the delay is true, it might mean the game is being realigned for a launch on next-gen systems, according to IGN.

If this is the case, it Disney and LucasArts might be waiting to take full advantage of the technology of next generation hardware to make the most of the game's reportedly amazing graphics, according to IGN.

The Sultan of Sulu has wrote to the United Nations Commission of Human Rights (UNCHR) asking the organization to aid a group of his followers caught in standoff with Malaysian authorities, news sources report.

Followers of Sultan Jamalul Kiram III asked the UN organization to protect his 250 followers blockaded in the small village of Tanduao in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah, according to the Global Nation Inquirer.

Jamalul, who Al Jazeera describe as "a former sultan," and the brother of the man Philippine provincial authorities recognize as the Sultan of Sulu, claims his followers are running out of food, the Global Nation Inquirer reports.

The men, members of the Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, occupied the village days ago to protest a peace deal that handed control of much of Sulu to Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels, Al Jazeera reports.

The Sulu royal family had asked to take part in the peace negotiations between the rebels and the Philippine and Malaysian governments, but had been ignored, Al Jazeera reported Jamalul saying. The Sulu sultanate claims to be the rightful owners of the Malaysian state of Sabah.

The claim is based on a lease agreement stemming back to British colonial times. Malaysia pays the Sultanate of Sulu a token "rent" each year for control of Sabah, according to Al Jazeera.

The armed group had been given a Friday deadline by the Malaysian government to surrender, but the Philippines asked for an extension. All sides so far have spoken of being interested in working out a peaceful solution to the standoff, according to the Global Nation Inquirer.

The third season of the classic Japanese cartoon "Digimon" will be getting a North American DVD release this year, news sources report.

New Video Group, a home entertainment company, has posted an Amazon listing for the season box set, Anime News Network reports.

The distributor had previously released the first season of Digimon late last year, with the second season scheduled to ship on March 26th, according to Crunchyroll News.

Digimon season 3, also known as "Digimon Tamers," first aired in the U.S in 2001 on the now defunct Fox Kids Saturday morning animation block. The series has never been released on DVD in North America, though Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment company released a number of select episodes on VHS videotapes, according to Anime News Network.

Amazon has listed a June 23rd released date for the DVD set, according to Crunchyroll News. The eight disc, 480 minute set will retail for $79.95.

New Video Group also posted updated information about their release of Digiomon season 2, Crunchyroll News reports. The package will include all 50 episodes of the show and will come with a 32-page Character Guide Booklet.