Human rights groups have called on the UK government to end its policy of recruiting soldiers under 18.

In a report published last week, Child Soldiers International and ForcesWatch said the British army is wasting up to £94m a year training recruits under 18. The UK is the only member or the EU and the permanent member of the UN Security Council to allow its armed forces to recruit those under 18.

The head of Nepal at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned against the prospect of handing suspected war criminals amnesty, after a decade long civil war in the country.

The Israeli military has said it will stop using white phosphorus in artillery shells.

The government has been under severe criticism from human rights groups after it was used during the Gaza conflict, where an unknown number of civilians were killed and injured in attacks using the chemical.

A court in Bosnia has ordered the detainment of the President of the autonomous Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovinaon charges of corruption.

President Zivko Budimir was arrested on Friday and accused by prosecutors of taking bribes to pardon convicts.

Clashes in China’s Xinjiang province between Chinese and Uighurs have left 21 people dead, 15 of which were Chinese officials.

The Chinese authorities said the violence erupted after security forces conducted operations against “terrorist cells”.

But exiled Uighur groups said the clashes were caused when armed Chinese killed a young Uighur.

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that armed drones in Afghanistan have been operated from RAF bases in the UK for the first time.

Defence officials say the Reaper drones are mainly used for surveillance but can also make use of 500lb bombs and Hellfire missiles.

Campaigners have protested against the use of drones in armed conflicts.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2099 on Thursday, which reaffirmed the people of Western Sahara's right to self-determination and extended the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) by another year,

Two Tibetan monks have died after setting themselves alight at the at the Kirti monastery in Aba county, Southern China earlier this week, protesting against Chinese rule.

The recent deaths mean that more than 100 Tibetans have self-immolated in protest since 2011. They were identified as Lobsang Dawa, 20, and Konchog Woeser, 23.

The PKK has announced it will withdraw its troops from Turkey in May.

At a press conference in Kurdistan, northern Iraq, military leader of the Kurdish group, Murat Karayilan, said that the withdrawal will be completed as soon as possible.

US President, Barack Obama has promised a "vigorous investigation" for the use of chemical weapons in Syria, which if found could be a "game-changer".

Speaking at the White House, Obama said:

Serbia’s President Tomislav Nikolic has personally apologised for the first time for the massacre that took place in Srebrenica, in a television interview due to be broadcast later next month.

France's defence minister confirmed that 1000 French troops will be staying in Mali regardless of the expected arrival of over 12,000 UN Peacekeepers.

Defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters

“From now on we are in the post-war phase. The U.N. resolution adopted yesterday will allow for the arrival of a force to stabilize the country,”