A former Somali colonel living in Ohio is to be prosecuted for torturing a human rights activist in 1988.

Abdi Aden Magan sought to have the case dismissed by a federal court by arguing it was filed in the wrong country and too long after the alleged abuse occurred.

Plaintiff Abukar Hassan Ahmed filed a case against Magain in 2010, alleging the colonel was responsible for his detention and torture.

The international prosecutor for the UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Cambodia, has stated that he is confident of prosecutions against four former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, as the case goes to trial later this month.

Speaking to Voice of America Khmer, Andrew Cayley said,

 “I think that the case is a very strong one against these individuals because of the size and scope of the crimes that were committed.

A former military general has been elected president of Guatemala.

Otto Perez Molina, of the conservative Patriotic Party, won 56% of the vote, with an election campaign centred on his “iron-fist” approach to rampant crime.

Perez is the first ex-military leader to be chosen to lead the country since the end of military rule in 1986.

During the 36 year long conflict, which ended in 1996, more than 200,000 people, mostly Mayan, were thought to have been killed.

Outlining the UK's vision as the Council of Europe's new chair, the UK foreign minister, William Hague, addressed delegates at the official handover ceremony in Strasbourg on Monday.

Excerpts of Hague's speech are reproduced below:

"Human rights, democracy and rule of law are central to the policy of the United Kingdom in every area of government.

South Sudan denied allegations it was arming rebels in two regions on its borders with Sudan.

Sudan reported South Sudan to the UN Security Council about violations, including the continued assistance to insurgents in the west and the south-east.

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by both countries in 2005 stipulates that neither side should encourage rebellion against the other.

Sudan accused its neighbours of providing rebels with weapons and expertise in fighting the Sudanese army.

The Arab League has called for emergency talks after 13 people were killed in an assault by Syrian troops on the city of Homs.

The deaths come at the start of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, one of Islam’s holiest days, and bring the numbers of civilians killed to 60, since Assad officially accepted an Arab league peace plan.

General Nabil al-Arabi, Arab League Secretary, called on Assad to implement the plan, and warned that failure to do so would result in "catastrophic consequences for the situation in Syria and the region".

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has spoken out against China’s rigid control over Tibet, blaming the desperate conditions Tibetans live in for the recent spate of self-immolations that have taken place.

Speaking in Tokyo after meeting an adviser to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the 76-year-old Nobel peace prize laureate said,

A former Khmer Rouge member's plea against the charge of genocide, citing a royal pardon and the granting of amnesty, has been rejected by a UN-backed war crimes tribunal, examining allegations of genocide, torture and war crimes during the Khmer Rouge's rule of Cambodia.

Ieng Sary, 86, was the foreign minister of the Khmer Rouge regime. Sary argued that he was immune from charges of genocide after receiving a royal pardon 15 years ago and amnesty upon surrendering to the government.

Rejecting his plea, the tribunal released a statement on Monday, saying,

Colombia’s defence ministry has announced it has killed the leader of Farc, Alfonso Cano.

Cano was killed when security forces surrounded his hideout, after aerial strikes hit his camp in the remote region of Cauca in southwest Colombia.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has hailed the Cano’s death as "the most resounding blow to this organisation in its entire history"