Two women, accused of "sorcery", in Syria have been beheaded by Islamic State, in the first such executions of female civilians by the group.

“The Islamic State group executed two women by beheading them in Deir Ezzor province, and this is the first time the Observatory has documented women being killed by the group in this manner,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, chief of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Both women were executed with their husbands, each couple being accused of "witchcraft and sorcery".

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Islamic State militants said,

In a briefing to the UN Security Council on Monday, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda restated her office’s “unshakeable” commitment to bringing “independent and impartial justice” for the people of Sudan. This statement comes six years after the first issuance of a warrant by the ICC for the arrest of Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, for alleged war crimes including genocide in Darfur.

Five members of Chad's police force were killed in a raid on a militant weapon's cache in N'Djamena.

Officials say six militants also died in an explosion, as they refused to surrender and blew themselves up.

The Chadian government has blamed Nigerian armed group Boko Haram for recent violence in the country, with a bomb attack in the capital in May killing 33 people.

The militants had threatened Chad for taking part in armed operations against it in neighbouring Nigeria.

Egyptian prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed in a car bomb earlier today.

Mr Barakat, who has sent thousands of opponents of President Sisi to prison in a crackdown on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, died of his injuries in hospital.

"He [Mr Barakat] has passed away," Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zind told AFP news agency.

At least three civilians were also killed, local media reported.

At least five Somalian soldiers were killed in an attack on their base by Al Shabab militants in Kismayo.

Some of the soldiers were beheaded after the militants briefly took control of the camp, witnesses told AFP.

Last week over 50 Burundian peacekeepers from the African Union were killed in an attack by the militant group.

An Argentinian federal judge has ordered the seizure of assets of companies who are drilling for oil in the Falkland Island region, claimed by Argentina as its territory.

Tierra del Fuego judge Lilian Herraez ordered the authorities to seize boats and other assets worth $156m of Premier Oil Plc, Rockhopper Exploration Plc, Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd, Noble Energy Inc and Edison International Spa.

Three of the companies are British, one American and one French.

The United States warned Kosovo that it would not block Russian attempts to establish a United Nations tribunal to investigate alleged war crimes by ethnic Albanian fighters, after Kosovo failed to establish a war crimes tribunal.

The US Embassy in Kosovo said it was "deeply disappointed" by the failure of Kosovo’s parliament to pass a vote that would have seen a special court set up to try former Albanian fighters with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) on charges of war crimes.