An appeal by Thomas Lubanga, the first person convicted by the International Criminal Court, has been rejected.

The Congolese militia's leader attempted to overturn his conviction and 14 year sentence for recruiting child soldiers under the age of 15 and sending them into battle.

A five-judge panel at The Hague rejected or dismissed the seven parts of Lubanga's appeal.

"The trial chamber's assessment of the facts was reasonable," said presiding judge Erkki Koroula.

Tensions between China and Britain escalated on Monday, after a spokesman for the British prime minister said that China’s decision to deny British parliamentarians access to Hong Kong served to only “amplify concerns about the situation in Hong Kong rather than diminishing concerns.”

The British House of Commons has declared an emergency debate, to be held on Tuesday, that will discuss how to deal with escalating diplomatic tensions with China, reports the BBC.
 
The Chinese foreign ministry responded, labelling the British  Foreign Affairs Select Committee access requests as attempts to interfere in “internal affairs.”

“For those who are committed and sincere about promoting China-UK friendship, China’s door is always open. However, we do not welcome those who came to China to interfere in our internal affairs and will not allow them to do so,” said the Chinese foreign ministry in their statement.

One of the world's most wanted Nazi war criminals died in Syria four years ago, according to the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office.

Nazi-hunter Efraim Zuroff said, who heads the centre, said though he could not prove forensically SS captain Alois Brunner was dead, "we are certain that is the case."

Brunner, who would now be 102 years old, is accused of deporting more than 128,000 Jews from Austria, Greece, France and Slovkia to concentration camps during World War II. In 2003, he was named as "the world's highest-ranking Nazi fugitive believed still alive".

"[He] played a key role in the implementation of Hitler's 'Final Solution' to murder Jews," said Zuroff, calling Brunner "a monster."

The Colombian general and two others who were detained by Farc militants two weeks ago have been released to the Red Cross.

General Ruben Dario Alzate was captured earlier this month due to the government's continuing military operations against the rebels, during peace-talks.

The capture lead the government to suspend the peace-talks.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said that the release "helps to create a favourable atmosphere for the continuation of the talks".

The US led coalition increased its assault on Islamic State militants, with over 30 airstrikes on the de-facto capital of Raqqa in Syria, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday.

At least 100 people were killed by Syrian government airstrikes which targeted mosques and public markets, last week said the Syrian observatory using reports form the ground.

The Syrian foreign minister, said that the Islamic State militant group would not be tackled unless Turkey was made to tighten its border controls, reports the Independent.

Croatia's prime minister Zoran Milanovic has cancelled a planned trip to Serbia, protesting Belgrade's failure to distance itself from comments made by Serbian nationalist leader who was recently released from a UN war crimes tribunal.