The former military ruler of Guatemala, Efrain Rios Montt, has begun his trial for charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The trial was hailed by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay who said,

"This is the first time, anywhere in the world, that a former head of State is being put on trial for genocide by a national tribunal”

The new Chinese president Xi Jinping has hailed the “enormous shared interests” between China and the US, calling for stronger ties between the two countries.

Speaking during talks with US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Xi said the relationship should be approached "from a strategic and long-term perspective".

"In the China-US relationship, we have enormous shared interests, but of course, unavoidably, we have some differences," Mr Xi said.

The White House has said they were “deeply sceptical” of claims by the Syrian government that chemical weapons were used by the Syrian opposition, in a rocket attack in Aleppo.

Sana news agency reported that,

"Terrorists launched a missile containing chemical products into the region of Khan al-Assal in the province of Aleppo, killing 15 people, mainly civilians".

Eighteen people were arrested in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday on suspicion of spying.

The group consisted of sixteen Saudi Arabians, an Iranian and a Lebanese.

Saudia Arabia's interior ministry claimed that the alleged spies were working for a foreign country, which it did not name.

See AFP for full report.

Kenya's President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta is to challenge a case against him at the International Criminal Court today, where he stands accused of crimes against humanity.

Kenyatta's lawyers are currently at a hearing scheduled at The Hague, where they will request a case due to be held in July to be scrapped. The hearing comes just a week after Kenyatta's co-accused, top civil servant Francis Muthaura, had his case dropped.

Italy has accused India of violating international laws on diplomatic immunity after it barred Ambassador Daniele Mancini from leaving the country.

India’s Supreme Court said that Mancini had waived his right to diplomatic immunity and ruled he was not to leave the country “until further orders”.

The suspected Congolese war criminal Bosco Ntaganda, also known as “The Terminator”, has handed himself in at the US embassy in Kigali.

Ntaganda is wanted by the ICC for conscripting child soldiers, rape, ethnic persecution and murder.

"I can confirm that Bosco Ntaganda... walked into the US embassy in Kigali this [Monday] morning," US state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told media.

"He specifically asked to be transferred to the ICC in The Hague."

A Somalian journalist jailed last month for interviewing an alleged rape victim was freed by a Somali judge on Sunday.

The case sparked international outrage over issues of the treatment of victims of sexual violence as well as press freedom.

See Reuters for full report.

An 87-year-old former Khmer Rouge official standing trial for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Cambodia died earlier this week.

The 25th anniversary of the chemical weapons attack on the town of Halabja has been commemorated in Kurdistan, northern Iraq.

Kurds from across the region came together to remember those who died after Saddam Hussein’s air force dropped poison gas on the town.

Around 5,000 people, mostly women and children, were killed during the attack, while many more died in the aftermath due to diseases caused by the contamination.