Women in South Sudan face an unprecedented level of sexual violence which includes abduction, rape, forced marriage and murder in a merciless ethnic warfare, said the head of the Red Cross mission in the country.

The leader of last month's coup in Burkina Faso, General Gilbert Diendere has been charged with 11 crimes, including threatening state security, murder, collusion with foreign forces, voluntary assault and wilful destruction of property.

The general, who led the presidential guard in the short-lived take-over, is expected to face trial at a military tribunal.

An alleged militant accused of destroying ancient monuments in Timbuktu became the first person to appear at the International Criminal Court (ICC) charged with damaging cultural heritage.

The US military, pledging to seek accountability, took responsibility for deadly airstrikes that killed Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) doctors working in an Afghan hospital.

Former UN General Assembly President, John Ashe, was charged by U.S. authorities on Tuesday, for allegedly taking more than $1.3 million in bribes from real estate billionaire, Ng Lap Seng, in an expansive corruption scheme. John Ashe was General Assembly President from 2013-2014 and the U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda.

In return for the bribes, prosecutors say that Mr. Ashe used his positions to introduce a UN document supporting a multibillion-dollar UN-sponsored conference centre that Mr. Ng hoped to build. The complaint sets out that between 2012 and 2014, more than $3 million was deposited into bank accounts controlled by Mr. Ashe from foreign governments and individuals. However, the complaint is limited to charging Mr. Ashe with tax offenses, which are apparently not covered by his diplomatic immunity.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara who announced the arrests today said, “If proven, today’s charges will confirm that the cancer of corruption that plagues too many local and state governments infects the United Nations as well.”

Nato has warned Russia over its continued air strikes on targets in Syria, in support of President Bashar al Assad's government.

A statement by the body's 28 members urged Russia to end attacks "on the Syrian opposition and civilians" and warned of "the extreme danger of such irresponsible behaviour".

A court in Germany has sentenced two men from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) for war crimes, in a landmark trial last week.

The trial was the first under Germany’s Code of Crimes Against International Law, which allows the investigation and prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, irrespective of where they are committed.

Russia has continued its bombing campaign in Syria for a fifth day, targeting at least 10 positions of the Islamic State militant group, according to its defence ministry.

"As a result of our air strikes on Isil [IS] targets, we have managed to disrupt their control system, the terrorist organisation's supply lines, and also caused significant damage to the infrastructure used to prepare acts of terror," the ministry said.

However, Syrian opposition groups say the Russian forces focussed on targeting other rebel groups and that civilians had died in the attacks.

Meanwhile Syria's President Bashar al Assad said the coalition between his country, Russia and Iran were united in fighting terrorism and unlike the US-led coalition would achieve "practical results".

He said if the coalition doesn't succeed "the whole region will be destroyed".

Médecins Sans Frontières has demanded an independent inquiry into the US attack on a hospital in Kunduz, in which 22 people, inlcuding its staff, lost their lives.

The aid group said it was making the call for an inquiry "under the clear presumption that a war crime has been committed".

MSF tweeted: "The hospital was repeatedly and precisely hit during each aerial raid, while the rest of the compound was left mostly untouched.

"Not a single member of our staff reported any fighting inside the hospital compound prior to the US air strike on Saturday morning."

The EU has placed asset freezes and travel bans on three Burundians, who stand accused of ordering excessive force against peaceful protestors, who objected to President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for an unconstitutional third term and one military official who took part in a failed coup earlier this year.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad al Hussain said the bombing of an Afghan hospital in Kunduz by the US may constitute a war crime.

The US-led air strike on the hospital in the Taliban-held city of Kunduz killed at least 19 people, including 12 staff of Doctors Without Borders.

Mr Hussain said the attack was "inexcusable" and possibly criminal, and called for a full and transparent investigation, saying that "if established as deliberate in a court of law, an air strike on a hospital may amount to a war crime".

US defence chief Ash Carter described the incident as "tragic" and acknowledged that US forces were operating nearby in support of the Afghan army.

"While we are still trying to determine exactly what happened, I want to extend my thoughts and prayers to everyone affected. A full investigation into the tragic incident is underway in coordination with the Afghan government."