US President Barack Obama requested that Congress approve $500m to train and equip members of the Syrian opposition on Thursday.

Noting that the funding would only be spent on ''appropriately vetted'' members of the armed Syrian opposition, the White House said in a statement,

"This funding request would build on the administration's longstanding efforts to empower the moderate Syrian opposition, both civilian and armed."

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate crimes in the Central African Republic (CAR), following a request from the country’s interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza.

The call from HRW comes after a coalition of human rights organisations warned that the conditions from genocide were being created in the Central African Republic, as violence spread between religious groups.

Catherine Samba-Panza, CAR’s interim president, had earlier requested the ICC to formally investigate crimes in the country, acknowledging that the country’s courts could not do so.

Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch said,

“Everyone involved in the horrific crimes in the Central African Republic should know there is a price to pay for committing atrocities… The ICC prosecutor should accept the government’s request, investigate crimes by all parties, and help provide a sense of justice for the victims.”

The United Nations special envoy to Iraq Wednesday called for military force to be used against the advancing ISIS militants in the North and East of Iraq. 

Nickolay Mladenov said that instability in the North and East must be dealt with militarily though overall success would depend on a broad political solution, reports Reuters.