The head of the armed wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots, Thomas Lubanga, was charged Wednesday at the International Criminal Court (ICC), in the ICC's first conviction.

Lubanga was charged for his part in the killing of thousands during the Democratic Republic of Congo's civil war (2002-2003).

Theo Boutrouche, DRC researcher at Amnesty International, said,

A former soldier has been sentenced to 6,060 years in prison for his role in the massacre of Mayan villagers in Guatemala in the early 1980s during the country's civil war.

201 Mayans were killed by Guatemalan soldiers in the village of Dos Erres over 3 days in 1982, with men, women and children shot and beaten to death.

Speaking to the 15-member UN Security Council, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on all nations to come together on Syria, as she clashed with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday.

Addressing the Security Council, Clinton said,

A US judge has ruled that the former Salvadoran Defence Minister, General Eugenio Vides Casanova, can be deported due to his alleged involvement in war crimes.

General Casanova is accused of taking part in the killing of 6 Americans and several Salvadorans during the civil war in the 1980s.

The International Court of Justice has been requested by Belgium to extradite former Chadian President Hissene Habre.

Mr Habre denies accusation he committed crimes against humanities during his reign.

He is alleged to have killed and tortured tens of thousands of opposition activists between 1982 and 1990.

Thousands of Libyans have protested against moves by tribal and militant leaders to create a semi-autonomous region in the east of the country.

Tribal and militia leaders announced the move to create the semi-autonomous territory of Cyrenaica on Tuesday.

Urging the people of Scotland to seize the chance of independence, the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Alex Salmond told delegates at the party's conference on Saturday that "being independent is the most natural thing in this world".

Salmond went on,

Five senior members of the Taliban have agreed to a transfer to Qatar as part of a peace deal.

Afghan government officials announced the agreement after meeting the prisoners earlier this week on a visit to Guantanamo Bay.

The US has not yet approved the transfer but is considering it as part of ongoing attempts to engage in negotiations with the Taliban.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has stated that he will eventually secure the adoption of a bill recognising the 1915 genocide of Armenians by Turkey, after it was deemed unconstitutional by France’s Constitutional Council.

"Now we see it. The West, or shall we call it, “the international community”, is paralysed in the face of one of the most barbaric and systematic ethnic cleanings of the 21st Century. We are talking Syria, although it has uncanny similarities with Sri Lanka."

Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt has expressed outrage at the recent attack on war graves in two British cemeteries in Benghazi.

200 graves of British and Commonwealth nationals, most of who died in World War 2, were damaged in attacks by unknown individuals.

Expressing "deep disappointment" at the Assad regime's failure to allow Valerie Amos, UN's under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, into the country, and strongly urged that she be.

In a unanimously agreed statement, the UN Security Council said,

North Korea announced Wednesday that it would freeze nuclear tests, long-range missile launches and uranium enrichment at its Yongbyon plant, even as the US promised food aid to the country.

The North Koreans also agreed to the return of nuclear inspectors, who were kicked out of the country in 2009, though they are limited to the Yongbyon site.