US President Barack Obama said Myanmar must “put an end to discrimination” of Rohingya Muslims in the country if it is to succeed on is transition to democracy.

Addressing a group of young Asians at the White House Mr Obama was asked what the country needed to do to succeed, as it begins to shift from decades of military rule.

"I think one of the most important things is to put an end to discrimination against people because of what they look like or what their faith is,” said Mr Obama. “And the Rohingya have been discriminated against. And that’s part of the reason they’re fleeing."

Asked how he would feel about where he would want to live if he was Rohingya, Mr Obama said, "I would want to stay in the land where my parents had lived, but I’d want to make sure that my government was protecting me and that people were treating me fairly."

A summary of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Canada found that actions conducted by the state amounted to cultural genocide, reports CTV news.

Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, extended his 25 year rule in Sudan, despite being subject to international sanctions.

The Colombian government has blamed FARC for the attack, which left Colombia’s largest port and 400,000 people without power.

The United Nations envoy to Syria condemned barrel bombing raids reportedly carried out by the Syrian government, which have left more than 70 civilians killed.

Staffan de Mistura said in a statement,

“The news of aerial bombing by Syrian helicopters on a civilian market area of the Aleppo neighbourhood of Al Shaar deserves the strongest international condemnation.”

Syrian government helicopters reportedly dropped barrel bombs in the northern Aleppo province killing at least 70, on a day where air raids left more than 140 dead.

British foreign secretary Philip Hammond said "this is further shocking proof of the horrific and indiscriminate methods the Assad regime is using to kill and injure innocent civilians, including children."

A top suspected Nazi war criminal has died in a hospital in Canada, just weeks after Russia demanded his extradition.

Vladimir Katriuk was No. 2 on the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s list of most wanted Nazi war criminals, and passed away aged 93. Two weeks ago the Russian government demanded Canada extradite Mr Katriuk, of Ukrainian ancestry, so he can face trial for alleged war crimes. Canada had refused.

Canada’s Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs had also called on the Canadian government to “take the necessary steps to ensure that, if guilty, Katriuk be held accountable for war crimes committed in collaboration with the Nazi regime.”

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Lisa Grande, warned that the recent intensifying of Islamic State insurgents, could trigger a worsening humanitarian crisis,.

The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Representative to the USA said the Yazidis in Iraq have faced “nothing but genocide” from Islamic State militants, after mass killings and expulsions from their historic homeland in Iraq.

Speaking to the Huffington Post, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman said "What happened to the Yazidis is nothing but genocide." "Anybody who denies that, I think, is just using political maneuvering, which is shameful and despicable in my book," she added.

Detailing the plight of the Yazidis, including the enslavement of women and children by Islamic State, Ms Rahman said, "It's actually just so horrific to think that today in the 21st century, this still goes on -- that there are people who do the selling and that there are people who do the buying."

"Genocide internationally has legal obligations on everybody," she added. "All of us, internationally, by law, are obliged to prevent genocide."

The UN Secretary General Bank Ki-moon condemned the move by the government to expel Toby Lanzer.

Six world powers agreed on a UN mechanism that would restore sanctions on Iran if it breaks terms of a future nuclear deal, reports Reuters.

The US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China agreed on a deal that allows any easing of UN sanctions to be automatically reversible if Iran breached any terms of the agreements it committed to.