The agreement signed by 10 groups and the CAR defence ministry on Sunday at the country’s capital, Bangui, also detailed that those involved in the ’crime of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity’ would be denied amnesty.

The British government’s plans to devolve powers to Scotland do not go ‘far enough’, said the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) on Monday.

Nicola Sturgeon added that the prime minister had ‘no right’ to rule out a second referendum on independence and said that she planned to hold a meeting with David Cameron in the near future, reports the Independent.

Houthi militants have moved towards accepting a proposed 5-day ceasefire in Yemen, as the United Nations representative in the country criticised airstrikes being carried out by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.

The ceasefire could begin on Tuesday if both sides agree, however the Houthis warned that "any military violation of the ceasefire from al Qaeda and those who stand with it and support it and fund it will be responded to by the army and security and the popular committees".

A Houthi statement also pledged to deal “positively” with the ceasefire and any humanitarian efforts in the country.

The latest development comes as the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Yemen, Johannes Van Der Klauuw, said he was "deeply concerned" by Saudi Arabia led airstrikes against the Houthis, saying the conflict “is taking a dreadful toll on civilians”.

Jared Genser is an associate of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. This article was first published in the Washington Post on April 24, 2015.

Three years ago, President Obama created the Atrocities Prevention Board to help fulfill his important recognition that the prevention of mass atrocities is a “core national security interest and core moral responsibility.” With ethnic conflict boiling in Burma, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among other places, such a mechanism has never been more important. Although the board’s operations have been classified, there have been some visible successes. But much remains to be done.

Russian prosecutors are seeking the extradition of suspected Nazi collaborator, 93-year old Vladimir Katriuk, from Canada.

Mr Katriuk, who lives in Ormstown, Quebec, and has Ukrainian and Candian citizenship, volunteered to serve in the SS battalion 118 and was personally involved in the “genocidal massacre” of the Belarusian village of Khatyn on March 23, 1943, also known as the Khatyn massacre, according to a statement from the Russian embassy in Ottawa.

The Indonesian government has released five Papuan political prisoners, as President Joko Widodo promised reforms.

The president told media on Saturday, restrictions on foreign journalists in the restive province of West Papua, which have been in place for decades, will be lifted.

The five political prisoners – convicted over a 2003 raid on an Indonesian military weapons arsenal – were granted clemency by Widodo in a ceremony at Abepura prison, in the provincial capital Jayapura.

Dozens of Papuan activists remain in prison, many for protesting against the government and raising the banned Morning Star flag of Papua, both considered acts of treason by the government.