Kim Jong-un was formally named as the supreme commander of North Korea's armed forces on Saturday, consolidating his leadership and power within the state.

Referring to him for the first time as the "great leader", the official state news agency said,

Human rights activists and families of 'Dirty War' victims protested against what they described as "lax" sentences handed to officers convicted of war crimes.

Gathering outside a Buenos Aires courthouse on Thursday, the protesters held photographs of the victims and demanded the sentences be lengthened.

Russia has criticised the US of grave human rights violations and double standards in dealing with allegations of rights abuses.

The Kremlin's first report on human rights abuses detailed allegations of torture, phone tapping and indefinite detention by the US.

It criticised the Obama government for failing to shut down Guantanamo Bay and protecting officials from prosecution.

The Arab league's observer mission to Syria has come under scrutiny after it emerged that the team was being led by a Sudan army general, Gen. Mohamed Ahmad al-Dabi, who has been accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 1994 Darfur genocide.

Afghanistan has agreed to a US plan to allow the Taliban to open an office in Doha.

President Karzai previously rejected the idea, accusing the US and Germany of discussing the plan with Qataris, without informing the Afghan government of the full plan.

But in a statement on Tuesday, President Karzai said he would agree to Qatar hosting the office.

Sudan has requested China to trade in yuan and Sudanese pounds instead of US dollars, the central bank governor, Mohamed Khair al-Zubair, announced Wednesday.

Khair al-Zubair told reporters,

China is due to sign a deal with Afghanistan on Wednesday, paving the way for the first foreign company to produce oil in the country.

China's state owned National Petroleum Corporation will sign a contract allowing it to conduct explorations in an area thought to hold over 87 billion barrels of oil.

A Bosnian Muslim woman has been extradited from the United States to face allegations of war crimes.

Rasema Handanovic, 38, is accused of killing Bosnian Croat civilians during the 1990’s, along with Edin Dzeko, her alleged comrade, who was extradited from the US last week.

Welcoming the recent conviction and sentencing of two former Rwandan politicians for the 1994 genocide, the US State Department described the ruling as an "important step in providing justice and accountability", not just to the victims, but to the international community.

The Israeli parliament today discussed the recognition of the killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide.

Members of the Education and Culture Committee failed to make a decision, amidst warnings by the foreign ministry about damaging the already tense relationship with Turkey.

One of the fifty Arab League observers visiting Damascus called the Assad regime's killings a genocide.

Speaking to Al Arabiya broadcaster on Monday, Mostashar Mahgoub said,

"what's happening in Syria is genocide."

An ex-military officer in Argentina's 'Dirty War' has been arrested by authorities in Boliva, on charges of human rights violations.

The officer, Luis Enrique Baraldini, was extradited to Argentina, after Bolivian Interior Minister, Wilfredo Chavez, presented a handcuffed Baraldini at a press conference in La Paz.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Moscow on Saturday, condemning election fraud and demanding a repeat election.

Wearing white ribbons and chanting slogans such as "We are the Power!" and "Russia without Putin", protesters called for an end to Putin's 12-year rule.

A delegation from members of the Arab League has arrived in Syria in order to prepare for the arrival of 20 foreign observers over the weekend, a number that will eventually increase to 500.

The observers will judge whether Syria is implementing a peace plan it agreed to after pressure by the Arab League and Turkey.