Israel signalled its support to an independent Kurdistan this week, stating that amid escalating violence in Iraq, an independent Kurdistan was a "foregone conclusion", reports Reuters.

The UN Human Rights Council today mandated a Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea. The inquiry which will last for the period of one year will investigate all alleged violations of human rights in the country.

Satellite images reveal the Sudanese government may be committing war crimes by indiscriminately bombing civilian areas in South Kordofan, said Amnesty International.

In a new briefing published this week, satellite imagery obtained by the organisation reportedly show indiscriminate bombing by the Sudanese Armed Forces on areas such as hospitals and schools.

The president of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, in a visit to the recently grabbed city of Kirkuk, Thursday vowed to never withdraw Kurdish forces form the region, reports the Financial Times.

“We are not ready to relinquish even a hand’s width of Kurdish Land. If Kirkuk at any time becomes part of the Kurdistan region again, it will be clear how well we will serve it,” said Masoud Barzani.

The first US troops deployed to assist the Iraqi army in combating the militant group ISIS arrived on Thursday in Baghdad, announced the Pentagon.

At least half of the 300 pledged special operations soldiers, began work in Baghdad or on the front lines, reports the BBC.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry, on Tuesday, also called for regional unity to expel the ISIS rebels that had taken large regions of Iraq.

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 International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has warned that attacks by rival religious groups in the Central African Republic have created conditions which could see genocide in the region.

In a report released this week, violence between the mostly Christian anti-Balaka and mainly Muslim Seleka was detailed. The organisation, a coalition of 178 organisations in over 120 countries, named their report after one militia leader told researchers "they all have to leave or die."

Florent Geel, the director of the federation's Africa Desk, called on the international community to act, saying,

At least 21 people were killed and 52 injured on Wednesday in a bomb blast in Nigeria's capital, Abuja. See here, here and here.

The bomb, the latest of a series of high profile attacks believed to be orchestrated by the militant group Boko Haram, who also abducted 200 schoolgirls in April, exploded during rush hour in the capital's shopping district.

The International Criminal Court, said Monday that it would not investigate two incidents of North Korean forces attacking South Korean territory, because neither attack had intentionally targeted civilians, reports Reuters.

Although North Korea has not ratified the Rome statute, its attack on an ICC member country like South Korea, can still give the court jurisdiction to investigate potential war crimes committed by North Korea.