A Swedish citizen of Rwandan origin has started his trial in Sweden, marking the country’s first trial for the crime of genocide.

54-year-old Stanislas Mbanenande trial for charges of genocide and violations of international law opened on Friday  with the indictment alleging that he had an
"informal role as a lower-level leader among young Hutus who sympathised with, or came to sympathise with, Hutu extremism".

The French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, said that he will push for relaxation of an EU arms embargo, to allow the arming of Syrian rebels.

France is the first Western country to recognise the Syrian opposition coalition as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people.

"For the moment, there is an embargo, so there are no arms being delivered from the European side. The issue... will no doubt be raised for defensive arms," Mr Fabius said to France's RTL radio.

Officials from five EU countries have agreed to a proposal for a training mission for Malian soldiers, who are fighting against rebels in the north of the country.

A second day of Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza strip has been met by an intensified barrage of missiles and rockets fired at Tel-Aviv by Hamas and other militant groups.

US military prosecutors are seeking the death sentence for a soldier who is thought to have massacred Afghan civilians.

Sgt Robert Bales is accused of carrying out the attacks in March this year, killing 16 people, including nine children.

Several soldiers testified, saying he returned to the base covered in blood.

Sgt Bale is charged with murder, attempted murder, assault and using drugs and alcohol while deployed.

The most senior military commander of Hamas, Ahmed al-Jaabri, was been killed in an Israeli air strike amidst the escalating conflict.

Israeli military sources described the airstrike as a result of “precise intelligence gathered over a period of months. Outlining the motive behind the attack, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) stated that the operation was intended “to severely impair the command-and-control chain of the Hamas leadership, as well as its terrorist infrastructure.”

A tweet from the Israeli military indicated that it was prepared to “initiate a ground operation in Gaza” if necessary.

Current US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has confirmed she will be stepping down at the end of the term.

According to reports President Obama will likely nominate current US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice or Senator John Kerry for that position.

However, Susan Rice came under criticise from those such as Senator John McCain who highlighted her statement following the attack on US embassy in Libya that killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens along with three other US staff.

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent has estimated that over 2.5 million peple have been displaced by fighting between the government and opposition militants.

The chief spokesperson of the UN High Commission for Refugees, Melissa Fleming, said that the figure could be much higher.

"The figure they are using is 2.5 million. If anything, they believe it could be more, this is a very conservative estimate," she said.

The UN General Assembly has elected 18 new states to join the UN Human Rights Council.

The elected countries were Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Montenegro, Pakistan, South Korea, Sierra Leone, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Ireland, Estonia and the United States.