A court in Sweden has ordered the detention of a man accused of committing war crimes in Syria.

Mohammad Abdullah, a 33 year old seeking asylum in the country, stands accused of committing war crimes whilst being a soldier attached to Syrian government forces and fighting against the Islamic State. He reportedly posed for photographs in front of dead or wounded fighters.

Prosecutor Henrik Attorp told Swedish radio that the accused had violated the victims' "personal dignity" under international law.

Mr Abdullah claimed he was following orders.

Myanmese troops have reportedly fires on civilians who are fleeing in their thousands as violence between Rohinya fighters and government soldiers escalated in Rakhine state. 

Clashes between the two sides have killed almost 100, and left thousands of refugees trapped at the border with Bangladesh. 

Over 4000 non-Muslim civilians were evacuated by the government. 

On Friday, the armed Rohingya Muslim groups, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) launched a coordinated attacks against police posts in Myanmar's Rakhine state, and attempted to break into an army base. 

The United States imposed new sanctions on Venezuela in an executive order signed by President Trump on Friday.

A statement released by the White House called on Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro to release political prisoners and hold free and fair elections, 

Fighters from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) launched coordinated attacks against police posts in Myanmar's Rakhine state, and attempted to break into an army base. 

Over 150 fighters were involved in the attack, which took place in the Maungdaw township at 1am on Friday. 

Twelve members of the security forces were killed in the attacks, along side 77 Rohingya Muslims, who the government alleges were all fighters. 

A federal court in the United States has ruled that a former vice minister who headed El Salvador’s National Police can be extradited to Spain over the murder of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador in 1989.

Col Inocente Orlando Montano, who served as the country’s National Police as Vice Minister for Public Security, had appealed against a lower court ruling and attempted to block the move.

He is accused of plotting the murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her 16-year-old daughter at the Central American University in November 1989. They were shot dead, allegedly by an elite unit of the Salvadorean army. Five of the priests were Spanish nationals.

The head of the United Nations’ humanitarian operations warned the Security Council that there are early signs of genocide in the Central African Republic this week, in his second such warning this month.

Stephen O’Brien, who serves as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told diplomats that violent clashes in the country had pushed it into crisis.

Speaking to AP after the closed-door meeting with the Security Council, Mr O’Brien said "the escalation is very real".

The United States will deny Egypt over US $250 million of  military and economic aid due to its failure to make progress on respecting human rights and democratic norms, reports Reuters.

US officials were particularly disappointed with a law passed by the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sis that restricted the work of Non Governmental Organisations, sources told Reuters.

A Saudi-led air strike on a Yemeni hotel near the capital Sanaa on Wednesday has killed at least 40 people. 

The dead includes dozens of Shia Houthi fighters as well as civilians, AP reported. 

Saudi Arabia has faced criticism for its air strikes and the number of civilian casualities. 

Seven people, including four soldiers were killed on Wednesday when a Taliban fighter detonated an explosive filled car by the police headquarters in Lashkar Gar, Afghanistan. 

Two women and a girl are also believed to have been amongst the dead. 

"A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car in a car park near the main police headquarters in Lashkar Gah," a spokesperson for the governor of Helmand province told Al Jazeera. 

The president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Masoud Barzani met with the United States Defense Secretary James Mattis in Erbil this week, where he reiterated that an independence referendum due to be held later this year will still take place.

“President Barzani also stated that no forced union has ever worked,” a statement from the Kurdish presidency said. “We chose a union of willingness conditioned to partnership, but because partnership did not work and to prevent deeper problems, we want to live as two good neighbours,”

His comments come after Mr Mattis reportedly called for a delay on the vote.