"In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people."

“that the Assad regime is now more isolated and under greater international pressure than ever before."

"It is clear that the Syrian government is willing to do anything to strangle the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people."

"We've set the stage in a very substantive way for strong action by the U.N. if other entities choose to take the opportunity."

"Absolutely, including the ICC if the Security Council chooses to refer this matter."

"The overwhelming use of force has been taken by Assad and his regime. So there's no kind of equanimity here."

A British soldier has been jailed for 18 months and dismissed from the army for stabbing a 10-year old Afghan boy for “no reason”, the Guardian has revealed.

The soldier, Grenadier Guardsman Daniel Crook, was hung-over after consuming a bottle of vodka the night before the attack and could not explain the reason behind it, a military tribunal was told in June.

Myanmar's president, Thein Sein, approved a bill to allow citizens to protest peacefully if granted permission on Saturday.

Protesters will be required to inform authorities of the location, timing and reason for protest, five days in advance.

Protesting without permission carries a sentence of upto one year in jail, while disturbing a peaceful gathering carries a penalty of two years' imprisonment.

The International Criminal Court is seeking the arrest of the Sudanese defence minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussain.

Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has requested the ICC to issue an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur from 2003 to 2004.

In a statement released on Friday, Mr Ocampo’s office said Mr Hussein was one of the individuals to "bear greatest criminal responsibility" for atrocities in Darfur.

Gambian lawyer, Fatou Bensouda, has emerged as the consensus canditate for the International Criminal Court's next Chief Prosecutor.

Bensouda, who has been the Deputy Prosecutor of the ICC since 2004 and a former minister of justice in Gambia, also served at the UN tribunal on Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

In a statement, Bensouda said,

"I am deeply grateful for the nomination and remain committed to the goals of the court to end impunity for those responsible for the gravest offences, bring justice to their victims and prevent future crimes."

“Those who are trying to bring unspeakable atrocities, suffering to civilians anywhere in the world will be held accountable.”

The European Union agreed to impose fresh economic sanctions on Iran, on Thursday.

In a statement, EU ministers said,

"The council agreed to broaden existing sanctions by examining, in close co-ordination with international partners, additional measures including measures aimed at severely affecting the Iranian financial system, in the transport sector, in the energy sector."

Indonesian security forces are reported to have attacked a rally marking Papua’s 50th anniversary of its declaration of independence.

Activists across Papua rallied in traditional dresses and protested against the continued occupation of the restive province by Indonesia.

Police officials denied that any protestors were injured but reports indicate several Papuans were shot and many more were arrested.

The Secretary General of the Arab league has warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the imposition of sanctions was a ‘very serious’ message that they were sending, and urged him to cease the ongoing violence in the country immediately.

Turkey has announced tough economic and financial sanctions against Syria on Wednesday.

The move by Syria’s largest trading partner comes after similar sanctions were imposed by the Arab League, the European Union and the US.

The Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced 9 sanctions, including a freezing of Syrian assets, a travel ban for senior leaders and the suspending of ties with the Syrian central bank.