A panel of experts warned the UN Human Rights Council of the risk of genocide in Burundi this week, calling for the establishment of a commission of inquiry.

The experts, examining events in the country over the last 14 months, said “gross human rights violations have and are taking place, committed primarily by state agents and those linked to them". "Impunity is pervasive," they added, after Pierre Nkurunziza ran for president for third term.

They went on to note that some of these human rights violations could amount to crimes against humanity.

"Given the country's history, the danger of the crime of genocide also looms large," the experts warned.

The war crimes trial against the former Serb paramilitary leader, Dragan Vasiljkovic began on Tuesday in Croatia. 

Mr Vasiljkovic who was a commander during Croatia's war of independence, is accused of murder of civilians, extrajudicial killing of prisoners and torture. 

He was arrested in 2006 in Australia, however was only extradited to Croatia in 2012 and officially indicted in January. In July, he pleaded not guilty, stating "I defended Yugoslavia". 

Independent United Nations investigators said they have compiled a list of suspects who should be prosecuted for possible crimes against humanity in Burundi.

Speaking on Tuesday, Independent UN investigators said that it was impossible to know the full extent of the crimes, but they had evidence of rapes, murders, disappearances, mass arrests and torture.

The Untied Nations suspended its aid shipments into Syria following a deadly attack on a convoy transporting humanitarian supplies on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

The Syrian army and Russia, who is allied to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, both denied that either of their air forces or armed forces were responsible for the attack.

Syria’s army on Monday declared to the US and Russia backed ceasefire on Monday, whilst the US said it was still hopeful of extending the truce.

A memorial to the victims of the Armenian genocide was unveiled in Los Angeles on Saturday at Grand Park. 

The monument marks the genocide which took place between 1915 and 1918 when over 1.2 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman empire. 

The monument, which comprises of two parts, is made from volcanic rock in Armenia's Ararat Valley. 

“The rough part resembles after the genocide when the Armenian people struggled and tried to survive,” the architect Vahagn Thomasian told LA Times, adding that the smooth half “represents the present, future, new generations.”

New York remains on high alert today as a series of "intentional" explosions and suscipious devices were found over the weekend. 

Five men have been detained for questioning in relation to the incidents.  

The blast in the Chelsea area of Manhattan, which injured 29 people, is believed to have been from a shrapnel-filled pressure cooker. 

On Sunday a pipe bomb exploded in New Jersey along the route of a charity run. 

Another suspicious device was found near a train station in Elizabeth in New Jersey on Monday morning. The device exploded as it was being disarmed. 

An inquiry by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has found the Syrian military was responsible for carrying out chemical attacks on civilians, Reuters reported.

"It was the 22nd Division, the 63rd Brigade and the 255 and 253 squadrons of the Syrian government," a Western diplomat reportedly told the news agency. 

Responding to the finding, a source within the Syrian military was quoted by Reuters as saying, "the Syrian state ... and we, the Syrian Arab army, have said more than once that the army has not and will not use any banned weapon, especially chemical or poison weapons."

Fighting appeared to have stopped temporary as the ceasefire in Syria held for one day, with only minor violations reported. 

No civilian deaths were reported for 15 hours of the ceasefire, the UK based group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. 

UN aid convoys however were kept on standby however, until a more definitive truce could be assured. 

The ceasefire follows an agreement between Russia and the USA on Friday in Genenva after several months of negotiations. 

If the ceasefire is maintained for seven days US and Russian jets will conduct air strikes on Islamic State and associated groups. 

The US Department of Justice and Department of the Interior ordered a temporary halt on construction of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline on Friday afternoon, just hours after a federal judge had rejected attempts to end the project.

US federal judge, James E. Boasberg, had initially ruled against the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request for an injunction against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

In dozens of prisons across the United States, inmates are going on strike as they launched a protest calling for a reform of the American prison system. 

The strikes were launched on September 9th 2016, marking 45 years since the Attica prison uprising – a poignant yet historic event in the fight against black racism in the United States. Inmates protested against poor prison conditions, while also bringing to the forefront issues of racism that plague the justice system. Today a similar movement was launched.