Doctors working in the besieged Syrian town of Aleppo warned that the use of chemical weapons is becoming the new normal in the conflict, after reports of yet another chlorine gas attack killed three people and injured dozens more.

US Secretary of State John Kerry criticised China’s restrictions and militarisation of the South China Sea at a regional meeting in Malaysia.

Accusing China of constructing facilities for military purposes on man-made islands, Mr Kerry said,

“Freedom of navigation and overflight are among the essential pillars of international maritime law. Despite assurances that these freedoms would be respected, we have seen warnings issued and restrictions attempted in recent months.”

The Chinese president is set to visit Washington next month.

FARC has agreed conditions for the release of a Colombian general and four others, after negotiations with the Colombian government.

The negotiations were mediated by Cuban and Norwegian officials, who announced that the captives would be released as soon as possible.

Cuban diplomat Rodolfo Benitez and Norwegian official Rita Sandberg made the announcement on Thursday, after the talks in Havana, but gave no indications as to what the conditions placed by FARC were.

Kurdish fighters have resumed their armed struggle in Iran after two decades of ceasefire.

The Times reports that scores have died as a result of cross-border artillery barrages, with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard threatening to strike at insurgent bases.

“Iran’s Kurds were at a level of depression and hopelessness that gave them no other option than for a resumption in our armed struggle,” Kaveh Bahrami, the military commander of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), told The Times.

The Spanish government is seeking to bring criminal charges against Catalan leaders for allowing their assembly to vote for independence.

The Catalan parliament in Barcelona voted on Wednesday to continue plans to increase the community's self-determination.

The text passed argues that self-determination could only be exercised by '[disconnecting]' from the Spanish state and Spanish institutions.

Chad's former president must compensate victims who suffered under his rule a court, set-up by Extraordinary African Chambers, in Dakar has ruled.

Hissène Habré was sentenced to life in prison in May after being convicted of war crimes, rape, sexual slavery and crimes against humanity, all committed during his rule between 1982 and 1990.

Victims of sexual violence and rape will be awarded over 30,000 USD each; victims of arbitrary detention, torture, prisoners and survivors of war over 25,000 USD each; and families of victims around 17,000USD.

The leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, a militant jihadist group in Syria, announced that the organisation will be breaking away from al-Qaeda and changing its name, in a move designed to halt attacks from the US-led coalition in Syria.

The group, also known as the al-Nusra Front, announced the decision in a video released on Thursday.

“We have stopped operating under the name of Nusra Front and formed a new body ... This new formation has no ties with any foreign party,” said leader Abu Mohamed al-Jolani, stating his organisation would now be called Jabhat Fatah al-Sham – the front for the liberation of al-Sham.