Syria’s political and armed opposition agreed to meet with the Assad regime for talks seeking a political solution to the conflict next month announced the chair of the opposition groups conference in Saudi Arabia.

Over 100 members of Syria’s opposition parties and rebel fighting groups agreed, at the end of two days of discussion in Riyadh, to attend talks with President Assad’s government, reports Reuters. 

A former Rwandan mayor who was wanted for genocide was arrested by the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday.

Ladislas Ntaganzwa, accused of orchastrating the killing of tens of thousands of people during the 1994 genocide, was indicted in 1996 and accused of genocide, direct and public incitement to commit genocide as well as extermination murder and rape.

Rwanda’s Prosecutor General Richard Muhumza, in a statement made after the arrest, said,

The head of Canada’s Assembly of First Nations (AFN) said that large companies could develop in Aboriginal areas if they forged good links with the community.

Noting that companies could develop in Aboriginal areas, Perry Bellegarde said that as long as they “respect inherent rights, treaty rights and indigenous peoples’ involvement, there could be ways to work through some of those concerns.”

High-level peace talks between India and Pakistan will resume, announced India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, after meeting her Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz.

"The foreign secretaries of both countries will meet and chart out the agenda for the meetings," Ms Swaraj told reporters.

The talks stalled in 2012, after tensions escalated over attacks in India, which Delhi blamed on Pakistani infiltrators.

Russia and China are expected to block any punitive measures proposed at the UN Security Council, after the US set a special meeting on for Thursday to discuss the country.

China has reportedly objected to the meeting organised by the US, which holds the presidency this month, arguing that it is beyond the scope of the peace and security mandate of the council.

Russia voiced a procedural complaint, saying the matter should have been raised at a prior session earlier this month, but eight other council members supported the US.

Four French soldiers were questioned on Tuesday over allegations of child rape in the Central African Republic, AFP reports.

The investigation in Paris is looking at 14 soldiers involvement in the allegations of sexual abuse of a group of children in CAR's capital Bangui between December 2013 and June 2014. The children, some as young as nine, said the soldiers abused them in exchange for food.

The allegations first surfaced after a UN report leaked, sparking accusations of a cover-up.

This is not the first time that allegations of sexual abuse have been made against UN peacekeeping soldiers.

Sri Lankan troops were expelled from Haiti for sexually abusing children in 2007, with 111 soldiers and 3 officers were repatriated back to Sri Lanka after being part of UN mission in Haiti and were accused of a string of sexual assaults, including rape of children as young as 7 years old. No prosecutions or punishments have taken place.

Nearly 100 Burundian protesters who opposed President Pierre Nkurunziza during months of escalating violence in the capital Bujumbura were released on Tuesday.

The announcement came as the Burundian government held aid talks with European Union officials.

The Burundian Interior Ministry’s permanent secretary said that the release of the 97 prisoners had “no connection with the consultations underway.”

China and Russia opposed plans to hold a special Security Council meeting on human rights in North Korea.

A meeting headed by the United States has been backed by nine of the 15 council members, including Chile, France, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain, Britain and the United States.

Speaking to Reuters, one diplomat said,

“China informed the council members that the Security Council has no business with human rights but should look at matters of international peace and security.”