The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said the situation in Iraq and Syria was “utterly unsustainable” and that unless urgent action was taken “things risk getting even worse".

In an address to the UN Security Council In New York, High Commissioner António Guterres called the situation in the Middle East “a cancer that risks spreading and metastasizing”. “If things continue this way, we could see future developments spin out of control, independently of our will and with increasingly dangerous global consequences," he warned.

"We have to recognize the increasingly protracted nature of this refugee crisis,” added Mr Guterres, as he called for increased humanitarian aid, as well as “stopping the horrific loss of life in the Mediterranean”.

However, Mr Guterres warned that the situation could deteriorate further, saying, “after Iraq became so dramatically engulfed in the Syrian conflict with the attacks on Mosul and Tikrit last year, I do not know where the next disrupting shock will take place.” “I only know that it will come, and that things risk getting even worse," he added.

He was joined by UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt, who said “it is time for the Security Council to work as one to end the conflict, and reach a settlement that also brings justice and accountability for the Syrian people."

The US admitted a counter-terrorism operation conducted in Afghanistan in January killed two hostages, who were detained by al-Qaeda.

Speaking at the White House, President Barack Obama said it was a painful loss he deeply regretted.

The president said the US had launched the raid in the belief the target was an al-Qaeda compound with no civilians present and was not aware of the presence of aid workers Warren Weinstein, an American, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian.

Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov has ordered his troops to fire at Russian security forces, if they do not have permission to be there, after the killing of a man in Grozny by troops from Russia's Stavropol region.

Mr Kadyrov, who took charge of the republic in southern Russia with the support of Moscow in 2007, maintains his own security forces in Chechnya.

"I would like to officially state: Open fire if someone from Moscow or Stavropol, it doesn't matter, appears on your turf without your knowledge,'' Mr Kadyrov told Chechen security officials. "We have to be reckoned with."

The government of the Central African Republic (CAR) voted to create a Special Criminal Court to deal with war time atrocities on Wednesday.

The new judicial body, voted in by the national Transition Council, will consist of 27 judges, 13 of which are from other countries, reports the Jurist.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) held its final hearing on Wednesday, concluding more than 20 years of work indicting those responsible for the 1994 genocide, which saw the deaths of more than 800,000 people.

Based in Tanzania, the ICTR has indicted 93 people throughout its history, becoming the first international tribunal to deliver verdicts in relation to genocide and the first to recognise rape as a means to carrying out genocide, reports the BBC.

As the final hearing concludes, 61 defendants have been convicted and 14 acquitted by the court. Other suspects have been tried by different courts, remain at large or have since died.

The final hearing was an appeal from former women's minister Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, who was the first woman to be found guilty of genocide by an international tribunal, when she was convicted in 2011.

The negotiations between Iran and the European Union recommenced on Wednesday, with the timing of the removal of sanctions proving to be a vital point in further successful negotiations.

The deputy foreign minister of Iran, Abbas Araqchi, after arriving in Vienna, said,

“All the economic sanctions should be lifted on the day that the deal is implemented.”

Newly unveiled electoral reform proposals from Hong Kong’s government continues to allow the screening of candidates for the 2017 elections by Beijing, going against the central demand of pro-democracy activists.

Hong Kong's leader Leung Chun-ying said that there was “no room for any compromise” and that “if this proposal is vetoed, it could be several years before the next opportunity.”

Putting forward the proposals, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's chief secretary, said that they "are in strict compliance with the Basic Law [Hong Kong's constitution] and the relevant decisions of [China's] standing committee of the National People's Congress."

"At the same time they fully take into account the views expressed by various sectors of the community," said Ms Lam.

As she made the announcement, several democratic lawmakers walked out in protest. Alan Leong from the Civic Party said, "We will launch a campaign to oppose the proposal and we will ask the Hong Kong public to continue to seek true universal suffrage."

Saudi Arabia has resumed air strikes on Houthi rebels, only a few hours after announcing and end to the attacks by the coalition it leads.

The government said on Tuesday the air strikes had “achieved its goals”, and the threat to Saudi Arabia was removed.

However Houthi rebels overran a base belonging to an army unit loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, outside the town of Taiz.