The International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary investigation into reports of war crimes in the Central African Republic, as sectarian violence continues to escalate in the country.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda stated earlier,

The Syrian government has faced criticism from the United States over delays in destroying their stockpile of chemical weapons.

Syria has already missed two deadlines in exporting its store of chemical weapons, with only 30 tonnes of an estimated 1,300 tonne stockpile having been removed from the country so far.

Speaking on the issue, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said,

The United States has slammed the Syrian regime’s use of barrel bombs, after dozens were reportedly killed in air strikes over Aleppo earlier this week.

In a written statement, US Secretary of State John Kerry lambasted the Syrian government, saying,

“Each and every day that the barrel-bombing of Aleppo continues, the Asad regime reminds the world of its true colors. It is the latest barbaric act of a regime that has committed organized, wholesale torture, used chemical weapons, and is starving whole communities by blocking delivery of food to Syrian civilians in urgent need.”

Barrel bombs, essentially crates crudely filled with explosives and dropped from helicopters, have been criticised by human rights groups for their indiscriminate nature, which has seen hundreds killed in the past few months.

Kerry went on to add in his statement,

“Now, with air raids killing dozens more civilians in just the past few days, destroying apartment buildings, and barrel bombs striking a mosque today, the staggering civilian toll dramatically climbs. Each and every barrel bomb filled with metal shrapnel and fuel launched against innocent Syrians underscores the barbarity of a regime that has turned its country into a super magnet for terror. Given this horrific legacy, the Syrian people would never accept as legitimate a government including Asad.”

The BBC earlier aired unverified footage of a barrel bomb being dropped and the devastating impact from it. See the video below.

In an unprecedented report the United Nations has condemned the Vatican for adopting policies which allowed members of the clergy to abuse thousands of children.

The body demanded that the Holy See immediately remove all priests known to be or suspected to be child abusers.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has confirmed that the British government advised India in advance of the Indian military’s assault on Sikhism’s holiest temple.

The attack on Sikh militants in the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984 could have left over 3,000 people dead, Hague said.

Around 90 people have been killed by crude “barrel bombs” dropped by Syrian government forces from helicopters, in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Aleppo has been the focus of heavy fighting between Syrian opposition forces and Bashar al-Assad’s government forces, who have previously been accused of dropping barrels filled with explosives indiscriminately over civilians.

An online statement by Al Qaeda has said that the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Sham (ISIS) was not a branch of Al Qaeda.

ISIS has been involved in heavy battles with other Syrian opposition groups, who are also fighting Assad’s troops.