Iran will be the chair of a United Nations conference on nuclear disarmament in Geneva later this month.

The Conference on Disarmament will be attended by 65 countries and is the world’s most important forum to discuss disarmament.

The spokesperson to the US mission in Geneva, Erin Pelton, has said that his country will not be represented at the conference.

A preliminary investigation into the 2010 Israeli on the Gaza flotilla will be opened said the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Tuesday, reports Reuters.

The flotilla, carrying humanitarian aid from Turkey was bound to the Gaza strip when Israeli forces raided it. Nine people died.

In a statement the prosecutor explained she a preliminary investigation was needed following a referral made by the island nation of Comoros in the Indian Ocean.

A anti-Assad fighter has defended a video of him purportedly cutting out and eating the organs of a dead Syrian soldier.

The video, which had surfaced earlier this week, was criticized by Human Rights Watch, who said,

The United Nations Human Rights Council, announcedlast week the appointment of a commission of inquiry to investigate alleged  “systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights” in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The UK and the US have pledged to help strengthen the moderate opposition in Syria and create a transitional body to replace President Bashar al-Assad.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said in Washington that there was an "urgent window of opportunity before the worst fears are realised".

"There's no more urgent international task than this. We need to get Syrians to the table to agree a transitional government that can win the consent of all of the Syrian people," he said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, welcomed the conviction of former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt for crimes against humanity and genocide, for which he was sentenced to 80 years in prison earlier this week.

Speaking on the conviction, Pillay said,

“Guatemala has made history by becoming the first country in the world to convict a former head of state for genocide in its own national court,”

“I salute the victims, relatives and survivors whose courage and perseverance made this possible against all odds, as well as the lawyers, prosecutors and judges who carried out their duties under exceptionally difficult circumstances in the face of serious threats and intimidation.”

The High Commissioner added that,

“Despite all the obstacles, interruptions and numerous legal challenges which slowed down the trial, Guatemala has shown the world, and even more importantly its own people, that it is possible to address past crimes and bring justice,”

“This historic verdict shows that no one is above the law, and that Guatemala’s institutions have the strength and solidity to carry this through – provided there is the will to do so.”

“Guatemala can now truly begin to heal the wounds of the past, as the suffering of so many people has been formally recognised,”

The four peacekeepers from the Philippines who had been abducted by Syrian rebels in the Golan Heights have been released.

Filipino army spokesperson Brigadier General Domingo Tutaan told AFP said that the soldiers are in good health.

"They are fine, but as a matter of procedure they will have to undergo stress debriefing and a medical check-up," he said.

Over 3000 Serbs protested against on Friday in Belgrade against the deal normalising relations with Kosovo, reports the Sacremental Bee and RT.

See RT for photographs.

Carrying banners "No EU" and "Kosovo is Serbia", protesters accused the government of treason and vowed to support hardline Serbs who had also rejected the deal.

Supporters of former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt protested outside the prison where he is being held, after he was found guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide earlier this week.

At least 500 people dressed in white and some in military fatigues gathered outside the Matamoros prison, where they shouted slogans such as “Viva Rios Monnt!”

A record breaking turnout in Pakistan’s elections resulted in the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, topping the polls, to take power from the military that first ousted him in 1999.

Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League N party secured 125 of the 269 parliamentary seats.