Expressing "deep disappointment" at the Assad regime's failure to allow Valerie Amos, UN's under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, into the country, and strongly urged that she be.

In a unanimously agreed statement, the UN Security Council said,

"[They] deplore the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation" in Syria, where the United Nations says security forces have killed more than 7,500 civilians during an 11 month government crackdown on pro-democracy protesters."

North Korea announced Wednesday that it would freeze nuclear tests, long-range missile launches and uranium enrichment at its Yongbyon plant, even as the US promised food aid to the country.

The North Koreans also agreed to the return of nuclear inspectors, who were kicked out of the country in 2009, though they are limited to the Yongbyon site.

At the same time, the US has offered 240,000 metric tonnes of nutritional assistance, a great part of it in the form of biscuits, as part of the ‘Leap-day deal’.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for the Defence Minister of Sudan for crimes alleged to have been committed in Darfur.

The Defence Minister, Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein, is alleged to be responsible for 20 counts of war crimes and 21 counts of crimes against humanity. At the time, Mr Hussein was Interior Minister and the Sudanese government’s representative in Darfur.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has begun moving civilians including the wounded and children out of the Syrian city of Homs.

The announcement came as delegates from over seventy countries had gathered at the 'Friends of Syria' conference in Tunisia, aiming to increase pressure on the Assad regime. The conference ended with delegates adopting a declaration calling on the regime to end violence immediately and allow humanitarian aid.

The declaration read:

The UN's under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Valeria Amos, will be visiting Syria in order to negotiate access for aid workers to areas most affected by the conflict, announced the spokesperson to the UN Secretargy General Ban Ki Moon.

The spokesperson, Del Buey, said that Amos, a former member of the House of Lords, would be sent to "to assess the humanitarian situation and renew the call for humanitarian access".

Adding that a "comprehensive" approach was required, Ban Ki Moon said, 

The UN has accused Syria of committing ‘crimes against humanity’ against its people, in a report released today after an inquiry by a UN panel.

The panel was refused entry into Syria and had to gather information from outside sources including regime defectors and human rights activists.

Accomplished war correspondent Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times has been killed in the Syrian city of Homs. It was reported that the house she was staying in was shelled, killing her alongside French photographer Remi Ochlik.

Republican, Dana Rohrabacher, introduced a bill recognising Baluchi nation's right to self-determination last week.

The bill stated that the Baluchi nation “have the right to self-determination and to their own sovereign country; and  they should be afforded the opportunity to choose their own status.”

Rohrabacher said,

Writing in the Huffington Post, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Margot Wallstrom, condemned sexual violence as a weapon of war and pledged to "push for an end to impunity and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice".

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The London-based International Campaign for Tibet has stated that a monk has died after setting himself alight in protest, at a monastery in South West China.

The monk, 18-year-old Nangdrol, has raised the number of Tibetans who have self immolated to at least 21 in the past year alone, as protests against the Chinese government’s control over the Tibetan regions continue to grow.

Chinese armed forces have cut off access to the Tibetan areas making independent reports almost impossible to verify, but it is known that security forces maintain a high presence in the area and monks are being forced to undergo “political re-education”.