The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court has formally opened a case into war crimes in Mali from January 2012, it was annoucned earlier today.

Stating that she believes there is a "reasonable basis" that crimes such as murder, rape, torture and intentionally directing attacks against protected objects, prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said,

“Since the beginning of the armed conflict in January 2012, the people of Northern Mali have been living in profound turmoil,”

“At each stage during the conflict, different armed groups have caused havoc and human suffering through a range of alleged acts of extreme violence. I have determined that some of these deeds of brutality and destruction may constitute war crimes as defined by the Rome Statute."

“My Office will ensure a thorough and impartial investigation and will bring justice to Malian victims by investigating who are the most responsible for these alleged crimes”.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed concern over the disappearance of Laotian civil society activist Sombath Somphone and has urged Laos to conduct a “transparent investigation”.

"We call upon the Lao government to pursue a transparent investigation of this incident and to do everything in its power to bring about an immediate and safe return home to his family," Clinton said in a statement.

Human rights groups in the country said they fear he was abducted by pro-government forces.

Mr Somphone was a social activist who campaigned for fair land rights for farmers, which may have riled the communist government.

The government has denied any knowledge of his whereabouts.

Fiji's ruling military has imposed new rules on political parties, raising further concerns regarding the country's move away from democracy.

According to the new rules, trade union executives and other 'public officials' are to be banned from creating political parties, and political parties are banned from accepting donations from foreign governments, companies, inter-government or non-government organisations.

Parties have been instructed to reach a membership threshold in order to register as a political party, which means that the current 16 parties will have 28 days to increase their membership to over 5000.

“The fact that the case has even made it this far is a minor miracle to those of us who were in Cambodia during the 1990s, when the defendants’ amnesties seemed secure,”

“The court’s reputation can be salvaged if they can complete the case against the senior Khmer Rouge leaders while they are still alive,” he wrote. The court would “end on a high note that even longtime critics like myself will concede.”

A US official has told reporters that the US will officially recognise the Somali government, for the first time in over 20 years.

Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said that the news will be made official at a meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud tomorrow.

"When the secretary meets with Hassan Sheikh tomorrow, she will exchange diplomatic notes with him and recognise the Somali government in Mogadishu for the first time in 20 years," he told media.

A senior US official is reported to have told Reuters that new aid measures may be on the way.

"The fact that we recognise a government there will allow us to do things through USAID [US Agency for International Development] that we have not been able to do before.

"The fact that we recognise them as a legitimate government will allow the World Bank and the [International Monetary Fund] IMF to do things that they would not have been able to do before. This is major and it is significant."

Two people were killed and 41 taken hostage by Islamist militants at a gas plant in Algeria on Wednesday.

The hostages were described as 'Western' and included British, French, Japanese and American citizens.

The group claiming responsibility told Mauritanian media that they entered Algeria from northern Mali and carried out the attack as revenge against French intervention in Mali and Algeria's cooperation.

The group which calls itself 'Signatories for Blood' said:

"Algeria was chosen for this operation to teach (Algerian President Abdelaziz) Bouteflika that we will never accept the humiliation of the Algerian people's honour... by opening Algerian airspace to French planes,"

See here for full AFP report.

A Palestinian teenager was shot and killed by Israeli troops on the West Bank reports AFP.

The shooting occured near a school in the village of Budrus, where a group of students had thrown stones at the soldiers after finishing their exams.

The soldiers caught and tried to arrest 17-year-old Samir Ahmed Awad, firing six bullets when he tried to flee.

A spokesperson for the army said that the incident was a response after Palestinians "approached the security fence near Budrus and damaged it in an attempt to infiltrate Israel".

See here for full report on AFP.

The Prime Minister of Greenland Kuupik Kleist has said that his government will not favour the EU over China or other potential investors for access to the country’s rare earth minerals.

Kleist said it would not be fair "to protect others' interests more than protecting, for instance, China's" according to the BBC.

"All are welcome if they meet our conditions and our requirements to operate in Greenland," Mr Kleist said, adding that he would resist pressure from the EU over the highly valuable minerals.

Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark but unlike Denmark, is not part of the EU.

China is currently the largest producer of rare earths, mining around 97% of the output around the world. Restriction of exports has led to trade disputes with the US, EU and Japan.

A covert intensive investigation, by the US consul general in Istanbul, Scott Fredric Kilner, into chemical weapons in Syria has concluded that the Syrian military used them against its own people, in a deadly attack last month.

A confidential State Department cable , signed by Kilner, outlined the investigation's findings regarding chemical weapons usage in Syria. Kilner's investigation included interviews with doctors on the ground that concluded that chemical agents had been used.

The US consulate, Kilner, warned that if the U.S government failed to react strongly to the usage of chemical weapons, Assad was likely to increase his use of such weapons of mass destruction.

"The regime is pursuing a policy of escalation to see what they can get away with as the regime is getting more desperate," an administration official added.

Commenting on the claims of chemical weapons usage on the 23rd December, an Obama administration official, who reviewed the document, noted that they "can't definitely say 100 percent, but Syrian contacts made a compelling case that Agent 15 was used in Homs Dec.23."

Speaking to reporters about the content of the cable, the US State Department Spokesman, Patrick Ventrell, reiterated the official stance on Syria.

"I'm not going to comment on the alleged content of a classified cable. As you know, the United states closely monitors Syria's proliferation-sensitive materials and facilities, and we believe Syria's chemical weapons stockpile remains secured by the Syrian government. We have been clear that if Assad's regime makes the tragic mistake of using chemical weapons or failing to secure them, it will be held accountable."

The evidence of chemical weapons surfaces as the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, with both the rebels and the government blaming each other for a devastating bomb blast that occurred today, killing 82 university students

The Swiss foreign minister has said Switzerland will file a petition on Monday to call on the International Criminal Court to open war crimes investigations in Syria.

“Serious war crimes are being committed in Syria. We must make sure they not go unpunished,” Didier Burkhalter told Swiss national television TSR.

“We’re submitting a proposal. Now it is up to the Security Council to decide.”

The Swiss initiative is reported to have the support of 52 countries. As Switzerland is not a signatory to the ICC, the UN Security Council needs to refer the petition to the court in The Hague.

The UN Security Council and US government have given the go-ahead for M23 rebels to be involved in peace talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo government despite placing sanctions against some of the rebel leaders.

The DRC's Minster of Defence and chief facilitator of the talks, Dr Crispus Kiyonga, confirmed the continuation of peace talks with the leaders, stating:

“Both parties (UN and US) have assured us that they support the dialogue and sanctions don’t interfere with dialogue. As long as member of the delegation has not been affected by sanctions he can go ahead and participate.”

Kiyonga added that travel exemption for key rebels would be sought, to enable full dialogue and participation in the peace talks.

Last week, the UN Security Council imposed travel bans on named M23 rebels, including a key figure in the dialogue, Jean-Marie Runiga.

“There were some initial hopes that the advent of a new leader might bring about some positive change in the human rights situation in DPRK. But a year after Kim Jong Un became the country’s new supreme leader, we see almost no sign of improvement.”

“I am also concerned that, at the international level, the spotlight is almost exclusively focused on DPRK’s nuclear programme and rocket launches. While these, of course, are issues of enormous importance, they should not be allowed to overshadow the deplorable human rights situation in DPRK, which in one way or another affects almost the entire population and has no parallel anywhere else in the world.”

“We have only had glimpses of this terrible system from those who do succeed in getting out, but what we do know should compel the international community to action.”

“For this reason, I believe it is time the international community took a much firmer step towards finding the truth and applying serious pressure to bring about change for this beleaguered, subjugated population of 20 million people.”

“For years now, the Government of DPRK has persistently refused to cooperate with successive Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in the DPRK appointed by the Human Rights Council, or with my Office,”

“For this reason, and because of the enduring gravity of the situation, I believe an in-depth inquiry into one of the worst – but least understood and reported – human rights situations in the world is not only fully justified, but long overdue.”