Researchers spent years collecting evidence of Russian war crimes in Syria, using everything from social media to satellite images. Open-source research has evolved. Could it help bring justice to Ukraine faster?

The upsurge in violence in Syria combined with its plummeting economy are making life increasingly bleak for civilians, United Nations investigators say.

In this edition, an investigatory committee for the United Nations is accusing the Malian army of committing war crimes, in a report detailing violence in the country in recent years. Also, the UN is appealing for more than $150 million in additional funding to urgently improve conditions for refugees who have fled fighting in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. And, the Ivory Coast is setting up its first protected marine area as it seeks to protect endangered marine wildlife. We speak to Angela Formia from the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Investigators found that authorities have used unnecessary levels of aggression against protesters resulting in serious injuries and even deaths. The anti-government unrest has been ongoing for almost two months.

Dutch investigators say they have intercepted telephone calls that implicate the Russian government in the MH17 downing over Ukraine in 2014.

Dutch prosecutors are looking into a terrorist motive in the Utrecht shooting attack after a note was found in a getaway car. Meanwhile, investigators have yet to find a link between the suspect and the victim.

Investigators now believe a Chinese student who vanished from campus at the University of Illinois is dead. An Illinois man has been arrested in the case.