A record 33.3 million people worldwide were displaced by conflict and violence inside their own nations in 2013, U.N. and Norwegian officials said Wednesday.

The increase of 4.5 million above the 2012 total was driven largely by Syria’s civil war, now in its fourth year, which activists estimate has killed 150,000 people.

The heads of the U.N. refugee agency and Norwegian Refugee Council reported that 8.2 million fled their homes in the last year, including about 3.5 million in Syria alone. The other two-thirds of the 33.3 million displaced by war worldwide had fled in previous years.

Every 60 seconds another family within Syria flees the civil war, according to the figures.

A giant trench is being built on Iraq’s border with Syria to prevent militants and smugglers passing into the country.

The trench, the work of the Kurdistan Regional Government, is thought to be 11 miles (17 kilometres) long, two yards deep and three yards wide.

It has been reported that smugglers have started to operate in the border areas as they became insecure with Syrian authorities losing control of them.

The trench is on the northern Iraqi border near to Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

Kurdistan has largely managed to insulate itself against the violence afflicting Syria and the rest of Iraq.

But the digging of the ditch has proved controversial with some political parties, who have described it as unnecessary.

Justin Bieber apparently just had another run in with the law. A representative for Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to media on Tuesday night, May 13 that the Canadian heartthrob was accused of committing an alleged robbery attempt.

The alleged victim reported the incident on Monday night at 10:30 P.M. West Coast time and was interviewed on Tuesday night. Police believe that the alleged victim was not injured during the alleged robbery attempt. By late Tuesday, Bieber has not been interviewed and he was not arrested.

The 20-year-old star reportedly suspected that she took photos of him with her phone. He asked for the phone so he could delete the photo, but the woman refused to give it and put it in her purse.

According to the woman, she and Bieber then had a wrestling battle. The pop star ended up getting the phone, but it was locked. She unlocked it and showed him that she took no photos. The woman allegedly told Bieber that she and her daughter only wanted to said hello to him.