A no-confidence motion brought by the main Ukrainian opposition has been defeated by parliament. The motion would have put more pressure on the government to resign, over the direction the country is taking in its foreign relations.

Ukraine has seen over 100,000 people protest against a government decision not to sign an association deal with the European Union. Clashes between police and protestors occurred over the weekend, with Prime Minister Mykola Azarov apologising for the violence meted out by security forces.

'Our objective is to create a consistent set of guidelines that are used by first responders to ensure that survivors of these attacks receive consistent and sympathetic responses but also that information that is collected from them (physical and testimony) is taken and stored in a way that assists future prosecutions or other justice mechanisms.

“We are ready.. Everything is in place and will be set in motion.”

The United Nations forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for the first time, launched unmanned aircraft drones to monitor the unsettled border of Rwanda and Uganda.

The drones will be used to identify threats from armed groups in the highly charged conflict regions in eastern Congo.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has said that an UN inquiry has shown that officials at the “highest level”, including President Bashar al-Assad, have authorised war crimes and human rights violations in Syria.

A Commission of Inquiry into Syria has produced "massive evidence... [of] very serious crimes, war crimes, crimes against humanity."

Responsibility was to be found "at the highest level of government, including the head of state", Pillay said.

Protests in Thailand intensified today as Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, rejected demands to step down.

Explaining the reasons behind her dismissal of demands she said,

“Anything I can do to make people happy, I am willing to do…. But as prime minister, what I can do must be under the constitution.”

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) has ended a ceasefire agreement with the Malian government, in force since June.

The Tuareg separatist group made the move after clashes between protestors, who demonstrated against a visit by President Oumar Tatam Ly, and Malian troops.

"What happened is a declaration of war. We will deliver this war," the MNLA's vice-president, Mahamadou Djeri Maiga, told AFP.

The British Premier, David Cameron, flew to China with intention of establishing a multi-billion-dollar free trade deal between Beijing and the European Union, on  Sunday.

Cameron, accompanied by the largest ever British business delegation to another nation, emphasised the UK’s desire to play an important role in China’s expansion as the world’s second biggest economy.

"Border police in the night were searching for illegal Palestinian workers,"