The Australian parliament adopted a resolution Saturday, confirming the judgement of the International Criminal Court at the Hague, that the massacre of over 8000 Bosnian muslims in Srebenica in 1995, was a genocide.

The US, Canada, and European Union countries, have already adopted such a resolution.

The founder of France's far-right, National Front part, Le Pen, was found guilty of condoning war crimes on Thursday, and given a suspended jail sentence of three months and a fine.

In 2005, Le Pen had remarked that the Nazi occupation of France during the second world war, “not been particularly inhumane, even if there were blunders.”

A referendum by ethnic Serbs in the north of Kosovo have rejected rule by the Kosovo authority in Pristina.
Kosovo Serb election officials said 99.7% of voters rejected rule by the ethnic Albanian majority.

Serbs in the north of Kosovo have obstructed attempts by the Kosovo government to establish authority in the region and have rejected attempts by NATO forces to implement law and order.

The Iranian oil ministry has denied state media reports claiming it has ended exports to various EU countries in response to an EU oil embargo.

Press TV, an Iranian channel recently banned in the UK by Ofcom, claimed exports to the Netherlands, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain were cancelled.

“On top of this, we must end any illusion the regime has that it can act with impunity in Syria. There is no doubt that mass murder is being committed. Some 6,000 people have already been sacrificed to the regime's brutal determination to cling to power. Those carrying out these crimes may well think that they will get away with it.

Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Bahrain's capital, Manama, to mark the one-year anniversary of pro-democracy uprisings.

Protesters gathered around Pearl Square, now commonly referred to as 'Freedom Square', the epicentre of last year's demonstrations, and vowed to fight on. 

The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has told reporters that China will not protect Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

The statement, which marks a significant change in tone since vetoing a UN resolution condemning the crackdown on opposition activists, is thought to be a move designed to limit damage after widespread criticism of its perceived protection of the Syrian state.

An EU official has announced the approval of a $128m aid package for Burma to develop the country’s infrastructure, in a sign of further easing of sanctions placed on the state.

Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said the package would be for improving the country’s health, education and basic infrastructure.

The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, criticised the Security Council for failing to agree on "collective action", which she said "appears to have emboldened the Syrian government.

Addressing UN delegates in New York Monday, Pillay said,

In commemoration of the 22nd anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from jail, Mandela's image will be printed on five new South African bank notes — 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 rand.

Announcing the news, current president, Jacob Zuma, said,

“It is my honour and pleasure to announce that new South African banknotes will bear the image of President Mandela, the first President of a free, democratic South Africa."

“It is a befitting tribute to a man who became a symbol of this country’s struggle for freedom, human rights and democracy."

“With this humble gesture, we are expressing our deep gratitude as the South African people, to a life spent in service of the people of this country and in the cause of humanity worldwide.”

The notes will feature an image of Mandela taken in 1990, the year of his release.

In 1962, Mandela was arrested and convicted of sabotage, along with other crimes, and sentenced to life in prison.

A front-line anti-apartheid campaigner within the African National Congress (ANC), Mandela was one of the forming members and subsequent leader of the ANC's military wing - MK or Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation).

The ANC was outlawed as an unlawful organisation in 1960, and was until 2008, on the United States' terrorism watch list, along side Nelson Mandela and other ANC members.

In 1964, during his trial, Mandela defended the actions of the ANC and the justification for the actions of Umkhonto we Sizwe, in a speech - 'An ideal for which I am prepared to die'.

See here for speech in full and original recording.

Extracts reproduced below:

"Some of the things so far told to the court are true and some are untrue. I do not, however, deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression of my people by the whites."

The king of Saudi Arabia, in an uncharacteristic outburst, criticised the veto of the UN Security Council resolution on Syria as "absolutely regrettable".

In a national televised address, King Abdullah said,

Citing the increasing sanctions imposed on Iran, India's minister of trade, Rahul Khullar, said Friday, there is no reason why India should not "tap that opportunity", and announced the visit of a "huge" Indian delegation to IRan later this month.

Khullar is reported to have said,

A man, believed to be a monk, has set himself alight in South-Western China, protesting against the Chinese government, becoming the 20th such person to do so in the past year alone.