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."

"I admit immediately that I was one of the persons who helped to form Umkhonto we Sizwe. I deny that Umkhonto was responsible for a number of acts which clearly fell outside the policy of the organisation, and which have been charged in the indictment against us. I, and the others who started the organisation, felt that without violence there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed by legislation, and we were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or to defy the government. We chose to defy the law."

"We first broke the law in a way which avoided any recourse to violence; when this form was legislated against, and then the government resorted to a show of force to crush opposition to its policies, only then did we decide to answer violence with violence."

"Each disturbance pointed to the inevitable growth among Africans of the belief that violence was the only way out - it showed that a government which uses force to maintain its rule teaches the oppressed to use force to oppose it."

"I came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be unrealistic to continue preaching peace and non-violence. This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle. I can only say that I felt morally obliged to do what I did."

"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

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,

“We are going through scary days and unfortunately what happened at the United Nations is absolutely regrettable,”

“No matter how powerful, countries cannot rule the whole world,”

“The world is ruled by brains by justice, by morals and by fairness.”

The Saudi king's address comes as the Assad regime continues to face increasing international isolation.

Following on from the US, UK, EU and Gulf states, ejecting Syrian diplomats and ambassadors, Libya's new leaders gave Syria's charge d'affaires and his staff 72 hours to leave Tripoli.

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,

“If Europe and the US want to stop exports to Iran, why should [India] follow suit? Why shouldn’t we tap that opportunity?”

Earlier this week, the Nancy Powell, the US Ambassador-Designate to Delhi, has said that she hoped to see Indian-Iranian trade "significantly reduced", adding,

 “This is going to be a very important topic and one of those that I will be dealing with very seriously and very early in my tenure."

Khullar's remarks come as a number of Indian officials have publicly defended Indian-Iranian ties, underscoring Delhi's decision that it will only abide by UN sanctions.

Previously Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had said,

“We sincerely believe this issue can be and should be resolved by giving maximum scope to diplomacy.”

Last month during a visit to the US, Pranab Mukherjee, India’s Finance Minister said,

“Iran is an important country for India despite US and European sanctions on Iran."

Commenting on India's decision, the UK newspaper, The Times, remarked in its Saturday editorial,

"It is hard to see why Britain should actively sponsor India’s taking a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council if it is prepared to be so cavalier with one of the world’s most evident threats."

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.

The condition of the person is unknown, but marks an increasingly violent time in the region, the likes of which have not been seen since deadly riots in 2008. Protests against Chinese authorities have been growing over the past year, along with the self immolations, through which at least 13 people have died.

Reports have also indicated that China has fired three officials in the region for failing to crack down on the unrest, which they allege has been instigated by the “Dalai clique”.

Lobsang Sangay, the leader of Tibetans' self-declared exile government, commented,

"Any human being given a choice would like to live rather than die, but Tibetans inside Tibet are giving up their lives ... for Tibet and Tibetan people because the occupation of Tibet is unacceptable."

The Tibetan New Year is set to take place on February 22nd, for which Sangay alleged “hundreds of convoys” of armed Chinese military personnel were mobilising into the Tibetan regions.

Sangay, who is currently in India, went on to state,

"If the Chinese government think that the Tibet issue can be solved through violence, intimidation, then it's not going to happen, because the Tibetan spirit is strong,"

See our earlier posts:

Clashes in Tibet after self-immolation (14 Jan 2012)

2 more Tibetans self immolate in China (09 Jan 2012)

Cultural genocide fans self-immolations – Dalai Lama (07 Nov 2011)

A minister has been charged for the role he played in a massacre that killed scores of people in the Guinean capital Conakry in 2009.

Over 157 people were killed and at least 100 women were raped during an attack by Guinean troops on civilians protesting against military rule.

Colonel Tiegboro Camara is the most senior official charged in coinnection with the killings.

Camara, the current minister in charge of fighting drugs trafficking and organised crime, was named in a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) as being in command of the soldiers who attacked over 50,000 protesteers.

"Ensuring justice for the 2009 victims and their families would help break the cycle of violence, fear, and impunity that has blighted the lives and hopes of so many Guineans for so many years," Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher for HRW, said on Thursday.

Members of the European Union and several Gulf countries have recalled their ambassadors to Syria.

Germany, France, Spain and Belgium announced the move today along with the Gulf Cooperation Council, whose members are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The Gulf Cooperation Council also expelled Syrian envoys to their member countries from Syrian Embassies.

The EU will keep its head of delegation in Damascus to observe events “on the ground,” bloc spokesman Michael Mann said.

Germany said it was responding to the arrest of two Syrian nationals in Berlin thought to be spying on ro-opposition groups in the country.

“We will signal unambiguously to Syrian officials that any apparent activity against the Syrian opposition in Germany is in no way tolerable and a violation of the law,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters in Berlin today.

Spain said it acted because of “the increase in repression of the civilian population” in Syria, the Foreign Ministry said in an e-mailed statement from Madrid today.

The recalls come a day after the US and the UK recalled its ambassadors diplomatic staff from Damascus.

A man accused of committing war crimes, while one of the leaders of a faction during the Liberian civil war, has been ordered to leave the US.

George Boley Sr. was the head of the Liberian Peace Council, which is accused of massacring dozens of villagers between 1994 and 1995 and of recruiting child soldiers.

Mr Boley, 62, lived near New York with his family and worked as a school administrator.

A trial in 2010-11 ruled that Mr Boley committed atrocities in Liberia and resided in the US without valid documents.

An immigration tribunal held on Monday that this conviction made him inadmissible to the United States.

The removal order is the first obtained by the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) under the Child Soldiers Accountability Act of 2008, which added the recruitment and use of child soldiers as grounds for deportation.

"This historic immigration judge's ruling is the culmination of extensive efforts by Homeland Security Investigations special agents and ICE attorneys to bring George Boley to justice for his crimes," ICE Director John Morton said.

However, according to the former chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia, Mr Boley could be a free man once deported and not face justice for his crimes.

“I don’t have the full understanding of the legal reasons why he’s being removed, but it is my understanding that he was being held for immigration violations and that his records during the crisis in Liberia also put him in a very unfavorable condition.

"But, he’s going home to Liberia where there are others who have been accused of human rights violations in Liberia, and he's ’going to be a virtual free man in Liberia, just like the others.

“Liberia seems to be a colony that harbors perpetrators. Second to that, there is no political will to take action on the TRC report, apparently because the people in authority, the current regime, do not have the political will to take action on the TRC process.

"So, what we have is a land of impunity. So, if Boley goes home, he joins his peers,” said former chairman of the TRC, Jerome Verdier.

"Your days are numbered. It is time and past time for you to transfer power responsibly and peacefully."

"should start considering all options, including arming the opposition. The bloodletting has got to stop."

"A cult of violence has been coming to the fore in international affairs in the past decade."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been summoned for questioning by members of Parliament, marking the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that that a President has been summoned.

Ahmadinjead’s opponents and MPs have been threatening to take similar steps for some time as Iran faces a sharp economic downturn and rise in inflation and international tension over its nuclear program.

The President now has one month before he has to appear in Parliament, where he will face questioning from MPs. This means that he may appear after the country’s parliamentary elections, which are due to take place on the 2nd of March, the first set of elections since Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election in 2009.

The questions he is set to face are thought to mainly relate to the economy, which looks set to face a further stumbling block after sanctions hit Iran in June later this year.

See our earlier posts:

Iran warns Arab nations not to comply with sanctions (16 Jan 2012)

EU agrees on embargo on Iranian oil (04 Jan 2012)

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have hailed India’s vote for a UN Security Council resolution calling for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

“By supporting this resolution, South Africa, India and Pakistan rose to the occasion and sided with the Syrian people”

"India has seen through (Bashar) Assad's lies, and shown itself to be an independent world leader," Human Rights Watch said.

India was criticised in 2009 for preventing a resolution condemning abuses committed during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka, which killed over 40,000 Tamils in a few months.

The UN has estimated around 6,000 deaths in Syria since the uprising started in March last year.

"We recognize the limited nature of the sales, and we acknowledge that the Bahraini government has taken some positive steps with respect to human rights in recent months."

"However, it has not done enough to justify the sale of any military items or services to Bahrain."

"Tragically, even a brief survey of reports from reliable sources makes clear that the Bahraini government continues to perpetrate significant human rights violations."

"In fact, it is noteworthy that the Bahraini government has pursued prosecutions against protestors far more aggressively than it has pursued prosecutions against senior government officials or security forces who have been responsible for grave abuses over the past year."

"We are deeply concerned that the Government of Bahrain is trying to shield itself from scrutiny. In the last three weeks alone, Bahrain has denied entry to prominent independent human rights monitors, including Brian Dooley of Human Rights First and Richard Sollom of Physicians for Human Rights."

The UK and US have recalled ambassadors from Syria, further increasing pressure on the Assad regime.

Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, said in a statement Monday,

"While we meet, the gravest of crimes are being committed in Syria. Responsibility for those crimes lies overwhelmingly at the door of the Syrian authorities ... We should unite behind the Arab League plan, and that is what I urge all members of the council to do, this week."

"With each day that passes, finding a way back from the brink will be harder and innocent lives will be needlessly and wrongfully lost, deaths which this council could help to avert by acting in a united manner."

"To fail to do so would be to undermine the credibility of this institution, betray the Syrian people, snub the Arab League, and fail in this council's responsibilities."

Responding to the withdrawal however, Russia announced it will be sending a mission to Damascas.

A statement by the Russian foreign ministry said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the mission to Damascus because Russia “firmly intends to seek the swiftest stabilization of the situation in Syria on the basis of the swiftest implementation of democratic reforms whose time has come.”