President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed Monday, that the Palestian Authority are to seek UN membership for the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly, beginning 20th September.  
 
Responding to accusations by Israeli and American officials that such a move is provacative and undermines peace negotiations, Abbas stressed that the two moves were not mutually exclusive and negotiations remained an absolute priority.
 
“Our first, second and third priority is negotiations,” said Abbas.
 
“There is no other way to solve this. No matter what happens at the United Nations, we have to return to negotiations," he added.
 
Abbas stressed that his vision was for the state of Palestine and Israel to live in peace and security as neighbours.
 
However, the Israeli President, Benjamin Netanyahu, maintains that UN recognition of Palestine would “set back peace, and might set it back for years.”
 
Despite President Obama's recent endorsement of a two-state solution with pre-1967 borders, sources within the administration have confirmed the United States' opposition to the Palestinian bid. 

Senior American officials are alleged to be actively attempting to disuade the Palestinians in the interim.  
 
The US has already vowed to veto any such bid at the Security Council. Observers expect Palestinians to seek observer status within the General Assembly, if the membership bid is unsuccessful.
 
“Some Israelis complain that this is a unilateral move, but when you address 193 countries, that is not unilateral,” said Abbas.
 
“We are going to complain that as Palestinians we have been under occupation for 63 years.”
 
“We don’t want to isolate Israel but to live with it in peace and security. We don’t want to delegitimize Israel. We want to legitimize ourselves.”

“Momcilo Perisic was found criminally responsible for aiding and abetting murder, inhumane acts, attacks on civilians and persecution on political, racial or religious grounds in Sarajevo and Srebrenica.”

The tribunal found that Perisic had provided “extensive logistical assistance" to ethnic Serb forces in Bosnia and Croatia including "vast quantities of infantry and artillery ammunition, fuel, spare parts, training and technical assistance".

Judge Moloto went on to say that this assistance "became more centralised, structured and co-ordinated during Gen Perisic's tenure".

The 573-page judgment said that,

“The crimes charged in this case were not perpetrated by rogue soldiers acting independently.

Rather, they were part of a lengthy campaign overseen by top (Bosnian Serb) officers on the Yugoslav Army’s payroll, including General Mladic.”

Prosecutor Mark Harmon also alleged that Perisic’s assistance played a major role in the massacres.

"He never personally killed anyone, he never personally set fire to a house in Bosnia and Croatia, [but he] aided and abetted those who did all these things.

This form of participation should not mitigate his responsibility."

Perisic was acquitted on a charge that he was directly responsible as a superior officer for the actions of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) in Srebenica.

The VRS was deemed to be under the control of General Mladic, one of the tribunal’s most wanted fugitives, who was arrested and transferred to The Hague after almost 16 years of hiding.

He will face charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Despite an attributed commitment to ‘non-interference’ in other countries, China is now well recognised for its pragmatism when it comes to international affairs. Libya is a case in point.

China had substantive investments in Libya and good relations with Muammar Gaddafi’s regime when the rebellion against it began this year.

Nonetheless, amid international outrage at the regime’s attacks on civilians, China stood aside at the UN Security Council vote in February on resolution 1973.

The resolution also imposed an arms embargo on Libya.

NATO adopted resolution 1973 as the mandate for its military intervention in Libya. However China also stridently criticised the NATO air campaign against Gaddafi’s forces.

As the opposition showed itself to be a credible challenge to the regime, Beijing began reaching out.

In early June the regime’s Foreign Minister Abdelati al-Obeidi was welcomed to Beijing. Barely two weeks later, so was the opposition’s top foreign affairs official, Mahmud Jibril.

On June 22, China recognized the opposition National Transitional Council (NTC) as "an important dialogue partner."

At the same time, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said:

"China is not seeking any private interest on the Libyan issue. China believes the Libyan issue is essentially Libyan internal issue."

Stressing "the future of Libya should be left to be decided by Libyan people," he urged the two sides in the Libyan conflicts to "truly give peace a chance," saying "this will work for the fundamental interests of the Libyan people."

However, as recently as late July, despite the UN arms embargo, Chinese arms firms were discussing weapons sales worth $200 million to the regime’s beleaguered forces. They include pistols, missiles and rocket launchers.

See The Telegraph’s report here.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry this week confirmed that Gaddafi representatives visited in July in a bid to buy arms, although it insisted that no contracts were signed and no weapons were shipped.

The NTC admits it is not clear whether any of the weapons had been paid for or shipped – something Beijing denies.

But other evidence shows Chinese weapons were either shipped to Gaddafi's forces via Algeria or taken from Algerian stockpiles that China later resupplied.

China and Russia had earlier questioned whether the supplying of weapons to rebels breached the terms of the UN embargo.

Also, China had been holding up the UN’s release to the rebels of frozen Libyan funds held overseas.

The NTC has in recent days accused Beijing of doing so in order to first secure guarantee of the safety of billions of dollars in Chinese investments in Libya.

Regarding the planned weapons sales, Abdel Raham Busim, the NTC military spokesman, said documentation was still being collected and the new government was considering bringing legal action against Beijing, possibly via the UN.

A European Union judge has decided to put a senior Kosovo politician and former rebel leader on trial for the alleged execution and torture of Serb prisoners during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

See AP’s report here.

The decision confirms an indictment filed by a EU prosecutor that Fatmir Limaj — a top former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army — ordered the execution of two captured Serb policemen "with gunshots to the head" and tortured another Serb captive.

Limaj is one of 11 former rebels to be tried for war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war.

The crimes allegedly took place in central Kosovo between early 1999 and June 1999, when Kosovo came under UN and NATO control.

“The easy thing might be for the Canadian government to ship Sosa back to the United States. The right thing would be for Canada to pursue its own investigation and look favourably on the opportunity to send him to Spain. Full accountability demands no less.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron has called for an independent inquiry into allegations that the British intelligence service MI6 was involved in the rendition of Libyan terror suspects.

CIA Documents discovered at an abandoned building in Tripoli suggest that MI6 worked with Libyan intelligence to forcibly move terror suspects to Libya, where they then may have been subjected to torture.

The secret documents suggest Britain facilitated the capture of Abdul Hakim Belhaj at Bangkok airport.

Belhaj, now military commander of Tripoli and NATO ally, was boarding a flight from Bangkok to London when he was apprehended by CIA agents and Thai officials. He was then rendered to Libya where he was visited by officials from various countries, including the UK and Germany.

He claims British officials knew he was being tortured but did nothing to help him.
“What happened to me and my family is illegal. It deserves an apology.” Belhaj said.

David Cameron made a statement in the British Parliament today, calling for a full inquiry into the allegations.

"We've asked the retired judge, Sir Peter Gibson, to examine issues around the detention and treatment of terrorist suspects overseas and this inquiry has already said it will look at these latest accusations very carefully.

"My concern throughout has been not only to remove any stain on Britain's reputation but also to deal with these accusations of malpractice so as to enable our security services to get on with the vital work that they do."

The Gibson inquiry was set up last year to investigate previous allegations of the UK’s complicity in torture and rendition.

Former Serb paramilitary commander Dragan Vasiljković has lost a libel suit against The Australian, after the newspaper accused him of war crimes committed during the Balkans conflict between 1991 and 1994 in an article published in 2005.

During the trial, details emerged of the crimes Vasiljković is said to have committed, including rape, torture and his admittance to committing a massacre.

The editor-in-chief of The Australian and The Weekend Australian, Chris Mitchell, said at the commencement of the trial in 2009:

"The Australian was placed in the extraordinary position of having to defend a defamation action by effectively conducting a de facto international war crimes trial in a civil court in Sydney while the nation state of Croatia was attempting to extradite the plaintiff for alleged war crimes in that country.

"Losing a case like this would have made it all the more difficult for media organisations to take on these kinds of stories, which are manifestly in the public interest, but incredibly expensive to defend, especially when the plaintiff does not have to produce any evidence of their ability to pay the huge costs involved."

Vasiljković is currently awaiting extradition to Croatia where he is sought in connection with the allegations. His barrister Clive Evatt has said that his client will be appealing the decision to the High Court.

The capital of the newly formed state of South Sudan will be shifted to Ramciel - believed to be the capital envisioned by John Garang, former leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

Ramciel is a small town north of the main city Juba. The local population are widely known to be long-standing staunch advocates of independence.

“It is a beautiful land,” said Barnaba Marial Benjamin, South Sudan’s information minister. “This is a long-term plan for a capital while we continue with our priorities.”

Officials stated that Juba was initially considered as the capital, however, the 12-square-mile site needed for new government buildings would have involved the uprooting of indigenous communities.

“There are indigenous communities in these areas. Unless they agree, we cannot just take their land,” explained Benjamin.

The planned moved comes amidst on-going fighting and conflict just north of South Sudan's border.

The Sudanese armed forces have been accused of indiscriminately bombing civilian areas in the Nuba mountains, where it claims rebels allied to South Sudan are situated.

See "Sudan continues indiscriminate bombing despite ceasefire"

European Union members announced a ban on all imports of Syrian oil Friday, as the Assad regime's brutal crackdown on civilian protesters continues.

The move comes over one week after EU officials announced sanctions on Syrian businesses and officials but stopped short of imposing a full oil embargo, reportedly due to concerns of the impact on civilians.

See 'EU extends sanctions on Syria, mulls oil embargo'

Around 90% of Syrian crude oil is exported to the EU.

"We note the development and will continue to extend the cooperation required. Belgium has outstandingly done a commendable job to bring fugitives of Genocide to justice".

"We simply hope that the Belgian courts do due diligence and that Neretse is tried. That's all that matters to us," Gauthier said.

"Canada remembers the suffering of the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust," Baird said.

"This monument will not only preserve their memory but will also educate visitors of all faiths and traditions about the causes and risks of hate. Let us use the lessons of the past to remind us of the importance of tolerance, to inspire us to uphold human rights and to prevent future acts of genocide."

"[This] will be a cathartic moment for all Cambodians.

While the crimes of the Khmer Rouge were committed over a quarter of a century ago, they remain ingrained in Cambodia's collective psyche.

I hope that this trial – coming as it does so many years after the crimes alleged against the accused were committed – provides all victims with some sense of justice, however delayed that justice may be."

"Certainly, the relatives of those who perished and the handful of those survivors who are left are seeking justice."

“While respecting the independence of the court, we hope that the court shares the same concern for fair, efficient, and expeditious proceedings in order to deliver justice for the Cambodian people.”

Russia's Foreign Ministry released a statement on its website Thursday, recognising the Libyan rebels' National Transitional Council as legitimate authorities.

"The Russian Federation recognises the National Transitional Council (NTC) as the current authorities."

"We proceed from the position that all previously agreed treaties and other mutual obligations ... will be implemented in good faith."

Under Libya's now deposed leader, Muammar Gaddafi, Moscow had established billions of dollars worth of arms, energy and infrastructure deals.

Moscow's announcement comes after months of Russian criticism of the NATO air strikes over Libya.

This announcement also coincides with the meeting of 60 delegations from states across the world, in Paris' Elysee Palace.

The meeting was organised to discuss post-conflict reconstruction and Libya's transition to democracy. Participating nations include France, UK, Italy, US, Germany and Qatar.

Ahead of the meeting, speaking to France's ambassadors, the French President, Nicholas Sarkozy, stated "With the countries present, with the UN, with the Arab League, with the African Union, we will turn the page on dictatorship and combat to open a new era of cooperation with a democratic Libya".

The Australian High Court deemed the government's plans to ship asylum seekers to Malaysia, to be a violation of Australia's laws and the country's commitments internationally.

The ruling centred on Malaysia's inability to guarantee the safety and well-being of asylum seekers in accordance with Australian law.

Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention. 

The High Court ruled:

[the country accepting Australia's asylum seekers] "must be legally bound by international law or its own domestic law to: provide access for asylum seekers to effective procedures for assessing their need for protection."

"Provide protection for asylum seekers pending determination of their refugee status."

"Provide protection for persons given refugee status pending their voluntary return to their country of origin or their resettlement in another country.”

Australia and Malaysia signed an agreement earlier this summer, whereby the majority of asylum seekers arriving in Australia would be shipped to Malaysia in order to have their claims processed by the UN office in Malaysia. Australia would accept 4000 UN approved refugees over a four year period in return.

The immigration minister, Chris Bowen, criticised the ruling as “profoundly disappointing.”

He warned that the possibility of similar deals with other nearby countries, acceptable to the court, had not been ruled out.