The French foreign minister Laurent Fabius has confirmed that france will vote in support of Palestine’s bid to become a non-member state at the United Nations General Assembly.

"You know that for years and years France's consistent position has been the recognition of the Palestinian state," Fabius said to the lower house of parliament.

Unidentified gunmen, thought to be separatist rebels, have attacked a police station in Indonesia’s Papua province.

Three policemen were killed when dozens of gunmen attacked the station and set it alight.

Indonesian security forces have been increasing security in anticipation of the independence declaration anniversary coming up on December 1.

The Spanish government has said it would not enter talks with Basque separatist group ETA, after the group offered to hold discussions to bring about a “definitive end” to its armed struggle.

The country’s interior minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said that there would be no negotiations with a "terrorist organisation".

"evidence collected by my office will remain available to judicial authorities in the former Yugoslavia to facilitate national prosecutions for the crimes committed in connection with Operation Storm."

"The fact is that it is not Croatia that freed the generals, but that the highest legal authorities in The Hague decided that our generals are not guilty… It's a matter of respect toward the international community and international law."

"It's not going well with Croatia… He wants us to talk — me as the president of a nation which has committed crimes, and him as the president of a nation which has not been convicted of anything."

"Croatians know that the crime committed during the Storm is awful, but they still celebrate because no one was convicted… They are a nation on a wrong path."

“When indictment was issued against Ratko Mladić in the Srebrenica case, we did not even wait for the guilty verdict, the (Serbian) parliament immediately passed a resolution condemning the Srebrenica crime. Our government arrested (Ratko) Mladić and extradited him to the Hague. I know it (Srebrenica) was a crime, and I will never say that it was not."

Pro-Catalan independence parties won a majority in the region's election on Sunday.

Artur Mas' centre-right CiU part won 50 sets out of 135 and the left-wing separatist ERC won 21.

The Egyptian stock market took a plunge Sunday, the first day it was open since the president's announcement of his widening powers and exemption from judicial review.

The decree has sparked protests and strong opposition.

Leaders of four African countries have called on M23 rebels to stop fighting and withdraw from the city of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Reublic of Congo (DRC).

President Kabila of the DRC, and the presidents of Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya met in Kampala on Sunday. Rwanda was represented by its foreign minister.

The Basque separatist group ETA called on the Spanish and French governments to hold discussions towards dis-arming, ceasing military operations, and the return of ETA prisoners to the Basque region.

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has faced strong opposition, following a decree issued on Thursday, that consolidated power over the judiciary with the president.

Amidst protests in Cairo square, prominent Egyptian democracy advocate Mohammed ElBaradei called on the president revoke the decree that granted him near absolute powers over the judiciary.

Ahead of a pivotal election on Sunday, Artur Mas, Catalonia's president, outlined his views on the call for independence. Highlighting the rejection of Catalonia's call for greater tax-raising powers, assaults on the teaching of the Catalan language at schools and the dire Spanish economy, Mas pledged to hold a referendum on independence if he was to be re-elected.

Bahrain has convicted 23 medics who were involved in last year’s protest against the kingdom’s regime.

The medics were either sentenced to three months in prison or a fine.