The UN war crimes tribunal has sentenced a former Rwandan army chief to 30 years in jail for his role in the 1994 genocide. Augustin Bizimungu is one of the most senior figures to be tried for the genocide that killed about 800,000 people. 

 

The United States and the European Union are planning more sanctions against Syria. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton have been discussing the Syrian crisis in Washington. Syria’s government is denying a mass grave has been found near the southern city of Deraa, the sign of a violent crackdown on dissidents. 

 

The National Broadband Network is about to make it to the mainland. Prime Minister Julia Gillard will switch it on at a service at a school in Armidale in northern New South Wales today. Up until now, the NBN has only been operating in Tasmania. 

 

And a coronial inquest into the asylum seeker boat tragedy off Christmas Island will get underway in Perth today. The inquest will look at how authorities responded to the tragedy and what surveillance, if any there was, on the boat. At least 30 people died when their boat broke apart in heavy seas last December.