Protesters throwing stones and bottles clashed with baton-wielding riot police in Belgrade after several thousand Serbian nationalist supporters of jailed war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic rallied outside the parliament building to demand his release.

Ratko Mladic could be on his way to face a war-crimes tribunal in The Hague as early as Monday, possibly joining his former ally Radovan Karadzic on trial for some of the worst horrors of the Balkan wars.

A JUDGE ruled yesterday that Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, the alleged mastermind of the Srebrenica massacre and other atrocities, was fit to face international justice at a war crimes court.

Dark horse contenders Michael Andrews and Gary Jules squeezed ahead at the last minute tonight to beat British retro rockers The Darkness to the coveted UK Christmas No 1 spot.

British actors Christian Bale and Hugh Dancy are in the running for the role of Batman in Hollywood’s latest movie about the Caped Crusader.