HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

Former U.S. Secretary of State Warren M. Christopher has died, his law firm said on Saturday. His long career as a lawyer and diplomat included a leadership role in promoting peace in the Balkans. He was 85.

Egypt’s fearsome ex-interior minister Habib el-Adly has been put on trial in Cairo, facing charges of corruption and instructing his officers to use deadly violence against protesters last month who demonstrated against the regime of Hosni Mubarak.

Talibanism is on the rise in Pakistan and the government is helpless about it, Wednesday's ruthless assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, the nation's only Christian lawmaker to hold a cabinet rank, has confirmed.

Militants linked to the Taliban shot dead Pakistan's minorities affairs minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who was a staunch critic of the controversial blasphemy law, on Wednesday.

The United Nations General Assembly suspended Libya from the Human Rights Council, expressing its deep concern over the killings of hundreds of anti-government protesters in the country.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has unanimously recommended suspension of Libya from the Geneva-based body in response to bloody crackdown launched by the Libyan government on protesters.

The United Nations Human Rights Council has condemned the ongoing violence in Libya and ordered an international probe into alleged abuses carried out by government forces against protesters.

Libyan dictator Gaddafi reiterates 'hallucinogenic drugs' blame to justify violence against protesters even as a close aide withdraws support.

The Canadian government was hit by an unprecedented cyber attack from Chinese-based computers last month that penetrated two key economic ministries, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported on Wednesday.

The 'Provisions on News Information Services', which was issued in 2005, states that the purpose of news websites is not to inform the public of the facts, but instead to “serve socialism” and to “safeguard the nation’s interests and the public interest.”

In an attempt to sabotage the pro-democracy protests, Iran has censored internet by slowing speed, electronic communication and the media has been gagged.

A special security court in Syria has sentenced 19-year-old blogger Tal al-Mallohi to five years in jail on charges of “revealing information to a foreign country,” according to state officials.

A Pakistani court charged a police guard Monday with the murder of a politician who opposed the country's anti-blasphemy laws, a killing that exposed deep fissures in Pakistani society.

Wisconsin's new Republican governor on Friday proposed sharply curtailing the bargaining rights of public employee unions and other cost-saving measures to rein in the state's growing budget deficit.Governor Scott Walker said he will ask the Republican-controlled legislature to pass his budget repair bill next week. He said it was aimed at bringing stability to state finances and stave off employee layoffs this year.

A bill to extend the life of three provisions of the Patriot Act was defeated at the US House of Representatives on Tuesday. The bill was short of 284 votes to pass although it required only two-third majority.

The party of Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi recommended on Monday maintaining Western sanctions on the country, saying the embargoes affected the military regime and not the broader population.

Britain, worried about a growing threat from cyber espionage and cyber crime, offered Friday to host an international conference to tackle such issues.

KTRK television station in Houston, Tex. Is showing a video that appears to show Houston police officers beating, kicking and stomping on a teen burglary suspect last March.

A female Pakistani politician has withdrawn her proposal to amend the nation’s laws of blasphemy after it became clear the government would not change it.

Iran has witnessed a dramatic increase in executions so far in 2011, United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay said Wednesday and her office said the rate was three times that of last year.

The United States has urged Iran to stop executions, expressing deep anguish over the disregard for human rights of citizens in the country.