HUMAN RIGHTS

It could almost be scripted. A U.S. politician threatens to take China on if he makes the White House. The official Chinese press level a barrage of criticism laced with sarcasm. Beijing's Foreign Ministry steps in offering a milder diplomatic response.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on his way to Cuba for a fourth round of chemotherapy on Saturday, dismissed an international court ruling that cleared a key opposition candidate to run against him in 2012.

Italy Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's boastful conversations about his sexual encounters with eight women in one night, were wire-tapped as part of the ongoing investigation into an alleged prostitution ring surrounding him.

Opposition and human rights activists claim that Havana authorities have upgraded their harassment and persecution of dissident groups in the Communist country.

The Obama administration will tell Congress on Friday it plans to upgrade Taiwan's existing fleet of F-16 fighter jets, said sources involved in a deal likely to anger China while disappointing a Taiwan government that was seeking more advanced aircraft.

The fun application asked people to guess whether French celebrities were Jewish or not.

The number of Mexicans seeking asylum in the United States has steadily increased since 2006, when Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched an aggressive war on drug cartels.

Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip violates international law, a panel of human rights experts reporting to a U.N. body said on Tuesday, disputing a conclusion reached by a separate U.N. probe into Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship.

Libyan transitional forces besieging a bastion of forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi on Tuesday gave residents two days to leave before a threatened onslaught, and fears rose for the fate of civilians trapped in the last redoubts of the fallen strongman.

Libya's interim leader has made his first public speech in Tripoli, warning against reprisals after Moammar Gadhafi loyalists struck out at the revolutionaries pursuing them.

Many of these people go to jail without even speaking to an attorney.

Aisling McNiffe's voice crackles when she talks about her son's school prospects.

A right-wing retired general promising a crackdown on rampant crime led Guatemala's presidential election Sunday, although he fell short of the votes needed to avoid a runoff in November.

Right-wing retired general Otto Perez took an early lead in Guatemala's presidential election Sunday, promising a crackdown on gangs and rampant crime.

The events of Sept. 11, 2001 stunned the United States and the world, and pushed both in to a new era: The day remains the most important international event since the end of the Cold War with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

China and the United States should reduce trade and investment barriers to create jobs, U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke said on Friday, striking a broadly cooperative tone in his first official public address since assuming the position in August.

It's an underground prison in the compound of the presidential palace.

Two lawsuits by three Chinese dissidents and a human rights group accusing Cisco Systems Inc. of abetting imprisonment and torture could have far-reaching impact on how U.S. technology companies conduct business in authoritarian regimes.

South African President Jacob Zuma appointed evangelical pastor Mogoeng Mogoeng to the Chief Justice position on Thursday. But, the choice of Mogoeng, who will now hear the country's Constitutional Court, has already sparked fury in some South Africans.

Gulnara GooGoosha Karimova is probably hoping her Fashion Week critics have kinder words than the diplomats who described her role in Uzbekistan's brutally repressive government.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's threat to get tough with Chinese trade practices has moved China from the background to a potentially significant issue in the 2012 presidential campaign.