HUMAN RIGHTS

Blind Chinese rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who escaped house arrest, enjoyed his initial hours of freedom in New York Saturday even as his relatives and supporters are facing the ire of Chinese authorities back in his country.

Capping an extraordinarily eventful four weeks, Chen Guangcheng -- a blind attorney known as the Barefoot Lawyer -- flew to the U.S. from China on Saturday. Chen began the day in a Beijing hospital and ended it in a New York apartment building, according to multiple media reports.

Chinese blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng and his family were allowed to leave Beijing on a plane headed to the U.S. on Saturday, indicating a that a diplomatic impasse between the two countries may be over.

A wealthy Chinese criminal whose flight to Canada had embarrassed both governments for more than a decade was sentenced to life for bribery, smuggling, and tax evasion.

Human Rights Watch released a new report that documents an epidemic of sexual harassment and sexual violence against female immigrant farmworkers by employers, supervisors, and others in the workplace.

Speaking from Damascus on Friday, a leader of the United Nations observer mission in Syria said the U.N. monitors' presence alone would not be enough to stop the ongoing violence there.

On Thursday, the country of Myanmar saw its first-ever gay pride celebrations to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

U.S. will begin to issue licenses to allow investments in the country, but maintain the arms embargo.

Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fuele visited the Turkish capital on Thursday to launch a new positive agenda aimed at overcoming the numerous hurdles to the country joining the union.

Afghanistan, bracing for a potential sharp decline in financial support from the West amid fears of a fresh military offensive by the Taliban insurgents, has demanded $4.1 billion a year for its security forces after the foreign troops pull out in 2014, ahead of the NATO summit starting Sunday.

Graffiti, some containing themes from the Anonymous movement, against Egypt's military rule has littered the streets of Cairo as its citizens' disillusion with the current regime continues to fester.

A group of retired Chinese Communist Party members have called for the resignation of Zhou Yongkang, the head of China's Public Security Ministry.

A report on Wednesday reveals that child marriage has become less prevalent in South Asia over the last two decades, but not for brides of all age groups. Adolescents over 15 are still marrying at about the same rate as they did two decades ago.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff inaugurated on Wednesday a truth commission set up to investigate human rights abuses during the country's military regime 27 years after democracy was restored.

The German hamlet of Villa Baviera in Central Chile wants to put its macabre history in the past and promote itself as a tourist destination.

The former Bosnian Serb general, on trial for the murder of tens of thousands of Muslim men, women and children during the early 1990s Bosnian war, entered The Hague courtroom clapping his hands and gave the thumbs-up sign.

Four South Korean activists have been detained by China in the northeastern city of Dalian. The activists were meeting with refugees from North Korea in China in order to learn about their experiences.

Texas, already facing flack for putting an innocent man to death in 2004, likely executed another innocent man in 1989, according to the university's Human Rights Law Review.

Former U.S. president George W. Bush told ABC News Tuesday that he supports White House hopeful Mitt Romney, the Republican party's presumptive nominee for president.

Japan has allowed the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) to meet in Tokyo on Monday, the first time the group has met in an Asian country, drawing renewed anger from China.

On Monday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited Myanmar to meet with top officials there. His decision to visit with Thein Sein signifies Myanmar's growing diplomatic importance in the region.