HUMAN RIGHTS

He's the flashiest tycoon in one of Asia's poorest cities, with a canary-yellow Lamborghini parked outside his neoclassical mansion.

The Kimberley Process only addresses diamonds produced in areas controlled by rebel militias. It doesn’t take into consideration violence committed by government forces.

The focus now turns to Friday, when activists have called for the largest demonstrations against the continued rule of President Bashar al-Assad in a move set to test the regime's willingness to hold to the truce.

Rights groups also demanded Bajadi’s immediate release and called for a fair public trial for the activist.

Syria was due to observe a ceasefire from dawn Thursday, but its fierce attacks on opposition neighborhoods in the run up to the U.N. deadline fuelled widespread doubts it would comply.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry said on Thursday that it has uncovered a large and sophisticated Israeli-backed terrorists network that was planning attacks inside Iran.

Three days after being sworn into office, Malawi's first female president Joyce Banda is hard at work trying to bring the African country back to a place of economic stability.

Malaysian government took a significant move towards reinforcing the human rights and political reforms in the country, by introducing a legislation that would end indefinite detainments without trial.The Security Offenses (Special Measures) Bill will repeal and replace the Internal Security Act of 1960, which gave the government power to arrest anyone suspected as national security threat and detain him without trial for an indefinite period.

Despite reports of fighting in at least two towns, President Bashar al-Assad's government claimed military forces had begun pulling out of some areas in compliance with the ceasefire agreement to withdraw forces from towns and villages by Tuesday.

Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri and four other men had been fighting extradition, saying they would face inhumane conditions in the supermax federal prison in Florence, Colo.

Saif, the second son of deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has been held captive in a secret prison since his capture during last year's uprising.

Former KGB chief Leonid Tibilov was named the president of South Ossetia, a breakaway republic within the nation of Georgia, on Sunday.

Apart from the hype surrounding the young Bhutto scion, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's private visit to India, designed as a religious pilgrimage, has failed to address the Kashmir question, which is the single most critical issue that shapes the diplomatic relations between both the nations.

Millions of Internet users in Iran will be permanently denied access to the World Wide Web and cut off from popular social networking sites and email services, as the government has announced its plans to establish a national Intranet within five months.

At least 27 Syrian soldiers, rebels and civilians were killed in violence, opposition activists said, four days before a troop pullback agreed by President Bashar al-Assad as part of a UN-backed peace plan.

Omar Suleiman, Egypt's vice president under Hosni Mubarak from Jan. 29 to Feb. 11 last year, has declared his intention to run as a candidate in the country's presidential election this spring.

Four days before a ceasefire is supposed to begin, Syrian forces have stepped up their campaign to crush dissidents, sending more tanks, troops and gunship helicopters into opposition towns and cities.

In the Obama administration's latest effort to punish government officials who leak information to the press, the Justice Department has indicted a former Central Intelligence Agency officer for allegedly telling journalists details of counterterrorism operations.

On its website, the group representing Tuareg rebels cites atrocities and more than 50 years of bad governance as reasons for declaring independence from Mali, whose government was toppled in a March 22 coup.

Seventy eight year old Malawi President Mutharika died after a heart attack.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that Syria's conflict is deepening and attacks on civilian areas show no sign of abating.