HUMAN RIGHTS

France's data protection regulator will launch an official investigation into Google's new privacy policy and said that its preliminary view was that it did not conform with European laws on protecting individuals' privacy.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could be classified as a war criminal, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said as the United Nations announced more than 7,500 civilians had been killed by his forces since the start of the revolt.

Tunisia would be an unusual and ironic place for Assad, since the country was the first “Arab Spring” nation to depose its own long-time dictato

Human rights chief Navi Pillay cited the “rapidly deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation.”

The dramatic spike in state-sponsored killings likely represent an attempt by the authorities to crush dissent ahead of parliamentary elections early next month.

On one of the bloodiest days of the yearlong uprising in Syria, survivors of an alleged massacre at a checkpoint in Homs said women had been kidnapped. Later, in farmland near Abel, 64 bodies were found with bullet holes and stab wounds.

Many unanswered questions remain about the abuses perpetrated by the Franco regime.

A source revealed some of the 231 names that have been submitted for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, according to the Associated Press.

As Syrians head to the polls, the European Union imposed a new set of sanctions on Monday in an attempt to get President Bashar al-Assad to call off his assault on the city of Homs and on opposition protestors.

At least 59 Syrian civilians and soldiers were killed Sunday in bloodshed that coincided with a vote on a new constitution that could keep President Bashar al-Assad in power until 2028.

At least 31 Syrian civilians and soldiers were killed Sunday in fighting over Syria's future that coincided with a vote on a new constitution that could keep President Bashar al-Assad in power until 2028.

Dozens of democracy activists -- 16 Americans among them -- go on trial in Egypt Sunday in a politically charged case that has led to a crisis in relations between Cairo and Washington while threatening $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid to the North African nation.

The Syrian military took its bombardment of the rebel-held Baba Amro district of Homs into a fourth week on Saturday as the Red Cross attempted to evacuate more distressed civilians from the city. At least 28 people were killed in Syria on Saturday, including nine in Homs.

President Bashar al-Assad's forces killed 103 people in Syria on Friday in the bombardment of the besieged city of Homs and in attacks on the countryside of Hama and the east and north of the country, the activist group Local Coordination Committees said.

The Supreme Court will weigh next week whether corporations can be sued in the United States for suspected complicity in human rights abuses abroad, in a case being closely watched by businesses concerned about long and costly litigation.

Italy has been fined by a European court for violating the human rights of African migrants.

Russia and China have both boycotted the Tunis summit, rejecting its aims as promoting “interference” in Syria’s internal affairs

Japan is attending the “Friends of Syria” peace summit in Tunisia, which is seeking answers to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people and to put an end to Assad’s crackdown

India’s role at the summit will be “observational.”

Russia and China were almost universally lambasted for vetoing a resolution by the UN Security Council to officially condemn Assad

Western and Arab countries on Friday will demand that Syria allow aid to be delivered to desperate civilians, despite the lack of international resolve to intervene to end a crackdown on foes of President Bashar al Assad's regime. Violence during the uprising has claimed thousands of Syrians' lives.