HUMAN RIGHTS

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has awarded the Tor Project for championing Internet by protecting Anonymity in an era of social media revolutions in Middle East and the North African country Libya.

At least eight United Nations staff-members and four protesters have been killed during protests in Afghanistan related to a purported burning of a Holy Quran, according to Afghan officials.

Bahrain has stepped up its crackdown on anti-government protesters (almost all of whom are (Shia Muslims) by arresting at least 300 activists in one massive sweep, thereby sending untold others into hiding. Those detained included a prominent blogger, Mahmood al-Yousif.

Today’s much-anticipated speech from Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, failed to lift the country’s emergency laws (which have been in effect since 1963) nor did he offer any concrete political reforms or concessions.

Facebook has taken down a page created by Palestinian supporters which called for a new ‘intifada’ (uprising) against Israel, after Israel officials and U.S. Jewish groups complained.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has vowed that all the illegal immigrants who have arrived on the island of Lampedusa from North Africa will soon be deported.

In his first public address to the Syrian nation since unrest broke out two weeks ago, President Bashar al-Assad blamed “conspirators” for the ongoing violence and vowed that he would defeat the “plot” against his country.

The following is a White House transcript of remarks by President Barack Obama to the nation on Libya from the National Defense University in Washington D.C. on March 28, 2011.

BRUSSELS (Reuters Life!) - Few topics are more sensitive for Web users, or more likely to raise concerns in the corridors of Facebook or Google, than how to regulate privacy.

Libyan rebels have formed a transitional government under the leadership of Mahmoud Jebril, and the new cabinet is slowly taking shape. The interim rebel government, which vies with the official regime for control of the country, has been boosted by the sovereign recognition by France and generous western support. Following is a glimpse into some of the major Libyan opposition outfits that have been fighting Gaddafi overtly or covertly in the last three decades:

In the face of an unprecedented wave of anti-government protests, Syria said it will consider a proposal to end emergency rule which has been in place for almost a half-century and also examine the possibility of allowing political parties, according to a presidential adviser.

Human rights activists in Syria said that at least six people have died after state security officers shot protesters outside of a mosque in the southern city of Deraa, the focal point of anti-government movement.

Egypt’s former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, has been charged by a court of contributing to the killing of protesters who demonstrated against the regime of the toppled President, Hosni Mubarak, state media MENA reported.

As a small concession to protesters seeking comprehensive political reforms, the kingdom Saudi Arabia said it will hold municipal elections later this month.

The parents of a college student who killed himself after his sexual encounter was shown online do not hold his former roommate criminally responsible for the death but do want him prosecuted for invading their son's privacy, their attorney said on Tuesday.

Syrian security officials have arrested a leading human rights activist as anti-government protests in the country enter their sixth day in defiance of the state’s strict crackdown against any form of dissent.

Apple is once again in the center of the heated gay debate after it approved an iPhone app created by Christian group Exodus which has been designed to be a useful resource for men, women, parents, students, and ministry leaders.

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.

The following is United Nations Resolution 1973, as passed by the Security Council on March 17, 2011 by a vote of 10-0, with 5 abstentions.

At least two demonstrators have been killed by security forces at an anti-government protest rally in the town of Deraa in southern Syria.

When it comes to privacy, the Internet has long been something of a Wild West but that that is starting to change, with regulators in Europe and the United States beginning to pull in the reins.