HUMAN RIGHTS

The future of the uprising in Syria remains unclear after rebels withdrew from the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs in Syria on Thursday. Take a look at photos taken in Syria chronicling the lives of the Syrian people in recent weeks amid the death and destruction of the conflict.

The Haywood County High School principal is under fire for a series of offensive remarks she made during a school assembly, telling pregnant girls that their life is over and gay students that they were damning their souls. Although many parents are outraged by Bond's comments, other residents have come to the principal's defense. HRC and the ACLU are both pressing the Haywood County School District for action.

Defeated Syrian rebels left their shattered stronghold in Homs on Thursday after a bloody 26-day army siege aimed at crushing a symbol of the year-long revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

Montana Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull admitted on Wednesday that he forwarded a joke email, with underlying racist connotations, that implied President Barack Obama's mother had a sexual encounter with a canine.

The Baroness Jenny Tonge resigned from the Liberal Democrat whip over controversial comments she made about Israel.

Almost all the fighters battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces withdrew from their stronghold in the Baba Amro district of the city, leaving behind comrades to cover their retreat.

Heavy fighting raged near Baba Amro in Homs Wednesday evening after elite Syrian troops attacked the rebel-held bastion that has endured 25 days of siege and fierce bombardment, activists said.

South Korea and certain western nations have been pressuring Beijing not to deport the North Korean defectors

A senior Tunisian official agreed to offer Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad asylum if he promised to step down. The overture presents a shred of hope that a peaceful end can be found for the nearly yearlong uprising against Assad's autocratic rule.

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.