HUMAN RIGHTS

In support of gay and lesbian couples across the globe, Facebook has added extra options to 'relationship statuses: 'In a Civil Union' and 'In a Domestic Partnership'.

In response to the escalating violence in Bahrain and reports of the local security forces shooting protestors, the British Foreign Office has revoked 44 licenses for the export of arms to the embattled Persian Gulf kingdom.

The ruler of Libya, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, has deployed security forces throughout the country to quell further unrest in the country following the deaths of at least two dozen protesters in rallies across the count

As authorities in Middle East countries hit by protests continue to censor media and disrupt communication, deaths and the consequent funerals in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya are expected to escalate the unrest.

Thousands of protesters chanting anti-government slogans marched through Bahraini city of Sitra on Friday as they buried comrades killed in the government's crackdown on demonstrations which erupted this week.

Reports are coming out of Libya of increased anti-government protests which have left at least sixteen people dead, as activists have called for a “Day of Rage” through social networking sites.

Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Thursday threatened to boycott presidential and parliamentary elections if rival President Robert Mugabe called them for 2011.

Hundreds of supporters of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi rallied on Thursday but there were reports of unrest in several locations as the opposition called for a day of anti-government protests.

The Canadian government was hit by an unprecedented cyber attack from Chinese-based computers last month that penetrated two key economic ministries, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported on Wednesday.

The 'Provisions on News Information Services', which was issued in 2005, states that the purpose of news websites is not to inform the public of the facts, but instead to “serve socialism” and to “safeguard the nation’s interests and the public interest.”

In an attempt to sabotage the pro-democracy protests, Iran has censored internet by slowing speed, electronic communication and the media has been gagged.

Anti-government protests inspired by popular revolts that toppled rulers in Tunisia and Egypt are gaining pace around the Middle East and North Africa despite political and economic concessions by nervous governments.

Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, said he will run for president in Egypt's upcoming presidential elections, according to Al-Arabia TV.

Internet and social media platforms which emerged as potent tools for churning up dissent in Egypt and Tunisia continue to play a crucial role even in the latest upheaval in Libya, Bahrain as well as in Iran.

About 200 anti-government protesters demanding the release of a human rights activist clashed with police on Wednesday in Libya's coastal city of Benghazi, according to reports.

A special security court in Syria has sentenced 19-year-old blogger Tal al-Mallohi to five years in jail on charges of “revealing information to a foreign country,” according to state officials.

Hundreds of anti-government demonstrators clashed with supporters of Yemen's president on Monday south of the capital, with both sides hurling rocks as protests escalated in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state.

A Pakistani court charged a police guard Monday with the murder of a politician who opposed the country's anti-blasphemy laws, a killing that exposed deep fissures in Pakistani society.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters, inspired by the mass uprising in Egypt, clashed with police blocking them from marching to Yemen's presidential palace in Sanaa on Sunday, witnesses said.

Cuba has released two more political dissidents -- Hector Maseda and Angel Moya – from prison in a deal arranged by the Catholic Church.

Inspired by Egypt, at least 2,000 protesters broke the barriers set up around the May First Square in the capital city of Algiers on Saturday