HUMAN RIGHTS

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

The authorities in Algeria have shut down internet providers and Facebook accounts amidst mounting anti-government protests and civil unrest.

Zimbabwe is an important ally to China and Beijing will seek to further strengthen ties, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said of a country isolated by the West under President Robert Mugabe's rule.

On the last day of January, a crowd of 600 gathered in sub-zero temperatures on Moscow's Triumph Square and began to chant Freedom! Freedom! and call for the resignation of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Wisconsin's new Republican governor on Friday proposed sharply curtailing the bargaining rights of public employee unions and other cost-saving measures to rein in the state's growing budget deficit.Governor Scott Walker said he will ask the Republican-controlled legislature to pass his budget repair bill next week. He said it was aimed at bringing stability to state finances and stave off employee layoffs this year.

Groupon decided to pull its series of Super Bowl ads which garnered much controversy.

President Barack Obama said late Thursday it was not yet clear how Egypt's government is moving to transfer authority, on the same day when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would be handing some of his powers to his vice president but would remain in office until September's elections.

The European Union’s (EU) energy commissioner has said that the EU’s new partnerships with Central Asian nations do not pose a threat to Russia’s gas sales to Europe.

Sudanese security forces briefly held prominent opposition figure Mariam al-Mahdi and other women on Thursday, witnesses said, the latest detentions in a crackdown on anti-government protests.