rights

-- The number of people killed during riots in Tunisia recently is about 21, the government said Wednesday, rejecting international media reports that the figure is higher. Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has fired Interior Minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem, the government announced...

- The United States said Monday it is "dismayed" by the 11-year prison term reportedly handed down for an Iranian human rights lawyer and urged her immediate release. Nasrin Sotoudeh's sentence included five years for "acting against national security," another five years for not wearing a...

-- An Iranian human rights lawyer has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. The group called the sentence imposed on Nasrin Sotoudeh a "gross miscarriage of justice" and demanded it be overturned. Sotoudeh's sentence included...

Warner Bros. has taken over international theatrical rights to Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" from MGM, as well as video rights. In exchange, MGM gets the loan money it needs to finance its half of the ambitious two-picture project. Warners/New Line already owned domestic rights to the "Hobbit"...

A life sentence handed down to a rural pediatrician in the world's largest democracy had human rights activists screaming a mockery of justice Saturday. A court in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh found Dr. Binayak Sen and two others guilty of sedition and conspiracy Friday for helping India's...

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2010/12/23/intv.gorani.davis.cnn The ruling Ivory Coast government remained defiant Thursday, insisting that incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo should stay in power and that his supporters have acted justly despite a global outcry. International critics have...

Jorge Rafael Videla on trial in Cordoba, Argentina, on July 22, 2010. Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla was convicted and sentenced to life in prison by a federal court Wednesday for human rights abuses during his rule. Videla was among the coup leaders who overthrew...

Starting this week, several of Iran's most prominent women's rights activists, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, will stage a sit-in in front of the U.N. Human Rights Council offices in Geneva, Switzerland, to protest Iran's imprisonment of their colleague Nasrin Sotoudeh...

Jorge Rafael Videla on trial in Cordoba, Argentina, on July 22, 2010. An Argentinian court is expected to render its verdict Wednesday in the trial of a former dictator on charges of human rights abuses during the nation's right-wing rule from 1976-83, the government's Judicial Information...

Relatives of Cuban political prisoners, called the Women in White, protest outside Cuba's National Assembly in Havana in 2007. According to the latest WikiLeaks documents, U.S. diplomats criticized the Canadian government for not openly decrying human-rights abuses in Cuba. U.S. diplomats...

A view of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France The European Court of Human Rights was expected to rule Thursday on whether Ireland's strict abortion laws violate human rights. The ruling could force the overwhelmingly Catholic republic to end its ban on abortion, which sees...

A key United Nations committee has approved a draft resolution expressing "deep concern at serious human rights violations in Iran," including torture, persecution of ethnic minorities and violence against women. The General Assembly's Third Committee, which handles humanitarian issues, passed...

A key United Nations committee has approved a draft resolution expressing "deep concern at serious human rights violations in Iran," including torture, persecution of ethnic minorities and violence against women. The General Assembly's Third Committee, which handles humanitarian issues, passed...

Liu Xiaobo, a leading Chinese dissident, and his wife, Liu Xia, are seen in the 2002 photograph. Beijing, China -- Police in southern China have arrested a man who was distributing fliers about newly minted Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, a rights group said. Authorities in Guangzhou...

Lawyer: Healthcare reform violates rights LAS VEGAS, -- A candidate for Nevada attorney general says healthcare reform violates at least seven amendments to the U.S. Constitution and has sued seeking to overturn it. Joel Hansen, who is running on the Independent American Party line, said...

Time running out for civil rights cases ATLANTA, Longstanding U.S. civil-rights cases haven't been solved despite promises made during the Bush administration to pursue racially motivated crimes, critics say. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales warned in 2007 killers of blacks during the...

Group proposes dementia bill of rights SACRAMENTO, (UPI) -- U.S. advocates for Alzheimer's or dementia care have come up with 12 rules they say can increase the quality of daily life for the afflicted and the caregivers. Virginia Bell and David Troxel, who created the Best Friends Approach...

164th day of 2010 - 201 remaining Sunday, June 13, 2010 MIRANDA DAY When reading this description of this day in history, you have the right to remain silent... On this day in 1966, the Miranda Decision was handed down by the United States Supreme Court. The 5-4 decision regarded the rights...

Paul comments draw new scrutiny WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- Senate Republican candidate Rand Paul stayed off the air Sunday, but his comments on civil rights law drew fresh scrutiny on U.S. news programs. Michael Steele, the first black chairman of the Republican National Committee, distanced himself...

Indies get distributors at Cannes CANNES, France, (UPI) -- Three indie distributors have picked up a handful of films as the Cannes Film Festival nears its end in France, The Hollywood Reporter said. IFC Films acquired U.S. rights to director Bertrand Tavernier's "The Princess of...