The former President had been due to address a dinner next weekend. Former US President George W Bush has cancelled a visit to Switzerland amid concerns he could be arrested. The former leader had been due to speak at a charity gala, making the keynote speech at Keren Hayesod’s annual dinner on February 12. But human rights groups in the country have been calling for the Swiss government to arrest... 

Afghan fears of proselytizing have been brought on by the influx of foreigners since the U.S.-led invasion. Demonstrators protested against Christian organizations in Mazar-i-Sharif in June 2010. The jail commander had remained silent as the prisoner, Sayed Mussa, told a reporter about his journey from Islam to Christianity: his secret baptism nine years earlier, his faith in Jesus Christ and the promise... 

As Congress seeks to renew the Patriot Act, new information exposes egregious FBI violations. Last week, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-VT, introduced legislation to extend the Patriot Act past its February 28 expiration date to December 2013. Though the extension once again saves some of the most nefarious, First-Amendment trampling provisions of the act — roving wiretaps, secret... 

Houston activist Quanell X shows a videotape of an alleged 2010 beating of a 15-year-old burglary suspect by Houston police on Thursday. A surveillance video shot almost a year ago apparently shows Houston police officers relentlessly beating, kicking and stomping on a teen burglary suspect was just released to the public. The footage was released by Quanell X, a Houston activist, on Wednesday. It... 

Donors: Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and rock star Bono are among some of the Global Fund's high profile supporters. A multi billion dollar global health fund backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is being probed for widespread fraud after it emerged grant money to developing countries had been ‘eaten up by corruption.’ The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria... 

With protests erupting across the region, one of the first protests in Iraq, in the impoverished southern city of Diwaniyah, ended in violence when Iraqi police opened fire on the crowd, wounded at least three. Roughly 1,000 people were said to have gathered in the provincial capital, demanding increases to their food rations and improvements in the state’s crumbling power and water infrastructure. Lack... 

Too many in power want to restrict Internet access critics say. After Egypt’s government temporarily cut off Internet service there, debate in other countries on a “kill switch” has flared up. One prominent computer group has voiced concerns about possible developments in Germany. Discussion over a “kill switch” that would paralyze the Internet has flared up in Germany... 

In a move that calls back to the attempt by Texas cattlemen to sue Oprah Winfrey for “defamation of beef.” an Israeli lawyer has filed a class-action lawsuit against former President Jimmy Carter, seeking $5 million in damages because his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” allegedly defamed Israel. Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner insisted that Carter’s book violated New York State’s... 

The feds' new airport security plan: scanning your face to read your mind. Stranded travelers could face a new homeland security toy this week. On Tuesday, the Transportation Security Administration announced that it’s begun “testing new software” on select airport body-scanning machines in Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Washington DC. The new imaging technology “auto-detects”... 

A Somali pirate, hooded, arrives at South Regional Headquarters Korea Coast Guard in Busan, South Korea, on Sunday. Five Somali pirates captured during a raid on a hijacked cargo ship in the Arabian Sea were brought Sunday to South Korea, where they could face life imprisonment, the coast guard said. The men were arrested as South Korean commandos raided the South Korean-operated Samho Jewelry earlier... 

Soldiers in a central Nigerian city opened fire Saturday on university students protesting continuing violence between Christians and Muslims, witnesses said, with at least nine people killed in the ensuing violence. The shooting came as gas stations and farmers’ markets smoldered after late Friday violence that sparked when Christian students attacked Muslims trying to bury a corpse in Jos,... 

Causing a stink: The government of Malawi, led by Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, are planning to outlaw breaking wind. Breaking wind is set to be made a crime in an African country. The government of Malawi plan to punish persistent offenders ‘who foul the air’ in a bid to ‘mould responsible and disciplined citizens.’ But locals fear that pinning responsibility on the crime will be... 

China blocks "Egypt" searches. China blocked the word “Egypt” from micro-blog searches in a sign that the Chinese government is concerned that protests calling for political reform in the country could spill into China’s internet space. Skip related content Searches on Sunday for “Egypt” on micro-blog functions of Chinese web portals such as Sina.com and Sohu.com... 

A clergyman lights candles at the site of the bomb blast at Domodedovo airport, near Moscow, Russia. Attacker who killed 35 is 20-year-old man from troubled Caucasus region. Russian investigators have said they now know the identity of the suicide bomber who claimed the lives of 35 people in an attack on Moscow’s busiest airport last Monday. The attacker is a 20-year-old man from the unsettled... 

Protestors call on Hungarian govt to repeal media law, ask premier to return to dissident past. Several thousand people have protested Hungary’s new media law and urged Prime Minister Viktor Orban to repeal or amend it. The law greatly expands the state’s power to monitor and penalize private news outlets. There are concerns it will be used against media critical of Orban’s centre-right...