As international envoy Kofi Annan negotiated a cease-fire in Syria, government forces raided opposition strongholds, killing and detaining residents in attacks amounting to war crimes, a rights group said Wednesday.

Boredom is an unlikely new frontier in workplace research. Commonly associated with goofing off, taking absurdly long lunch-breaks, and playing internet games on the sly, new studies suggest it’s something that affects high-performing employees as well as those in menial jobs.

Pressure is mounting on Ukraine to clean up its human rights record ahead of the Euro 2012 finals next month, with the EU Commission’s president the latest high-profile leader to boycott the football championships.

Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is „not a fit person” to run a major international company, British lawmakers investigating phone hacking at his tabloid News of the World reported Tuesday.

They are two men, separated by a gulf of power and privilege. One was born of the Chinese Communist Party, the son of a revolutionary hero and seemingly destined to shape China’s destiny; the other has lived in the shadow of the state, poor, persecuted and blind.