A blasphemy trial in Tunis symbolizes an emotional struggle, with implications for the Arab world, playing out with the rise of Islamists after the end of a secular dictatorship.

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The New Islamists: Tunisia Navigates a Democratic Path Tinged With Religion

Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemala’s former military dictator, was accused of genocide and crimes against humanity during the country’s long civil war.

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Efraín Ríos Montt Accused of Atrocities in Guatemala

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — For a once notorious dictator facing charges of crimes against humanity, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier is living a nice life here after his sudden return from exile a year ago. Read full article > >

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In Haiti, the former dictator Duvalier thrives

Newly purged of former dictator’s philosophy.

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Libyan Kids Return to School

Some like it hot, but Kim Jong Il in Marilyn Monroe’s fluttering dress is certainly not what most people have in mind when they think “hot.” North Korean artist Song Byeok perfected his portraiture skills painting Kim Jong Il as a propaganda artist for his regime in the 1990s — a skill that he puts to use now as a satirical artist, painting the “Dear Leader” in embarrassing situations such as Monroe’s subway grate scene from “The Seven Year Itch.” He’s one of several artist-defectors whose careers have gotten a boost from the dictator’s death. Read full article > >

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Kim Jong Il depicted as Marilyn Monroe in former propaganda artist’s painting

It is the nature of war to be messy, to be complicated, and to produce dueling—if not multiple—claims to “truth.” In a recent ABC interview , Barbara Walters accused Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad of bloody crackdowns against pro-democracy demonstrators. Walters said, “But I saw reporters who brought back pictures.” Assad defiantly responded, “Yeah, but how did you verify those pictures? …I cannot answer about fake pretenses, I can only talk about reality.”

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Walid Raad to Waltz with Bashir: Truth Claims, Contested Images & Lebanese Civil Wars

2011 has been the year that change swept through the Middle East. People of all faiths and economic status united against dictators and stood up for their rights. On December 16th, The Frontline Club hosted an event in London, in association with BBC Arabic , focusing on Women of the Revolution.

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How Women Formed the Backbone of the Middle East Uprisings: Accounts from Bahrain, Libya, and Iran.

It’s late at night when the phone rings at the White House: Kim Jong Il , the ruthless oddball dictator of nuclear-armed North Korea, is dead. His apparent successor is his 20-something son , about whom practically nothing is known. South Korean officials have rushed to put the nation’s military forces on high alert . Read full article > >

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Which candidate should answer that 3 a.m. phone call?

SINCE HIS death Saturday, a great deal has been written about Kim Jong Il’s diplomatic mastery. The North Korean dictator, after inheriting power from his father in 1994, played a weak hand brilliantly, it is said. He wielded his illicit nuclear weapons program to keep larger powers at bay. He was, U.S. Undersecretaryof State Wendy Sherman told the New York Times , “smart, engaged, knowledgeable, self-confident, sort of the master-director of all he surveyed.” Read full article > >

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Editorial Board:
Is a third-generation monster North Korea’s destiny?

UNITED NATIONS — Human rights went viral in 2011 as people around the world used social media such as Twitter to protest against dictatorships, the U.N. human rights chief said Friday. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a message on the eve of Human Rights Day that power shifted in the Arab world this year as ordinary men, women and even children used Facebook and other social media platforms to stand up to long-ruling dictators. Read full article > >

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UN uses social media to mark Human Rights Day on 63rd anniversary of Universal Declaration

“He has bowed to foreign dictators” — Mitt Romney, Dec. 7, 2011  “1,584 holes since 2009” Read full article > >

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Obama ‘bowing to foreign dictators’ — and his golf game

“He has bowed to foreign dictators” — Mitt Romney, Dec. 7, 2011  “1,584 holes since 2009” Read full article > >

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Obama ‘bowing to foreign dictators’ — and his golf game

MEXICO CITY — The playboy son of the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi was plotting to sneak into Mexico under a false name, authorities said Wednesday, and live in a posh Pacific coast resort frequented by celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian. Alas, Saadi Gaddafi never made it to paradise. Read full article > >

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Gaddafi son sought to flee to Mexico, officials charge

TRIPOLI, Libya — The elevators at Tripoli Medical Hospital don’t stop on six anymore. Take the stairs to the sixth floor and you are immediately confronted by three men in desert camouflage, each carrying a Kalashnikov. The men, fresh from the front lines of the Libyan revolution, guard their wounded enemies at the municipal hospital — rooms full of regulars from Moammar Gaddafi’s army as well as African fighters the dictator had paid to fight against his own people before he was deposed and killed. Read full article > >

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Libyan hospital offers refuge for wounded Gaddafi loyalists

Lana Peters, the only daughter of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, dies of colon cancer at a care home in the US state of Wisconsin, aged 85.

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Stalin’s only daughter dies in US