At least 10 residents and police officers were injured yesterday as authorities ousted squatters from an abandoned building just steps from Rio's Maracana stadium.

There has been no shortage of media reports lately regarding gender change - even of children.

A petrol station attendant believes she was let go from her job when a new lessee took over because she was pregnant.

Saudi Arabia has introduced a series of new laws which define atheists as terrorists, according to a report from Human Rights Watch.

It's all part of Tony Abbott's vision of a new Liberal dawn. The Oz PM's conservative Government intends to dilute racial vilification laws to enshrine the right of Australians to be bigots.

Australia's federal Attorney-General George Brandis is serious when he says on his watch, "people do have a right to be bigots".

Should employers keep unsuccessful job candidates' details private? Can they? A recent case highlighted by the Herald might have left doubt in some minds.

The law is not always an ass but it can produce an absurdity. The decision to allow a failed job seeker access to his competitors' CVs is one of them.

The fatal riot at the immigration detention centre on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island continues to drag down the Australian Government.

A popular Ponsonby bar has been caught out advertising jobs for women only, a day after the Herald revealed that Masala restaurant in Stanmore Bay had done the same.

A top New Zealand businesswoman says Kiwi women are still being "frozen out" of the boardroom.

A Ugandan minster labelled treatment of homosexuals in the country "tolerant" because the government is "not slaughtering them".

North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, was warned that he could face prosecution for crimes against humanity after a United Nations inquiry accused him of human rights abuses.

The US Secretary of State was accused of supporting anti-Semitic interests yesterday after warning that Israel faced an economic boycott.

Justice Minister Judith Collins has welcomed the recommendations in a largely-positive United Nations report on New Zealand's human rights records.

The French president's woes have continued, as it emerged his girlfriend was rushed to hospital following claims he was having an affair with an actress.

Retired US basketball star Dennis Rodman has apologised for comments he made about an imprisoned US missionary in North Korea during a television interview.

The Human Rights Commission has called for the Government to consider rent-control measures following major natural disasters.

Anyone who switched on Russian TV recently might have been forgiven for thinking the Kremlin was relaxing its hard line on gays: Images of rainbow flags and a happy same-sex couple looking adoringly at their child flashed across the screen.

British PM pledges intelligence services to probe `dark net' following internet giants' move.

It will give citizens the ability to challenge bullying in its modern form, empowering people to change the way they treat themselves and each other, writes Mai Chen.

The state Senate has passed a bill legalising gay marriage, putting Hawaii a signature away from becoming a same-sex wedding destination.

A Green Party MP is making her way back to New Zealand after being detained by Sri Lankan authorities and questioned about her visa.