A new report out on Thursday shows just how much the Syrian government has come to utilize air strikes as part of its ongoing struggle against rebels, unable to discriminate between fighters and civilians.

In the newly released report, Human Rights Watch chronicles the increasing use of air strikes in the ongoing conflict in Syria, representing a shift from the early days of fighting. Since the beginning of the conflict, an estimated 70,000 Syrians have died, mostly at the hands of government security forces.

Among the targets that the Assad regime is said in the report to have focused on include those with no military value, but instead represent areas where civilians would meet in large numbers. This includes eight documented air strikes on four bakeries throughout Syria, all while people waited in bread lines away from active fighting between the government and rebel fighters. In once instance, a government helicopter circled a bakery near Aleppo, before dropping two bombs in the immediate vicinity, killing at least twenty-three civilians and injuring another thirty.

Another issue at play is technological inferiority in the skies, compared to, for example, the accuracy that U.S. air power displays. The Syrian Air Force’s lack of precision also plays a role in increased civilian casualties:

Four Syrian Air Force officers who defected told Human Rights Watch that the Syrian Air Force does not have the technology to identify and target specific military objectives in urban areas. They believed their commanders nonetheless ordered air strikes in cities and towns, in part to instill fear in the civilian population in opposition strongholds, and also to deprive the opposition of its support.

Civilian casualties are always possible, even when using the most sophisticated technology, as NATO uses in Afghanistan. As Human Rights Watch points out, however, the intentional targeting of civilians by the Syrian government (PBS’s Frontline has recently documented on such case) violates international law. “In village after village, we found a civilian population terrified by their country’s own air force,” said Ole Solvang, a Human Rights Watch emergencies researcher who visited the sites and interviewed many of the victims and witnesses. “These illegal air strikes killed and injured many civilians and sowed a path of destruction, fear, and displacement.”

Human Rights Watch’s report comes out as the United States continues to grapple with what role it should play in ending the strife in Syria. So far, the Obama administration has spent $385 million on humanitarian aid for Syrian civilians alone, and recently reportedly agreed to provide greater amounts of non-lethal assistance to Syria’s rebels. Calls for the United States to provide weapons to the certain parts of the Syrian opposition or establish a No-Fly Zone in Syria have increased in volume in recent weeks, even as one rebel groups’ ties to Al Qaeda have increased.

A Saudi newspaper reportedly said that the conservative religious country will now allow women to ride a bicycle in public. Well, sort of, the AP reports:

The Al-Yawm daily cited an unnamed official from the powerful religious police as saying women will be allowed to ride bikes in parks and recreational areas, but they must accompanied by a male relative and dressed in the full Islamic head-to-toe abaya. [...]

The official told the paper that Saudi women may not use the bikes for transportation, but “only for entertainment,” and that they should shun places where young men gather “to avoid harassment.”

So Saudi women can now ride bikes (progress?), but they can’t do it unaccompanied, must be completely covered and can’t use a bicycle for transportation purposes (baby steps). Women are also not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, despite a series of recent local protest movements seeking to overturn the ban.

There have been other small steps forward for women’s rights in this deeply conservative and repressive culture. The Kingdom sent a woman to the summer olympics for the first time last year and in 2011, the Saudi King granted women the right to vote and run in municipal elections starting in 2015. King Abdullah also recently appointed 30 women to the previously all-male Shura Council, a formal advisory committee in Saudi Arabia. And another Saudi newspaper reported last week that authorities will license women’s sports clubs for the first time.

But Saudi Arabia is still by no means a haven for political and human rights. Last year, Princess Basma Bint Saud Bin Abdul Aziz, a Saudi royal living in London, risked severe backlash by calling for reform, particularly of the religious police. “It is such a non-tolerant atmosphere,” she said. “Our religious police has the most dangerous effect on society – the segregation of genders, putting the wrong ideas in the heads of men and women, producing psychological diseases that never existed in our country before, like fanaticism.”

But in a new piece looking at expanding rights for women in Saudi Arabia, Time Magazine Middle East Bureau Chief Aryn Baker observes that, “From the outside, progress on women’s rights in the kingdom may appear to be mired in tar,” but, she adds, “from the perspective of women inside the country, dizzying changes are afoot.”

The White House on Wednesday announced that President Obama will be traveling to Latin America for the first time this term, heading for Mexico and Costa Rica in early May. The former in particular holds several challenges for the President, given Mexico’s proximity and close ties to the U.S. and the many difficulties Mexico’s new President faces. Here’s a few of the issues President Obama will have to confront during his travels:

• Border Security

  Given the domestic agenda in the United States, there’s little chance that Obama’s discussions with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto will manage to avoid the issue of immigration between the two countries. The debate in the U.S. has particularly focused on the security of the border between the U.S. and Mexico, with Republicans clamoring for more. Two GOP members of the U.S. Senate’s so-called “Gang of Eight” working on immigration toured parts of Arizona’s border on Wednesday, noting that they witnessed a woman scaling the fence between the countries. The woman was quickly apprehended, showcasing the billions of dollars already being spent on border security.

• Economic Ties

  Issues of border security aside, Presidents Obama and Pena Nieto will likely discuss migration patterns and the economic links between the two states substantially. While the U.S. is home to an estimated 12 million immigrants from Mexico, net migration from the U.S. southern neighbor fell to nearly zero in 2012, possibly due to a less than robust U.S. economy. Despite that, the U.S. and Mexico engaged in over $200 billion worth of cross-border trade in 2012. Even more of an indicator of the ties between the state of the two economies, despite remittances — money immigrants send to their native country — dropping in 2012, they still made up over $22 billion.

• Drug Trade and Violence

  Given Pena’s inheritance of former President Felipe Calderón’s war on drugs, the power of Mexico’s drug cartels is sure to top the agenda of the two leaders. Over 50,000 Mexican civilians have died in the conflict, which has so far not managed to crack the hold of the cartels on many towns and cities. In Nov. 2012, the Zetas — the largest cartel in Mexico — managed to take total control of the third-largest state in the country. A general inability of the central state to provide public security exists throughout many areas, resulting in vigilantes taking over towns and arresting the police. But even when central government can provide the forces necessary to provide security, the human rights abuses they’ve been accused of perpetrating tend to outweigh the benefits of their protection for civilians.

  The United States has done its part to help along instability in Mexico. A recent study shows that when the U.S. allowed the assault weapons ban to expire, the effect was felt heavily in Mexico. As much as 16 percent of the increase in homicides in Mexico can be tied to that expiration, according to the study. In terms of direct support for the drug trade, a new study of the Custom and Border Patrol’s own data shows that Americans are involved in as much as 80 percent of the drug trafficking across the border.

(Photo: Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto speaks with President Obama)

Two years after the first protests roiled through the streets of Syria’s cities, what was once another potential victory for the Arab Spring has turned into a long slog of the hardship and chaos of civil war as President Bashar al-Assad clings to power.

At the outset of the pro-democracy protests in Syria, headlines announced the deaths of demonstrators at the hands of state security forces in the single digits. As time wore on, more and greater violence was unleashed against civilians, including the use of armored vehicles, fixed-wing aircraft and mortars against whole neighborhoods. The result can be seen in the conflict’s staggering numbers:

• Syrians Killed: 70,000
• Refugees in Neighboring States: 1.1 million
• Internally Displaced People: 2.5 million
• U.S. Humanitarian Aid to Syria: $385 million
• Total Humanitarian Budget Shortfall: $700 million

Beyond the loss of life, as early as June 2011, Human Rights Watch was reporting on the Syrian government’s widespread use of torture, extrajudicial executions and detention of medical patients. The conditions have only worsened over time, with Syria’s rebel groups now also partaking in atrocities, as chronicled by a U.N. panel. The International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday appealed to world powers to press all-sides to end the atrocities against civilians and aid workers.

As the conflict enters its third year, the current debate on Syria revolves around whether Western powers should join states in the Persian Gulf in arming Syria’s rebels directly. The rebels now hold a large swath of territory in the north and west of the country, but frequently complain of their inability to counter the heavy arms the government can access. France and the United Kingdom on Thursday announced that they are willing to circumvent a European Union arms embargo on Syria, against the wishes of Germany. The concern remains, however, that the arms provided could fall into the hands of the several jihadist groups that have also joined in the fighting in Syria.

The United States has thus far refrained from sending arms, but has not taken a hands-off approach to the crisis. instead opting to send non-lethal aid — in the form of food, body armor, radios and other equipment — and military training. Rep. Elliot Engel (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has introduced a bill in the House to arm the rebels after all. Elliot’s bill, however, falls short of the desire of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and others in the Republican Party for the U.S. tomilitarily intervene directly in Syria.

The election of Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio as Pope Francis I has sparked new interest in the atrocities performed during Argentina’s period of military rule from 1976-1983.

Francis is the first pope to have been elected from the Americas, which will more accurately reflect the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America. That primacy, however, during the Cold War led to many dioceses throughout the region turning a blind eye to the atrocities of military governments. These right-wing governments, often taking power via coup, were supported by the United States and the church alike for their stand against Communism.

Particularly devastating was the period known in Argentina as as “The Dirty War.” Beginning as a crackdown on armed left-wing guerrilla groups following a military coup in 1976, the regime soon expanded its focus, imprisoning and torturing anyone thought to hold leftist views or criticize the government. Women who were pregnant at the time of their incarceration were allowed to bring their children to term, before being “transferred” — a euphemism used by the junta for execution — drugged and tossed from airplanes into the ocean. All-told, an estimated 30,000 civilians were “disappeared” by the government.

Years later, one priest told a panel of judges that the church at the time was “scandalously close to the dictatorship” in turning a blind eye, “to such an extent that I would say it was of a sinful degree.” Former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla claimed in an interview years removed from power that the Church was definitely “consulted” throughout the crackdown. That included offering their good offices and discouraging families from searching for relatives who had “disappeared.” That link was much stronger in Argentina than in neighboring dictatorships in Brazil and Chile:

“Patriotism came to be associated with Catholicism,” said Kenneth P. Serbin, a history professor at the University of San Diego who has written about the Roman Catholic Church in South America. “So it was almost natural for the Argentine clergy to come to the defense of the authoritarian regime.”

That tie has been a stain on Catholicism in Argentina ever since. The Argentine Catholic Church issued a document in 1996 admitting they had made “insufficient efforts” to prevent atrocities. When Pope John Paul II issued a blanket apology for church abuses throughout the ages in 2000, Bergoglio — by then the archbishop of Buenos Aires — insisted that Argentine Catholic officials wear garments symbolizing penance for sins committed by the clergy during the military dictatorship.

Bergoglio’s precise role during the Dirty War is still clouded. In 2005, when he was first considered as a possible replacement for John Paul II, a human rights activist accused Bergoglio of aiding in the military’s kidnapping of two Jesuits, filing criminal charges in a Buenos Aires court. That case has since not moved forward, though claims exist that he actively prevented human rights groups from finding political prisoners. However, at least one woman, former Buenos Aires Ombudsman Alicia de Olivia, has come forward to say that Bergoglio hid her from the military government during the crackdown.

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman has been riding a wave of publicity for weeks now by praising the leader of North Korea, completely glossing over the communist state’s recent threats of nuclear war and flagrant human rights abuses.

Rodman recently drew a renewed burst of attention and criticism for his visit to the DPRK with a camera crew from VICE in late February. Since his return to the United States, Rodman has blazed a trail of confusing interviews in which he expressed his friendship with the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un, propelling the ex-basketball star back into the spotlight.

The pattern continued in an exclusive interview with a Fargo, ND news station. In the interview, Rodman cited his friendship with Kim, which extends to Rodman wanting to go back to North Korea in August to vacation, when asked whether he still believes that North Korea doesn’t want war with the United States:

RODMAN: I sure do. I sure do. He doesn’t want to do anything. [...] I didn’t even want to try to meet the guy. The kid [Kim Jong-un] is awesome. But I think his grandfather and his father built this whole thing up. Because he has to do this. He doesn’t want to do anything. That much I do know.

“He wants to not fight. He asked me to tell Obama, ‘Please call me,’” Rodman continued. State Department officials have said repeatedly that Rodman’s trip to North Kore was not in any way sponsored by the U.S. government. “Dennis Rodman was a great basketball player, and as a diplomat, he was a great basketball player, and that’s where we’ll leave it,” Secretary of State John Kerry said when asked about the former Chicago Bulls star’s voyage.

Despite Rodman’s claims, North Korea has been doing a lot of saber-rattling since conducting its third nuclear test in December. Pyongyang on Monday declared that it had unilaterally withdrawn from the 1953 armistice agreement that ended fighting between the North and South, at least the second time it had made this claim. Ahead of new sanctions against the state, the North Korean state news agency issued its bluntest warning towards the U.S. yet:

“Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to preemptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest,” the North’s foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

Unimpressed, the United Nations Security Council on Thursday morning unanimously passed the sanctions package, following weeks of negotiation between the United States and China. The UN Human Rights Council also this week issued a new report on the atrocious human rights record on display from North Korea, including examples of torture, enforced disappearances, and an extensive system of prison camps. It is unclear whether the report will put a damper on Rodman’s summer plans.

“You have a friend for life,” former NBA star Dennis Rodman told Kim Jong-un, the leader of the Stalinist and reclusive North Korea, capping a strange trip that managed to completely gloss over the plight of the North Korean people.

Rodman spent the last several days in North Korea along with a crew from VICE and three members of the Harlem Globetrotters to film an episode of a forthcoming HBO series and take part in what VICE dubbed “basketball diplomacy.” While Rodman has been known for pulling crazy stunts during and after his time on the basketball court, a visit to the most reclusive country on Earth was unexpected. The trip had more than a tinge of the ludicrous from the beginning, with Rodman tweeting out his arrival to confusion from the masses:

It’s true, I’m in North Korea.Looking forward to sitting down with Kim Jung Un.I love the people of North Korea. #WORMinNorthKorea

— Dennis Rodman (@dennisrodman) February 26, 2013

Rodman also tweeted that he hoped to meet Psy, the South Korean pop star, during his trip, lending to the absurdity. In the climax of the sojourn, Rodman met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to enjoy the performance of the Globetrotters in a Pyongyang stadium, before retiring to Kim’s palace, where the North Korean leader reportedly “plied the group” with food and alcohol, leading one member of Rodman’s entourage to tweet “Um … so Kim Jong Un just got the (hash)VICEonHBO crew wasted … no really, that happened.” The AP has more:

The two chatted in English, but Kim primarily spoke in Korean through a translator, [VICE founder Shane] Smith said after speaking to the VICE crew in Pyongyang.

“They bonded during the game,” Smith said by telephone from New York after speaking to the crew. “They were both enjoying the crazy shots, and the Harlem Globetrotters were putting on quite a show.”

The bond between the 6′ 7″ former NBA player and diminutive North Korean leader belies the tension between the United States and DPRK. Indeed, their improbable dialogue is the highest-level conversation between the North Korean leader and an American since Kim took power in 2011. In that time, Kim has worked to solidify his control of the isolated country, including conducting the Hermit Kingdom’s third nuclear weapons test just weeks ago.
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The Associated Press reports foreign visitors to North Korea will have the ability to purchase access to 3G data service on their mobile devices as early as next week:

“Koryolink, a joint venture between Korea Post & Telecommunications Corporation and Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding SAE, informed foreign residents in Pyongyang on Friday that it will launch a third generation, or 3G, mobile Internet service no later than March 1.”

This freedom for foreign visitors is in stark contrast to the digital isolation that defines its citizens lives: the only networked access available to the general public is the closed intranet known as “Kwangmyong” started in 2000 — although “central party, national security units, and some Cabinet-level government organizations, as well as foreign diplomatic missions, joint ventures, and foreign individuals staying in Pyongyang can have ‘full but monitored’ access” to the real world wide web.

Google’s Eric Schmidt noted the restricted nature of North Korean’s access to communication technology following his visit last year — as well as how the infrastructure of these closed systems could be easily modified to allow a more democratic information experience:

“There is a 3G network that is a joint venture with an Egyptian company called Orascom. It is a 2100 Megahertz SMS-based technology network, that does not, for example, allow users to have a data connection and use smart phones. It would be very easy for them to turn the Internet on for this 3G network. Estimates are that are about a million and a half phones in the DPRK with some growth planned in the near future.

There is a supervised Internet and a Korean Intranet. (It appeared supervised in that people were not able to use the internet without someone else watching them). There’s a private intranet that is linked with their universities. Again, it would be easy to connect these networks to the global Internet.”

Despite the highly questionable ethics of financially supporting a regime that holds as many as 200,000 people in political prison camps “rife with torture, rape and slave labor” and recently conducted yet another nuclear test much to the dismay of the international community, North Korea claims to be experiencing a tourism boom. While those tourists will undoubtedly appreciate being able to check Facebook on their iPhones during their visit, thousands of North Koreans remain under a regime that denies them the most basic of human rights, let alone real internet access.