The world is rampant with injustice. Injustice against the individual by another or large scale injustice committed against a people by a state. While the individual can often turn to state-run courts to seek amends, peoples and states have to rely on international venues for justice to be served. And that is what the International Criminal Court's (ICC) role was planned for. But sadly, the pursuit to punish the perpetrators of massive damage and harm to human life has been governed by duplicity and double standards.

The ICC has been very active in pursuit of Seif al-Islam, the second son of the deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Saif Al-Islam, who was disguised as a shepherd, was discovered and captured in the desert by Libyan freedom fighters following the fall of his father's regime.

The ICC had issued a warrant for Saif Al-Islam a year ago June after charges were levied against him and his cohorts of participating in the killing of protesters during the people's revolt that toppled the long-standing Gaddafi regime. There have also been several charges of financial corruption, and rape brought up against him.

The new Libyan government wants to try Saif and Abdullah al-Senussi, his brother-in-law and the former intelligence chief in Libya in their own country and by Libyan judges. They insist that 'there is no intention to hand him (Saif al-Islam) over to the ICC, and Libyan law is the right system to be used to try Saif Gaddafi.'

The ICC on the other hand rejects the Libyan stand, and ordered the Libyan government to 'comply with its obligations to enforce the warrant of arrest and surrender him to the ICC without delay.' They state that a UN Security Council resolution makes it obligatory for Libya to cooperate with the court, and threatened that the country's failure to hand him over 'could result in it being reported to the Council.'

Negotiations between Iran and the United States and other members of the P5+1 group in Baghdad ended in fundamental disagreement Thursday over the position of the P5+1 offering no relief from sanctions against Iran.

The two sides agreed to meet again in Moscow Jun. 18 and 19, but only after Iran had threatened not to schedule another meeting, because the P5+1 had originally failed to respond properly to its five-point plan.

The prospects for agreement are not likely to improve before that meeting, however, mainly because of an inflexible U.S. diplomatic posture that reflects President Barack Obama's need to bow to the demands of Israel and the U.S. Congress on Iran policy.

The U.S. hard line in the Baghdad talks and the failure to set the stage for an early agreement with Iran means that Iran will not only increase but accelerate its accumulation of 20-percent enriched uranium, which has been the ostensible reason for wanting to get Iran to the negotiating table quickly.

Florida is the stingiest state in the country when it comes to providing jobless benefits for the unemployed, two workers' rights groups argued in a complaint lodged with the U.S. Labor Department.

In a letter sent to U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis this month, the National Employment Law Project and Florida Legal Services asked for an investigation into changes to the unemployment compensation system made by Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott's administration.

The nonprofit, workers' rights groups said that revised procedures and bureaucratic hurdles implemented by the Scott administration made it more difficult for Floridians to access unemployment benefits. The changes appear aimed at discouraging people from filing for benefits, the groups said.

The complaint said only 15 percent of eligible unemployed Floridians are receiving jobless benefits. That compares to a national average of 27 percent.

"U.S. Labor Department records reveal that the percentage of jobless workers in Florida who actually receive state unemployment insurance is lower than anywhere else in the country," the groups said in a statement.

Beirut - A Syrian artillery barrage killed more than 90 people, including dozens of children, in the worst violence since the start of a U.N. peace plan to staunch the flow of blood from Syria's uprising, activists said on Saturday.

The bloodied bodies of children, some with their skulls split open, were shown in footage posted to YouTube purporting to show the victims of the shelling in the central town of Houla on Friday. The sound of wailing filled the room.

The reports of the carnage, which could not be confirmed independently, underlined how far Syria is from any negotiated path out of the 14-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemned the violence as a "massacre", and said he wanted to arrange a meeting in Paris of the Friends of Syria, a group that brings together Western and Arab countries keen to remove Assad.

Syrian state television aired some of the footage disseminated by activists, calling the bodies victims of a massacre committed by "terrorist" gangs.

It also showed video of bodies with what looked like gunshot wounds to the head, sprawled on bloodstained mattresses.

A British-based opposition group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said residents of Houla were fleeing in fear of more shelling.

It said one person was killed in the northern town of Saraqeb when security forces opened fire on a protest against the killing. Activists distributed footage appearing to show similar protests in Aleppo, the largest city in the north.

Is the government unleashing the same methods of entrapment against OWS that it has used against left movements and Muslim-Americans?

With the high-profile arrest of activists on terrorism charges in Cleveland on May Day and in Chicago during the NATO summit there, evidence is mounting that the FBI is unleashing the same methods of entrapment against the Occupy Wall Street movement that it has used against left movements and Muslim-Americans for the last decade.

In Cleveland the FBI announced on May 1 that "five self-proclaimed anarchists conspired to develop multiple terror plots designed to negatively impact the greater Cleveland metropolitan area." The FBI claimed the five were nabbed as they attempted to blow up a bridge the night before using "inoperable" explosives supplied to them by an undercover FBI employee.

Then on May 19, the day before thousands marched peacefully in Chicago to protest NATO-led wars, the Illinois State Attorney hit three men with charges of terrorism for allegedly plotting to use "destructive devices" against targets ranging from Chicago police stations to the home of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Defense attorneys for the Chicago activists claim their clients, like the Cleveland activists, were provided with supplies for making Molotov cocktails by undercover agents in an operation that included the participation of the FBI and Secret Service. This was followed up on May 20 by the arrest of two other men on terrorism charges in Chicago for statements they made, which critics say amount to thought crimes. The Chicago cases are also reportedly the first time the state of Illinois is charging individuals under its post-September 11 terrorism law.

To hear FBI officials describe it, "Law enforcement took swift, collaborative action...to eliminate the risk of violence and protect the public." To many observers, however, the government itself is the overarching threat, systematically repressing peaceful dissent.

Deputies scuffle during a session in the chamber of the Ukrainian parliament in Kiev May 24, 2012

The Ukrainian Parliament resembled a pub when a rowdy brawl broke out between opposition and pro-presidential deputies. What sparked the tussle was a moot bill that sought to grant the Russian language official status in parts of the country.

­The scuffle erupted after opposition deputies, bearing Orthodox icons and banners, took to the stand to argue against the proposed legislation, saying it was important to preserve Ukrainian unity. The ruling Party of Regions then put the bill to vote, and deputies started discussing the legislation.

But words soon turned into actions, as lawmakers started literally nudging and grappling with each other. One deputy was toppled over the stand and turned upside down. Another legislator, Mykola Petruk of the opposition Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, was hospitalized after apparently receiving a blow to his head.

A small number of pro-opposition protesters also gathered outside the Parliament to deride the proposed legislation by waving flags, blowing horns and banging drums.

A new Amnesty International report paints a gruesome picture of summary executions, torture and ill-treatment in North Korea as Kim Jong Un succeeded his late father, Kim Jong Il, as the country's ruler last December.

The country used firing squads or staged traffic accidents to execute 30 officials involved in talks to unite North and South Korea, according to the 2012 Amnesty International report released Thursday. It also notes that the country had been questioned about another 37 reported executions between 2007 and 2010 for "financial crimes."

As the ruling authority shifted to Kim Jong Un, the country's State Security agency detained another 200 North Korean officials, some of whom are now feared executed or in prison camps, the report notes.

Credible reports estimated that up to 200,000 prisoners were held in horrific conditions in six sprawling political prison camps, including the notorious Yodok facility. Thousands were imprisoned in at least 180 other detention facilities. Most were imprisoned without trial or following grossly unfair trials and on the basis of forced confessions.

Men, women and children, who were kept in the prison camps, were tortured and forced to work in dangerous conditions, according to the report. Many of the prisoners die or get sick while in custody due to the horrendous conditions, beatings, lack of medical care and unhealthy living conditions.

Milan - Italian automaker Fiat SpA, which controls Chrysler, said Friday that it and subsidiaries will immediately halt sales to Iran, following similar moves by other carmakers under pressure to cut ties to Tehran over its disputed nuclear program.

The international community has been toughening sanctions on the Islamic Republic - including on its main cash cow, oil - because of fears that it plans to build nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

The auto industry has been under pressure from the anti-nuclear lobby group United Against Nuclear Iran to cut off business dealings with Iran. UANI says that the global auto industry is the second-largest source of foreign currency for the Iranian government, after oil, and also a source of foreign technology.

The decision by Fiat to halt sales "is a step in the right direction, and it shows the effectiveness of public pressure against these companies," UANI spokesman Nathan Carleton said from New York.

Fiat and heavy-truck maker Fiat Industrial SpA said in separate statements that they "support international efforts for a diplomatic solution" regarding Iran. Both companies said their sales to Iran were "totally immaterial" in terms of numbers, and concerned only commercial and civilian products. Most of the vehicles sold were Iveco-branded buses and trucks, and no vehicles were produced in Iran, according to Fiat.

Without any mainstream media coverage at all, the House of Representatives passed the United States - Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 (USIESC).

The USIESC, written by Eric Cantor, claims there is a need to provide Israel with unlimited military and financial aid as a result of the disturbances caused by the Arab Spring.

Israel will have an essentially unlimited amount of funds allocated to them through the Federal Reserve Bank. The country will also enjoy an "expanded role of NATO" that consists of an "enhanced presence at NATO headquarters and exercises".

The USIESC pledges the US government's "commitment" to assist Israel in remaining a Jewish State; as well as protection from the UN if the UN Security Council resolves to hold Israel accountable to international laws.

The US government's counter-terrorism unit will also aid Israel by any means.

This USIESC asserts that "supported by the American people" the US government will "repeatedly affirm the special bond between the United States and Israel" and that the two countries have "shared values and shared interests."

Profits at big U.S. companies broke records last year, and so did pay for CEOs.

The head of a typical public company made $9.6 million in 2011, according to an analysis by The Associated Press using data from Equilar, an executive pay research firm.

That was up more than 6 percent from the previous year, and is the second year in a row of increases. The figure is also the highest since the AP began tracking executive compensation in 2006.

Companies trimmed cash bonuses but handed out more in stock awards. For shareholder activists who have long decried CEO pay as exorbitant, that was a victory of sorts.

That's because the stock awards are being tied more often to company performance. In those instances, CEOs can't cash in the shares right away: They have to meet goals first, like boosting profit to a certain level.

The idea is to motivate CEOs to make sure a company does well and to tie their fortunes to the company's for the long term. For too long, activists say, CEOs have been richly rewarded no matter how a company has fared - "pay for pulse," as some critics call it.