The UN’s human rights chief has said China’s Communist Party has taken a "hostile position" on the universality of human rights, and that "the rhetoric from the White House" is heading in the same direction.

Two Muslim leaders have expressed serious concerns over what they claim are “extremist” Middle Eastern Islamic scholars speaking at a two-day student conference, starting today.

Up to 45 people were believed killed after a series of coordinated explosions struck major Shiite Muslim shrines in the Iraqi city of Karbala and in Baghdad today as thousands of pilgrims converged for the final day of a major religious festival.