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Editor's Note: This post was submitted by Candice H. Knezevic, Campaign Manager of RAISE Hope for Congo, an organization working to protect and empower Congolese women and girls.

If you could choose between purchasing a cell phone whose components funded mass atrocities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and one that was conflict-free, which would you choose?

Most of us would choose not to put our money in the pockets of some of the world’s worst human rights abusers. The bad news is, we haven’t been given that choice yet.

But the good news is that there’s a bill in Congress that would give us that choice. More

Maintaining a head start in eco-friendly cars is going to be crucial to Toyota if the company is to emerge from its present crisis, according a specialist in the economics of innovation.

Despite the damage a series of product recalls in recent months has done to the automobile giant’s reputation for quality, Professor Mariana Mazzucato, of the Open University, U.K., and a visiting professor at Bocconi University, Italy, said that the existing edge Toyota has already gained on hybrid vehicles, if used wisely, might be substantial enough to help it retain remain a global player in the car industry. More

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a defense attorney in the Iranian capital Tehran. Recently she represented a client who was accused of belonging to an outlawed monarchist political opposition group. She was only allowed to meet her client for 15 minutes. She was barred from the courtroom. She was threatened with arrest when she tried to attend the trial. And her client, 20-year old Arash Rahmanipour, was executed before dawn on January 28. Now, according to the Los Angeles Times, Sotoudeh is haunted by her client's execution, and what she sees as a miscarriage of justice. More

Been wondering what does it cost to kill a rat on live TV? In Australia, we've got an answer: about two grand. That's what a broadcaster has been charged after giving the go-ahead to a rat being stabbed and cooked on a reality show last year. More

Last night's Super Bowl ads, in what is fast becoming an annual rite of passage, are being widely panned this morning. (Remember when the ads were just as exciting as the game?) All sorts of critiques are being thrown out there; chief among them that the commercials just weren't very funny. But there were also some straight-up confusing spots. So Google has to advertise search now? Jim McMahaon can still sell things? And what about that Audi ad with the "Green Police"? Was that a zing on environmentalists? A guilt trip for the less than green among us? 

Maybe it was just aimed at dudes. More

It's one of those nightmare stories where red tape and rules get in the way of basic common sense. Nearly 30 years ago, Angela Boneva got her American citizenship. She was a kid then, living in Bulgaria with her Indiana-born father. Boneva took advantage of her passport, coming to Chicago often to visit family before finally settling in the Windy City for good in 1997. She had a kid. Got married. And then she got the letter. 

There's been a mistake, it said. You're not really an American. More

TEHRAN (Reuters) - International pressure for new sanctions against Iran grew on Monday after Tehran announced more moves to expand nuclear fuel production and enrichment plants, heightening Western fears it wants to make atom bombs. More