Correspondents say she earned the admiration of many across Pakistan for her courage in speaking out about life under the brutalrule of Taliban militants.
Some of the shift in public sentiment away from the peace accord with the Taliban signed in February undoubtedly is due to the Taliban's brutalrule of Swat.
Now that al-Assad's regime has introduced the option that major mass-casualty weapons could enter the conflict, it has eliminated any doubts about the need to bring an end to the al-Assad family's brutalrule.
Cambodia has made impressive progress in reconstructing its educational system which was completely destroyed during the brutal years of Khmer Rouge rule, between 1975 and 1979.
The 1956 Games in Melbourne took place against the backdrop of the Hungarian uprising against Communist rule and its subsequent brutal suppression by the Soviet Union.
But the countries of the West would be doing both themselves and the Russian people a favour by speaking firmly, with one voice, on human rights, democracy, the rule of law and the brutal war in Chechnya.