Watchdog group: Freedom slipped worldwide in 2010

Twenty-five countries showed significant declines in democracy in 2010 with little serious resistance from the democratic world, the watchdog group Freedom House reported Thursday.

It was the fifth consecutive year that Freedom House has reported a decline in political rights and civil liberties worldwide. "Our adversaries are not just engaging in widespread repression, they are doing so with unprecedented aggressiveness and self-confidence," said David J. Kramer, executive director of the group. "And the democratic community is not rising to the challenge." (AP)