Frances Martel

Four Western embassies have released a statement calling for the overturning of a death sentence for Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, a Christian Sudanese woman sentenced to death for “apostasy.” She is currently imprisoned with her 20-month-old son and is eight

Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe has emerged as a significant presence in this year’s presidential elections, accusing current President Juan Manuel Santos of accepting potentially millions of dollars from drug traffickers to pay off his campaign debt. Uribe’s claim is

Socialist elites in Venezuela have expressed little concern about United States sanctions that may fall upon them. While Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and others strive to engage Congress in passing targeted sanctions against human rights abusers in the country, Chavistas

Pope Francis received the family of deceased Cuban dissident leader Oswaldo Payá Wednesday and discussed the state of the Catholic Church in Cuba as well as the “Cuban reality” facing those living in the communist nation, according to Payá’s daughter

Mexico’s Juvenile Integration Center facilities to treat youth drug addiction are witnessing skyrocketing patient numbers but only meager increases in funding. According to Mexican newspaper El Universal, there has been an 81% increase in patients between 2006 and 2013 but

Mariam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, a 27-year-old pregnant mother, has been sentenced to death in Sudan for “apostasy” for marrying a Christian, despite being raised a Christian, because her father was Muslim. Ibrahim has refused to accept Islam after a three-day

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has condemned the moderate opposition for ending talks with the government in protest of the National Guard’s continued violent repression of protesters. The dissolution of talks, he said on his radio program, was the result of

The Palestinian Football Association is set to lobby FIFA to sanction Israel over incidents in which Palestinian soccer players were shot and arrested for issues not relating to soccer. Palestinian FA president Jibril Rajoub announced that FIFA had a responsibility

The Center for Naval Analyses has released a report warning that climate change is a threat that, “much like terrorism or cyber-attacks,” is not limited by political boundaries and requires similar attention. The study also attributes major political events to

Harvard is expanding its travel programs to Cuba, advertising a “people to people” voyage for alumni in October that promises “an astute insight and deeper knowledge of Cuba’s history and people” through meetings with professors, docents, and the kind of

The militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are using their full control of the northern Syrian capital of Raqa to ban mannequins in shop windows and impose a ban on men buying women’s underwear. The

The Philippines lodged a formal complaint with China Wednesday accusing it of moving building materials onto a disputed strip of the South Johnson Reef, a move perceived as yet another act of belligerence by China in heavily disputed territory. The

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been active for 50 years, terrorizing the Colombian countryside and perpetuating the country’s violent illegal drug trade. Naturally, the Cuban government has chosen to harbor their leaders, who have released a very

This week, the horrific images of teen girls abducted into lives of slavery to terrorists monopolized the front pages of every major newspaper and received wall-to-wall coverage on television. The vicious crimes of Boko Haram deserve the attention–but they have

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced Tuesday that Russia has denied a NASA request for continued co-habitation of the International Space Station beyond 2020, citing sanctions on Russia over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine as a reason the Russia

More than 700 families of forced laborers that toiled for Japan during World War II are suing the corporations responsible en masse, seeking millions in redress, a public apology, and a monument to those forced into labor by Japan in

The Chinese government arrested Xiang Nanfu, a “senior reporter” on the New York-based website Boxun.com, for publishing stories about the government that “seriously harm the country’s image,” according to Xinhua. Xiang is accused of writing stories of police brutality, government

Paraguay’s presidential palace is in desperate need of refurbishing. Architects are warning that much of the palace is already greatly deteriorated thanks to a termite infestation, and several wings of the lavish estate are also endangered by the presence of

A senior official on the Australian team searching for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 believes most of the promising “pings” discovered in recent weeks may not be related to the missing plane’s black boxes. Australian naval Commander James Lybrand says

This Saturday, unbeknownst to most Americans, 26 performers enter the most politicized apolitical event in the world to defend their nations. While the Eurovision Song Contest may seem frivolous at a distance, it serves as a dumping ground for political

A raid on settlements populated by opposition students in Caracas has left more than 240 students under arrest in what is being called one of the most brutal repressive actions of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime.  Police are said to

The Cuban government has arrested four Cuban exile Americans in Havana for an alleged plot to commit “terrorist actions” against the Cuban government, mere weeks after the United States renewed Cuban’s designation as a state sponsor of terror. According to

The Philippines has triggered another territorial dispute with China after arresting eleven Chinese fishermen on charges of illegally catching endangered sea turtles and illegally crossing territorial waters into the Philippines. They continue being held over protest from the Chinese government.