Frances Martel

Turkish Islamist strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan published photos on his social media accounts on Tuesday appearing to play basketball with retired NBA star and commentator Shaquille O’Neal in Istanbul.

A torrent of violence, including reported beheadings and a prison break by Islamic State terrorists, erupted in Syria on Monday following the signing of an agreement between the jihadist federal government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Cuba’s National Security Council held a meeting this weekend to discuss what state propaganda described as “plans and measures to take a step toward a State of War,” a day after welcoming the remains of 32 of its soldiers killed in an American operation to arrest deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

Christians in Syria are choosing to “hide Christian symbols and avoid public displays of faith” following the collapse of the Assad regime and ascent of the al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to power, Ryan Brown, the CEO of the Christian human rights organization Open Doors, told Breitbart News in remarks this weekend.

A plane carrying the remains of 32 identified Cuban state security agents killed in the American military operation to arrest deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro landed in Havana on Thursday. Shocking footage of its arrival showed that the remains of the fallen were apparently not large enough for coffins and brought home in small boxes.

Anti-socialist Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has consistently appeared as the most popular such figure in the country in polls because of her refusal to negotiate with the regime, the president of the polling firm Meganálisis, Rubén Chirino Leañez, told Breitbart News this week.

President Donald Trump told Reuters on Wednesday that, while shah scion Reza Pahlavi “seems very nice,” the U.S. president did not feel confident that the Iranian people would support him as leader should the current Islamist dictatorship fall.

Leftist protests in defense of Nicolás Maduro “do not at all represent the Venezuelan people,” the CEO of the polling firm Meganálisis said.

The European Broadcast Union (EBU) announced that tickets for the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest have sold out in record time.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Communist Party’s state propaganda arms railed on Tuesday against President Donald Trump’s imposition of a 25-percent tariff on countries that do business with Iran.

A group of Venezuelans and Venezuelan-Americans gathered on Monday outside the White House to thank President Donald Trump for approving a mission to arrest now-deposed socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, who terrorized the Venezuelan people for over a decade.

Christian activists in Cuba launched a campaign on Monday titled Salvar a Cuba (“To Save Cuba”), calling for nationwide prayers “so that the family of Cuba can come to Christ’s feet.”

Granma, the newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba, published a compilation of purported “social media comments” threatening Americans.

The Vatican announced on Monday that Pope Leo XIV held a surprise in-person meeting with Nobel Peace Prize winner and anti-socialist Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado shortly before she is expected to meet with President Donald Trump.

The American embassy in Bogotá, Colombia – the closest operating near Venezuela – warned this weekend of reports of roving socialist gangs known as “colectivos” hunting American citizens or those deemed to be “supportive” of the United States.

Cuban External Affairs Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla attended a ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday to honor the 32 Cuban Communist Party agents killed during the arrest of deposed dictator Nicolás Maduro last week.

Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez met with China’s ambassador to the country, Lan Hu, on Thursday, in an effort to reassure the chavistas’ communist patrons that their prime position in Venezuelan politics would be respected following the arrest of longtime dictator Nicolás Maduro.

The Chinese Defense Ministry confirmed on Friday that its military, alongside those of Russia and South Africa, would engage in drills known as “Will for Peace 2026” off the coast of South Africa.

The Cuban Communist Party’s cable news network aired a commentary this week claiming that continued Castro regime control was a “guarantee for the national security of the United States.”

President Donald Trump revealed on Wednesday evening that he held a conversation with radical Marxist Colombian President Gustavo Petro and invited him to the White House — while an anti-Trump protest organized by Petro was underway in Bogotá.

Miguel Uribe Londoño, a conservative Colombian presidential candidate and father of assassinated 2026 frontrunner Miguel Uribe Turbay, accused Nicolás Maduro of playing a role in his son’s death following Maduro’s arrest this weekend.

Venezuelan exiles and leaders in the community have expressed in the days following the arrest of former dictator Nicolás Maduro that the socialist regime’s structure remains intact, urging the United States to detain the elite who continue to control the country.

The Venezuelan National Press Workers’ Union (SNTP) denounced on Monday that socialist Venezuelan forces apprehended 14 journalists, 13 of them working with international news agencies, amid the installment of longtime chavista loyalist Delcy Rodríguez as “president.”

Socialist President of Colombia Gustavo Petro published a meandering social media post at 1:28 a.m. local time in which he claimed he was ready to “take up arms” if necessary to fight President Donald Trump, accusing him of making “illegitimate threats” against Bogotá.

Cuba’s revelation that dozens of its agents were killed in the arrest of Nicolás Maduro confirmed that he did not trust his own people.

Throngs of Venezuelans around the world took to the streets Saturday and Sunday to celebrate the news President Donald Trump had ordered an operation to arrest socialist longtime dictator Nicolás Maduro, whose name became synonymous with starvation, torture, and exile.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued an incensed statement on Saturday condemning the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the operation to apprehend deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro late on Friday as a message to America’s enemies around the world to choose cooperation over acting “like a wild man,” as President Donald Trump “is not a game-player.”

President Donald Trump published a photo on his Truth Social account on Saturday appearing to show arrested Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro aboard a U.S. aircraft, en route to face criminal drug-trafficking charges in America.

Latin American leaders aligned with the White House’s pro-freedom stance celebrated the arrest and extradition of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on Saturday morning, extended support to the exiled winner of the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, Edmundo González.

Communist figurehead “president” of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel welcomed the new year demanding the Cuban people be “united more than ever.”

Genocidal communist dictator Xi Jinping proclaimed that the Chinese oppressed by his Communist Party and the nation of Taiwan “share a bond of blood and kinship,” insisting that China’s colonization of Taiwan was “unstoppable” in an address to mark the new year.

President Donald Trump announced in a message on his website, Truth Social, on Friday that the United States is ready to intervene to “rescue” anti-regime protesters in Iran should the government attempt to brutalize them.