BEIJING — Unable to buy a train ticket, or even see a doctor at a hospital, a Chinese pastor found that his even after his release from prison, he is not quite free. The Rev. John Sanqiang Cao was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison while coming back from a missionary trip in … Read more
MIAMI — A former fighter pilot jailed in Venezuela in February for his ties to a prominent human rights attorney is an employee of U.S. oil firm Chevron, The Associated Press has learned, an arrest that combined with other recent repressive acts by Nicolás Maduro’s government is straining efforts by the Biden administration to pave … Read more
BRUSSELS — The European Union on Friday imposed sanctions on the Russian justice and prison officials responsible for imprisoning opposition leader Alexei Navalny before his death last month. “Alexei Navalny’s slow killing by the Kremlin regime is a stark reminder of its utter disregard for human life,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in … Read more
DAJABON, Dominican Republic — Human rights activists are calling on the Dominican Republic’s government for a temporary reprieve in deportations as neighboring Haiti’s crisis spirals and people attempt to flee over the closed border from a surge in deadly gang violence. Small trucks with customized cages are ferrying dozens of Haitians every day from a … Read more
GOMA, Congo — Congolese journalist Stanis Bujakera was set to be freed soon after a court found him guilty and sentenced him Monday to six months in prison for spreading false information among other charges, according to media freedom group Reporters Without Borders. He was expected to be released hours or days after the verdict, … Read more
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A crowd of about 100 people tried to shove through a metal gate in Haiti’s capital as a guard with a baton pushed them back, threatening to hit them. Undeterred, children and adults alike, some of them carrying babies, kept elbowing each other trying to enter. “Let us in! We’re hungry!” they … Read more
There is no evidence for former President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that “the Congo” has emptied prisons to allow violent criminals to come to the US border as migrants – and the governments of both the Democratic Republic of Congo and the neighboring Republic of Congo say Trump’s assertions are entirely false. “Everything he is … Read more
HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court sentenced 12 people Saturday to prison over the storming of the city’s legislative council building at the height of the anti-government protests in 2019. Hundreds of protesters swarmed into the legislature the night of July 1, 2019 — the 22nd anniversary of the former British colony’s return to … Read more
DAKAR, Senegal — Senegal’s top opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, was released from jail late Thursday ahead of the country’s presidential election scheduled for March 24, his lawyer said. Sonko and his key ally, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, were both set free, his lawyer Bamba Cisse told The Associated Press. An AP journalist saw his car waiting … Read more
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — A proposal to install new leadership in Haiti appeared to be crumbling Wednesday as some political parties rejected the plan to create a presidential council that would manage the transition. The panel would be responsible for selecting an interim prime minister and a council of ministers that would attempt to chart a … Read more