Frances Martel

Horrific images of women apparently stripped naked and molested on the street by hordes of men during a “fertility festival” in Nigeria prompted outrage globally this weekend — but when the incidents occurred, local Nigerian leaders justified the festival as a traditional practice and chided women for being outside at all.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared in conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae on Thursday that his country is ready for new negotiations to end hostilities with the United States – provided Washington drops its priority issues.

The Chinese Communist Party announced on Wednesday that it had dramatically expanded the scope of the country’s known oil and gas reserves, claiming to have found 225 “large and medium-sized crude oil and natural gas fields” between 2021 and 2025.

The U.N.’s top nuclear energy official dismissed the possibility of using the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, as a basis for any new agreement in comments at a press conference on Wednesday.

North Korea’s communist dictator Kim Jong-un celebrated the untold numbers of his citizens dying in battle to support the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine in remarks on Monday, especially acknowledging soldiers who committed suicide to avoid capture.

A poll released on Tuesday found that incumbent President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva would trail his top challenger, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, by 0.3 percent in a runoff between them, without enough support in the first round of voting to prevent a runoff.

A research study published by the human rights organization Prisoners Defenders on Monday estimated — based on documented evidence of meals, eyewitness testimony, and scientific estimates — that the Cuban Communist Party is feeding its male prisoners between 250 to 353 calories.

A large crowd of Cuban-Americans and supporters – according to Univisión, in the thousands – gathered on Sunday in Miami, Florida’s Bayside Park for a unique event to pray for divine intervention to end communism in Cuba.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Moscow, Russia, on Monday and is expected to meet dictator Vladimir Putin for discussions on his country’s ongoing conflict with America.

The Chinese state propaganda newspaper Global Times lamented in its coverage on Sunday that the shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was a result of “radicalization of international political divisions in America.”

Multiple top Iranian regime officials, including missing “supreme leader” Mojtaba Khamenei, issued statements on Thursday and Friday declaring that they are all entirely in agreement with how to move forward on the current crisis with the United States, denying the existence of political dissent.

Two rounds of materials testing revealed the presence of cotton from East Turkistan, the occupied Uyghur homeland, in Labubu dolls.

Pope Leo XIV issued a categorical condemnation of Iran’s Islamist regime engaging in the widespread massacre of protesters on Thursday, urging the parties involved in the conflict in that country to seek peace, but stating “obviously” he hoped for an end to the execution of dissidents.

The Chinese National Disease Control and Prevention Administration warned citizens on Wednesday that it had documented a growing number of cases of various respiratory diseases, primarily influenza and rhinovirus, in the past month, suggesting travelers take precautions during the upcoming May Day holiday.

The interior minister of Pakistan, Mohsin Naqvi, held a meeting on Thursday with American Ambassador Natalie Baker to discuss attempts to continue negotiations to settle the war in Iran, expressing hope upon leaving the meeting that the rogue Iranian terror regime would return to the negotiating table.

Iranian leaders insisted on Thursday that they could not allow the free flow of commercial transit in the Strait of Hormuz because the United States has continued to enforce a blockade on Iranian ships using the maritime byway, indicating continued Iranian intransigence hampering attempts at peace talks.

A senior Taliban leader in Afghanistan condemned Iran’s repeated bombing of Arab Gulf states in remarks on Monday, describing the violence as a “concern” for Kabul and unfair to the victims of Iranian aggression.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the al-Qaeda offshoot terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), presided over the inauguration of the Al-Fayhaa Sports Arena in the nation’s capital, Damascus, on Monday.

Iran’s remaining living regime officials flooded the pages of their state media outlets on Tuesday with outraged statements rejecting any negotiation with the United States and threatening “decisive, definitive, and immediate” attacks.

The head of Peru’s National Election Jury (JNE), a body that evaluates disputes regarding ballots and other vote technicalities, told reporters this weekend that her office expects to be able to offer the nation the complete results of the April 12 election by mid-May.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on Sunday that a photo circulating online showed an IDF soldier wielding a hammer over the head of a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon, committing to take “appropriate measures” against those involved.

A Russian official selected to control the occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson revealed that he had recently met with North Korea’s top diplomat in Moscow to discuss the country potentially buying agricultural products seized in the ongoing invasion, South Korean and Russian media revealed this weekend.

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he had “PROHIBITED” Israel from continuing its pervasive bombing campaigns in Lebanon.

Pope Leo XIV presided over Mass for 120,000 people at a stadium in Douala, Cameroon on Friday, urging attendees to “reject every form of abuse or violence” and “multiply your talents through faith.”

The Iranian terror state’s armed forces marked National Army Day on Friday by publishing a host of threats against the United States and Israel, asserting that their soldiers have a “finger on the trigger” to attack even as Iran appears to continue to adhere to a ceasefire set to expire on Tuesday.

China’s communist dictator Xi Jinping received a coveted position on this year’s edition of Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people, receiving a profile crediting him with “rewriting how the world works” that omits any mention of the ongoing Uyghur genocide.

The newspaper USA Today reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous “sources familiar,” that the Pentagon was “quietly ramping up” a plan to attack Cuba — a report that followed similar rumors on Substack.

The head of the United Nations nuclear body, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), warned on Wednesday that he had reason to believe communist North Korea had engaged in a “very serious increase” in activity to make nuclear weapons.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, told reporters on Wednesday that any agreement to limit Iran’s illicit nuclear development would require the country to agree to significant international oversight.

Human rights activists expressed disgust and outrage this week after photos surfaced of a recently freed Cuban political prisoner suffering from multiple severe medical conditions, including cancer and visible malnutrition.

The Chinese Communist Party offered hearty congratulations to Hungary’s expected next prime minister, Péter Magyar, on Monday following his party’s sound defeat of current Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, signaling interest in maintaining the outsized influence Beijing developed during Orbán’s 16 years in power.

Iran demanded “compensation” from five Middle Eastern countries it has been bombing since early March in a letter to the UN.

The governments of Iran and Saudi Arabia confirmed on Thursday that their respective foreign ministers held a phone conversation the night before, the first known direct contact between the two countries since Iran began a sustained bombing campaign against Saudi Arabia and its allies in March.