Jacey Fortin

Saddam Hussein's personal secretary and distant cousin Abed Hamid Hmoud was executed on Thursday, according to the Iraqi Justice Ministry.

A new partnership agreement between the United Kingdom and Norway will strengthen the energy connection between the two countries, said UK Prime Minster David Cameron on Wednesday

India's Dalits, also known as Untouchables, endure widespread discrimination and violence despite laws promoting equality.

Egyptian state news reports that Hosni Mubarak has experienced severe health problems since he was sentenced to life in prison. He may now be moved out of jail and into a hospital.

A new report on Germany's delivery of nuclear-capable submarines to Israel is raising important questions about the two countries' relationship.

Hamad al-Naqi, a 26-year-old Shia Muslim, was arrested after officials found a series of provocative posts on his Twitter account. He has now been convicted of insulting Islam and endangering state security by exacerbating sectarian tensions.

In the wake of two Nigerian airline crashes this weekend, it may seem that the country's aviation industry is in a dangerous tailspin. But the broader trends make a different case.

Newly elected French President Francois Hollande on Friday called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down to prevent continuing violence. No solution to this crisis is possible without the departure of Bashar al-Assad, Hollande said.

True to form, star soccer player Mario Balotelli is pulling no punches. The Italian national team striker is scheduled to compete in the UEFA European Football Championship 2012, or Euro 2012, in Ukraine and Poland. Aware of those countries' poor record for racial tolerance, Balotelli is putting up his guard.

A new report from the World Bank reveals a pattern of aid mismanagement in Somalia. In 2009 and 2010, approximately $130 million in funds delivered to the transitional government seem to have disappeared into thin air.

Slavery exists for hundreds of thousands of Mauritanians, and some activists are fighting for change.

On Thursday, Israel returned the bodies of 91 Palestinians to the West Bank and Gaza in hopes that the gesture would ease tensions between Israel and Palestine. Meanwhile, politicians suggest a unilateral move to partially remove Israeli forces from the West Bank.

Indian activists are encouraging a boycott of the London summer Olympics to draw attention to a 1984 tragedy that killed thousands and injured many more in the town of Bhopal.

Kidnapped French reporter Romeo Langlois was released by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) today during an exchange near the village of San Isidro in Colombia. He was apprehended by the leftist rebel group on April 28.

Several western celebrities have adopted a child from Africa, and a new report from the African Child Policy Forum shows that many other hopeful parents are following suit. But the inter-country adoption process is rife with complications, and the ACPF explains exactly why it is in need of reform

Turkey's indictment of four Israeli military officials on Monday raises questions about its diplomatic ambitions in the Middle East.

Representatives of Sudan and South Sudan met on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to begin a new round of peace talks mediated by the African Union.

The apparent results of Egypt's first round of presidential-election voting are troubling for the country's women. Likely runoff contestants are Mohammed Morsi, who is the preferred candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood' Freedom and Justice Party, and Ahmed Shafiq, who served as air-force commander under deposed President Hosni Mubarak.

When Aung San Suu Kyi left her husband and children in England to visit her ailing mother in Myanmar 24 years ago, she never imagined that she'd be stuck inside the Southeast Asian country for 24 years. Now, she will leave Myanmar for the first time since 1988.

At long last, the government of Argentina is revoking the contract of a private transportation company whose mismanagement of metropolitan transportation lines resulted in the deaths of 51 people on February 23 of this year.

On Wednesday, Somalia's interim leaders agreed on a schedule to end the current transitional period. By August, they hope, a newly elected government will lead a unified Somalia away from its tumultuous past.

On Tuesday, Cuba?s official Communist Party newspaper Granma finally gave an official estimate of the number of people currently incarcerated in the nation?s jails.

For centuries, the Roma people have been marginalized and misunderstood by their European neighbors. A new report by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) sheds light on this age-old human rights issue.

On Wednesday, a military junta that seized power in Guinea-Bissau last month formally agreed to step down. A new transitional government is set to lead the nation for 12 months in the run-up to a new round of national elections.

A report issued Tuesday from the International Rescue Committee finds that in countries recovering from war in West Africa, domestic violence is the biggest threat to women's safety.

At least 10 people were killed in Pakistan on Tuesday when a rally in Sindh Province erupted in violence. Gatherers had been marching to protest the division of the province.

A statement from North Korea on Tuesday declared that Pyongyang would 'expand and bolster' its nuclear deterrent program in response to Western hostilities, but denied that it had been engaging in nuclear tests.

Efrain Rios Montt, former dictator of Guatemala, faces a new charge of genocide for the massacres conducted under his leadership during the 36-year Guatemalan Civil War.

Over one-third of the drugs distributed to fight malaria in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia over the last 10 years were either fake or of poor quality, according to a report published by the Lancet on Tuesday.