Ashish Kumar Sen

State Department’s annual report shows human rights at risk The past year has been a particularly bad one for human rights around the world, from a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria to a bloody crackdown by Egyptian security forces on demonstrators in Cairo to the collapse of a packed eight-story garment factory in Bangladesh , the State Department says in an annual report.

Obama talks tough on Russian muscle in Ukraine With Russia exerting its influence over parts of Ukraine , the White House on Thursday issued a stern admonition to Moscow to refrain from “provocative actions” that could plunge the region into deeper chaos.

Sen. Bob Corker is worried Russia will invade Ukraine, Obama has no plan A top Republican senator is worried that Russia will use the political upheaval in Ukraine as an excuse to invade the former Soviet republic and that the Obama administration has no plan to counter that threat.

Proxy war between Iran, Saudi Arabia playing out in Syria Iranian support for embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad is producing a violent backlash against Tehran’s interests in the Middle East and fueling a proxy war with Saudi Arabia that threatens to further destabilize the region.

Georgia P.M. Garibashvili eyes NATO membership, while keeping Russia at bay Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili is determined to maintain his country’s embrace of the West by boosting economic ties with the European Union and eventually joining NATO , but he worries about pressure from Russia to bring the former Soviet republic into Moscow’s fold.  

U.S. expels 3 Venezuelan diplomats The Obama administration has ordered the expulsion of three Venezuelan diplomats from the U.S. after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month kicked out three U.S. diplomats whom he accused of fomenting unrest in the Latin American nation.

Syria war posing ‘existential’ threat to Lebanon: ambassador The war in Syria , which has displaced more than 9 million people and turned the region into a hotbed for terrorist activity, is posing an existential threat to Lebanon , the Middle Eastern nation’s top diplomat in Washington said Friday.

Clashes in Ukraine capital are a reaction to rampant corruption, domestic divisions The political upheaval that has bloodied the streets of Kiev this week is largely viewed in the Western media through a Cold War prism that pits the West against Russia , but the unrest in Ukraine has been many years in the making — a reaction to rampant corruption, lawlessness and deep domestic divisions within the country.

Talking peace in Pakistan After years of bloodshed that has claimed more than 45,000 lives and taken a heavy toll on civilians could there finally be some good news coming out of Pakistan?

Al Qaeda affiliate targets Hezbollah in Beirut Al Qaeda ’s franchise in Lebanon claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the capital, Beirut, on Wednesday, and said the attack was in response to the role of Iran -backed Hezbollah militants in the war in Syria .

Le Quoc Quan conviction upheld by Vietnam court A court in Vietnam has upheld the conviction of a popular human rights lawyer and dissident on tax evasion charges, drawing a swift rebuke from the Obama administration .

Obama administration denies U.S. responsibility for violence in Venezuela The Obama administration on Tuesday said the Venezuelan government is trying to distract attention from its actions by blaming the U.S. for the political unrest rocking the Latin American nation.

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un forced mothers to drown newborn babies: U.N. report North Korea forces women to undergo abortions and young mothers to drown their newborn babies, and has starved and executed hundreds of thousands of detainees at secret prison camps — atrocities that the chairman of a U.N. panel that documented the abuses compares to those of Nazi Germany .

Obama administration: We weren’t told of Venezuela’s expulsion of U.S. diplomats The State Department said on Monday it had not been formally notified about the expulsion of U.S. diplomats from Venezuela.

No help for Homs Weeklong Syrian peace talks in Geneva have brought little relief to residents of the besieged central western city of Homs.