‘Suddenly, I Was Free’: A Chinese Pastor’s Journey From Jail to the U.S.

By: Vivian Wang — 17 July 2026 at 09:03

In his first interview since being released by China, Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri details his surprise release after a direct appeal by President Trump to Xi Jinping.

Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri at his home near Washington on Thursday. His release from jail was a rare concession by China after President Trump raised his case.

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Outside Prisons in Caracas, Venezuelans Anxiously Await Release of More Political Detainees

By: The New York Times — 9 January 2026 at 23:41

Venezuela’s interim government said it would release an “important number” of imprisoned people, but only nine have been confirmed freed.

Family members awaiting the release of prisoners outside El Helicoide, a notorious prison in the center of Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, on Thursday.

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Maduro Is Gone, but Repression in Venezuela Has Intensified

By: Jack Nicas — 7 January 2026 at 15:27

Security forces have boarded buses, searched phones and interrogated people, looking for evidence that they welcomed the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

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Venezuela Detains U.S. Citizens Amid Trump Administration’s Growing Pressure

By: Anatoly Kurmanaev， Annie Correal and Edward Wong — 31 December 2025 at 21:48

The number of American citizens held in Venezuela has grown since the start of the U.S. military and economic campaign against President Nicolás Maduro.

President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela at a rally in Caracas, the capital, earlier this month.

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A Chilling New Tactic in Nicaragua: Arrest, Then Silence

By: Frances Robles — 5 October 2025 at 09:00

Nicaragua’s authoritarian government has begun holding dissidents without revealing their whereabouts or acknowledging their detention. Two have turned up dead.

Nicaragua’s co-presidents, Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, in Managua this month in a photograph released by state media.

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The Bleak Life in Captivity of Niger’s Deposed President, Mohamed Bazoum

By: Elian Peltier — 4 May 2024 at 21:06

Nine months after a coup in Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, an ally of France and the U.S., remains locked in the presidential residence, cut off from contact with anyone but his doctor.

President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger in 2022. For the past nine months, he has been held captive in an isolated wing of his house.

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Vietnam Is Jailing Environmentalists Who Helped It Secure Billions

By: Sui-Lee Wee — 28 November 2023 at 10:01

The government is preparing to present its energy transition plan at the U.N. climate talks as it intensifies a crackdown on environmental advocates.

Solar panels at the Sao Mai power plant in An Giang Province, Vietnam, last year. The country has been awarded $15.5 billion in grants and loans in exchange for a commitment to renewable energy.

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Imprisoned Nobel Winner and Iranian Rights Activist Begins a Hunger Strike

By: Farnaz Fassihi and Cassandra Vinograd — 6 November 2023 at 20:48

Narges Mohammadi is protesting the prison’s denial of hospital treatment for her heart condition, her family said.

Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi is serving a 10-year sentence in Iran’s Evin prison. “We are extremely worried,” her husband, Taghi Rahmani, said. “Her life is in danger.”