A recent report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights carried the strongest criticism yet of Sri Lanka’s Human Rights record. The report, Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka points out that the Sri Lankan government has “failed to ensure independent and credible investigations into past violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.”

They left after Venezuelan secret police raided a Jewish club in 2007, and after the local synagogue was ransacked by unidentified thugs two years later. They left after President Hugo Chavez expelled Israel's ambassador to Caracas, and when he called on Venezuela's Jews to condemn Israel for its actions in Gaza in 2009.

On the occasion of the Persian New Year, Norouz, Israeli President Shimon Peres sent a message of peace to Iranians. In an exclusive interview with Israel-based journalist Farnoush Ram for RFE/RL's Radio Farda in Jerusalem on March 19, Peres called for peaceful relations between Israel and Iran, insisting his country is against war.

Monzer Darwish is a 23-year-old graphic designer and metal fan from Al Salamiyah, Syria, a district near Homs. For the last five months he’s been travelling around the country and visiting refugees in Lebanon for a documentary he’s making about underground metal bands in war-torn Syria. Needless to say, it's a tough gig.

The only help Obama has offered the Ukrainian military are military rations, but those haven’t even been sent yet, as Russian forces begin to attack Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea. As the crisis in Crimea reaches its “military stage,” and Russian troops have begun firing on Ukrainian soldiers, American promises of limited help to the Ukrainian military have not yet been fulfilled.

Forget comparisons with 1914, or to Munich in 1938. Forget the war that tore Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s and remember, instead, Schleswig-Holstein. A century and a half ago, it was the Crimea of its day,  a piece of disputed territory that caused international turmoil and confusion.     

Events in Crimea and Ukraine are entering a new phase this weekend. As residents of Crimea voted in a referendum about its future disposition, Ukrainian troops stuck in Crimea are now facing an uncertain fate, and tensions between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian citizens are flaring in cities throughout eastern Ukraine.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro warned protesters in Caracas on Saturday to clear a square they have made their stronghold, or face eviction by security forces. Plaza Altamira, in upscale east Caracas, has been a focus of anti-government protests and violence during six weeks of unrest around Venezuela that has killed 28 people.