While the international outcry is gratifying in its endorsement of human rights and its outrage at the Islamic jihad and Sharia law, hashtag diplomacy has distinct limitations; it may serve as a starting point provided it doesn’t merely fade away after serving only to vent emotion, and it is no substitute for action.

The Sudanese woman sentenced to death for apostasy after having married a Christian is to be freed in the next few days, it was reported on Saturday night. Meriam Ibrahim, who gave birth to a daughter on Tuesday while shackled in heavy chains, has been in jail since January. The announcement came on the back of international outrage that turned into a global campaign to save the mother of two – her 20-month-old son has also been forced to stay in prison with her. David Cameron had joined political leaders in condemning the Sudanese government's actions.

The prime minister and other political leaders have added their voices to the campaign to lift the death sentence given to Meriam Ibrahim, a Sudanese woman sentenced to hang for apostasy. David Cameron's announcement came after Ibrahim's husband, Daniel Wani, appealed for global support to free his wife from death row, where she is being held with her two young children after giving birth in shackles this week.

Hours after a Sudanese court sentenced his pregnant wife to death when she refused to recant her Christian faith, her husband told CNN he feels helpless.  "The fact that a woman could be sentenced to death for her religious choice, and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion, is abhorrent and should never be even considered," Manar Idriss, Amnesty International's Sudan researcher, said in a statement.

Diplomats representing major western powers have strongly condemned human rights violations by South Sudan's government and rebel forces and protested the obstruction of U.N. operations and threats to U.N. personnel in the war-torn country.

It had been years since a crowd this big gathered for an event like this. Hundreds filled Khartoum International Community School's amphitheatre, a posh school for children of the city's elite, some even crammed on its stairways. A white screen slowly descended and after short introductions, a film began rolling.

A popular U.S. provider of massive open online courses is being prevented from offering lessons to students in blacklisted countries. This will do more harm than good. The United States frequently fancies itself a defender of online freedom, serving up stern words to regimes which censor and control the Internet.

A popular online education platform has blocked its services from Cuba, Iran and Sudan to adhere to US sanctions on international trading. Coursera, the social entrepreneurship company to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), has more than 21 million student enrollments in over 180 countries. Coursera co-founder Andrew Ng told The Stream there have been thousands of failed attempts to login since the block was initiated last Friday.