Globe Trot: Uzbekistan’s president is dead

UZBEKISTAN’s first and only president has been confirmed dead, after suffering a stroke on Aug. 28. Islam Karamov, who was 78, ruthlessly ruled the former Soviet republic for decades, initiating particularly harsh crackdowns against Christian pastors, decreeing that religious literature be read only in designated areas, and restricting worship.

ZIMBABWE: No one is yet writing off Robert Mugabe after nearly 35 years in power, but the 92-year-old president has yet to return from an unannounced trip abroad, following weeks of opposition protests and calls for his ouster.

Zimbabweans want to know why former U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Johnnie Carson is headlining an event there next week to discuss a transition from Mugabe.

CHINA: House church members in Henan province are defying local authorities attempting to curtail their activities, saying they will take their case to Beijing if they continue to face government harassment.

NIGERIA: While the world focused on Boko Haram’s mass kidnappings of women and girls, the Islamist group was abducting even more boys—10,000 kidnapped and trained in boot camps in the past three years.

IRAQ: One of the American-led aid groups in Iraq, Preemptive Love Coalition, decided to feed the enemy, taking food and water to the detainment compound near Fallujah where captured ISIS fighters are being held.

NOTE: No Globe Trot on Monday. Happy Labor Day. Globe Trot will return Wednesday, Sept. 7.