Globe Trot: Sudan to execute Christian woman for faith

SUDAN: Yesterday a court in Khartoum confirmed its death sentence—plus 100 lashes—against Meriam Yahya Ibrahim, 27, who is nine months pregnant and charged with apostasy (and adultery) for marrying a Christian man. Although raised Ethiopian Orthodox, Ibrahim’s father is Muslim (though he left the family when she was six), and the court regards her as Muslim. Ibrahim had until yesterday to recant her faith, but has refused to do so. Her husband, Daniel Wani, is a South Sudanese national with U.S. citizenship.

The U.S. embassy issued a tepid statement calling on Sudan to approach her case “with justice and passion.” Faith McDonnell of the Institute on Religion and Democracy wrote the U.S. “should not just call on Khartoum to respect the right to freedom of religion, but should demand the release of the wife of an American citizen.”

NIGERIA: Boko Haram fighters ambushed Nigerian troops, killing 12 soldiers near the school where the terrorist group abducted nearly 300 young women last month. Angry Nigerian troops then fired on a vehicle carrying Maj. Gen. Ahmadu Mohammed, their commanding officer. He reportedly has been fired. Frustration mounts as Nigerian forces in search of the girls are hampered by a corrupt, inept, and ill-equipped military structure. It’s good that so much incompetence on both sides of the Atlantic is coming to light, but a tragedy that 300 young women’s lives are at stake as a result.

RUSSIA: The Obama administration was against sanctions on Russia before it was for them, and an American turned British citizen, William Browder, is the force behind the campaign to isolate the Kremlin.

INDIA: The expected win of the opposition Hindu nationalist party BJP in nationwide elections in India is a crushing blow to the Nehru-Gandhi family and to Christians who have suffered attacks from BJP members.