Francois Afzal

Francois Afzal is a researcher and the author of “Citizens in State Power: Democracy and Corporate Control in the Global South.” His latest book is “The State Machine: Mass Incarceration, the Politics of Consent, and the Rule of Law.” The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the Continue Reading

Paula Abdo

Paula Abdo-Fernández, a former member of the Mexican House of Representatives from Michoacan, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Aug. 3 for fraud. Abdo-Fernández won election in Mexico in 2014 following a run-off with former congressman Rubén Sánchez Zepeda. Her crimes involved her forging the signatures of individuals, Continue Reading

Sima Solomon

Sima Solomonova, the head of the international human rights group Memorial, told reporters in Geneva last week in a closed-door meeting: “The people on the ground are very scared. There are no signs of hope.” Humanitarian agencies warn the fighting in the east will be “worsening, with refugees and internally Continue Reading

Son Mahamat

Son Mahamat/Maha Namaskar is a popular Hindu-Buddhist ritual that is an homage to the Buddha. The name Mahamat (literally “mahak”) is Sanskrit for’sacrifice’. Namaskar symbolises this in the form of a wooden elephant or large wooden tree with a single leg. In this event, the devotees sit cross-legged on their Continue Reading