Free Republic

The largely pro-life country of Malta, located south of Sicily, has been facing pressure to legalize abortion and euthanasia and abandon its deeply-held principles. Activists are working to make abortion legal in the island nation, though pro-life Maltese citizens are continuing to stand strong — even as police have begun cracking down on pro-life advocacy as “hate speech.” Emma Portelli Bonnici is a candidate running for office with the Nationalist Party (PN). In a press conference, she promised free contraception and morning-after pills within six months if her party is put into power. She’s also openly pro-abortion, and filed a...

The head of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party was executed early Wednesday for his role in acts of genocide and war crimes during the country’s independence war against Pakistan in 1971, a senior government official said. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said Motiur Rahman Nizami, the 73-year-old leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was hung at 12:10 a.m. Wednesday inside Dhaka central jail amid tight security. […] Nizami is the fifth senior official from opposition parties to be executed since 2013 for war crimes carried out during the 1971 war. Three other senior members of Nizami’s Jamaat-e-Islami party and a top leader of...

Taiwan’s China-friendly Nationalist Party has elected its first female leader after ousting her as its presidential candidate ahead of January elections that were won by pro-independence rivals. The Kuomintang had ditched Hung Hsiu-chu as her abrasive style and strongly pro-China positions were seen as alienating voters. The veteran legislator and former teacher was elected as leader over three other candidates Saturday and likely faces a difficult time rebuilding the party after its January electoral defeat. […] Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulated Hung from Beijing, saying he hoped the two parties would continue to oppose “Taiwan independence,” according to the official...

The State Department recognized Porfirio Lobo's victory in Sunday's election but said the Honduran Congress still needed to vote on the restoration of deposed President Manuel Zelaya and form a government of national unity. "While the election is a significant step in Honduras' return to the democratic and constitutional order ... it's only a step and it's not the last step," said Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela. Before the election, the United States tried and failed to have Zelaya reinstated. Its support of the election upset many Latin American nations, including powerful Brazil, which called...

BEIJING, Apr. 3 -- Taipei's popular mayor Ma Ying-jeou announced his bid for the leadership of Nationalist Party on Sunday. Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou cheers the audience as he formally announces his bid for the leadership of Nationalist Party on Sunday. Ma Ying-jeou was cheered by about 3,000 supporters as he promised to reform the 109-year-old Nationalist Party. The opposition hopes the handsome, articulate and savvy Ma will pump new life into the Nationalists. "We need to stabilize relations with the Chinese Mainland because they affect our economy, our foreign and domestic policies," the 54-year-old Ma told supporters.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -- The United States has demanded that the IRA disband after the guerrilla group's astonishing offer to shoot the killers of a murdered Northern Ireland Catholic man. "It's time for the IRA to go out of business," U.S. special envoy Mitchell Reiss said Wednesday. For the IRA's political ally Sinn Fein, Northern Ireland's biggest Irish nationalist party, the U.S. demand was yet another blow to its democratic credentials. Reiss told BBC radio: "It's time for Sinn Fein to be able to say explicitly, without ambiguity, without ambivalence, that criminality will not be tolerated. "You can't sign...