Freedom
Women’s rights regressed last year in a quarter of countries around the world, according to a report published by UN Women on Thursday, due to factors ranging from climate change to democratic backsliding. “The weakening of democratic institutions has gone hand in hand with backlash on gender equality,” the
Freedom
In this Damascus suburb, the handful of remaining Jews in Syria can again make pilgrimages to one of the world’s oldest synagogues where people from throughout the region once came to pray. Syria’s 13-year civil war left the synagogue partially destroyed. Walls and roofs have collapsed. Some artifacts
Freedom
In Damascus’s Ummayad Square, hundreds gathered Thursday, demanding a democratic state that includes women in public life, marking the first such demonstration since Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad. Women and men, young and old, chanted slogans including “No to religious rule,” “God is for religion and the
Freedom
UN rights chief Volker Turk on Tuesday urged students at Bangladesh’s Dhaka University, the heart of the uprising that toppled autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina, to “protect” democracy to end cycles of revenge. “Democracy is one of the most powerful ideas ever dreamed up by humanity... but it is also
Freedom
The persecuted and stateless Rohingya minority is caught in a new violent crackdown in Myanmar, with children among those killed, two reports from influential expert groups warned Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh in 2017 during a crackdown by the military that is now the
reports
Saving lives was the childhood dream for 28-year-old Indian doctor Radhika, but after the brutal rape and murder of a colleague her own safety has increasingly become a top concern. Earlier this month, at the government-run hospital where Radhika works in the eastern city of Kolkata, the battered and bloodied
News
Violence against women and girls in England and Wales is a “national emergency” with almost 3,000 offenses recorded daily, police warned in a new report published on Tuesday. The study, commissioned by two law enforcement bodies, estimates that at least one in every 12 women will be a victim
Freedom
Iranian prosecutors filed criminal charges on Wednesday targeting activists and journalists following a BBC report that alleged security forces had “sexually assaulted and killed” a 16-year-old girl during protests over the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. Nika Shakarami’s death also sparked widespread outrage at the time. Amini died
Freedom
A Pakistan High Court ordered the government on Wednesday to restore access to social media platform X within a week, a lawyer said, after more than two months of disruptions. The platform, formerly known as Twitter, has been rarely accessible since February 17, when jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’
News
Democrat Kayla Young and Republican Patricia Rucker frequently clash on abortion rights and just about everything else in West Virginia’s Legislature, but they agree on one thing: Too few of their colleagues are women, and it’s hurting the state. “There are exceptions to every single rule, but I
Freedom
Iran is responsible for the “physical violence” that led to the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 and sparked nationwide protests against the country’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, laws and its ruling theocracy, a UN fact-finding mission said Friday. The stark pronouncement came in a wide-ranging initial report
Freedom
Small groups of Afghan women on Friday staged rare demonstrations to mark International Women’s Day in private spaces, after a crackdown by Taliban authorities forced activists off the streets. Since surging back to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed a strict interpretation of Islam, with women bearing
Freedom
Alexei Navalny’s top lawyer, Olga Mikhailova, said on Wednesday that in life or in death he would “influence history” as she paid an emotional tribute to the late Russian opposition leader. Mikhailova, who is arguably the most high-profile member of Navalny’s defense team, had defended the opposition politician
Freedom
Iranian authorities have handed down a jail sentence of over five years to the uncle of Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian-Kurdish woman whose custody death sparked months of protests, over his anti-government views expressed during the 2022 demonstrations, rights groups said on Tuesday. Safa Aeli, 30, was sentenced to five
Freedom
Amnesty International on Thursday described Pakistan's decision to suspend mobile internet services throughout the day as the country held its general elections as a "blunt attack on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly". In a statement, the UK-based international rights watchdog's
Freedom
Iranian dissidents in the UK are facing an increased risk of violence and threats, with counterterrorism police taking the matter “very seriously,” The Times reported on Tuesday. Amid the turbulent situation in the Middle East since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Tehran is engaging criminal groups in the