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☆ Taliban compounds misery for women in Afghanistan with order to close all beauty salons
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The impending closure of beauty salons further diminishes the freedom of women and delivers a harsh economic blow to families who rely on them for income. An Afghan beautician attends to a customer at a beauty salon in Mazar-i-Sharif on June 27, 2023. My husband is jobless and this beauty salon is the only means to feed my family. “I don’t understand why beauty salons should be banned. According to their report, women are banned from working in most sectors outside the home, and are prohibited from attending public baths, parks, and gyms.

Persons: Mohammad Sidik Akif, Afghan beautician, Sharif, “, ”, Richard Bennett, Dorothy Estrada, Tanck, they’re, who’ve, Markus Potzel, Afghanistan’s “ Organizations: CNN, Ministry, United Nations, Getty, UN Locations: Afghanistan, United States, Afghan, Mazar, AFP, Kabul

☆ Video of man driving over woman repeatedly reignites China's domestic violence debate
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The wife had reportedly suffered years of domestic violence and was planning on a divorce, her family told state media outlet The Paper. “Given its prevalence, domestic violence is an issue everyone knows about, even if they have not encountered it themselves.”Volunteers in Ma Anshan city, Anhui province sign their names on a banner against domestic violence on December 14, 2011. TopPhoto/AP‘Family affair’In China, domestic violence has traditionally been regarded as a private family matter. The law defines domestic violence for the first time, covering both physical and psychological violence – though it fails to address sexual abuse such as marital rape. “Domestic violence allegations, even when they’re supported by evidence, make no difference – like judges just don’t care at all,” he said.

Persons: –, ”, Feng Yuan, Feng, …, Ethan Michelson, Michelson, they’re, it’s, “, Xi Jinping Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Twitter, “, ” Volunteers, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Indiana University , Bloomington Locations: Hong Kong, China, Shandong, Dongying, Guangdong, Chengdu, –, Weibo, Beijing, Ma Anshan, Anhui, Michelson

☆ Democrats to Use $20 Million Equal Rights Push to Aid 2024 N.Y. House Bids
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

New York Democrats’ substandard performance in the midterm elections last year helped their party lose control of the House of Representatives, threatened its national agenda, and angered national Democrats. In an effort to avoid repeating the same mistake, New York Democrats on Thursday will announce support for a statewide effort to pass a women’s rights amendment that they hope will also supercharge turnout in 2024, when President Biden and House members will be up for re-election. Their strategy: Get Democrats to the polls by focusing attention on a 2024 statewide referendum, the New York Equal Rights Amendment, that will explicitly bar New York from using its power and resources to penalize those who have abortions. Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, among others, plans to raise at least $20 million to spend on television ads, direct mail and organizing in support of the initiative. The effort is designed to complement the House Democrats’ main super PAC’s $45 million bid to win six New York swing districts next year, including four that just flipped Republican.

Persons: Biden, Kathy Hochul, Hakeem Jeffries Organizations: New York Democrats, New, Gov, Democrats ’ Locations: York

☆ Taiwan Faces a #MeToo Wave, Set Off by a Netflix Hit
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Amy Chang Chien | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In some ways, the #MeToo movement points to a generational shift in attitudes brought about by the hard-fought advances won by women’s rights activists in decades past. Taiwan’s younger generation started learning about gender equality in elementary school, as part of curriculum changes enacted in 2004, and have since come of age. Taiwan’s younger generation has “a higher awareness of gender diversity and equality than the older generation,” said Wei-Ting Yen, an assistant professor of government at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania. Women’s rights groups have called for Taiwan to extend the statute of limitations for sexual harassment complaints, currently at one year. A survey by Taiwan’s labor ministry last year showed that only a tiny percentage of female respondents who said they had encountered sexual harassment at work had filed complaints.

Persons: ”, Wei, Ting Yen, Lai Yu, Bartosz, Lai, gossiped, “, ” Ms Organizations: Franklin, Marshall College, Lawmakers, Facebook Locations: Pennsylvania, Taiwan, Polish

☆ Guatemala will vote for new president but critics say many anti-corruption candidates were weeded out
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Tara John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

One of the expelled candidates, the rightwing Roberto Arzú, was a vocal critic of President Alejandro Giammattei. Employees of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) arrange ahead of the general elections in Guatemala City on June 20, 2023. Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty ImagesIt’s not the first time that Guatemala’s electoral tribunal eliminates presidential hopefuls, but this year’s cycle is happening in rapidly shrinking civic space. Failing battle against corruptionRights groups say graft and impunity accelerated in the country after former President Jimmy Morales dissolved a United Nations-backed anti-corruption commission in 2019. The candidatesThe US and Western allies have raised concerns about the exclusion of presidential candidates in Guatemala.

Persons: CNN —, Sandra Torres, Thelma Cabrera, Carlos Pineda –, ” Will Freeman, Roberto Arzú, Alejandro Giammattei, Cabrera, Pineda, Tik Tok, ”, Johan Ordonez, we’ve, Caren, Jimmy Morales, Consuelo Porras Argueta, Antony Blinken, José Rubén Zamora, Moises Castillo, Porras, –, Kevin López, Giammattei, Freeman, Biden, “, ” Freeman, Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols, Guatemalans, Maria Consuelo Porras, Mulet, Carin, Edmont, Ríos, Torres, Rios, El, Nayib Bukele, Álvaro Colom, Colom, Efraín Ríos Montt, CICIG Organizations: CNN, Council, Foreign Relations, Twitter, “ Corruption, Constitutional, ” CNN, Getty, Americas Society, United, International Commission, Washington Office, Guatemala Human Rights, USA, Prosecutors, US, State, José Rubén Zamora –, . Press, Patrol, Western Hemisphere Affairs, Public Ministry, United Nations, Agence, France Presse, Analysts Locations: Central America’s, Guatemala, America, Guatemala City, Americas, United Nations, Guatemalan, Central America, American, Washington, United States, Haiti, Nicaragua, France

☆ Barbie, Her House and the American Dream
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Anna Kodé | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

Barbie, Her House and the American Dream Take a stop-motion journey with the young, single homeowner of the Dreamhouse. Today according to Mattel, the toymaker behind the iconic doll, a new Barbie Dreamhouse is sold every two minutes. A vintage Barbie doll puts a record on, dances and sits down. He came to Barbie’s house.”Now, Ms. Dalsing lives in Saint Joseph, Mo., in what she called her own dream house. “In the early 2000s, single women were the fastest growing group of home buyers in the United States,” she said.

Persons: Ken isn’t, Barbara Millicent Roberts, Roberts —, Barbie, ” Ruth Handler, Ken, Handler’s, —, Barbie’s Dreamhouse, ”, Deborah Dinner, wasn’t, weren’t, Barbie’s, Felix Burrichter, “ Barbie Dreamhouse, ” Barbie’s, Sue Dalsing, Dalsing, “ Ken didn’t, “, ” It’s, Elliot Handler, Handler, Lisa McKnight, Mattel’s Barbie, Hugh Hefner’s, Helen Gurley Brown’s, ’, Brown’s, Brown, Young, Tiffany, Barbie —, Houseplants, Burrichter, might’ve, Maddie Bone, Bone, Homer, …, Ms, Amy Castro, ” Ms, Castro, Isabelle Roy, ‘, Roy, He’s, Barbie couldn’t, Christie, Kim Culmone, Catherine E, McKinley, Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Greenwood, Spencer, It’s Organizations: Mattel, New York Times, “, Cornell University, Survey, Wisconsin ., Furniture, The Times, Spice, University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Locations: crave, Britain, Saint Joseph, Mo, Barbie’s, Wisconsin, Levittown, Waldoboro, United States, Canadian, Alberta, Palm Springs

☆ Michelle Goldberg on Susan Faludi’s ‘Backlash’ - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Opinion America Is Triggered by ProgressI keep reaching for Susan Faludi’s 1991 book, “Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women,” because it explains so much about American politics and culture. In the wake of Trump’s “Lock her up” campaign for president in 2016, it’s simply text, with gender emerging as a central fault line of American politics. Listen to an excerpt from “Backlash” narrated by Michelle Goldberg. A lot has changed since “Backlash” came out 32 years ago, especially in the news and entertainment, two of Faludi’s prime targets. The reaction has been a backlash that is in many ways more brutal and angry than what Faludi described, even if the fragmentation of American culture means it’s less all-encompassing.

Persons: topick, Susan Faludi’s, Donald Trump, TikTok, Tucker Carlson, Faludi, “, ’, —, it’s, It’s, Michelle Goldberg, ”, Candace Owens, Andrew Tate, ” Faludi Organizations: Progress, Fox News Locations: America, Romania

☆ Opinion | Take Bobby Kennedy Jr. Seriously, Not Literally
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Liberals have come to like Biden more during his presidency, whereas they came to like Johnson a lot less. McCarthy was a serious man who had held a high office for nearly 20 years when he challenged Johnson. Now that he’s running, the safe call seems to be to rally behind him, lest a challenger help sink his chances. That’s what another Kennedy, Teddy, helped do to another Democratic incumbent, Jimmy Carter, in 1980. Sixty-six percent of registered voters think Biden is too old to be president and 59 percent have doubts about his mental fitness, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris poll conducted last week.

Persons: aren’t, Biden, Johnson, McCarthy, Kennedy’s, Donald Trump, Nixon, Kennedy, Teddy, Jimmy Carter, he’s, Kamala Harris, Harris, Trump Organizations: Democratic, Trump, Harvard

The Dar Masalit report accuses the RSF and allied Janjaweed militias of the killings and other crimes, as published by the sultanate. The Darfur Bar Association (DBA) said Monday that two more members of the organization have been killed in West Darfur by the RSF and their militias, without specifying the day of the reported killings. The report cited the neighborhoods that came under the most fire, including Al Jamarek, Al Buhaira, Al Thawrah, Al Tadamon, Al Madaris, Al Mansoura, and Al Jabal among others. CNN cannot independently verify all incidents as outlined in the Dar Masalit report. But CNN has confirmed and reported on thousands of civilians fleeing Geneina and West Darfur.

Persons: CNN —, El, Dar, ”, –, Masalit, Health Haitham Ibrahim, Ibrahim, Khamis Abbaker, Tariq Hassan Yaqoub Al, Malik, Sadiq Muhammad Ahmed Haroun, El Geneina, Abdel, Rahman Gumma, “, Gumma, General Antonio Guterres, Al Jamarek, Al Buhaira, Al Thawrah, Al Tadamon, Al Madaris, Al Mansoura, Jabal, CNN geolocated, El Geneina “, …, Geneina, haven’t Organizations: CNN, Rapid Support Forces, Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF, Darfur Victims Solidarity Association, Strategic Initiative, Women, Health, West Darfur, Darfur Bar Association, Al, United Nations Mission, Twitter, UN Human Rights, Dar, US Locations: Darfur, Sudan, North Darfur, North Darfur’s, West Darfur’s, El Geneina, West Darfur, Chad, “, Horn of Africa, Saudi, Khartoum, West, El, Geneina, ”, Dar, Chadian, Adré, Saudi Arabia

☆ Remembering Sally Ride: 40th anniversary of her historic spaceflight
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —It has been 40 years since Sally Ride became the first woman from the United States to travel into outer space. She was not open about her personal life, according to former NASA astronaut Steve Hawley, who was married to Ride from 1982 to 1987. However, the educational company she cofounded, Sally Ride Science, revealed more of her personal life in her 2012 obituary, recognizing her longtime partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, after Ride died of pancreatic cancer. NASASherr’s book “Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space” was first published in 2014. A trailblazer’s legacyRide’s ambition and love of knowledge extended far beyond her role as an astronaut, Sherr noted.

Persons: Sally Ride, Steve Hawley, Sally, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Ride, NASA hasn’t, General, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Artemis, NASA's, Lynn Sherr, “, Sherr, ” Sherr, Dale Moore, ”, Billie Jean King, Martin Luther King Jr, ’, King Charles III, Prince of Wales, ‘, Valentina Tereshkova, Svetlana Savitskaya, Ride’s, Lyndon B, Johnson, Gloria Steinem, Richard Drew, Tam O'Shaughnessy, Barack Obama, Kevin Dietsch, O’Shaughnessy, Charles Tasnadi, Eileen Collins, NASA’s Koch, Jessica Meir, —, Rob Navias Organizations: CNN, NASA, Sally Ride, NASA’s, Space Center, CAPCOM, Johnson Space Center, ABC News, Ride, Edwards Air Force Base, Stanford University, Stanford Daily, Soviet Union, Girls Club of America, Magazine, White, UPI, Sally Ride Science, University of California, UC San Diego, Poets, State Department, United Nations Locations: United States, Houston, California, Soviet, New York, Washington ,, San Diego, Columbia

☆ Sudan: Testimonies detail atrocities by Wagner-backed militia
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Nima Elbagir Tamara Qiblawi Barbara Arvanitidis Gianluca Mezzofiore Pallabi Munsi Ingrid Formanek Saskya Vandoorne | Nima Elbagir | Tamara Qiblawi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

“I sat next to her in the car,” said Butheina Nourin, describing her perilous escape from Sudan’s Darfur region alongside the dead woman. A months-long CNN investigation uncovered an increase in Wagner supplies to the RSF that began in the run-up to Sudan’s conflict. Reports of atrocities committed by RSF fighters and their allied militias, clearly identified by their uniforms, are consistent across dozens of testimonies. Then-President Bashir was charged by the International Criminal Court in 2010 with crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in relation to the Darfur conflict. “Nobody in Sudan has more blood on their hands than Hemedti,” said Sudan analyst Eric Reeves.

Persons: wailed, “, ”, Butheina Nourin, Fatima, I, Nourin, Zohra Bensemra, Abdul Fattah al, Burhan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, Wagner, General Burhan, entrenching, –, Omar al, Bashir, Hemedti, Sergey Lavrov, Hussein Haran, ” Haran, Khamis Abbakar, Kholood Khair, ” Khair, Gen, Mahmoud Hjaj, Hala, SIHA, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalos, Hussein Malla, ” “, Gueipeur Denis Sassou, Eric Reeves, Al Jazeera, Karib, “ It’s, RSF –, Wagner –, Yeveny Prigozhin, Sudan ”, Hussein Organizations: CNN, ” Fighters, Sudanese, Rapid Support Forces, Reuters, Central African, Russian, Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, UN, Strategic Initiative, Women, International Criminal Court, ICC, United Arab, United Nations, SIHA, Getty, European, US State Department, State Department Locations: Chad, Sudan, Sudan’s Darfur, Darfur, Borota, Latakia, Libya, Bangui, Central African Republic, Moscow, Ukraine, Khartoum, el, Geneina, Horn of Africa, State, Sudan’s, Yemen, Saudi, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Daman, AFP, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Europe, EU, ”, Africa

☆ Dreaming of a New Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Farnaz Fassihi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

Dreaming of a New Iran Diaries from three young womenThe uprising began in September, after a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, died in the custody of Iran’s morality police. To better understand how daily life in Iran has transformed, we asked three young women to keep a diary for five weeks. We are brothers and sisters.”Since November, hundreds of schools across Iran have reported mysterious incidents of poisoning with toxic gas. In the weeks since the three young women chronicled their experiences, the government has engaged in diplomatic outreach to project stability. For many in the country, including Ghazal, Kimia and Parnian, a desire for a better life in a new, free Iran remains.

Persons: Mahsa Amini, “, ”, I’ve, “ moharebe, “ Reza, —, Don’t, wouldn’t, didn’t, crackdowns Organizations: Authorities, Revolutionary, Health Locations: Iran, Tehran, Kurdistan, Kurdish, Islamic Republic, Saudi Arabia, China

☆ Southern Baptists Move to Purge Churches With Female Pastors
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Elizabeth Dias | Ruth Graham | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The crackdown comes at a moment when the country is broadly reexamining women’s rights, a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. As the convention got underway Monday in New Orleans, Mike Law, a Virginia pastor, pushed for his proposed amendment to the S.B.C. The amendment would need to be passed twice, in consecutive years, to go into effect. Some Southern Baptists view female leaders as “as an early harbinger of a raft of other changes,” said Joshua Abbotoy, whose church left the denomination last year because of concerns about a liberal drift. Mr. Abbotoy is the managing director of New Founding, a conservative organization whose journal published an analysis over the weekend estimating that there were more than 1,800 female pastors serving in S.B.C.

Persons: Roe, Wade, ’, Mike Law, ”, Joshua Abbotoy, Abbotoy Organizations: Southern Baptists, Southern Baptist, Church, New Locations: New Orleans, Virginia, Southern, S.B.C

☆ Nine out of 10 people are biased against women, UN report finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Biased gender social norms are a major barrier to achieving gender equality, the report’s authors warn, adding that the undervaluation of women’s capabilities and rights in society constrains women’s choices and opportunities. A global backlash against women’s rights and the far-reaching consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic have worsened the issue, the report notes. “Social norms that impair women’s rights are also detrimental to society more broadly, dampening the expansion of human development. This can be a very effective way of challenging gender norms around how care work is viewed,” said Raquel Lagunas, director of UNDP’s Gender Team. “Let’s be clear: global frameworks are not working for the world’s women and girls.

Persons: ” Pedro Conceição, ”, Raquel Lagunas, ” Lagunas, General António Guterres, Guterres, ” Guterres, Roe, Wade, Poland –, “ Organizations: CNN, UN, United Nations Development Programme, “, ” United Nations, United States Locations: Afghanistan, Poland

☆ This could be the most beautiful homeless shelter you have ever seen, and it’s getting results
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Kathleen Toner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“I had never been to a homeless shelter. I had never talked to someone who was experiencing homelessness,” Tuck said. “And I realized that these women are just like my mom.”Brandi Tuck, left, as a college junior, volunteering at a homeless shelter on spring break Courtesy Brandi TuckAt one shelter, Tuck was entertaining children while their mothers were in a GED class. Specialists help families find permanent housing, while case managers help people access the services they need. She was determined to make it an environment that would help families recover mentally as well as physically.

Persons: Oregon CNN — Brandi Tuck, ‘ Nobody’s, ’ ”, Tuck, She’d, ”, “, ” Tuck, ” Brandi Tuck, Brandi Tuck, ’, agonized, Kitty Hernandez, Hernandez, ” Hernandez, “ It’s, ” Kitty Hernandez, Brandi Tuck's, you’ve Organizations: Oregon CNN, University of Florida, CNN Locations: Portland, Oregon, New York City, Atlanta , Georgia, Portland , Oregon, ” Oregon, United States

☆ Paris rental bikes deliver unexpected anti-abortion messages
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Xiaofei Xu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Paris CNN —Since being launched in 2007, Paris’ public Vélib’ rental bikes have proven a hit with tourists and locals as a trouble-free way to get around the French capital, especially in summer when Metro trains are hot and crowded. In recent weeks, activists have turned some Vélib’ cycles into billboards featuring unexpected messages from a guerrilla advertising campaign opposing abortion rights. The people who put up these stickers “would be overjoyed to revisit abortion rights,” Rotjman, a feminist campaigner since 1974, told CNN. Calls for justiceVélib' rental bikes have proved hugely popular with locals and tourists since their 2007 launch. Vélib’ has yet to confirm how many bikes are impacted and when they will be restored.

Persons: Anne Hidalgo, ”, Isabelle Rome, “, ” Suzy Rotjman, ” Rotjman, Roe, Wade, Emmanuel Macron, Shutterstock, Eugenia Roccella, Vélib ’, Vélib, Sylvain Raifaud, Raifaud, ’ Organizations: Paris CNN, Metro, Paris, “, French, Women’s Rights, CNN, ”, National Assembly, French Senate, Quotidiano Nazionale, Vox Locations: Paris, France, United States, Italy, Spain, Europe, Poland, Hungary

☆ Opinion: LGBTQ Americans are in a state of emergency –and we should all do more about it
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Opinion Jill Filipovic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —This week, the LGBTQ rights group Human Rights Campaign (HRC) declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ Americans, the first time the organization has ever done so. And frankly, given the state of women’s rights in many of the same states attacking LGBTQ people, women’s groups should do the same. Jill Filipovic Courtesy of Jill FilipovicIn the first quarter of 2023 alone, 417 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures. And no company should have to worry that a display of affirmation for LGBTQ Americans will result in vandalism, threats or harassment of employees. It is unconscionable for any company to require its employees live in states that criminalize abortion or that are attacking LGBTQ rights.

Persons: Jill Filipovic, it’s, –, doesn’t Organizations: Twitter, CNN, Human Rights, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Facebook Sports Locations: New York, United States, Florida

☆ Golf’s new Saudi deal presents questionable political, business and sporting realities
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

And the deal is also undeniably a great piece of business, assuming PGA Tour players accept it. And all pending litigation between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour was also mutually ended under the new agreement. He “co-opted the 9/11 community last year in the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than sports washing of Saudi Arabia’s reputation,” the group said in a statement. Unresolved sporting conundrumsThere are as many sporting questions about the PGA Tour/LIV Golf partnership that remain unanswered. Then there is the question of how current PGA Tour members will respond.

Persons: LIV Golf, Arnold Palmer, Jamal Khashoggi, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, –, LIV –, Jay Monahan, Monahan, ”, “, Saudi LIV, ” Monahan, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Cam Smith, Donald Trump, LIV, Trump, Khashoggi, ” Trump, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Tuesday’s LIV, Qataris, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, ” Yasir Al, Rumayyan, of Famer Greg Norman, Collin Morikawa, Mickelson, Alan Shipnuck, Shipnuck Organizations: CNN, PGA, Saudi, Post, Premier League, Global, Families United, Saudi shills, Crown, Formula One, NBA, Tour, Qatar, Soccer, Manchester City, United, Newcastle, Indian Premier League, Al, Real, Saudi Public Investment, “, Saudi Public Investment Fund, CNBC, of Famer, Open, Twitter Locations: Washington, Saudi, Qaeda, Riyadh, China, Western Europe, East, India, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Ittihad, Real Madrid, French

☆ Even in Prison, She’s ‘an Indomitable Voice’ for Freedom in Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Farnaz Fassihi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

When Narges Mohammadi was just a little girl, her mother told her to never become political. The price of fighting the system in a country like Iran would be too high. That warning has proved prescient. Ms. Mohammadi, 51, Iran’s most prominent human rights and women’s rights activist, is now serving a 10-year jail sentence in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for “spreading anti-state propaganda.”Her current imprisonment is hardly her first encounter with Iran’s harsh approach to dissent. Over the past 30 years, Iran’s government has penalized her over and over for her activism and her writing, depriving her of most of what she holds dear — her career as an engineer, her health, time with her parents, husband and children, and her liberty.

Persons: Narges Mohammadi, Mohammadi, ”, — Locations: Iran

☆ Opinion | The Politics of Delusion Have Taken Hold
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Thomas B. Edsall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

He concluded:As the old sociological adage goes, situations believed to be real can become real in their consequences. In that sense people are, in fact, operating under a delusion that everyday opposing partisans are willing to undermine democracy. Partisans, Braley continued, “overestimate how much members of the other party dislike and dehumanize them. When Democrats see this election denial, they naturally come to think that Republicans are trying to undermine democracy by not accepting election results. The first “is the need for politicians to mobilize citizens with busy lives and not much of an incentive to participate in politics.

Persons: Republicans don’t, ’, Lilliana Mason, Johns Hopkins, ”, Mason, Alia Braley, “, Braley, Donald Trump’s, Gabriel Lenz —, Braley’s, —, Lenz Organizations: Republicans, ”, University of California, Democratic Locations: Berkeley

☆ Exclusive: Qatar prime minister, Taliban chief hold secret Afghan talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The Taliban say they respect women’s rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs. The Taliban in March 2022 barred girls from high schools and extended the ban to universities in December. ADDRESSING HUMANITARIAN CRISISSheikh Mohammed and Haibatullah also discussed efforts to remedy Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis, the source said. The U.S. and its allies say the Taliban harbor members of al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. Sheikh Mohammed, who also serves as Qatar's foreign minister, met publicly in Kandahar with Mullah Hassan Akhund, the Taliban prime minister, on the same day he met the supreme leader.

Persons: Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Akhunzada, Joe Biden's, Sheikh Mohammed, Haibatullah, al, Mullah Hassan Akhund, Jonathan Landay, Don Durfee, Deepa Babington Organizations: Qatari, Qatar, United, The State Department, Human Rights, United Nations, Islamic, Haibatullah, Thomson Locations: Afghan, Kandahar, Thani, Kabul, United States, Washington, Qatar, U.S, Geneva, Islamic State, Afghanistan, The U.S, al Qaeda, Doha

☆ Pedro Sanchez: Spanish PM calls snap elections after setbacks in local polls
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Al Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Madrid CNN —Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced snap parliamentary elections in July, hours after his ruling Socialists suffered major setbacks in regional and local elections. Sanchez, 51, became prime minister in 2018 after winning a vote of no confidence in parliament against then-conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. He formed a coalition government with the leftist Podemos party, which also suffered setbacks in Sunday’s local elections. The prime minister is making “a complex chess move,” Andres Villena, a professor at Madrid’s Complutense University, told CNN. “Sanchez’s decision to move up the elections could neutralize the honeymoon for the incoming conservative leaders” in the local elections, Villena said.

The death threats came as the Americans withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban marched across her country, she said. In the chaos, cell doors were flung open, freeing the rapists and abusers she had helped send to prison. But after saving so many women’s lives, she was suddenly trying to save her own. “They left us behind,” she said of the Americans. “Sometimes I think maybe God left all Afghans behind.”

☆ Opinion | When Their Idea of Liberty Is Your Idea of Death
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Thomas B. Edsall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

At the heart of the American ethos is the contested idea of freedom. “The question we’re facing,” Biden told viewers, “is whether in the years ahead, we will have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer,” adding:Every generation of Americans will face the moment when they have to defend democracy. Stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights. This dispute is possible because freedom as an abstraction is fraught with multiple and often conflicting meanings.

☆ The trans soccer team that’s making history
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Hannah Ryan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

On the rainy evening of March 31, 2023, he captained what he says is the first ever all trans masculine soccer team in Europe in a match. “I was quite nervous before the match,” Webber told CNN. They now also aim to make soccer a more inclusive sport and connect the trans community. “After the all trans feminine team played their game and once I’d played with the all-gender team, she took me aside and said she’d been thinking about what we could do next and asked if I’d be interested in captaining an all trans masc team,” Webber said. “One day, there’ll be hundreds of trans people playing football all over the country at all levels.”

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