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by Luján Scarpinelli © Agence France-Presse SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian businesswoman Luiza Trajano has made it onto a lot of lists: TIME’s most influential people, Forbes’ billionaires, the biggest fortunes in Brazil… But although she has been touted as a potential contender in Brazil’s presidential elections this year, there is one list she says she is determined to stay off: the ballot. With the country deeply polarized ahead of October’s polls, “I want […]
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) – Sudan’s women’s football team is yet to win a match, but members say they have scored a victory by overcoming challenges including discrimination and a coup to play the game. “The girls are still taking their very first steps in international football,” said coach Salma al-Majidi, training the team that was formed just last year. A few years ago, the prospect of a Sudanese women’s national team was inconceivable, given the […]
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (AFP) – Kuwaiti women are angry after the military, having allowed female soldiers in combat roles, decided they need the permission of a male guardian and banned them from carrying weapons. Activists have decried the policy as “one step forward, two steps back” after the defence ministry also decided that women in the armed forces, unlike civilians, must wear head coverings. The moves have sparked an online backlash in Kuwait, usually regarded […]
by Rouba EL HUSSEINI Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) – One after the other, quickly, carefully, keeping their heads down, a group of Afghan women step into a small Kabul apartment block — risking their lives as a nascent resistance against the Taliban. They come together to plan their next stand against the hardline Islamist regime, which took back power in Afghanistan in August and stripped them of their dreams. At first, there were no […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) – The United Nations has demanded the Taliban provide information on two more women activists allegedly detained by the group this week — bringing to four the number missing this year. Since returning to power in August the Taliban have cracked down on dissent by forcefully dispersing women’s rallies, detaining critics and beating local journalists covering protests. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said late on Thursday it had sought […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – Organizers of the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants said Monday they were “devastated” by the suicide a day earlier of former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst, who had often spoken out about stress and mental health. In a statement sent to AFP, the Miss Universe and Miss USA organizations said they were “devastated to learn about the loss of Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst.” “She was one of the […]
(Eagle News) – “Nearly 1 in 3 women have been abused in their lifetime,” according to the United Nations as it marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Thursday, November 25. In fact, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report from the UN Women, cited data from 13 countries that 2 in 3 women reported that they or a woman they know experienced some form of violence.” “Only 1 […]
SUNDARBANS, India (AFP) — With India facing ever more powerful cyclones, women in the world’s largest mangrove forest are planting thousands of saplings to help protect their coastal communities from climate change. The Sundarbans straddle the coastline into neighbouring Bangladesh and are home to some of the world’s rarest creatures, including the Bengal tiger and the Irrawaddy dolphin. The forest has been designated a World Heritage site but has in the past suffered from illegal […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Girls in Afghanistan will be allowed to return to school as soon as possible, the Taliban said Tuesday, after announcing the remaining positions in its all-male cabinet. “We are finalising things… it will happen as soon as possible,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on girls’ education. It comes after the education ministry ordered male teachers and students back to secondary school at the weekend, but made no mention of the country’s women […]
LAHORE, Pakistan (AFP) — Members of Afghanistan’s national girls’ football team have fled across the border into Pakistan dressed in burqas, a month after the hardline Taliban swept back into power, officials said Wednesday. The group of junior players and their coaches and families had tried to escape the country last month but a devastating bomb attack at Kabul airport left them stranded, someone close to the team told AFP. “I received a request for […]
Afghan women will be allowed to attend university as long as they study separately from men, the Taliban’s new higher education minister said Sunday. Women’s rights in Afghanistan were sharply curtailed under the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule, though since returning to power last month the hardline Islamists have claimed they will implement a less extreme rule. But speaking to reporters about the new regime’s plans for the country’s education, Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani was unapologetic about […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lankan women were urged to delay getting pregnant after more than 40 expectant mothers died of Covid-19 in four months, the health ministry said Thursday. The island nation, which recorded its first maternal coronavirus death in May, is battling a spike in Delta variant infections after travel restrictions were eased for local new year celebrations in mid-April. “Usually, we have 90 to 100 maternal deaths a year, but since […]
