News Stories
Supreme Court abortion case brings 19th century chastity law to the forefront
References from conservative justices to a long-dormant chastity law during the Supreme Court’s arguments in a major abortion pill case this week are bringing new attention to the 19th century statute, which prohibits the mailing of drugs used for abortions among other “obscene, lewd, lascivious” or...
photo: AP / Jose Luis Magana
Japan to resume funding to UNRWA, following Sweden, Finland and Canada
Japan is planning to resume funding to the United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees after suspending assistance over Israeli claims that some of its staff participated in Hamas’s October 7 attacks. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa met UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini in Tokyo on...
photo: AP / Mohammed Zaatari
Saudi Arabia to chair UN forum on women’s rights and gender equality
A decision by the United Nations to appoint Saudi Arabia as the chair of a gender equality forum has been criticized by women’s rights advocates. The UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) unanimously appointed Saudi Arabia to chair its 69th session in 2025, according to the Saudi Arabia...
photo: AP / Amr Nabil
Amid legal woes, Brazil’s Bolsonaro seeks passport return for Israel trip
Brazil’s embattled former President Jair Bolsonaro has requested the return of his passport in order to visit Israel, fuelling speculation that he could be seeking respite abroad from his domestic legal troubles. Defence lawyer and Bolsonaro spokesperson Fabio Wajngarten addressed his request in a...
photo: AP / Gustavo Morteno
The true face of immigration
Baltimore was sleeping when the fully laden cargo ship, adrift and without power, slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, bringing it down in seconds. Had the disaster taken place during the daytime, hundreds of cars and trucks could have been on the bridge over a channel leading to one of the...
photo: AP / Matt Rourke
France to sue student it says falsely accused principal of forcibly removing headscarf
A French high school student is being sued by the government for falsely accusing her former principal of assaulting her after he made her remove her headscarf on school premises, the country’s prime minister said Wednesday. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the government would “always stand...
photo: AP Photo
Philippines’s Marcos promises measures after China’s ‘dangerous attacks’
President Ferdinand Marcos says the Philippines will take countermeasures against China after confrontations in the South China Sea last week injured Filipino soldiers and damaged vessels. “We seek no conflict with any nation, more so nations that purport and claim to be our friends but we will not...
photo: AP / Aaron Favila
Mothers fight to protect daughters as The Gambia considers unbanning FGM
*Names changed to maintain privacy. Banjul, The GambiaFatou* was barely a year old when she underwent female circumcision, the practice also called female genital mutilation that rights groups condemn as a form of abuse.Keep reading list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4The Gambia votes to reverse landmark...
photo: Creative Commons / Brett Lees-Smith from Nuneaton, Warwickshire,, United Kingdom https://www.flickr.com/people/56504057@N00
Colombia expels Argentina’s diplomats after Milei calls Petro ‘terrorist’
Colombia has ordered the expulsion of Argentinian diplomats to the Andean nation, with the Colombian foreign ministry citing “denigrating” comments by Argentinian President Javier Milei about Colombian President Gustavo Petro. In a statement published on Wednesday, the ministry said “the Argentinian...
photo: AP / Fernando Vergara, File
Israel seeks new date for cancelled US meeting on Rafah offensive plans
Israel has asked the United States to reschedule a meeting to discuss its military operation in Gaza’s Rafah days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly cancelled a planned visit to Washington. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday told reporters that “we’re now working...
photo: AP / Ronen Zvulun

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