CBS programme has caused a social media storm for its crass choice of format and ill-qualified judgesProducers have billed it as an exciting new twist on reality television: an X-Factor style competition between campaigners that will give them the chan…
‘Tomorrow they will kill me’: Afghan female police officers live in fear of Taliban reprisals
With at least four women, including a pregnant mother, targeted and killed by Taliban fighters, female ex-officers feel abandoned by the worldNegar Masumi, a female police officer with 15 years of experience, was determined not to flee when the Taliban…
‘£3k just to hold the bed’: Exorbitant Covid care costs push Indians into poverty
A struggling healthcare system and inflated prices mean hospital treatment can result in a lifetime of debt for manyCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAnil Goel remembers the night in May when he received a call from his desper…
The west has more vaccine doses than it needs – and no excuse not to share them | Gordon Brown
Covid vaccine production is now so high that millions of doses risk going to waste while poorer countries struggle for suppliesGordon Brown was UK prime minister between 2007 and 2010Soon, the ten-billionth Covid vaccine will roll off the production li…
Mexico activists celebrate abortion ruling as a sign of culture change
Justices decision to decriminalise abortion was based on human rights arguments and will mean fewer criminal investigationsActivists in Mexico have hailed a supreme court decision to decriminalize abortion, saying it would stop the legal prosecution of…
‘Hunger was something we read about’: lockdown leaves Vietnam’s poor without food
Vietnam was a Covid success story but the latest lockdown, with people unable to leave the house even for food, is leaving tens of thousands hungryWhen the strictest lockdown to date was imposed in Ho Chi Minh City, Tran Thi Hao*, a factory worker, was…
‘They came for my daughter’: Afghan single mothers face losing children under Taliban
Life for single mothers in Afghanistan has always been marred by stigma and poverty. Now with the Taliban in control, what few protections they had have disappearedThe day after Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital of Balkh province, fell to the Tali…
Cop26 will be ‘rich nations stitch-up’ if poorer countries kept away by Covid
Environmental activists demand delay to Glasgow climate talks if costs and travel restrictions block attendance of those worst-hitThe Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow should be postponed until the government can ensure that the talks won’t be a “rich na…
The Taliban are showing us the dangers of personal data falling into the wrong hands
Digital ID systems are a powerful development tool, providing a legal identity to millions, but their misuse can be deadlyThe Taliban have openly talked about using US-made digital identity technology to hunt down Afghans who have worked with the inter…
‘No one may be compelled’: Zimbabwe unions go to court over Covid jabs
Firms accused of ‘rounding up workers like animals’ for compulsory vaccination as country acts to stop spread of virusThousands of workers in Zimbabwe have been told they will face the sack if they refuse to be vaccinated with one of the Covid-19 jabs,…