Criminalisation means survivors are vulnerable to blackmail to avoid imprisonment and stigma, but there is hope the colonial-era legislation could soon be repealedIt was when the police knocked on Aatifa Farooqui’s* door and threatened to send her to p…
Women’s rights activist shot dead in northern Afghanistan
Frozan Safi, 29, is believed to be the first women’s rights defender to be killed since Taliban return to powerA 29-year-old activist and economics lecturer, Frozan Safi, has been shot and killed in northern Afghanistan, in what appears to be the first…
‘We planted a seed’: the Afghan artists who painted for freedom
The Taliban has whitewashed Kabul’s political murals – and those who created them have fled into exileNegina Azimi felt shock and fear like never before when she heard that Taliban fighters had entered Kabul on 15 August. As an outspoken female artist…
Myanmar military says it will release 5,600 anti-coup prisoners
Announcement follows junta chief being barred from summit over failure to commit to de-escalationMyanmar’s military has announced plans to release more than 5,000 prisoners, days after the junta chief was blocked from attending an upcoming regional sum…
UN quizzed over role in prison-like island camp for Rohingya refugees
Rights groups raise concerns over deal to provide services on Bhasan Char, as Bangladesh plans to increase camp’s population by 80,000The UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) is facing questions over whether it is helping to detain Rohingya refugees in prison-l…
‘Evil customs’: why a Kashmiri village abandoned dowries
Dowries, illegal since 1961, still cause 20 deaths a day in India. But Babawayil has had no divorces or violence against women since it banned themBabawayil, in the foothills of the Zabarwan mountains by the Sind River, is a typical village in Indian-a…
The grandmother reviving India’s oldest martial art – in pictures
Meenakshi Amma, 78, lives in Kerala, southern India, where she teaches the ancient practice of kalari, or kalaripayattu, to new generations Continue reading…
US to give humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Taliban say
US says it discussed aid in talks in Doha but Taliban say deal agreed that stops short of formal recognition of new rulersThe United States has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of an economic disaster, b…
Pakistani nuclear weapons scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan dies aged 85
PM pays tribute to ‘national icon’ who turned country into atomic power but later admitted smuggling nuclear secretsAbdul Qadeer Khan, considered to be the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme and later accused of smuggling technology to Iran…
‘Send us home,’ beg Afghan refugees stuck in UK hotels
Thousands who fled Taliban are living in hotels with inadequate healthcare in Operation Warm Welcome Afghans who recently arrived in the UK after fleeing the Taliban takeover have asked to be sent back, casting doubt over the success of Operation Warm …