Human Rights

By Rita Issa, University of East Anglia | – It was getting hotter. Frank May got off his mat and padded over to look out the window. Umber stucco walls and tiles, the colour of the local clay… [he] took a deep breath. It reminded him of the air in a sauna. This, the coolest […]

Authoritarianism

Turkey: what to expect from Erdoğan, his ultranationalist Alliance and their ‘Family Values’ Pledges

The Conversation

Balki Begumhan Bayhan, Coventry University | – (The Conversation) – After a bitter and hard-fought campaign that went to a second run-off vote, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has retained the Turkish presidency in an election that some deemed as “free but not fair”. Having first won power in 2003, Erdoğan has been able to extend his […]

Death Penalty

“Don’t Let them Kill Us:” How the Ayatollahs’ Iran became the Execution Capital of the World

Fariba Amini

Newark, Delaware (Special to Informed Comment) – Under the previous Iranian Penal Code or IPC, which was in force until 2013, the charge of mohareb, “Waging War (on Islam,” was frequently used against political dissidents and people with connections to opposition groups abroad, even if they were non-violent. The new Penal Code has provided for their punishment […]

Human Rights

Torture, American Style; and the Cover-UP

Karen J. Greenberg

( Tomdispatch.com ) – In the Blindman’s Buff variation of tag, a child designated as “It” is tasked with tapping another child while wearing a blindfold. The sightless child knows the other children, all able to see, are there but is left to stumble around, using sounds and knowledge of the space they’re in as guides. […]

Climate Crisis

Pakistan’s Trans Community battles Climate Catastrophe and Exclusion

The Third Pole

Trans people affected by floods in Pakistan’s Balochistan province gather to receive aid from the non-profit Al-Khidmat Foundation, in partnership with Unilever Pakistan (Photo courtesy of Al-Khidmat Foundation) Adeel Saeed ( The Third Pole) – This winter was very hard for Bunti, a transgender woman, or Khawaja Sira as trans people are known in […]

Donald Trump

DeSantis’ Florida as the Epicenter of the New Culture Wars: The Coming Battle for America’s Political Soul

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The concept of “woke” culture is an existential threat to Republican office holders and party officials. Led by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other Donald Trump wannabes, Republicans have embarked on a campaign to bury information, books and literature; illustrating their agenda to promote racism as acceptable, […]

Authoritarianism

Tunisia: Move to Dismantle Country’s Largest Opposition Party

Human Rights Watch

( Human Rights Watch ) – (Tunis) – Tunisian authorities have intensified their attack on opponents of President Kais Saied’s 2021 power grab, moving to neutralize the country’s largest political party, Ennahda, Human Rights Watch said today. Since December 2022, the Tunisian government has arrested at least 17 current or former members of the party, […]

Displaced and Refugees

Singing, trauma and the resilience of the Yazidis of northern Iraq: The power of cultural identity on psychological well-being

The Conversation

By Mylène Ratelle, University of Waterloo | – (The Conversation) – Behind each door and gate in Sinuni, Iraq, there is a different story of trauma and resilience. The Yazidi community is still coping with the trauma and mental health burden following the ISIS genocide of 2014, where thousands of men, women and children were […]

Anti-intellectualism

“A war on higher education in our state” NC faculty group pens open letter opposing slate of higher ed-related bills

NC Newsline

By: Joe Killian – ( NC Newsline ) – The North Carolina chapter of the American Association of University Professors released an open letter Wednesday opposing a slate of higher education-related bills the group says will threaten academic freedom, diversity efforts and non-partisan university governance. Taken together, the letter says, the proposed changes “effectively […]