Youth

After the Worst April-May Heatwave in History, Indians and Pakistanis must Demand these Urgent Climate Actions

Aditi Mukherji ( The Third Pole ) – When heatwaves disrupt our children’s education, it is time to demand climate action. I am writing this as a climate scientist and a mother of two young children. I was a member of the team that wrote the latest climate report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on […]

Climate Crisis

Divest, Decarbonize and Dissociate – Inside the Bold new Push to Get Fossil Fuels off Campus

Waging Nonviolence

By Nick Engelfried ( Waging Nonviolence) – From late November through early March of this year, visitors to the University of Washington Career Center in Seattle would have found students sitting in a circle on the floor, some doing homework on laptops as they participated in one of the longest-running recent climate protests at the […]

Houthi

Any New Yemen Truce must allow Participation of Citizens and Civil Society

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Negotiations for a new truce in Yemen by Saudi and Houthi authorities present an opportunity to incorporate accountability and monitoring mechanisms that are essential for protecting Yemenis’ fundamental rights, Human Rights watch said today. Based on news reports, negotiations are apparently making progress. To effectively address Yeminis’ human rights, […]

Authoritarianism

Not Just Rallies: Iranian Protesters are Drafting Charters and a Bill of Rights

The Conversation

By Mona Tajali, Agnes Scott College; and Homa Hoodfar, Concordia University | – (The Conversation) – It’s been six months since the latest spark ignited mass protests in Iran — the death of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa (Jina) Amini in morality police custody after she was arrested for allegedly failing to wear her hijab properly. The […]

Iran

Iran: poisoning of Thousands of Schoolgirls piles more Pressure on Islamic Republic struggling for Survival

The Conversation

By Afshin Shahi, Keele University | – The Iranian government has announced several arrests in connection with the reported poisoning of more than 7,000 schoolgirls in more than 100 schools around the country. Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has condemned the poisonings, saying perpetrators should be “severely punished”. Yet other government messages are confused. The […]

Health

Mysterious Wave Of Sickness Hits Iranian Schoolgirls, Amid Speculation Over Gov’t Poisoning

Golnaz Esfandiari

A spate of illnesses in schools in the Iranian city of Qom has prompted public anger, with some accusing the government of negligence. ( RFE/RL) – Hundreds of schoolgirls have fallen sick and scores have been hospitalized in Iran’s holy city of Qom in recent months, with some parents and officials suspecting they were […]

Authoritarianism

Are Western sanctions on Iran making a difference?

The Conversation

By Amin Saikal, The University of Western Australia | – (The Conversation) – The Iranian Islamic regime has been seriously challenged since the start of public protests last September. The government has sought to contain and suppress the protesters – even resorting to executions – but has been unable to stop them. There are continuing […]

National Security State

Children of War: The War on Terror and the Battle for Young Minds

Andrea Mazzarino

( Tomdispatch.com ) – During a Veterans Day celebration in my small Maryland community, a teacher clicked through a slideshow of smiling men and women in military uniforms. “Girls and boys, can anyone tell me what courage is?” she asked the crowd, mostly children from local elementary schools, including my two young kids. A boy […]

Dissent

Iranian Protesters turn to TikTok to get their Message past government Censors

The Conversation

By Whitney Shylee May, The University of Texas at Austin | – Images of the protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Zhina Amini on Sept. 16, 2022, in Iran and reports of the government’s brutal crackdown have circulated widely on social media. This flow of information comes despite efforts by the Iranian regime […]