Author: Michael Jones

After the Taliban swept to victory in Afghanistan, they pledged the country would not be used as a base for terror, and the rights of women would be respected “within the framework of Islamic law”. But as the city of Kabul gradually returns to a sense of normality, residents are still waiting to see what…

The Rainbow Hotel, described as Cuba’s first LGBTQ hotel, reopened in December following Covid restrictions. While guests enjoyed the five-star service by the pool or a walk along the pristine sands, Cuba has not always been so welcoming to the gay community. In the early part of communist leader Fidel Castro’s rule, homosexual men and…

The peace agreement that holds together Bosnia-Herzegovina is under threat from a rise in Serb nationalism. More than three years of war in the 1990s devastated Bosnia after the fall of Yugoslavia. Tens of thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands were driven from their homes by ethnic cleansing. The war ended in…

The Middle East is heating up at twice the global average, and Kuwait now regularly sees temperatures above 50C. Kuwait’s economy is dominated by fossil fuel exports but as the temperature rises more and more of Kuwait is becoming desert and it becomes harder to live with the extreme heat. With the mercury topping 53C,…

The Middle East is heating up at twice the global average, and Kuwait now regularly sees temperatures above 50C. Kuwait’s economy is dominated by fossil fuel exports but as the temperature rises more and more of Kuwait is becoming desert and it becomes harder to live with the extreme heat. With the mercury topping 53C,…

In our ‘warp speed’ online culture, today’s trending topic is often tomorrow’s forgotten hashtag. Not so with MeToo; an expression of understanding and solidarity from women to women, driven by a determination to expose the truth about abusive sexual behaviour. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur interviews Tarana Burke; she first coined the phrase MeToo, long before the…

In our ‘warp speed’ online culture, today’s trending topic is often tomorrow’s forgotten hashtag. Not so with MeToo; an expression of understanding and solidarity from women to women, driven by a determination to expose the truth about abusive sexual behaviour. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur interviews Tarana Burke; she first coined the phrase MeToo, long before the…

In some European countries, hospitals have stopped performing abortions. In others, where abortion is severely restricted, women have been unable to travel to get treatment elsewhere.
Human rights organisations are now urging countries to make sure ab…

Who is the Russian President, and what does he want with Ukraine? Vladimir Putin is the President of Russia, and has been the country’s leader for more than 22 years. He grew up in an area which is now St Petersburg. His political career began when he and his family moved to Moscow in 1996,…

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