For many years, Syria has been a pariah state, shunned by most of the international community. But there are signs that things are changing. Several key countries are starting to rebuild relations with Syria, and its suspension from the Arab League may soon be lifted. So, is Syria really regaining international acceptance?
While making the world safer for women and girls is the goal of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, it has historically focused on doing so in physical spaces. But as the emphasis on the digital age at this year’s annual CSW session made clear, its mission must expand to include harm and gendered violence that takes place online.
Tunisian opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi was arrested last week and remains in detention, as part of an ongoing crackdown against critics of President Kais Saied. Ghannouchi’s arrest and Saied’s clampdown on political freedoms have major implications for Tunisia’s domestic affairs as well as its foreign relations.
More than a decade since he came to power, Senegalese President Macky Sall is viewed as aloof and distant by the same citizens who propelled him to victory in 2012. He is now rumored to be considering a third-term bid, despite deepening social tensions and protests denouncing corruption, the high cost of living and human rights abuses.
Friction between Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and the Catholic Church is not new. But tense relations reached boiling point during Easter celebrations last week with further arrests in Ortega’s latest brazen crackdown, putting the devout in the middle of a power struggle between two mighty forces.
A recent report from the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan documented terrible human rights violations taking place in the country, named individual perpetrators and called for prosecutions. But certain obstacles could prevent the International Criminal Court from being the venue for such a trial.
The unprecedented case of an activist being sentenced for providing another woman with abortion pills has put Poland’s near-total ban on abortion back in the spotlight. It could also make abortion a major topic ahead of parliamentary elections due this fall, highlighting the country’s split between liberals and social conservatives.
Few Ugandans alive today have memories of any other leader besides President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country for 40 years. But for now, there is no certainty that Museveni plans to step down, nor is there a succession plan to facilitate an orderly transition that would preserve peace and stability in the event he does.