Brazil (NI) – Corruption scandals, impeachment, power grabs, protest and a general strike this week. Mariana T Noviello explains the crisis engulfing her country – and what needs to happen. The consensus among the Brazilian Left is that the impeachment of President…
World (NI) – Trump and politicians in other democracies are normalising attacks on the press, warns Reporters Without Borders. First world democracies are setting lower standards for freedom of the press relative to the rest of the world, a newly published…
Saudi Arabia (NI) – It’s no joke that the country could even be considered for a position to uphold women’s rights, writes Mari Marcel Thekaekara. Newspaper headlines this week tell us that Saudi Arabia has been elected to a UN women’s…
Philippines (NI) – Rodrigo Duterte, the foul-mouthed, iron-fisted president of the Philippines, has unleashed violence on an unprecedented scale. There was a time, not too long ago, when no outsider dared enter Barangay178 in Pasay City in the southern part of…
World (NI) – Don’t just think of it as a dirty word, says Richard Swift; a genuine populism of the Left is long overdue. Populism sure is getting bad reviews. All manner of evil is getting laid at its door: racism, xenophobia,…
United States (NI) – Swallowing the lies – or ‘alternative facts’ – of populist politicians is having profound consequences. NJ Enfield takes a fresh look at a potent old tradition – and suggests a way forward. There is increasing alarm at the…
Italy (NI) – ‘They are throwing us on the street like dogs,’ says one person. In the weeks leading up to International Roma Day on 8 April, EU leaders in Brussels paid great lip service to Roma, Europe’s largest and most…
India (NI) – Hitting Indian headlines right now are stories that fill all decent Indians with sadness and shame. Periodically, recently, we’ve had ugly racist attacks on people ‘not like us’. We’ve always had caste-based prejudice and communal clashes (read: Hindu-Muslim…
Yemen (NI) – The Yemeni human rights defender talks to Lydia Noon about Britain’s arms deals, drones and gender discrimination during the war. How and why did you get involved in human rights in Yemen? I have felt a sense of guilt about…
Syria (NI) – He is repeatedly attacked by both sides in the Syrian conflict, but Abdullah Al Khateeb sees no reason to quit. Abdullah Al Khateeb can’t believe journalists never ask him about his love life. By the time I interview…
Somalia (NI) – Somalia today is more like a political marketplace than a modern nation-state Somalia today is more like a political marketplace than a modern nation-state. The everyday mayhem and hustle of the capital city, Mogadishu, where political positions and…
India (NI) – The latest attack came on 13 December 2016. At a bend in the road a lorry blocked the route along which S Mugilan was travelling with an activist colleague and his three children. They were driving back at night…
Bangladesh (NI) – Prioritizing animal conservation over human life is having repercussions for locals in the Sundarbans. From Kolkata to the bustling market town of Canning: an hour-long train journey in the women’s carriage. It is so cramped that no…
Mexico (NI) – Women are jailed for miscarriages, yet male spouses who’ve murdered walk free. Nayeli Sosa and Dafne – young Mexican women – were both dealt horrific tragedies. But what they had in common went well beyond that. Sosa was beaten…
World (NI) – What makes people brave? Vanessa Baird takes a look at an under-examined quality that can change the world. Who doesn’t love a tale of courage? They pop up in all cultures, traditions and eras. From shepherd-boy David facing giant…