Women without hijab to be prosecuted ‘without mercy’: Iran’s judiciary chief

Mallika Soni As more and more women continue to defy Iran’s compulsory dress code, the country’s judiciary chief threatened to prosecute women who appear in public without hijab “without mercy”, news agency Reuters reported quoting Iranian media. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said, “Unveiling is tantamount to enmity with (our) values. Those “who commit such anomalous acts… Read More Women without hijab to be prosecuted ‘without mercy’: Iran’s judiciary chief

Chris Hedges: Mexico’s Epidemic of Murdered Journalists is an Ominous Warning to the Press

Over 100,000 people have been disappeared in the course of the destructive drug war waged in Mexico over the past two decades. Among the deceased are more than 150 journalists murdered for their work to expose the dense network of corruption and violence that links government officials, police, and the military with organized crime. The… Read More Chris Hedges: Mexico’s Epidemic of Murdered Journalists is an Ominous Warning to the Press

Russia targets its oldest human rights group, Memorial

Thomas Rowley The day started with Russian law enforcement searching the homes of nine senior members of the country’s oldest human rights organisation, Memorial. Apparently, there was reason to believe that these Nobel Prize-winning historians and rights defenders had been “rehabilitating Nazism”. Investigators had allegedly found that three names on Memorial’s list of historical “Victims… Read More Russia targets its oldest human rights group, Memorial

Tiny Islands of Vanuatu Convince UN to seek Int’l Court Ruling on Harms of Climate Emergency

JUAN COLE Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Vanuatu, a set of South Pacific islands, is not what you would call a prominent international player. The small country of a little over 300,000 people has nevertheless made history, according to UN News. It presented a resolution to the UN General Assembly asking the UN’s International Court of… Read More Tiny Islands of Vanuatu Convince UN to seek Int’l Court Ruling on Harms of Climate Emergency

Students’ role in French protests shows depth of anger towards Macron

Angelique Chrisafis The depth of the domestic crisis facing Emmanuel Macron can be measured by the growing university barricades and packed student assemblies where angry young people have gathered in recent days to intensify protests and help teenage high-school pupils blockade their lycées. As long as the country’s youth largely stayed away from the two months of trade-union-led… Read More Students’ role in French protests shows depth of anger towards Macron

Mainstream, March 25, 2023

Letter to the readers, Mainstream, March 25, 2023 India: Lurches Closer to “Opposition-Mukt Democracy”!? | Sukla Sen Budgets 2023-24 Punjab Haryana compared | Sher Singh Sangwan Upcoming 2023 Karnataka Assembly Elections | PS Jayaramu Regenerating The Forest Ecosystem: Few Concerns | Suranjita Ray Saffron Clad Babas in Odisha’s Politics | Radhakanta Barik A Discourse on State of India’s Democracy | Arup… Read More Mainstream, March 25, 2023

Disruption by the Ruling Party Signals a New Low for India’s Parliament

In the last two weeks, parliament has been witness to majoritarian bullying like never before. The Opposition’s demands for immediate discussion on the Adani scam were bludgeoned into submission by the Treasury benches, who instead demand an apology from Rahul Gandhi. Jawhar Sircar Seventy-three years may not be enough to pronounce a judgement on whether… Read More Disruption by the Ruling Party Signals a New Low for India’s Parliament

Renuka Chowdhury to file defamation against PM Modi over ‘Surpanaka.’ ‘Lets see how fast courts act now’

Calling PM Modi a ‘classless megalomaniac’, Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury said she will now file a defamation case against PM Modi for his alleged ‘Surpanakha’ comment made in Parliament in 2018. “Let’s see how fast courts will act now…’ The former Union minister said tweeting the old clip of Narendra Modi asking the Rajya Sabha… Read More Renuka Chowdhury to file defamation against PM Modi over ‘Surpanaka.’ ‘Lets see how fast courts act now’

Why the ‘Mother of Democracy’ brooks no criticism

Bharat Bhushan The belligerence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s MPs against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is not letting Parliament function. This is unprecedented, and especially galling because Parliament needs to pass the Budget in this session, irrespective of whether Gandhi apologises for comments made in the United Kingdom on the erosion of democracy in India. Forget his… Read More Why the ‘Mother of Democracy’ brooks no criticism

March 18, 1871: Revolt of the Paris Commune; March 18, 1921: The Bolsheviks crush the Kronstadt sailors’ rebellion against tyranny

Paris Commune: The revolt dividing France 150 years on Over 150 years after the Paris Commune, rival passions flare over how to remember the city’s brief and much-romanticised experiment in power to the people. The first act of the city’s famous insurrection came on 18 March 1871, when crowds stopped troops from requisitioning cannons parked… Read More March 18, 1871: Revolt of the Paris Commune; March 18, 1921: The Bolsheviks crush the Kronstadt sailors’ rebellion against tyranny