Ethiopia Miss World contestant mourns murdered sister
Ethiopian Miss World contestant Ruth Yirgalem Weldesilasie says she is turning grief over her sister's killing into a platform to speak about violence against…
Human Rights, Justice & Society — September 2026
Jonas Hallgrimsson grave mystery prompts DNA test call
Enthusiasts in Iceland are asking authorities to open the grave of poet and naturalist Jonas Hallgrimsson to check whether the remains buried there are really his. Hallgrimsson, described as a central figure in Icelandic literature and national romanticism, d…
Argentina House in Paris accused of restricting students
Students and campus figures have accused Argentina House in Paris of restricting residents' freedoms, while Paris city officials have asked France's foreign ministry to investigate the Argentina-run university residence. The residence is part of the Cite Univ…
Tunisia detains Mohamed Yousfi before radio interview
Tunisian authorities detained journalist Mohamed Yousfi on Friday as he arrived for a radio interview, the programme host and the head of Tunisia's journalists' union said. Walid Ben Rhouma, the Express FM host, said Yousfi, editor-in-chief of the Alqatiba we…
Srebrenica massacre: how more than 8,000 were killed
The Srebrenica massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995 followed years of siege and was later ruled a genocide by an international court. The history is again in focus before the September 7 funeral of former Bosnian…
Memorial chief fears Russia post-election crackdown
Elena Zhemkova, the head of Russia's Nobel Peace Prize-winning rights group Memorial, told AFP she fears a fresh crackdown after September's legislative elections, including more arrests and people being sent to fight in Ukraine. Speaking in Amsterdam, Zhemko…
Smriti Mandhana becomes women's cricket top run-scorer
India batter Smriti Mandhana has become the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket after making 124 off 64 balls against Hong Kong in the Women’s Asia Cup in Dubai. Mandhana passed former India captain Mithali Raj, who had held the top mark with…
Chinese lawyer seeks Taiwan protection, group says
Taiwan said Friday it had provided temporary accommodation on humanitarian grounds to a Chinese national transferring through a Taiwanese airport, after ChinaAid said a Beijing lawyer for detained Zion Church leaders had arrived on the island seeking protecti…
AFP selects five sub-Saharan Africa features
AFP has listed five selected features from sub-Saharan Africa for republication, covering migration, culture, illegal mining, urban transport and colonial-era…
Sao Tome forced-labour plantations get UNESCO status
Six former plantation estates in Sao Tome and Principe, built on slavery and forced labour, have recently been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List, creating…
Lin Yu-ting says Paris gold made her consider retirement
Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting said she considered retiring after winning Olympic gold in Paris, but chose to continue in part to answer those who questioned her…
Myanmar lethwei fighters train amid civil war
In Myanmar's lethwei heartland of Hpa-an, more than 100 teenagers and young adults trained in the bareknuckle martial art as the country remained consumed by civil war. Lethwei, traditional Burmese boxing, allows headbutts and is fought with fists wrapped onl…
New York Muslims see gains 25 years after 9/11
New York's Muslim communities are describing a changed city 25 years after the September 11 attacks, pointing to the election of Zohran Mamdani as the city's first Muslim mayor, public prayers in Times Square and new mosques, while saying Islamophobia persist…
Israeli athletes out of Northern Ireland triathlon
Israeli athletes who were due to compete in the City of Derry Triathlon in Londonderry this weekend will no longer take part, race organisers said Thursday. North West Triathlon Club said it made strong representations after seeing four Israeli athletes on th…
UN urges Sri Lanka to end war crimes impunity
The United Nations rights chief urged Sri Lanka to do more to end what he called entrenched impunity for war crimes and other abuses after the country's decade…
Jerusalem cafe agrees to shut on Sabbath
A Jerusalem cafe that had been picketed for weeks by observant Jews said Thursday it had agreed to close on the Sabbath, after protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews…
Iran bill could mean 30-year jail terms, UN team says
UN-appointed investigators urged Iran on Thursday to withdraw a draft bill that they said could expose journalists, academics, activists and others to up to 30…
Ratko Mladic body returns to Serbia with military honours
Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladic's body arrived in Serbia on Thursday and was received with military honours after being returned from The Hague. The ca…
Iran sentences blinded protester to death, NGOs say
Rights groups said an Iranian court has sentenced Ali Zarei, a 27-year-old man blinded in one eye during Iran’s 2022 protests, to death after he returned from…
Norwegian People's Aid to cut 1,700 jobs over US terms
Norwegian People's Aid said Thursday it would end cooperation with the United States because it rejects conditions attached to US aid, a move it said would cut more than $40 million in funding and require around 1,700 job reductions. The Norwegian non-governm…
Gloria Steinem dies at 92 as tributes hail legacy
Gloria Steinem, the American journalist, author and activist who became one of the best-known figures of the feminist movement, has died at 92, Gloria's Founda…
LGBT veterans urged to meet UK compensation deadline
Britain's Defence Secretary Wes Streeting urged LGBT military veterans dismissed or harmed under the former ban on their service to apply for compensation befo…
Liechtenstein regent opposes abortion legalisation
Liechtenstein's princely house said Thursday that Hereditary Prince Alois opposes a proposal to legalise abortion during the first three months of pregnancy, a…
Prince Harry and Meghan: Trump glad they left US
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was glad Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had left the United States, after the couple moved back to Britain from the…
UN rights expert urges Zambia to free detainees
Gina Romero, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association, voiced “grave concern” on Wednesday over Zambia's shrinking political space and called for the release of political detainees. President Hakainde Hichilema was sworn in for a secon…
Glenlivet ad sparks South Africa liberation backlash
A Glenlivet whisky advertisement invoking South Africa's 1956 anti-apartheid women's march has drawn backlash from families of women linked to the historic pro…
Taliban defends Afghanistan protest ban under Islamic law
The Taliban government defended Afghanistan's ban on protests on Wednesday, saying the order complies with Islamic law after rights groups condemned it as an attempt to suppress dissent. The government introduced a rule last month saying that "all types of pr…
Alex Kiprotich found after reported abduction
Kenyan journalist Alex Kiprotich was found nine hours after masked men reportedly seized him near Nakuru on Tuesday night, his employer The Standard said, prom…
George Clooney honoured as Venice Film Festival opens
George Clooney received a lifetime achievement award as the 83rd Venice Film Festival opened on September 2, after criticising the US government under Presiden…
Indonesia LGBTQ people fear rising hostility
LGBTQ people in Indonesia say they are living with growing fear as public attacks, hostile official language and proposed restrictions put more pressure on a c…
Bayeux Tapestry to go on display in London
The Bayeux Tapestry will go on display in London from September 10, in its first exhibition in the city after a loan from the Bayeux Museum in Normandy. The a…
Ratko Mladic tribute draws thousands in Banja Luka
Several thousand Bosnian Serbs gathered in Banja Luka on Tuesday to pay tribute to Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander who died while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Mladic died on Thursday at…
Kizza Besigye case: activists blame Kenya for plight
A coalition of Ugandan and Kenyan activists on Tuesday blamed Kenya for the plight of Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye, whose health is deteriorating as…
West Bank food aid to be halved by WFP over cuts
The World Food Programme said funding cuts are forcing it to halve the number of people it reaches with food aid in the West Bank, from 400,000 to 200,000 from September. Shaun Hughes, the UN agency's representative in the Palestinian territories, told report…
Afghanistan war victims left without justice, UN says
Most civilian victims of Afghanistan's 2001-2021 war have been left “without justice, reparation or even acknowledgement” of their suffering, the United Nations mission in Afghanistan said Tuesday. UNAMA said more than 40,000 civilians were killed and 77,000…