While still reeling from the August earthquakes in eastern Afghanistan, the country was hit by another 6.3 magnitude quake in the north on November 3, 2025. The disaster left at least 27 people dead and nearly 1,000 injured across Samangan and Balkh provinces. Afghanistan’s latest earthquake is not only a natural disaster, but a reminder […]
A Big Win for Education in Michigan
On October 7, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed her seventh education budget, MI SB0166, into law. This bipartisan budget puts parents and kids first, offering significant relief to parents, local school districts, and students. It provides more flexibility to focus on active learning while addressing the daunting realities of food insecurity and large classroom sizes that […]
Taliban Claim To “Protect” Women, yet Bar Them From Seeing Male Doctors and Pursuing Medical Training
Maternal mortality in Afghanistan has reached a dire point, a result of a web of interconnected crises. The return of the Taliban and subsequent international aid cuts have created a healthcare collapse where women are the primary victims. Each factor reinforces the other, leaving Afghan women without care and providers. Countless Afghan women and children […]
UN Report Details Deepening Crisis for Afghan Women and Warns Against Normalising Taliban Rule
In a recent report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan delivered his most urgent warning yet, telling the United Nations’ General Assembly that Afghanistan is facing “the most extreme and systematic assault on gender equality in the world today.” In his latest report, Richard Bennett cautioned governments against normalizing […]
Revisiting Obergefell: What’s at Stake for LGBTQ+ Americans
The Supreme Court has set a date to revisit one of the most consequential civil rights rulings of the 21st century: same-sex marriage. The justices have scheduled a private conference on November 7, 2025, to decide whether they will hear a case that directly challenges Obergefell v. Hodges. This was the 2015 decision that legalized […]
Demolishing the East Wing Is Demolishing Women’s History
Last week, the current administration made another attempt to erase women from American History by signing off on the demolition of the East Wing of the White House. The East Wing, infamously referred to as the “people’s house,” will be replaced with a privately-funded $300 billion ballroom, which the President hopes will modernize the East […]
The Future of Fair Representation: Inside Louisiana v. Callais
Louisiana’s political landscape has long reflected the tension between demographic reality and political representation. Although Black residents make up nearly one-third of the state’s population, their presence in elected office, especially in Congress, has historically fallen short. The current Supreme Court case Louisiana v. Callais challenges how district lines are drawn and whether they silence […]
The Gendered Toll of U.S. Immigration Policy
Since 2025, the United States has witnessed an explosive surge in the number of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In just 4 months of Trump’s second term, there has been a 17% increase compared to his first term. Since Biden’s presidency, the detention rates have skyrocketed by 46%. This extreme level of mass deportation is […]
Leaked Young Republicans Chat Exposes Deep-Rooted Racism and Hate Within the Party’s Ranks
On Tuesday, October 14, Politico released exclusive messages from private group chats among members of the Young Leaders Republican organizations. The leaked messages revealed horrifying racial slurs, antisemitic comments, and even references to genocidal violence, all exchanged by individuals pledging loyalty to Donald Trump. While shocking, this behavior is not unprecedented in today’s political climate. […]
Taliban’s Latest Execution in Afghanistan Exposes Ongoing Abuses and Control Through Terror
On October 16, 2025, Taliban publicly executed, Ismail, another Afghan man, convicted of murder, before thousands of spectators at a sports stadium in Badghis province, Afghanistan. In Herat province, a video from August this year captured Taliban fighters kicking the corpse of Mohammad Daud, accused of assassinating a commander, as crowds filmed the desecration, a […]
Taliban Internet Blackouts Sever Afghan Women’s Education and Hope. They Demand Global Action.
In late September, Afghanistan was plunged into a digital darkness. The Taliban government abruptly imposed a nationwide internet shutdown, cutting off millions of Afghans from communication, information, and, for many Afghan women, their final link to education and the outside world. While internet access has been partially restored in Afghanistan, reports from inside the country […]
Supreme Court Case Could Threaten Colorado’s Ban on Harmful Conversion Therapy
On Tuesday, October 7, the United States Supreme Court heard opening arguments in a case brought by a religious counselor who claims that Colorado’s 2019 ban on conversion therapy violates her First Amendment right to free speech. While a decision isn’t expected until later this year, the case could have major implications for LGBTQIA+ rights […]
A Landmark Step Toward Justice: UN Establishes Investigative Mechanism for Afghanistan
The United Nations Human Rights Council has recently approved the creation of an independent investigative mechanism to document, consolidate, and preserve evidence of international crimes and human rights violations committed in Afghanistan. The resolution, which was adopted by consensus on October 6, 2025, marks a turning point in the global response to Afghanistan’s deepening crisis […]
New South Carolina Bill Sparks Concern Over Criminalization of Abortion and Contraception
In South Carolina, the state legislature is currently considering a bill that poses an immediate threat to the reproductive rights of millions. The Unborn Child Protection Act is aimed at creating and regulating stricter access to abortions and contraceptives at large. The bill aims to define stricter limits on reproductive rights language, as well as […]
Deported with Nothing: The Human Toll of Forced Returns to Afghanistan
Since January 2025, Pakistan and Iran have been forcibly deporting Afghans back to Afghanistan. About 1.86 million Afghans have been forced to leave Iran, while 314,000 have returned from Pakistan. The large-scale repatriation of Afghans raises numerous health concerns, as many returnees face serious medical risks resulting from the difficult journey back to Afghanistan. With […]
Hegseth’s “Warrior Culture” Risks Excluding Women from Military Service
At a recent gathering of top military brass in Quantico, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called for the armed forces to abandon what he called “woke culture” and return to a rigid “warrior” ethos. He pledged sweeping changes to fitness, grooming, and disciplinary standards, changes that critics warn could push women out of roles they […]
Trump’s UN Speech Rejects Climate Science and Promotes Big Oil
On September 23rd, during the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump slammed global efforts to address environmental crises and championed the use of fossil fuels, continuing a long pattern of dismissing scientific consensus on climate change. In his speech, Trump attacked renewable energy sources, calling “windmills… pathetic” and labeling the concept of a carbon footprint […]
Afghan Women Face Internet Blackout as Taliban Tightens Control
Afghanistan has been plunged into a sweeping Internet blackout once again. The Taliban first restricted internet access in mid-September 2025, banning fiber-optic (WiFi/wired) connections in some provinces, citing the need to “prevent immorality.” Local Taliban officials said the order was decreed by the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and enforced across government offices, businesses, institutions, […]
The Rise of the MAHA Movement and Implications for Women
The “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement has exploded in recent years, blending wellness culture, political populism, and deep distrust of mainstream medicine. Under current federal leadership, MAHA is reshaping health policy. But behind its promises of empowerment and clean living lies a troubling pattern: shifting responsibility onto women, amplifying shaky science, and ignoring systemic […]
Taliban’s 5-Year Strategic Plan Excludes Women. Afghan Women Push Back.
Taliban recently revealed a 5-year development plan for Afghanistan with three pillars, including economic and social development, governance and international relations, and security and public order. Fifteen key initiatives under these pillars include sectors such as agriculture, provision of energy, and development of education amongst many more areas targeting the country’s growth in the coming […]