Iron Grip of Persecution, Hunger and Discrimination

Experts tell us that it should take another 150 to 170 years to close the gender pay gap around the world. Bad news for the mothers, sisters, wives and daughters! They have to wait that long for an equal footing with their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons. Especially so, when it comes to salaries and jobs. Living together for centuries, the two genders have been living centuries apart.

Can Education for All Work?

Article 25-A in our Constitution makes education a basic right for all five- to 16-year-old children. For the last many years, governments have been trying to get all children in this age bracket into schools but have not been successful as yet. In fact, though the article talks about all five- to 16-year-old children, most of the focus of governments has been on getting primary education universalised — and we have not even been successful in that as yet.

Strong Dispute Resolution System Key to 2017 Kenya Elections

As five countries in Africa, including Kenya, gear up for general elections later this year, a new report published today by the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) highlights the need for a strong judicial electoral dispute resolution mechanism.

Recognising Women Change-makers

On Tuesday, The Daily Star and IPDC Finance Limited jointly presented the “Unsung Women Nation Builders Awards” to seven exceptional women at the Krishibid Institution. These women were awarded for their courage, persistence, generosity and hard work and for their immense contributions to Bangladesh's socio-economic development. The awards – a crest and a cheque of Tk 2 lakh – were given out to each of the awardees in the categories of child rights, agriculture, law enforcement, education, entrepreneurship and health.

Calculated Cruelty over Dowry

The fact that 13 women have been killed and 17 physically abused over dowry in Bangladesh in January and February of 2017 does little to rattle us. Neither do the figures of 107 deaths, five suicides, and 94 physical abuse victims in all of 2016. These are, alas, just numbers that we forget soon after reading them online. But when you hear of a woman who, last week, was chained to a bed and beaten up with sticks and hot iron rods, almost forced to swallow poison, and salt and chilli powder rubbed on her wounds, it forces your eyes open to the horror thousands of women have faced and continue to do so.

UAE tops Arab youth’s favourite countries

The UAE has once again topped the world's countries most young Arabs wish to live in, according to a recent international survey.

Media, Our Best Hope

THE 2016 media freedom report card makes for uncomfortable reading. Impunity for those who kill journalists continues to undermine attempts by legal systems worldwide to deliver justice and ensure the rule of law. Read alongside rising numbers of physical attacks and an increasingly hostile online space, we remain far from guaranteeing a safe environment for media professionals, across any domain.

Mexican Newspaper Shuts Down to Protest Murder of Journalist

Hello my name is Oscar Cantú, I’m a lawyer and a business man in Ciudad Juarez. I founded Norte newspaper 27 years ago. As Norte newspaper CEO, I have experienced all kinds of emotions, but nothing like what brought me here. The tragic murder of our journalist Miroslava Breach.

Fallout of a North Korea attack

Amidst all the show of force and sabre-rattling by North Korea and the United States, has anyone bothered to ask what would happen if push comes to shove? No matter how tyrannical the leadership in North Korea may seem to the outside world, we are not dealing merely with a country that has operational nuclear arms, but fields significant conventional firepower in the field and will, in all probability (if attacked) launch all of its weapons, nuclear or otherwise at neighbouring South Korea and beyond. Those are the ground realities. It is not without reason that Beijing is sufficiently worried about the potential consequences of any attack on North Korea, which will be both immediate and long-term. Even if the nuclear weapons programme is neutralised on Korean soil, the radiation fallout will be significant and it has everyone worried.

G77 Underlines Key Role for Digital Technology & Social Media

Underlining the key role to be played by digital technology in helping implement the UN’s 2030 development agenda, the Group of 77 has said it recognizes the importance of information and communications technologies (ICTs), including social media, and their positive potential to significantly amplify the UN’s messages to the widest possible audiences and to enhance greater interaction with the United Nations, in particular among the global youth population.

Asean declaration skirts China issue

Southeast Asian leaders are likely to avoid any official mention at their Manila summit this week of an arbitration ruling that had nullified China’s massive claims on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), according to a draft of their final declaration.

Economic Growth Continues to be Thwarted by Lack of Infrastructure

The economic growth of developing countries continues to be thwarted by the lack of sustainable and resilient infrastructure.

Locked Away

The Mendez Report compiled by UN special rapporteur on torture in 2015 indicates there are at least eight to 10 million children living in orphanages, residential homes, psychiatric hospitals and other institutions around the world who need to be protected against torture and ill treatment.

Has Trump pulled the trigger for World War III?

World nation states instantly took on alignments accordingly as they favored or protested the 59 United States Tomahawk target strikes at the Shayrat airfield in Syria last week. This necessarily raised speculations that World War III is breaking out. In yesterday’s column, I touched on fears having already heightened over this concern by the dropping of a 21,000-lb non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan by the United States and the hasty dispatch of the USS Vinson aircraft carrier clearly as a preemptive action against possible military intervention from the vocally avowed antagonist of the United States in the Far East, North Korea, whose leader Kim Jong Un has been widely described as “desperate ready” to strike against the United States. The instant US naval maneuver in Far Eastern waters speaks much of the anticipation by the United States of North Korea’s taking advantage of an open Russo-American confrontation in making good its oft-repeated threats of striking America with nuclear war heads right into its heart.

Tracking Extremism

There is apparently no direct link between the brutal lynching of Mashal Khan, the arrest of Naureen Leghari, a convert to the so-called militant Islamic State (IS) group, and the surrender of Jamaatul Ahrar (JuA) leader Ehsanullah Ehsan.