The United Kingdom will continue to support a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes in international sporting events, including at next year’s Olympics, the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, has said. The International Olympic Committee announced last month that it was…
Afghanistan: Taliban bans women from working for NGOs
An order by the Taliban banning women from working for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has been condemned by the United Nations, which said the move violated fundamental rights. The Islamist rulers justified the move by saying female NGO staff had broken…
Afghanistan: Taliban ban women from universities amid condemnation
The Taliban have banned women from universities in Afghanistan, sparking international condemnation and despair among young people in the country. The higher education minister announced the regression on Tuesday, saying it would take immediate effect. The ban further restricts women’s…
Dutch court rejects challenge to assisted suicide ban
A Dutch court on Wednesday upheld the Netherlands’ ban on assisted suicide, a setback for activists who said the prohibition infringes on their right to determine when their lives end. The Hague District Court rejected the activists’ argument that the…
US Senate passes bill to bar federal employees from using TikTok on government-owned devices
The United States Senate late on Wednesday passed a Bill to bar federal employees from using Chinese-owned, short video-sharing app TikTok on government-owned devices. The vote is the latest action on the part of US lawmakers to crack down on…
Varsity bans “water ritual” practice
University of Calabar has ordered the cessation of the practice of “water ritual’’ in the school, describing it as unwholesome and not academic. In the “water ritual’’, students pour water sporadically on matriculating and graduating students as an “initiation rite’’.…
Indonesia passes criminal code banning sex outside marriage
Indonesia’s parliament has approved a new criminal code that bans anyone in the country from having extramarital sex and restricts political freedoms. Sex outside marriage will carry a jail term of up to a year under the new laws, which…
Fifa lifts Kenya’s ban from global football after conditions met
Kenya’s ban from global football has been lifted by world governing body Fifa. The suspension was imposed in February after Kenya’s sports ministry disbanded the country’s football federation (FKF) over alleged misappropriation of funds and appointed a caretaker committee in…
Russia passes ‘Answer to Blinken’ gay propaganda law
Russia’s lower house of parliament has unanimously voted to extend its ban on so-called “gay propaganda”. Under the latest version of the law, any promotion of homosexuality – including in books, films and online – is illegal and carries heavy…
WADA says Russia’s anti-doping body “remains non-compliant”
Russia’s anti-doping body RUSADA has continued to be non-compliant with the requirements for a return to the global system, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says. “Trust in Russia’s anti-doping system is still very low,” WADA president Witold Bańka said. His…