Author: Gulf News Week
Alia – whose name we have changed for her safety – travelled hundreds of miles from her village to Kabul to escape marriage.The journey by taxi last year with her female cousin – covered from head to toe, only their eyes visible, as the rules decree – was an exceptional thing to do, and risky in Afghanistan, where at any moment they might be caught by the Taliban inspectors enforcing rules banning women travelling long distances without a male relative escorting them.But Alia, who is 19, and her cousin weren’t stopped at any Taliban checkpoints, and made it to the…
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Ranvia is still haunted by the memory of being wolf-whistled at by an ice-cream man when she was 11 years old.She’d hit puberty a few years earlier, and it was at that point she says the size of her breasts began to impact how she was perceived – and how she saw herself.At school, boys would give her nicknames about her boobs, and touch and squeeze them without consent.”I was still a child,” Ranvia says, “but suddenly I had these two body parts that brought attention I was not emotionally ready for.” RanviaRanvia, pictured here pre-surgery, says boys at school…
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has described a case in which three teenage boys were spared custodial sentences over the rape of two girls as “appalling”.He added that it was “right” that the sentences given by a judge at Southampton Crown Court were being reviewed by the attorney general.Two girls, then aged 15 and 14, were raped in separate incidents in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January 2025, by two 14-year-olds. Another boy, then 13, was also convicted for his involvement in the second attack.Sir Keir said the girls have “shown extraordinary bravery and strength in heinous circumstances”.Instead, the…
On a weekday afternoon in Japan, John Deng stands near the playground, listening to other children play and laugh. His own son and daughter are nowhere in sight. He longs for the ordinary moments he once shared with his children: taking them to the park, watching them wake up, and being part of their lives.Deng, not his real name, is originally from Hong Kong and has lived in Japan for the past 22 years. It’s where he built his life, met his former partner, and became a father to two children, an eight-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter.But, he says,…
Turkish riot police forced their way into the headquarters of the country’s main opposition party on Sunday, days after a court dismissed its leadership.Clouds of tear gas billowed outside the Republican People’s Party (CHP) building in Ankara, where party members had blocked the entrances with a makeshift barricade.Footage from the scene showed those inside shouting and throwing objects towards the entrance, and police being sprayed with hoses.The party had vowed to defy an appeal court decision on Thursday which declared Özgür Özel’s leadership of the party null and void, in a move further cementing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s grip on…
At least 20 people have been killed and 70 others injured in an explosion targeting a train transporting military personnel in Pakistan.The blast occurred while the train was travelling through Chaman Phatak station in Quetta, the capital of the western Balochistan region, on Sunday morning.Railway officials told BBC Urdu that three coaches and the engine were derailed while two were overturned. The shuttle service had primarily been transporting service personnel and their families who had been returning home for Eid.The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a suicide bombing. Pakistani officials have…
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The highly anticipated video game remains on track for a November release, with Vice City’s return confirmed. Here’s what we know about pricing, story, and release plansGrand Theft Auto 6 is officially sticking to its release date, with Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick confirming that no further delays are planned. Speaking during the company’s latest earnings call and investor updates, Zelnick reiterated that GTA 6 will launch on November 19, 2026, putting an end to ongoing speculation about another push into 2027.The date lands just a week before Black Friday, a window that drives massive hardware and software sales across…
The convoy of Bolivia’s public works minister was ambushed by protesters and briefly disappeared while overseeing the clearing of roadblocks on Saturday.Mauricio Zamora’s vehicle was intercepted in the town of Copata on Saturday afternoon and became separated from the group, local media reported. He was later located and is now safe.He had been in command of an operation to clear barriers set up by anti-government protesters aimed at slowing the flow of goods into the administrative capital, La Paz, and nearby El Alto.The mission to create so-called “humanitarian corridors” was met by renewed violence from demonstrators, with some convoys reportedly…