Nuriya Maharjan first became interested in space exploration during a traditional coming-of-age ritual in which young girls of Nepal’s Indigenous Newar tribe emerge from 12 days of darkness to symbolically marry the sun.
Humanity is looking up – and beyond. This Saturday, World Space Week lifts off, inviting the world to imagine what life might look like beyond planet Earth.
KABUL, October 3 (IPS) - After the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, they banned girls’ education beyond the sixth grade. Human rights groups say the policy is a major driver of the rise in underage and forced marriages involving Afghan girls.
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, October 3 (IPS) - When Mali’s former Prime Minister Moussa Mara stood trial in Bamako’s cybercrime court on 29 September, charged with undermining state authority for expressing solidarity with political prisoners on social media, his prosecution represented far more than one person’s fate. It epitomised how thoroughly the military junta has dismantled Mali’s democratic foundations, five years after seizing power with promises of swift reform.
UNITED NATIONS, October 3 (IPS) - In recent months, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has sharply deteriorated, with escalating hostilities driving mass civilian displacement and overwhelming the already fragile healthcare system, pushing it to the brink of collapse. UN officials are warning that thousands of civilians have been left with life-altering injuries without treatment.