On November 1, for the fourth consecutive year, a U.N. committee deferred for another year the decision on granting a seat to the Taliban militia, an extremist group that now controls about 95 percent of Afghanistan. The “Taliban intensified its lobbying for the U.N. General Assembly seat this year,” according to the Associated Press, but failed to gain recognition by the international community as the official government of Afghanistan. Only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates recognize the Taliban’s rule. “Feminists must continue the campaign to urge the United Nations and other official bodies not to recognize the Taliban regime, which has imposed a brutal system of gender apartheid on the women and girls of Afghanistan,” says Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal.
5/24/2013 All Male House Panel Discusses Anti-Abortion Bill - On Thursday, a panel of eight male members of the House of Representatives met to discuss a nationwide ban of abortion after 20 weeks gestation. . . .