Emma Batha

Abortion is a key issue in this year's U.S. presidential election with both sides seeking to capitalise on the highly divisive topic following a slew of state bans.   

About half of U.S. states have outlawed abortion or restricted access since 2022, with Arizona and Florida the latest to crack down on the procedure.

Probes into care companies double as reports of debt bondage and exploitation engulf migrant care workers lured by new visa scheme

France has become the only country to explicitly guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution following a landmark vote by a special joint session of parliament.

The move was in direct response to a dramatic rollback of reproductive rights in the United States.

The wildfire spread of fabricated porn images of pop megastar Taylor Swift has fuelled calls in the United States for strong legislation to tackle an explosion of deepfake sexual abuse facilitated by artificial intelligence.

The images - which grafted Swift's face onto another woman's body - attracted tens of millions of views on social media last week in what one lawyer said was the biggest such case to date.

When engineering student Taylor Klein was told she was in a porn video she was convinced her friend was mistaken but, to her horror, she soon discovered half a dozen explicit clips online.

The realistic videos - known as deepfakes - were created using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to superimpose Klein's face on another woman, but when she went to the police they told her no law had been broken.

When Zimbabwean mother-of-four Eunice Sinoya enrolled in a first aid course near the capital Harare she was lured by the college's promise of a job in Britain's care sector.

But more than a year on, she is sitting at home with her dream in tatters, the victim of a fraud that has cost her thousands of dollars.

Afghanistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with worsening droughts and flash flooding destroying livelihoods and fuelling hunger.

However, the Taliban's seizure of the country in 2021 means it has been excluded from global climate change talks and will not be represented at the COP28 summit starting in Dubai on Thursday.

Two years ago, Afghan farmer Ghulam Sakhi watched in despair as his wheat and corn plants withered under an unrelenting sun in the worst drought he had seen in his 70 years.

Today not only are his crops flourishing, but his fields boast aubergines, celery, onions and potatoes. He has planted 160 apple trees and his cows, sheep and goats graze nearby.

A global survey of more than 1,000 of the world's most influential companies paints a "dismal" picture of their performance on gender equality, the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) said on Monday.

Women are underrepresented in leadership positions and their concerns go unheard, its research showed.

Struggling to survive on her meagre salary, Zimbabwean nurse Jane decided to start a new life abroad but, one year after landing a job in Britain, she is still waiting to pack her bags.

Jane is not alone. Zimbabwean nurses eager to escape deepening poverty say their government is barring them from pursuing opportunities overseas as it seeks to stem a brain drain of health workers.