Emma Batha

About half of U.S. states have banned abortion or taken steps to limit access since a Supreme Court ruling nearly a year ago upended reproductive rights in the country.

The top court handed states a free rein to make their own laws after overturning a 1973 ruling known as Roe v. Wade that had legalized abortion nationwide.

At least 50 million people worldwide are living in slavery - an increase of 10 million in five years - fuelled by conflicts, COVID-19, and climate change, according to new estimates.

Compounding crises are exacerbating extreme poverty and forcing more people to migrate, putting them at increased risk of exploitation, human rights group Walk Free said in its Global Slavery Index published on Wednesday.

In her long career as an Afghan judge, Sara helped lock up scores of Taliban militants for deadly attacks, ranging from bomb blasts to assassinations - now freed from jail, they have vowed to hunt her down.

"When the Taliban seized power, they opened the prison gates. I've lived every day since then in panic and fear," Sara told Context from a secret location where she lives with her children and husband.

A Polish court has convicted an activist of helping a woman obtain abortion pills following a landmark trial that human rights groups fear could set a dangerous precedent.

Justyna Wydrzynska was sentenced to eight months of community service in what activists said was the first prosecution of its kind in Europe.

For the first time in history, every functioning parliament in the world has at least one woman, according to data released on Friday, but progress towards gender equality remains "painfully slow".

Just over one in four lawmakers worldwide are women, up from about one in five in 2011, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a global organisation of national parliaments.

While new mothers in India, Cuba or Gambia get six months paid leave, in Japan they can take a year, or even longer in some European countries. But in the United States they get none.

The world's biggest economy is one of only seven countries that provide no paid time off after birth, keeping company with Papua New Guinea and five small Pacific island nations.

When I tell British people I'm a farmer from Hong Kong they're really amazed. They can't imagine that Hong Kong has farms.

I come from a farming family, but I studied electronic engineering at university and spent 20 years in business. About 13 years ago, I decided to quit and start my own organic farm.

I set up my company because I wanted to bring a piece of Hong Kong culture to Britain. The British introduced milky tea to Hong Kong in the 19th century.

We adapted it, the drink evolved, and now I want to bring Hong Kong-style milk tea back to the UK.

Two years ago this week Britain launched a scheme opening the doors to thousands of Hong Kong residents after China imposed a security crackdown on the former British colony.

Context spoke to three entrepreneurs who are building a new life in Britain - each bringing a taste of their bustling native city to their new home.

My restaurant 66 Hot Pot became famous during the 2019 democracy protests. We had a Star Wars stormtrooper inside which customers could write messages on. Most were insults to the government. He wore a gas mask like the ones used by protesters when the police fired teargas.

We also had a banner that said "Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of Our Times", and decorated the restaurant with the frog and pig mascots of the democracy movement. They've all been packed away. If anyone displayed that flag in Hong Kong today they'd be sent to jail.