Emma Batha

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.

About half of U.S. states have banned abortion or taken steps to sharply limit access since a shock Supreme Court ruling last year 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.

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.

With the world facing mounting environmental threats and yawning inequality, a growing number of consumers and investors are pushing business to prioritise the planet and people as well as profits.

Be it diversity goals or climate targets, companies are increasingly keen to trumpet their performance on environmental, social and governance issues - or ESG.

Numerous European leaders condemned last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision to gut the country's federal abortion rights, which quickly led to a flurry of states banning terminations.

For decades the trend in Europe has been towards liberalising laws and expanding access to abortion.

Lawmakers in India's upper house of Parliament on Thursday guaranteed to reserve 33% of seats for women in the lower house and state assemblies, in a bid to improve gender equality in the corridors of power.

Only 104 of India's 788 MPs, or slightly more than 13%, were women after the last national election, government figures show.

The momentous ruling by the US Supreme Court in June 2022 overturning half a century of abortion rights in the country will continue to reverberate in 2023 with more states set to usher in draconian bans.

The divisive battle over abortion rights will rage on at the local level as U.S. states seek to enshrine or curtail abortion rights in their constitutions and laws in 2023.

Five months after Taliban supporters smashed up her restaurant, Afghan entrepreneur Laila Haidari opened a secret craft centre where women earn a small income stitching elaborate dresses and fashioning jewellery from melted down bullet casings.

Her workshop is among an array of underground businesses that women have launched since losing their jobs after the Taliban grabbed power in 2021, ranging from gyms to beauty salons and girls' schools.