In honor of International Women’s Day, the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center asked a diverse group of experts from business, politics, media, and civil society to contribute to its third annual report on women’s status in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The publication, “MENA Women: Opportunities and Obstacles in 2014,” includes entries from forty-three women across twenty countries in the region and beyond, offering a broad and timely set of perspectives on the future of women in the Arab world.

A group of United Nations human rights experts voiced concern on Thursday over reports of excessive use of force against protesters and journalists during the recent wave of antigovernment demonstrations that has spread across the country.

If Brazil is not for beginners, as the saying goes, then Venezuela isn't, either. But as far as the two countries' recent protest experiences go, they have a few interesting elements in common. At first glance, the countries seem quite different: Venezuela is deeply and bitterly politically polarized, with shortages of basic food staples and goods, rising inflation, spiraling crime rates, and what some say is a breakdown of institutions.

In 2012, after having been sentenced to 11 years in prison for "terrorism" for illegally entering Ethiopia from Somalia in the presence of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, Swedish journalists Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye took the advice of their legal council, confessed to their "crimes" and requested an official pardon. It was a pragmatic move - both journalists vehemently denied the charges and considered any confession to be a charade - taken to save their own skins.

A Ugandan tabloid, The Red Pepper, published a list with names and photos of the nation’s ‘top homosexuals’ on Tuesday, outing 200 people, many of whom have not openly identified as gay. A popular Ugandan hip-hop star, a Catholic priest, and several gay activists were on the list. 

Colombia offered “permanent training” in human rights and landmine programs to countries of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) during a meeting on Thursday, according to the Colombian Defense Ministry.

A group of Chinese bloggers asked the United States to take up the cause of Internet freedom in an unusual meeting on Saturday with Secretary of State John Kerry. One by one, the bloggers voiced concerns to Mr. Kerry, who arrived here on Friday to discuss regional issues with China’s leaders, that the ability of Chinese citizens to gain access to information was under siege and that the country’s prospects for becoming a democracy were uncertain at best.

he girls were ready to leave for London on Eurostar when French police arrived at the school gate to take them into care and their parents into custody. It is doubtful the cousins, both six, had been told why they were crossing the Channel. But activists campaigning against female genital mutilation (FGM) told the Guardian they had learned that the parents were planning to have them "cut", and tipped off the police just in time. The story demonstrates France's zero-tolerance towards FGM, a tough approach that has jailed about 100 people in dozens of high-profile cases.