Afghanistan, Iran, Burkina Faso.

Today's three stories you should know.

May 17, 2022

Afghanistan

As mentioned in several recent newsletters, Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban has been rolling back rights for women and girls at a breakneck pace. The right to education, the right to choose your own clothing, the right to meet a male friend in public - all restricted. But Afghanistan’s women are fighting back. The BBC today carried a powerful report taking readers inside the “secret schools” springing up to educate girls. One 15-year-old in the piece said that she wanted to send a message to other girls in Afghanistan: "Be brave, if you are brave no-one can stop you."

Iran

Two French teachers are being held in Iran accused of helping teachers there organize protests, according to Iranian state television. Teachers have been protesting on-and-off for a year over pay and other issues. Thirty-seven-year-old Cécile Kohler and her unnamed 69-year-old husband are members of the FNEC FP-FP, a major trade union representing teachers and education-related staff. The New York-based Human Rights Watch group says 40 protesting teachers were arrested this month.

Burkina Faso

A sad story out of Burkina Faso. After a month of searching, authorities have all but failed to find eight miners who were trapped in a flooded zinc mine. Rescuers had hoped the men made it to a “rescue chamber,” which was stocked with food and water. Today, they found it empty. “Everything suggests that the miners were unable to reach the chamber at the moment when the flood happened and searches are ongoing,” the government said. The case has gripped Burkina Faso and an official investigation has been opened into the cause of the flood at the Canadian-owned facility.