海角大神

How do you preserve crisis communications with an adversary who is suspicious of your use of them? The U.S. is finding China isn鈥檛 interested in hotlines, which spells trouble as their rivalry heats up.

Activists are taking radical steps, like gluing themselves to streets, to draw attention to the climate crisis. Such acts, if unpopular, fall in line with earlier, violent moral crusaders like British suffragettes.

India鈥檚 press freedoms were spiraling long before authorities targeted the BBC. Trends of anti-media violence, censorship, and legal intimidation could have disastrous consequences for the world鈥檚 largest democracy.

This team disassembles buildings that need to be razed, reclaiming quality materials that can no longer be produced 鈥� and elevating the roles of women and gender minorities in a long-exclusionary field.

Could darning 鈥� or knitting 鈥� socks be more satisfying than buying new? More people are picking up needle and thread, rather than a credit card, to keep clothing out of landfills.

This year鈥檚 celebration of International Women鈥檚 Day, held every March 8, could be a bit different. Over the past year, women in three of the world鈥檚 most oppressive countries 鈥� China, Iran, and Russia 鈥� have either led mass protests or become the face of anti-regime resistance. Many say their participation shattered a mental glass ceiling, allowing them to express individual sovereignty and a social equality often denied under the three autocracies.聽

A good example is Cao Zhixin, an editor at Peking University Press who helped lead a group of women in a peaceful protest last November against the harsh impact of China鈥檚 rigid lockdowns against COVID-19.

鈥淪he was scared but excited,鈥� one of Ms. Cao鈥檚 friends told The Guardian. 鈥淪he had never seen a public assembly before and that was her first time. After they let out their long-repressed emotions, they felt liberated.鈥�

These initial protests then exploded into anti-regime demonstrations across 31 cities, lasting for days with women on the front lines. It was China鈥檚 biggest uprising since the 1989 Tiananmen movement and forced the ruling Communist Party to quickly abandon its COVID-19 restrictions. Chinese leader Xi Jinping 鈥渉ad to bow to female protesters,鈥� wrote China expert Katsuji Nakazawa in Nikkei Asia.

Ms. Cao became famous when a video she recorded in anticipation of being arrested went viral in January after she was formally charged. 鈥淒on鈥檛 let us disappear quietly from this world!鈥� she said in the video. Her voice is now silenced as she remains in jail along with dozens of other protesters, including many of her friends.

In Russia, protests against the war in Ukraine were quickly suppressed after the Feb. 24 invasion. Yet the most famous protest came on television in mid-March. Marina Ovsyannikova, a female editor at Channel One Russia, held up an anti-war banner during a live broadcast. It said, 鈥渄on鈥檛 believe the propaganda, here you are being lied to.鈥�

She has since fled to France, but an online resistance to the war has since grown, relying on dozens of women activist groups working in an anti-hierarchical and collaborative style. As Ella Rossman, a Russian activist and historian in Britain, told The Moscow Times, the mobilization of woman activists has resulted in a 鈥渘ew understanding of female agency.鈥�

In Iran, women-led protests began in September after a young woman, Mahsa Amini, was arrested for violating the female dress code and later died during police custody. The uprising that followed included many parts of society, leading to a violent crackdown but forcing the regime to pull its 鈥渕orality police鈥� from the streets.

The protests in Iran have been quelled, but many women and girls continue to shed their hijabs and uncover their hair in public. Perhaps most remarkable was that so many 鈥渕en are willing to die for women鈥檚 freedom鈥� in Iran, as actress Golshifteh Farahani told Le Monde. 鈥淚ranian women have already won.鈥� That may be just the right message for this year鈥檚 International Women鈥檚 Day.