Marc Bennetts: “When Russia’s patience snaps, you don’t want to be the ruler in charge”
New Humanist talks to the author of "Kicking the Kremlin: Russia’s New Dissidents and the Battle to Topple Putin"
Human Rights & Ethics
Thirteen years after the invasion, how much have women’s lives improved in Afghanistan?
Some positive steps might have been taken, but abuses continue, writes Samira Shackle
Anti-abortion ‘counselling’ services peddling misinformation to vulnerable women
Could abortion make you more likely to sexually abuse your children? To develop breast cancer? To become sterile? The answer to all these questions is, of course, no. But that…
Penguin India withdraws “disrespectful” book about Hinduism
Publishing giant agrees to pulp book and acknowledges that it "respects all religions worldwide"
Vatican rejects UN’s child abuse report
“Outdated, interfering and ideological”. This is how the Vatican reacted to the UN Committee on the Right of the Child (CRC) report on the Holy See’s handling of Catholic Church’s…
Why is it so difficult to secure convictions for rape?
Samira Shackle unpicks the complex issues surrounding the crime.
Are humanist funerals the new normal?
Last week Coronation Street – the long-running UK soap – made headlines when one of its major characters chose to commit suicide. Hayley Cropper, who was suffering from terminal pancreatic…
On the importance of the right to offend
This article is cross-posted from Kenan Malik’s blog Pandaemonium ‘Thank you @Channel4News you just pushed us liberal Muslims further into a ditch’. So tweeted Maajid Nawaz, prospective Liberal Democratic parliamentary…
Channel 4 accused of censorship over Jesus & Mo story
The National Secular Society has written to Channel 4 News to express concern over the programme’s censorship of the Jesus & Mo web comic, which was shown as part of…
India Supreme Court refuses to review gay sex ban, and other stories – our morning round-up
India Supreme Court refuses to review gay sex ban India’s Supreme Court has refused to review its controversial decision to reinstate a 153-year-old law that criminalises homosexuality. Judges dismissed petitions…