Lizzy Davies Fawzia Koofi was elected as an MP in 2005 and became the Afghan parliament’s first female deputy speaker. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian The questions came thick and fast but the woman sitting on the podium in a pink headscarf and high heels took them all in her stride. The Taliban,...
Megan Carpentier Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul. Photomontage by Jamie Turner Photograph: Guardian If you told a liberal in 2008 that progressives ought to give Republican Texas Congressman Ron Paul a chance because he was the most anti-war candidate on the ballot, you would have been laughed out of the room – or, more...
The appalling case of Gulnaz (Afghan woman jailed for being raped to be freed – if she marries her attacker, 2 December) is a stark reminder of how much is at stake over women’s human rights in Afghanistan, as it moves ever closer to talks with the Taliban and a future without international forces...
Andy Beckett Helen John, 73, with a banner protesting against unmanned drones being based at RAF Waddington. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian ‘I’ll be wearing a T-shirt with ‘No More Assassinations by RAF Drones’ on it,” says Helen John, matter-of-factly, when we arrange to meet by phone. She is 73. She has recently been in...
