AROUND THE WORLD THIS WEEK
MEXICO
In a landmark ruling for women’s rights, Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that criminalising abortion is unconstitutional, paving the way for the legalisation of abortion across the country’s 32 states.
Before the 7 September judgment, only four Mexican states allowed abortions on request, with 432 investigations for illegal abortions opened across the country in the first seven months of 2021.
“Today is a historic day for the rights of all Mexican women,” said Supreme Court Chief Justice Arturo Zaldivar.
The ruling sets a precedent across the country that will require legislative changes in the 28 states that criminalise abortion. North of the border, Texas recently moved to restrict abortion and the new ruling raises the prospect of Americans wanting to end their pregnancies travelling to Mexico to do so.
AFGHANISTAN
The Taliban announced an all-male caretaker cabinet this week, including longstanding hardline members of the group such as Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is wanted by the United States on terrorism charges.
Haqqani’s first decree as interior minister was to ban demonstrations that don’t have official approval from the government. Protesters have continued to demonstrate against the new government, which has banned women from playing sport and asked them to stay away from work.
After the United States’s hasty withdrawal in August, a reported 200 foreigners were cleared to depart from Kabul airport on 8 September.
GUINEA
The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) suspended Guinea’s membership on 8 September after an elite army unit led by Mamady Doumbouya overthrew President Alpha Condé’s government over the weekend.
A delegation of Ecowas leaders was due to visit Conakry on 9 September, reportedly with the aim of persuading Doumbouya, a former member of the French Foreign Legion who heads Guinea’s special forces, to appoint a civilian prime minister and restore constitutional order.
Doumbouya said his forces represented the legitimate concerns of citizens whose rights were being violated under Condé’s authoritarian rule but there are concerns of growing military rule in the region after Mali experienced two coups in the past year.
BRAZIL
Supporters of beleaguered President Jair Bolsonaro rallied in the country’s biggest cities on 7 September, Brazil’s independence day, as Bolsonaro launched fresh attacks on the country’s Supreme Court and Congress.
Bolsonaro’s popularity has plummeted while the Supreme Court investigates his conduct and corruption allegations, and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has left more than 580,000 people dead. With elections scheduled for October 2022, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has a strong lead in the polls and Bolsonaro has followed former US president Donald Trump’s example by casting doubt on the credibility of elections and democratic institutions.
FRANCE
The trial of 20 men accused of being involved in coordinated attacks in Paris in 2015 that left 130 people dead and almost 500 injured began in Paris on 8 September. Salah Abdeslam, who described himself as a “fighter for Islamic State” is allegedly the sole surviving attacker while his co-accused have been charged as accomplices.
The November 2015 attacks, which saw the most carnage at the Bataclan concert venue, was the deadliest violence experienced in France since World War 2 and sparked ongoing debates in the country on immigration and religion.
The trial, expected to last nine months, is taking place in a courtroom with space for 550 people that was specifically designed for the proceedings.