Attention to the Unseen

The New York Times reports: One day in November 2015, Saad Almadi typed out a 14-word post on Twitter about Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince. “Mohammed bin Salman has taken over the economy, defense and everything under the king,” he wrote, replying to a professor who is a fierce critic of the kingdom’s monarchy. A Saudi-American dual citizen living in Florida, Mr. Almadi had little reason to believe his post would attract attention. He was a retired project manager, not…

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Jamelle Bouie writes: Over the past year, we have seen a sweeping and ferocious attack on the rights and dignity of transgender people across the country. In states led by Republicans, conservative lawmakers have introduced or passed dozens of laws that would give religious exemptions for discrimination against transgender people, prohibit the use of bathrooms consistent with their gender identity and limit access to gender-affirming care. In lashing out against L.G.B.T.Q. people, lawmakers in at least eight states have even…

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The Wall Street Journal reports: The Taliban banned girls from attending elementary school, effectively instituting a total ban on the education of girls and women and dealing one of the most dramatic blows yet to women’s freedoms since seizing power last year. In a gathering in Kabul with private-school directors, clerics and community representatives, Taliban officials on Wednesday also barred female staff, including teachers, from working in schools, closing off one of the few professions that had remained open to…

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Nicholas Kristof writes: One gauge of the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime is that there are credible reports that it is enforcing its supposedly strict moral code by arresting women and girls accused of advocating immodesty, and then sexually assaulting them. In a searing report about the rape of protesters by security forces, CNN recounted how a 20-year-old woman was arrested for supposedly leading protests and later was brought by the police to a hospital in Karaj, shaking violently, head…

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The Guardian reports: Taraneh Alidoosti, one of Iran’s most famous actors, has been detained by security forces in Tehran days after she criticised the state’s use of the death penalty against protesters. She had previously posted a picture of herself on her Instagram page in which she was not wearing the hijab and holding a piece of paper reading “women, life, freedom” – the slogan that has come to encapsulate the fight against the current Iranian regime. Alidoosti is regarded…

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Insider reports: An Iranian professional soccer player has been sentenced to death after protesting against the death of Mahsa Amini, according to Iran Wire. Amir Nasr-Azadani, 26, was arrested in November in relation to the killing of a police colonel and two volunteer militia members. He has been accused of “waging war against God” and will be hanged, according to Iran Wire. FIFPRO, the international soccer players union, said in a statement on Monday that it was “shocked and sickened”…

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The Guardian reports: Iran has publicly hanged a man accused of killing two members of the security forces in its second use of capital punishment against anti-government protesters. Majidreza Rahnavard’s family were woken early on Monday morning to be informed that he had been executed and that his body had been buried in a lot in the local cemetery. Rahnavard, a 23-year-old wrestler, had been sentenced to death by a court in the city of Mashhad for allegedly killing two…

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