Impact
Loujain al-Hathloul, a prominent Saudi women’s rights activist who was jailed after campaigning for an end to the ban on women driving in the country, has been released after 1,001 days in prison, her family said.
Activism
Rawiri Waititi, the co-leader of New Zealand’s Maori Party, wore a hei-tiki, a traditional Māori pendant to the parliament, and was ejected.
Impact
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian economist and the country’s former finance minister, is set to become the first woman director general of the World Trade Organization.
Impact
Matariki marks the beginning of the Pleiades cluster of stars, which rises in the winter and symbolizes the start of the Māori new year.
Women
Although she has faced opposition and even death threats, Talash hopes to be a role model and compete in the Olympics one day.
Impact
Thailand’s Parliament has voted to legalize abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy but people who undergo the procedure later in their pregnancies may still face fines and up to six months in prison.
Impact
Kaja Kallas, a 43-year-old lawyer and former EU lawmaker, will lead a new cabinet that will replace the previous cabinet resigned earlier in January over a corruption scandal.
Impact
People in Manaus, which is experiencing a collapsing health system and dwindling oxygen supplies, have started receiving vaccinations against the coronavirus.
Impact
Greece’s Prime Minister has appointed the country’s first openly gay minister in its center-right government.
Impact
The Moscow Metro hired 12 women train drivers for the first time after Russia last year changed its decades-old regulation banning women from certain jobs.
Impact
In a historic moment, Argentina’s senate voted to legalize abortion on Wednesday Dec. 30, making the majority Catholic country the largest Latin American nation to allow for abortions in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
Impact
Switzerland marked a major step forward for LGBT rights on Friday Dec. 18, when lawmakers voted to legalize same-sex marriage and to simplify the procedures for transgender people to change their legal gender.