Can the Taliban Be Taken to Court?

Greetings, Meteor readers,

I’ve never been much of a space gal, (stars are for figuring out your life path, not like, science or whatever), but there is a black hole that is “spitting energy across 23 million light-years of intergalactic space.” And if that doesn’t put whatever’s happening here on Earth in perspective, I’m not sure what will.

In today’s newsletter, we look at the big news out of the United Nations General Assembly, a brand-new Emmy winner, and an assault on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Plus, a bit of weekend reading.

Just a little speck,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

• Palestinian activist and journalist Bisan Owda is now officially Emmy Award winner Bisan Owda. Owda’s news special It’s Bisan From Gaza and I’m Still Alive has been awarded the Emmy for outstanding hard news feature story, short form. Over the last year, Owda has used her Instagram account and risked her life to show the daily struggles in Gaza—from trying to find food to evacuating her neighborhood to, on occasion, experiencing brief moments of joy. Her missives begin with, “Hi, it’s Bisan from Gaza. I’m still alive,” an opening that has become a symbol of resistance in and of itself.

• This week at the United Nations General Assembly, representatives from Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands announced they would be initiating proceedings against Afghanistan on the grounds of gender discrimination. If the Taliban do not agree to comply with the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, then the issue could be taken to the International Court of Justice. In response to the proceedings, the Taliban’s deputy spokesman called the accusations “absurd” propaganda and asserted that no one faced discrimination in Afghanistan. The Hazara community would beg to differ. (In case you were wondering where the U.S. is in all of this, our country has not signed on to the Convention and is thereby not bound to abide by or uphold it. Hmm.)

• A recent ruling out of North Dakota has taken a huge swipe at gains made by the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. That law, passed in June of last year, requires employers to make accommodations for workers for “pregnancy-related conditions,” meaning anything from post-partum recovery to, yes, time off to get an abortion. But now, according to the ruling, Catholic employers do not have to provide “reasonable accommodations” to workers who are seeking abortions or infertility treatments like IVF. The decision is, as reporter Chabeli Carrazana put it in The 19th, “one of the most significant blows” yet to the PWFA and could pave the way for more states to push back on the law’s protections.

AND:

• New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal charges of bribery, fraud, and conspiracy, but has stated he will not be stepping down from his post, despite calls from colleagues and constituents to do so. So what do we think: Are Kathryn Garcia, Maya Wiley, and Dianne Morales in a group chat sending each other the most ridiculous memes like the rest of us? Or still trying to wrap their heads around the more serious question of why this clown was elected over three qualified women?

• There’s a brand new episode of UNDISTRACTED this week and it is required listening for this endless pre-election season. Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham is in conversation with Maurice Mitchell of the Working Families Party and Rep. Ruwa Romman (D-GA) (who wrote a wonderful speech the DNC didn’t allow her to give) to answer one of the most pressing questions of the year: what do we tell people who still want to vote third party?

• And speaking of voting: ICYMI, Chappell Roan recently gave an interview saying she would not be endorsing a candidate because she had “so many issues with our government in every way.” She was later dragged online for being a “secret Trump supporter”—and eventually felt pressured to make it clear she would be voting for Kamala Harris. And yet the online hate continues. Read Serena Smith at Dazed, who finds it “overwhelmingly likely that misogyny is driving much of the hate.”

• Mira Murati is stepping down from her position as chief technology officer at OpenAI. What does this mean for the future of the company’s pet project, ChatGPT? Well it probably won’t help AI’s overall gender bias problem.

WEEKEND READING 📚

On birth: Approximately 20,000 babies have been born in Gaza in the last year. Mothers have been delivering in dangerous conditions, and “four-month-olds understand what airstrikes are.” (Marie Claire)

On coming back: One of the most intellectually honest writers of our time, Ta-Nehisi Coates, has a few words for you. (Intelligencer)

On selling out: Puerto Rican rappers have been surprising some of their audiences by throwing their support behind a certain orange demon. But considering the protections that proximity to whiteness brings white presenting Latine rappers, is it really all that surprising? (Refinery29)

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