China and Iran, Afghanistan’s biggest and most powerful neighbors, have asked their mutual neighbor to end restrictions on women’s rights to education and work.

China, Iran Call on Afghanistan to End Restrictions on Womenhttps://t.co/Oy9NEMmaPe

— Voice of America (@VOANews) February 17, 2023

Three religious reformers were put on trial in Bahrain for allegedly questioning the foundations of Islam, further deepening divisions between the country’s Shia majority and its ruling Sunni royal family.

The three accused are members of Tajdeed, a local Shia cultural and religious organization that advocates for open discussion of religion. Its members have questioned Islamic jurisprudence and the opinions of Islamic legal scholars, a taboo in much of the Muslim world, where political and religious authorities often endorse and enforce doctrine.

British news outlet The Guardian released a report on February 6th detailing the systemic abuse many dissidents faced at the hands of Iranian security forces amidst ongoing protests that have rocked the country.

‘They used our hijabs to gag us’: Iran protesters tell of rapes, beatings and torture by police https://t.co/kSRCxwF3Zr

On February 11, a Pakistani man accused of blasphemy was dragged outside a police station by an angry mob in the country’s eastern province of Punjab and lynched, Pakistani authorities said.

Another mob lynching over alleged blasphemy in Pakistan. Unbearable to watch the video of the mob, which even includes children, kicking and beating a dead man. The police ran away to save themselves. Just sickening.

Security researchers at Microsoft revealed on February 3 that a hacking team backed by the Iranian regime allegedly stole and leaked private customer data from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Iran behind hack of French magazine Charlie Hebdo, Microsoft says https://t.co/K9LJQpBvOz pic.twitter.com/uNGLPHFJX2