I remember the exact moment my colleague said: “Yanar has been assassinated.”
Our editor-in-chief immediately replied: “Is this confirmed?”
A moment of silence followed. Yanar Mohammed, the Iraqi women’s rights activist, was known to us all. No one dared to write anything. This has always been the case with our team – a pause to absorb the shock, to confront what it means to dare to oppose, to be different, to try to make change.
“It’s confirmed. I called her colleagues.”
In the hours that followed, the atmosphere shifted. There was an eerie sense of death hovering over us. As a small team, mostly made up of young people still finding their way in journalism and activism, that silence felt heavy – almost defeating.
Could this be one of us tomorrow? Would my colleagues write about me one day? For what? For defending another woman like me? Is this how we all – those who are like Yanar – might end?
When we started making calls to Yanar’s colleagues, it was the same terrified answer: “Who are you? How did you get my number? Please don’t mention my name, I don’t want to participate.”
One of the participants could not control her tears while talking. It felt like we all might be the next target.
Hours later, I found myself thinking of all the women who have been killed in recent years for the same reason: having a voice.
In 2019, when the Tishreen [major anti-government] protests began, I followed Sara Talib, an Iraqi activist and protester. She was full of life. She gave me hope that women could be part of the public conversation. On 2 October 2019, I read that she had been shot in the head in her home.
Seven years later, what has changed? Not the method of death. And yet, it does not stop women. We may leave the country, write under different names or fall into silence – but not for long. It makes us braver, angrier. And it brings more women with us, still searching for justice and dignity for all Iraqi women.
Hala Abdullah is from Jummar Media, an Iraqi independent media platform
The world in brief
Sudan | RSF paramilitary leaders have amassed a £17.7m property portfolio in Dubai, an investigation has revealed. A network linked to the leadership of the militia, which has been accused of genocide, has used the UAE as a “safe haven” for family members and wealth, records show.
Climate crisis | Democracy is increasingly under threat from extreme weather, such as heatwaves, floods and wildfires, analysis shows. Natural hazards linked to climate crisis disrupted 23 elections in 18 countries in 2024.
Myanmar | Myanmar’s military regime has expanded its ban on period products, claiming they are being used to treat wounded resistance fighters. Activists say the clampdown amounts to gender-based violence and violates human rights.
Sexual violence | Media coverage of violence against women and girls is at a “pitiful” low, a report has found. This is despite a proliferation of high-profile cases of abuse by men and a rise in AI-assisted violence.
Spotlight
“I was terrified. War is completely different when it actually arrives,” says Nika*, 23, who woke to the sound of an explosion when the war started in Iran. But after the strike on Minab school and the deaths of children there, Nika says she found herself recoiling from what she had once half-wished for. “You ask yourself: why had you wanted war in your heart before it came?”
The Guardian spoke to six ordinary Iranians about how the US-Israel conflict has changed them, their feeling towards the regime and hopes for the future. Read the full interviews here. (*Nika’s name has been changed)
Top picks
‘Astonishing’ discovery could help save children from deadly disfiguring condition
Can you stop malaria crossing borders? One nation’s bid to wipe out the disease
Rights and freedom
‘Will they kill us too?’ Murder of leading feminist has chilling effect on Iraq’s activists
‘We were terrified they were going to kill us’: fishers who survived US boat strike speak out
Opinion and analysis
Southern frontlines
Logging, murder and money: can Mexico’s ancient forests be saved from the cartels?
How Bolivia’s cacao farmers took on the gold-mining industry – and won
In pictures
Read this: Into the Wood Chipper by Nicholas Enrich
Enrich’s behind-the-scenes account of how the Trump administration dismantled USAID, the most effective US humanitarian institution, describes the cruelty and indifference he witnessed, and the need to speak out as millions of lives were recklessly put at risk.
See this: Fondation H, Madagascar
Two collections opened last month at the Malagasy contemporary art foundation in Antananarivo. Kabarin-Javakanto, curated by Abdellah Karroum, brings together mainly African works from 41 artists that reflect the foundation’s role, while Les Mains des Poètes (Poets’ hands), by the Moroccan artist M’barek Bouhchichi, celebrates traditional craftsmanship in Madagascar. Until 17 October; fondation-h.com.
