Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul contender for Nobel Peace Prize

A Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Hathloul was arrested just before the ban on female driving was lifted. She had also protested against the male guardianship system, in which women have limited rights without male consent.

As far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, Loujain al-Hathloul was a threat to national security. Some believe the new US administration under Joe Biden had a hand in her release.

The rights activist has championed women's right to drive and for an end to Saudi's male guardianship system. She had hoped the court would amend her sentence.

The disappearance of Razan Zaitouneh and her colleagues has been one of the greatest mysteries of the Syrian war — until today. DW's investigative unit hunted clues across six countries to track down the perpetrators.

As the Taliban make rapid gains in Afghanistan, women in the country are concerned about their future. An Afghan women's rights activist told DW her life may be in danger if the Islamist militants attack Kabul.

A human rights campaigner in India has told FRANCE 24 how she and her team have lost contact with some of their associates and fellow activists in Afghanistan since the Taliban swept to power. Vandita Morarka is the founder and chief executive of One Future Collective and has long worked with colleagues in Afghanistan. She says to lose contact with some of them is "very sad" and that it's "terrifying" to see the situation unfold for the country. She also spoke to us about her work to empower women and young people in her home country of India.

Ethiopian lawyer Daniel Bekele is the winner of the 2021 German Africa Prize. The human rights defender is being honored for his unceasing commitment to monitoring and speaking out against injustice.

"The fact that the women are so disliked by these men is beyond belief, I don't understand why," says Afghan women's rights activist and CEO of Afghan Women's Network Mahbouba Seraj. "We should sit down and have a conversation."

Philippines journalist Maria Ressa speaks after winning Nobel Peace Prize for fighting for freedom of expression at a time when democracy is increasingly under threat.

Advocates have praised the award for drawing global attention to the Philippines' struggle for press freedom and human rights. It also marks the first time the prize has been handed to a journalist.

The Russian leader has finally broken his silence on Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov. But Muratov has shown himself to be unimpressed by what seems like a warning.

FRANCE 24 spoke to this year's joint Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa, co-founder of the digital media company Rappler and an outspoken critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Asked whether journalism is becoming more dangerous around the world, she told FRANCE 24: "It is more dangerous, it requires more sacrifices, just to do what journalists have always done."