ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday used an international conference on justice and rights for women to declare that women should not be regarded as equal to men and that pregnancypresented an obstacle to equal opportunity in the workplace.
Mr. Erdogan also condemned feminists for rejecting motherhood.

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan women have been systematically excluded from the government’s efforts to start peace talks with the Taliban, according to a report released on Monday by the international aid group Oxfam.
The report, “Behind Closed Doors,” echoes complaints made by many female leaders here. Among the issues they cite are that they have long felt marginalized in the country’s nascent peace process, and that they are worried that Afghanistan’s leaders will reach an agreement to reconcile with religiously conservative insurgents that will wipe out gains made by the nation’s women.

GILBERT, Ariz. — The textbook, the one with the wide-eyed lemur peering off the cover, has been handed out for years to students in honors biology classes at the high schools here, offering lessons on bread-and-butter subjects like mitosis and meiosis, photosynthesis and anatomy.
But now, the school board in this suburb of Phoenix has voted to excise or redact two pages deep inside the book — 544 and 545 — because they discuss sexually transmitted diseases and contraception, including mifepristone, a drug that can be used to prevent or halt a pregnancy.

Criticism of one of television’s most beloved stars, Bill Cosby, is escalating with renewed attention to allegations that he sexually assaulted women in several incidents decades ago.
The latest indication is the cancellation of a planned appearance by Mr. Cosby, scheduled for Wednesday, on David Letterman’s late-night show on CBS.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Shocked, tearful and at times defensive, members of the board that oversees the University of Virginia insisted that they would combat the problem of sexual assault on campus after a magazine article reported a gang rape at a campus fraternity and allegations that the university was more concerned about its reputation than a history of sexual assault embedded in its hard-drinking social life.
Experts in campus safety say that colleges and universities could cut down on binge drinking, and put a dent sexual assault and hazing, by expelling students and shutting down organizations for the most serious alcohol-related offenses. But moves like that would invite a backlash from parents and alumni, and administrators are unwilling to take the risk.

Egyptian government figures put therate of female genital mutilation among women ages 15 to 49 at 91 percent. Among teenagers 15 to 17, it is 74 percent. Unicef estimates that of the 125 million women worldwide who have undergone genital cutting in the 29 countries where it is most prevalent — mostly in Africa and the Middle East — one in five lives in Egypt.

The test is listed publicly as a requirement to enter the force and performed as part of the chief of police’s health inspection guidelines for new candidates, which requires women to complete an “obstetrics and gynaecology” exam.
While female recruits are also expected to be single and not marry until they have been in the force for a few years, Indonesia’s national police website claims they must also undergo virginity tests in addition to general medical and physical examinations, with the added warning: “So all women who want to become policewomen should keep their virginity.”

Footage of Russian president wrapping a shawl around the chilly wife of Xi Jinping disappears from Chinese TV and internet
It was a warm gesture on a chilly night when Vladimir Putin wrapped a shawl around the wife of Xi Jinping while the Chinese president chatted with Barack Obama. The only problem: Putin came off looking gallant, the Chinese summit host gauche and inattentive.

Under a plain reading of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, and also as a matter of fairness, pregnant workers should be treated no worse than employees who are injured on the job, and the Supreme Court should use the Young case to say so.

The Supreme Court’s decision has the potential to affect the lives of millions of women, who make up 47 percent of the labor force and often work during and late into their pregnancies. According to the Census Bureau, an estimated 62 percent of women who had given birth in the previous year were in the labor force.
Women are the sole or primary breadwinners in 40 percent of American families with children, according to a Pew Research Center study. Whether employers are required to make accommodations for their pregnancies, women’s groups say, will make a tangible difference in the lives of many families.