Equality Now

World leaders have gathered at the United Nations for a live session taking stock of progress in the global fight against racism. The high-level meeting is assessing what has been achieved since past commitments to combat racial discrimination and where efforts are falling short. Delegates are expected to reaffirm pledges to equality and call for stronger action against racism worldwide.

China has crossed 1,000 gigawatts of installed solar capacity, the largest amount any country has ever reached, roughly equal to the entire electricity capacity of the United States. Observers are highlighting the scale of the milestone and what it signals for the pace of China's renewable energy build-out compared with the rest of the world.

Iran's foreign minister has stated that the country is prepared either for diplomacy or for war, according to a report by Fox News. The statement underscores rising tensions around Iran's standoff with the West, with officials in Tehran signalling they are open to negotiations while warning they are equally ready for confrontation if talks fail.

Employers across the European Union are preparing for the EU Pay Transparency Directive, which introduces new obligations on pay reporting and gender pay gap analysis. Legal commentary highlights how companies must navigate requirements around equal pay, salary transparency during hiring, and employee rights to pay information, as firms work out compliance steps ahead of the directive taking effect.

The Bombay High Court has set aside a family court order granting a divorcing couple equal 50:50 custody of their child, holding that the concept of 'joint parenting' does not exist in Indian law. The ruling clarifies that custody arrangements must follow established legal principles rather than shared-parenting models drawn from other jurisdictions. The decision is being reported by Indian media and is likely to shape how custody disputes are argued in family courts.

A Notre Dame Law School amicus brief is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the question of religious exclusions in higher education funding. The filing argues that programs excluding religious institutions or students from otherwise available public funding raise constitutional concerns and warrant the Court's attention. The brief adds to ongoing legal debate over equal treatment of religious organizations in government benefit programs.

Birgitta Ohlsson is a Swedish politician from the Liberal Party who served as Minister for Gender Equality and later as Minister for EU Affairs and Trade. She has also worked internationally with the National Democratic Institute on democracy and human rights issues. The term is trending in Sweden on X and also appears high in Google searches, but the posts collected do not reveal what specifically sparked the current attention, so the reason for the trend is not clear from the evidence.