INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Thousands march for women's rights and against Mideast war

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities across the world Sunday to mark International Women's Day and, in some cases, denounce the war in the Middle East.


Issued on: 08/03/2026 - RFI

'Hysterical: woman with an opinion,' read one sign as thousands marched for women's rights Sunday © Alex MARTIN / AFP
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From Rio in Brazil to cities across France, Spain and other European countries, demonstrators marched to demand women's rights across a range of issues.

In France, rape survivor Gisele Pelicot led a women's rights march in Paris, one of several demonstrations in French cities.

In Spain thousands of people came out in cities across the country to denounce violence against women © Thomas COEX / AFP


Thousands also marched in cities across Spain to protest gender-based violence and call for an end to the war in the Middle East.

The Paris march was one of some 150 demonstrations held to mark International Women's Day in France, with events taking place in other cities including Bordeaux, Lille, and Marseille.

"We won't give up," Pelicot, 73, told the crowd as she joined thousands in the French capital marching for women's rights, economic equality, and an end to sexual violence.

'

It's not an isolated case, it's the patriarchy': protesters marched in Madrid © Thomas COEX / AFP


Pelicot became a global symbol in the fight against sexual violence after she waived her right to anonymity during the 2024 trial of her ex-husband and dozens of strangers who raped her while she was unconscious.

Last week, she received the Order of Civil Merit from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid.

'No to war'

Spanish protesters were denouncing both violence against women and the war in the Middle East sparked by last weekend's US-Israeli strikes.

Demonstrations took place in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Granada, Bilbao, and San Sebastian, among other cities.

Women marched in the Chilean capital © RODRIGO ARANGUA / AFP


Madrid hosted two demonstrations in the centre of the Spanish capital, one for transgender rights and the other for the legalisation and regulation of prostitution.

Slogans written on placards at the protests included "No to war" and "Anti-fascist feminists against imperialist war".

Alexa Rubio, a 30-year-old Mexican living in Spain, cited pay and harassment as some of the most urgent issues.

Thousands marched in Rio, Brazil © Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP


"And in my country, gender-based violence, because women are being killed for being women," she told AFP.

Yolanda Diaz, Spain's second deputy prime minister, spoke out against the war in the Middle East at a Madrid rally.

"It is within our power to stop the war, to stop the barbarity, and to win rights," she said.

"We proclaim ourselves in defence of peace, in defence of the Iranian people, in defence of Iranian women," she added, referring to the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Sanchez, Spain's socialist prime minister, has drawn the ire of the US administration for refusing the use of Spain's military bases for strikes against Iran.

In Latin America, women marched in cities in Brazil, Chile and Mexico and other countries.

"When one woman advances, we all advance," said Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in a speech.

(AFP)

Pelicot joins Paris march as rallies across world mark International Women's Day

IN PICTURES


Gisèle Pelicot joined tens of thousands of protesters in the French capital on Sunday as women across the world marked International Women's Day with rallies for equal rights, female empowerment and an end to gender-based discrimination. Many events also denounced the war in the Middle East sparked by US-Israeli strikes.


Issued on: 08/03/2026
By: FRANCE 24

Women dance during a demonstration marking International Women's Day in Madrid on March 8, 2026. © Thomas Coex, AFP

Officially recognised by the United Nations in 1977, International Women’s Day is commemorated in different ways and to varying degrees in places around the world. Protests are usually political, rooted in women’s efforts to improve their rights as workers

.

South Korean activists gathered a day ahead of International Women's Day in Seoul, on March 7, with banners reading "Complete the revolution of light". © Ahn Young-joon, AP

2026 marks the 115th year of International Women's Day. This years' theme is “Give to Gain”, with a focus on fundraising for organisations focused on women's issues and less tangible forms of giving such as teaching peers, celebrating women and “challenging discrimination”.

Women's rights activists on Sunday rallied in Karachi, Pakistan and shouted slogans during a protest in Istanbul, Turkey. In China and Russia, vendors sold flowers wrapped in pink and local workers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, lifted fists and umbrellas as they celebrated.

Local workers take part in International Women's Day celebrations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. © Heng Sinith, AP

International Women’s Day is a global celebration – and a call to action – marked by demonstrations, mostly of women, around the world, ranging from combative protests to charity runs. Some celebrate the economic, social and political achievements of women, while others urge governments to guarantee equal pay, access to health care, justice for victims of gender-based violence and education for girls.

It is an official holiday in more than 20 countries, including Burkina Faso, Ukraine, Russia and Cuba, the only one in the Americas. In the United States, March is celebrated as Women’s History Month.

Women's right activists rally in Karachi, Pakistan. © Ali Raza, AP


As in other aspects of life, social media plays an important role during International Women’s Day, particularly by amplifying attention to demonstrations held in countries with repressive governments toward women and dissent in general.

Roughly 20,000 people attended a march for International Women’s Day in Berlin. German news agency dpa reported Sunday that the crowd was double the amount police had expected. Speakers at the event decried violence against women in Germany, as well as gender discrimination.

Protesters march in Berlin under the motto "feminist, in solidarity, unionised". © Christian Mang, Reuters


In Brazil, Sunday’s marches for International Women’s Day served as a rallying cry against gender-based violence, fuelled by the latest case to outrage the country involving the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in Copacabana.

The case in Rio de Janeiro’s famed, beachside neighbourhood took place in January, but gained national traction this week when four suspects handed themselves over to authorities.

READ MORETackling domestic violence: ‘If you ask the right questions at the right time, you will save lives’

At least 15 protests were planned across the country, with organisers calling for the defense of women’s lives and an end to femicide.

Women on stilts, from the collective Gigantes na Luta, hold plastic sunflowers in the air during a march in Rio de Janeiro. © Pilar Olivares, Reuters


Globally, a woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by a family member or partner, according to UN figures, and the number of women being exposed to conflict has significantly jumped over the past decade.

A woman holds a banner reading "Feminists against imperialist war" at a protest in Chile's Santiago, echoing condemnation of the Middle East conflict at rallies around the world. © Rodrigo Arangua, AFP


Some say commemorating International Women’s Day is now more important than ever, as women have lost gains made in the last century, among them the 2022 decision by the US Supreme Court to overturn a nationwide right to abortion, which ended constitutional protections that had been in place nearly 50 years.

The US decision on abortion has reverberated across Europe’s political landscape, forcing the issue back into public debate in some countries at a time when far-right nationalist parties are gaining influence.

Members of the feminist group "Les Rosies" hold their fist in the air at a rally in Paris

. © Kenzo Tribouillard, AFP


In Paris, more than a hundred thousands people joined a rally attended by Gisèle Pelicot, whose ex-husband was jailed last year for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious over nearly a decade.

Pelicot became an international symbol of resilience after waiving her anonymity and declaring that shame belonged with her abusers, not with her.

Gisèle Pelicot (centre) pictured at the Paris march marking International Women's Day. © Thibault Camus, AP


(FRANCE 24 with AP)

SOCIALIST ORIGINS OF IWD

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2024/03/clara-zetkin-socialist-origins-of.html

 

UCF med students share pediatric research globally

At a prominent international conference, UCF College of Medicine students presented their findings aimed at restoring quality of life for children needing cleft and craniofacial surgeries.

UCF College of Medicine

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(From left to right) Luz Diaz, AdventHealth physician assistant, Dr. Raj Sawh-Martinez, Hannah Brown and Leticia Lenkiu attended ISCFS.

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Credit: Photo courtesy of Dr. Raj Sawh-Martinez

Three UCF medical students, who researched better ways to help children with cleft palates and other skull deformities, recently presented their findings to international scientific experts.

They credit the College of Medicine’s required research module and their mentor, an Orlando pediatric plastic surgeon, with inspiring them to seek new knowledge that will help patients in the future.

Fourth-year medical student Hannah Brown, and third-years Leticia Lenkiu and Rose Meltzer presented their research at the biennial International Society of Craniofacial Surgeons (ISCFS) in Shanghai. The society is comprised of surgical leaders from 30 countries worldwide and it focuses on plastic and reconstructive surgeries that correct congenital malformations of the face, jaw, neck and skull.

It marks the first time UCF students have presented at the conference, and it is rare for student researchers of any university to receive an invitation to participate at this level, said Dr. Raj Sawh-Martinez, chief of pediatric plastic surgery at AdventHealth for Children and the students’ mentor 

“From a career standpoint, you’re on the ultimate stage trying to demonstrate your work,” he said. “Their growth has just been astronomical, and I’m incredibly impressed that they put things together so well. I’ve known them since they started as first-year medical students. They came in learning the basics about medicine, but they were eager to learn the nuances and complexities of craniofacial surgery.”

The students’ research began during their Focused Inquiry and Research Experience (FIRE) module, which requires every UCF med student to complete a two-year scientific study to advance medical knowledge. Some students continue their projects throughout all four years of medical school.

The three students worked with collaborators at the College of Medicine and AdventHealth for Children.

A “Passion Project” To Help Children

Brown has spent the last four years studying whether robotic surgery can be a more efficient and effective way to repair a child’s cleft lip and palate.  

After connecting with Dr. Sawh-Martinez, Brown learned that while robotic surgery is excelling in other areas of medicine, it wasn’t used for plastic and reconstructive surgery.

“Robotic surgery has just been introduced for microsurgery and delicate tissues in the US, and so I wanted to see how it could do with cleft surgery,” she said.

She concluded that these microsurgical robots lack the physical strength to do some portions of the cleft surgery and took longer than procedures done by a doctor’s hands alone. But robotic surgery also offered benefits, including improved precision, visualization, ergonomics and better surgery site handling during the delicate portions of the surgery.  Brown’s findings provide a foundation for further research on how to make robotics clinically relevant for cleft surgeries.

“This was exciting because it really is a passion project,” Brown said. “You put in so many hours into something that might not even work and you’re just taking a leap of faith to test a hypothesis. I’m really glad to have had the space to grow, and that UCF offers FIRE to engage students in research.”

High-Tech Imaging to Improve Pediatric Surgery

Lenkiu’s projects also examined emerging technologies to enhance pediatric care.

She and her collaborators studied using interoperative MRI (iMRI), 3D modeling and augmented reality to improve a surgeon’s ability to visualize and plan specialized cleft palate surgery. The iMRI creates real-time images during surgery and is used frequently in brain surgery to help guide doctors as they remove tumors and surgically treat epilepsy.

The iMRI is already used in older cleft patients, but Lenkiu’s project scaled the technology for use in infants and proved it could be a viable resource, Dr. Sawh-Martinez said.

“This is really the first time we’ve objectively analyzed cleft palate anatomy immediately before and after surgery this thoroughly,” he said. “We looked at the tiny muscles before and after the repairs, and we saw that we could adjust our approaches as we got to understand the anatomy much better. [Lenkiu’s] research got some of the biggest applause because I think this was the first time we’re seeing those objective outcomes in babies at the time of their cleft repairs.”

A Better Surgical Approach for Cranial Compression

Meltzer’s research project focused on surgery for craniosynostosis, a birth defect where a baby’s skull bones fuse too early, before the brain stops growing. This condition can cause the child’s head to be abnormally shaped and place increased pressure on the brain. Children with the condition usually require surgery – either directly into the skull or a less invasive endoscopic procedure.

Meltzer’s hypothesis: What if combining the two surgeries would better help the infant’s brain and skull develop correctly?

“We were looking at starting with the early endoscopic surgery and then following up with an open approach that slowly expands the skull,” Meltzer said. “The hope is that this will result in better outcomes for these patients with very severe cases of restriction, where many of the skull growth plates are stuck together.”

Their analysis found that the two-part surgery was feasible and safe, but they recommend further research for long term outcomes.

“This has been an ongoing debate on how to approach these kinds of surgeries,” Dr. Sawh-Martinez said. “It has always been one or the other, but we thought that those children with severe cases would benefit from a more comprehensive approach.”

Brown, Lenkiu and Dr. Sawh-Martinez attended the conference. Dr. Sawh-Martinez presented Meltzer’s work.  

A Real-World Research Experience

Lenkiu says she grew as a medical scientist through Dr. Sawh-Martinez’s support and the experience of presenting her research at a high-level conference.

“It took a lot to feel comfortable going on stage and sharing your work with people who know it better than anyone,” she said. “It greatly impacted my confidence, not just as a student and future doctor, but also as someone who is actively contributing to the broader science. It’s such a specialized conference, and to be included in the conversation is humbling.”

Dr. Sawh-Martinez praised UCF’s research-based curriculum and said the FIRE experience is helping train better doctors for the future.

“We’re learning about science, sure,” he said of the research experience. “But we’re learning how to develop as leaders and how to accomplish a goal as a team.”

The students said their bond through research and mentoring has made a lasting impact.

“They’re really some of my best friends,” Lenkiu said. “And this research group, it’s not just about research, it has quite literally like molded my entire medical school experience. We do almost everything together. We teach each other and together we even help mentor the next generation.”

 

Hybrid ‘super foam’: tunable, lightweight and ultra-durable

Researchers develop hybrid foam with a 3D-printed plastic skeleton—strong enough to save lives, light enough for everyday life.

Texas A&M University

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3D-printed plastic columns embedded in an ordinary foam forms a hybrid “super foam” that can absorb up to 10 times more energy than standard padding.

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Credit: Abbey Toronjo/Texas A&M University Division of Marketing & Communications

Aerospace engineering and materials science researchers at Texas A&M University and the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory have developed a “super foam” that can absorb up to 10 times more energy than conventional padding.

The composite, published and described in the journal of Composite Structures, combines an ordinary foam with 3D-printed injections of stretchy, plastic columns known as struts.

The result? An affordable, lightweight and ultra-durable hybrid foam poised to redefine the defense, automotive, aerospace and consumer industries.

The research team is led by Dr. Mohammad Naraghi, director of the Nanostructured Materials Lab at the Texas A&M College of Engineering, working in collaboration with Dr. Eric Wetzel, team leader for Strategic Polymers Additive Manufacturing at ARL.

"We’ve turned a simple foam into a tunable, high-performance, super foam composite," Naraghi said. "It has the potential to be a universal solution for a wide range of applications."

The magic of synergy 

Foams are everywhere — and are in nearly everything we touch or use.

“We are surrounded by foams,” Naraghi said. “Many of the objects around you are either entirely, or in some part, made out of it.”

Their secret is simple: millions of tiny air pockets collapse under pressure, dissipating energy.

But there’s a catch.

Beneath the surface, ordinary foams have random and chaotic internal structures that limit how efficiently they absorb energy, while engineered cellular materials (lattice structures) are more organized but notoriously expensive and difficult to scale.

For decades, engineers had to choose between affordability and precision — until now.

The research team showed for the first time that the solution to this complex tradeoff lies in a technique called In-Foam Additive Manufacturing, or IFAM.

“IFAM is a simple, computer-driven manufacturing process that allows us to build an elastomeric skeleton inside of a conventional open-cell foam,” Wetzel said. “The diameter, spacing, angle and elasticity of the elastomer can be selected to achieve a wide range of properties. The IFAM process combines the best of both worlds, providing a low cost, customizable, high performance composite energy absorber.”

In other words, it builds a 3D network of plastic struts into ordinary foam, creating a composite where both the foam and the struts team up under pressure and cover each other’s weaknesses.

During the early stages of compression, the foam acts like a brace, holding the struts steady so they don’t buckle too soon. As the pressure builds, the struts push the force outward into the surrounding foam, spreading the load. Together, this back-and-forth allows the composite to absorb more energy and withstand greater forces.

“It’s the magic of synergy,” Naraghi said. “A symbiotic composite between the foam and the struts.”

By varying the thickness and angles of the struts, the researchers created a composite that can be tuned for strength, energy absorption, comfort, or all three.

A new line of defense

As an Army-sponsored project, the immediate frontier for the hybrid foam is national defense.

“Energy-absorbing materials are critical to a wide range of Army applications, including ballistic helmets and blast-resistant seat cushions,” Wetzel said. 

In combat zones, the upgrade from standard padding to a super foam that absorbs 10 times more energy isn’t just an engineering win, it has the potential to reduce injuries and save lives.

“By injecting an ordinary foam with defined plastic struts, we are delivering orders of magnitude in terms of protection, with very little added weight,” Naraghi said.

The team is exploring how the hybrid foam could be transitioned into military helmets that are required to not only stop ballistic projectiles, but that must also provide a cushion during violent falls and collisions.

“We aren’t just adding layers to military helmets,” Naraghi said. “We are using a composite shield that’s more resilient than current paddings, yet light enough to wear all day without feeling tired.”

For warfighters, this promises a new line of defense in greater protection, enhanced safety and peak readiness without sacrificing mobility or endurance.

“Head and brain injuries remain a significant concern for the U.S. Army, and any material innovation that allows us to provide greater protection, while also managing comfort and keeping weights low, is a valuable step forward,” Wetzel said. “Furthermore, the IFAM process is easily transferrable to scaled, real-world manufacturing.”

The future of road and runway safety

The same materials principles used to protect soldiers could also be tuned for civilian use.

“We can use this same hybrid foam for commercial helmets, too: bicycle, motorcycle, even sports helmets,” Naraghi said. “Really any gear designed to absorb high-energy impacts.”

Beyond protective wear, the new composite could redefine safety standards in passenger protection and vehicle design.

By lining car bumpers and interiors with this hybrid foam, vehicles gain a high-tech energy trap that can swallow brutal collisions, to protect passengers from impacts that current paddings aren’t as optimized to handle.

“One transition we are interested in exploring is passenger and child safety seats,” Naraghi said.

Silence, engineered

More than a physical shield, the hybrid foam has another promising potential: noise control.

While still a long-term goal, the researchers are opening the door to how the hybrid foam could be precisely engineered for advanced sound insulation.

“You could modify the foam’s properties to become an excellent sound absorber that dampens, or even entirely eliminates, specific frequency bands and vibrations,” Naraghi said.

In other words, that deep, low rumble in aircraft cabins and in moving cars, or the sharp, loud noise in residential buildings, could be trapped and silenced within the hybrid foam’s internal skeleton.

“The acoustic applications are still in the early research stages, but we would like to explore this property more, to turn the foam into an active sonic filter that outperforms current materials,” Naraghi said.

Designed, personalized comfort

Then there’s the cushions angle, and how this military-grade composite could find its way into homes by enabling what the researchers call “zonal tuning” in cushions.

“With our hybrid foam, you could have different zones of your cushion tuned to your different preferences,” Naraghi said. “For instance, firm for the neck, soft for the back, and medium for the legs. It could be entirely customized to a person’s needs, comfort and physiology.

This means the end of the one-size-fits-all era for cushions, and now, every inch of a chair, mattress or sofa could be tuned to provide support exactly where you need or want it most.

Mission-driven innovation

In an era where innovation moves at the speed of need, partnerships with ARL and other mission-driven agencies help turn bold research ideas into practical, deployable solutions that address national and global research priorities.

"ARL builds these partnerships with industry and academia to get the best technical minds in the nation working on critical Army challenges," Wetzel said.

The collaboration is a blueprint of Texas A&M’s broad academic ingenuity and approach to research: turning fundamental questions into future-ready, transformative capabilities.

“The collaborative teaming here has been essential to our success,” Wetzel said.  “Professor Naraghi’s team at Texas A&M has not only provided an innovative solution, but has the academic rigor to understand the fundamental principles behind this new composite material.  ARL has deep experience and expertise in the application of energy-absorbing materials, allowing us to guide the research in directions that we expect can transition into Army materiel.”

In the case of this new super foam, tomorrow’s protection is already taking shape — lighter, stronger, and engineered from the inside out.

“At Texas A&M, and in my lab, we strive to deliver innovative solutions that address today’s challenges while anticipating tomorrow’s needs,” Naraghi said.

 

More information: In-foam additive manufacturing: Elastomeric cellular composites with tunable mechanics. Composite Structures, Volume 383, 120158 (2026).

DOI 10.1016/j.compstruct.2026.120158

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263822326001236?via%3Dihub

Journal Information: Composite Structures.

This work was funded under the ARL Cooperative Agreement W911NF-19-2-0264, with additional support under the Army Educational Outreach Program, contract W9115R-15-2-0001.

3D-printed plastic columns embedded in an ordinary foam forms a hybrid “super foam” that can absorb up to 10 times more energy than standard padding.

The foam and plastic struts team up under pressure, creating a hybrid material that can absorb up to 10 times more energy than standard padding.

The foam and plastic struts team up under pressure, creating a hybrid material that can absorb up to 10 times more energy than standard padding.

Credit

Abbey Toronjo/Texas A&M University Division of Marketing & Communications

IFAM Process Overview

More information: In-foam additive manufacturing: Elastomeric cellular composites with tunable mechanics. Composite Structures, Volume 383, 120158 (2026).

DOI 10.1016/j.compstruct.2026.120158

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263822326001236?via%3Dihub

Journal Information: Composite Structures.

Credit

Dr. Mohammad Naraghi/Texas A&M University College of Engineering https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263822326001236?via%3Dihub

Compression Test of the Super Foam's 3D Printed Struts [VIDEO]

This 3D-printed plastic skeleton stretches and bends as the foam compresses. Embedded inside regular foam, it creates an ultra-durable hybrid material that can be tuned for strength, shock absorption, or comfort.

In-foam additive manufacturing: Elastomeric cellular composites with tunable mechanics. Composite Structures, Volume 383, 120158 (2026).

DOI 10.1016/j.compstruct.2026.120158

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263822326001236?via%3Dihub

Journal Information: Composite Structures.

Credit

Dr. Mohammad Naraghi/Texas A&M University College of Engineering https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263822326001236?via%3Dihub

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Journal

Composite Structures

DOI

10.1016/j.compstruct.2026.120158 

Article Title

In-foam additive manufacturing: Elastomeric cellular composites with tunable mechanics

Article Publication Date

1-May-2026