Susan notes: Four months ago the world watched as one young woman died in the streets of Tehran. Four months later her mother, and the world, still mourn Neda's death.

The night before she was killed on the streets of Tehran, the woman the world would come to know simply as Neda had a dream. "There was a war going on," she told her mom the next morning, "and I was in the front."

Neda's mother had joined her in the street protests that erupted after Iran's disputed June 12 presidential election. But on that fateful morning, she told her daughter she couldn't go with her. As Neda prepared to leave, the mother was filled with anxiety.

"I told her to be very careful, and she said she would."

More than four months after Neda's death, her mother, Hajar Rostami, described the pain her family has endured and how grateful they are to millions across the world who have hailed Neda as a martyr -- a symbol of freedom for Iran. She spoke with CNN by phone in her native Farsi from her home in Tehran a few days ago.

"As a message to everyone, I really want to thank the whole world," she said. "And I don't really know how to thank them, so I ask of you: Please find the right words for me.

"I can't tell you how much it has warmed our hearts, how much it's helped us."

There is a Farsi expression that describes a grieving person's need to talk about the pain in her heart, to empty her soul. And that's what this is: a mourning mother who for months has wept and cried -- and remained silent about her daughter's killing, until now.

"This is a pain that will never heal," she said in a gentle, hushed tone.

Click here to read the full story:
By Wayne Drash and Octavia Nasr
CNN

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One Young Woman Dies In The Streets Of Tehran

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Earlier this year, Kanju Chowk Elementary School in Swat was targeted by Taliban militants simply because the teachers are women and the pupils are girls.

The head teacher, Parveen Begum, gives us a tour of what they left behind. She covers most of her face with a white shawl, and treads carefully over the debris in beaded leather slippers.

"This used to be the classroom for our very youngest pupils," she says, as we look into a room of mangled chairs and desks, littered with shredded exercise books.

"All the girls cried when they saw what the militants had done to it."

Parveen says that when the Taliban took control of Swat, she started receiving threatening letters.

"They said if we didn't close the school they would blow it up with all of us in it," she says. "We were scared, but we stayed open."

Then a group of Taliban militants visited Parveen at the school in person.

"They told us we could stay open if we all wore burkas, even the little girls," she says. "We did that, but they blew the place up anyway."

More than 300 schools in Swat were damaged in this way.

It was a systematic effort by the Taliban to stop girls getting an education, and one of the main ways they chose to put pressure on the government.

But the Taliban are not in charge here any more and, in spite of immense difficulties, lessons at Kanju Chowk have restarted.

Click here to read the full story on BBC News

It's in the early 2000s in London. Roz Savage sits on a commuter train, brooding about her seemingly perfect life: husband, corporate career, big house, little red sports car.

Skip ahead several years: She's 38, single, homeless – and alone on the Atlantic, in a 23-foot carbon-hulled rowboat. Here's the strange part: She has never been happier.

The environmental activist has chronicled her transition from her “cubicle days” as a consultant to ocean adventurer in Rowing the Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean, released this month.

She lost 30 pounds, battled rogue waves and once had to be rescued during those 3,000 miles and 103 days at sea. Through it she gained personal satisfaction and a commitment to protecting the planet. And she's not stopping there.

Next spring, Ms. Savage will embark on the final leg of a three-stage bid to become the first woman to row solo across the Pacific Ocean. She speaks to The Globe and Mail about pushing boundaries.

Click here to read the full story:
By Hayley Mick
The Globe and Mail

Susan notes: These two women are at the top of my list of heroines. Each is a brave pioneer in her own right. In this live interview, they talk about everything from education to what it takes to raise a king, with bits and pieces on social media in between. Fabulous.