UN holds emergency meeting on Taliban crackdown on women
The U.N. Security Council has held emergency closed consultations on the Taliban’s latest crackdown on Afghan women as it considers a presidential statement that would express deep concern at its new ban on women leaving home “without necessity” and wearing head-to-toe clothing when they do go out in public
washingtonpost.comFrench quidditch players seek to move on from Harry Potter
Inspired by the world of Harry Potter, the real-life version of quidditch has taken off in some forty countries. But now some practitioners of the sport want it to break free from its associations with 'the boy who lived' and become a discipline in its own right.
news.yahoo.comAnger among Afghan women as face veil edict splits Taliban
Arooza was furious and afraid, keeping her eyes open for Taliban on patrol as she and a friend shopped Sunday in Kabul's Macroyan neighborhood. The math teacher was fearful her large shawl, wrapped tight around her head, and sweeping pale brown coat would not satisfy the latest decree by the country's religiously driven Taliban government. Arooza, who asked to be identified by just one name to avoid attracting attention, wasn't wearing the all-encompassing burqa preferred by the Taliban, who on Saturday issued a new dress code for women appearing in public.
news.yahoo.comTaliban orders head to toe coverings for Afghan women in public
Women who appear in public without following the new guidelines on dress will first be issued warnings, the ministry’s announcement stated. The ministry called on the media and mosques to encourage women to comply. AdvertisementWhile not legally required under the previous government, most Afghan women traditionally cover their hair in public. When the Taliban controlled Afghanistan in the 1990s, all women were required to wear head-to-toe coverings. Many women have also been barred from the workplace under Taliban rule due to guidelines forbidding men and women to work in proximity.
washingtonpost.comAs Iran-Taliban tensions rise, Afghan migrants in tinderbox
The Taliban members who killed her activist husband offered Zahra Husseini a deal: Marry one of us, and you'll be safe. Husseini, 31, decided to flee. As Afghanistan plunged into economic crisis after the United States withdrew troops and the Taliban seized power, the 960-kilometer (572-mile) long border with Iran became a lifeline for Afghans who piled into smugglers’ pickups in desperate search of money and work.
news.yahoo.comBiden welcomes Ukrainian refugees, neglects Afghans, critics say
Many human rights advocates hail the administration’s response to the exodus triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while others feel deeply frustrated that those left behind in Afghanistan have not received equal attention.
washingtonpost.comAfter Kabul school attack, Afghans fear a return to violence
The other was a promising high school senior, ranked second in his class and studying for his college entrance exams. Some said the Islamic State group, known here as Daesh, had taken a break during the transition of power and wanted to display its strength again. Several parents of wounded Shahid school students had already lost a son or daughter in attacks on schools or college-prep study centers. The bombings at the Shahid school bore a macabre similarity to the last major attack on the Hazara community, just over a year ago. At the Sayed ul Shahda school in May, twin bombs exploded outside the school just as upper-class girls were leaving campus.
washingtonpost.comEight Months Later, A Look At The Taliban's Broken Promises : Consider This from NPR
After taking control of Afghanistan last summer, the Taliban made promises for more inclusive and less repressive leadership in Afghanistan. Many of those promises involved maintaining women's rights. But now, education for girls has become more limited, and other restrictions have been placed on women. NPR's Diaa Hadid reports on what the uneven implementation of those policies suggests about Taliban leadership. And Kathy Gannon of The Associated Press reports on how the Taliban backtracking on some of its promises bodes for Afghanistan's future.Additional reporting in this episode also comes from NPR's Fatma Tanis.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
npr.orgInternational donors face tough choices as Taliban reneges on promises
Outraged by a new Taliban decree banning girls from school, and focused on the increasingly costly crisis in Ukraine, the international community faces a sharp dilemma: should they continue the massive funding that has kept Afghans barely alive since last summer, or should they risk the starvation of a significant portion of the population to punish the militant government?
washingtonpost.comResidents in Kyiv use sandbags to protect monuments as they anticipate attacks
Residents of Kyiv, Ukraine, stacked up sandbags to try to protect monuments in the city as they anticipated possible Russian attacks on Sunday. Residents seen in the footage were putting bags around a monument to Princess Olga, the 10th-century ruler of Kievan Rus who was later made a saint.
news.yahoo.comWhistleblower: As Afghanistan fell, UK abandoned supporters
A whistleblower has alleged that Britain’s Foreign Office abandoned many of the nation’s allies in Afghanistan and left them to the mercy of the Taliban during the fall of the capital, Kabul, because of a dysfunctional and arbitrary evacuation effort.