Afghanistan

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Taliban: Women Lose Value if Men See Their Faces

Molvi Mohammad Sadiq Akif says women who spurn hijabs risk 'falling into sin'

(Newser) - Women lose value if men can see their uncovered faces in public, a spokesman for a key ministry of Afghanistan's Taliban government said Thursday, adding that religious scholars in the country agree that a woman must keep her face covered when outside the home. The Taliban, who took over...

Afghan Official: Leaders Want Women Back in College

Decision on lifting the ban is up to Taliban leader

(Newser) - Afghanistan's universities are ready to readmit female students, but the ruling Taliban's leader has the ultimate say on when that might happen—if it happens at all, an education official said Saturday. "All our leaders are in favor" of restarting girls' education, he said, "even our...

Taliban Orders Hair, Beauty Salons to Shut Down

'The Taliban are taking away the most basic human rights from Afghan women'

(Newser) - Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have taken yet another freedom away from the country's women. The Vice and Virtue Ministry has ordered women's hair and beauty salons across the country to close, the BBC reports. An order issued July 2 gave salon owners one month to wind down their...

Security Council Pressures Taliban on Women's Rights

Unanimous vote calls for reversal of prohibitions on employment, education

(Newser) - The Taliban's systematic discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan has brought a rare instance of unanimity to the UN Security Council. A resolution approved Thursday condemns the bias and demands Afghanistan's leaders overturn their policies prohibiting the education, employment, and full public participation of women and girls....

Taliban Kill Mastermind of Kabul Airport Bombing

2021 suicide bombing killed 13 US service members, 170 Afghans

(Newser) - The Taliban have killed the senior Islamic State group leader behind the August 2021 suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport that left 13 US service members and about 170 Afghans dead, according to the father of a Marine killed in the attack who was briefed Tuesday by military officials. Over...

Afghan Religious Scholars Speak Out on Educating Girls

Taliban minister warns clerics about complaining

(Newser) - Afghan religious scholars on Saturday criticized a ban on educating women and girls, after a key Taliban minister warned clerics not to rebel against the government on the issue. Girls cannot go to school beyond sixth grade in Afghanistan, with the education ban extending to universities . Women are barred from...

After White House Blames Trump on Afghan Exit, He Blasts 'Morons'

Two-year review acknowledges mistakes but blames Trump policies for limiting choices

(Newser) - The chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan should have happened sooner, the White House concedes, though it also places much of the blame for the mess on the Trump administration. After a two-year review, the National Security Council concluded "President Biden's choices for how to execute a withdrawal from...

Taliban Take Radio Station Run by Women Off the Air

Officials accuse the nation's only station operated by women of playing music

(Newser) - A women-run radio station in Afghanistan's northeast has been shut down for playing music during the holy month of Ramadan, a Taliban official said Saturday. Sadai Banowan, which means "women's voice" in Dari, is Afghanistan's only station operated by women. It launched 10 years ago and...

Court Undoes Marine's Adoption of Afghan War Orphan, 3

Rare move means US couple will again have to try to win permanent custody

(Newser) - In a highly unusual ruling, a state court judge on Thursday voided a Marine's adoption of an Afghan war orphan, more than a year after he took the little girl away from the Afghan couple raising her. But her future remains uncertain. For now, the child will stay with...

Strong 6.5 Quake Rattles Pakistan, Afghanistan
6.5 Quake Shakes
Pakistan, Afghanistan
UPDATED
Mar 22, 2023 12:33 AM CDT

6.5 Quake Shakes Pakistan, Afghanistan

At least 11 died, including girl killed in stampede

(Newser) - This story has been updated with the latest death toll. A magnitude 6.5 earthquake rattled much of Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday, sending panicked residents fleeing from homes and offices and frightening people even in remote villages. At least nine people died in Pakistan and two in Afghanistan, officials...

Veterans Testify of 'Catastrophic' Afghanistan Exit

'No one was held accountable'

(Newser) - Active-service members and veterans provided firsthand testimony Wednesday about the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, describing in harrowing detail the carnage and death they witnessed on the ground while imploring Congress to help the allies left behind. Former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews testified to the House Foreign Affairs Committee about...

Deadly Cold Rushes Over Asia
Freezing Temps
Wreak Havoc in Asia
Jan 25, 2023 8:54 AM CST

Freezing Temps Wreak Havoc in Asia

Parts of Japan could see coldest weather in a decade; more than 100 are dead in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Snow, wind, and freezing temperatures are wreaking havoc across Asia, and in some places it's turned deadly. Earlier this week, more than 120 people died in Afghanistan from the cold, while in China's northernmost city of Mohe, known as "China's North Pole," record lows of...

Taliban Issues Another Decree Against Women

They can no longer work for NGOs, and aid organizations already are suspending operations

(Newser) - Last week, the Taliban banned women from going to college . Now, the Afghan government is forbidding women from working at non-governmental organizations, or NGOs. As with the university decree, Taliban leaders say that women working for such organizations have been flouting dress codes and not wearing hijabs, reports the Guardian ...

After Women's Studies Move, Taliban Tells World to Butt Out

Education minister defends decision to bar females from universities

(Newser) - The minister of higher education in the Taliban government on Thursday defended his decision to bar women from universities—a decree that had triggered a global backlash. Discussing the matter for the first time in public, Nida Mohammad Nadim said the ban issued earlier this week was necessary to prevent...

Taliban Releases 2 Americans in 'Goodwill Gesture'

They were freed on same day group banned women from universities

(Newser) - Two Americans were freed by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers Tuesday in what authorities described as a "goodwill gesture." CNN reports that one of the two Americans is independent filmmaker Ivor Shearer, who was arrested in August while filming near where a drone killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri. Officials...

In Taliban's First Public Execution, Victim's Father Pulls Trigger

Man who confessed to 2017 stabbing is shot dead

(Newser) - In November, the Taliban's supreme leader told judges that Shariah and its associated punishments should be fully enforced. One of those punishments, public executions, was imposed on Wednesday in Afghanistan, in what the BBC reports is believed to be the Taliban's first public execution since it regained power...

Afghans Sell Daughters, Kidneys to Stave Off Hunger

Some parents are drugging their hungry children instead

(Newser) - It's no wonder Afghanistan is the world's unhappiest country . Afghans struggling to survive amid Taliban rule are selling their daughters and kidneys just to feed their families, and that isn't always enough. Amidst an economic crisis spurred in part by a freeze on foreign funds, one of...

Taliban Bans Women From Parks, Gyms
Taliban Bans Women
From Parks, Gyms
Nov 10, 2022 11:56 AM CST

Taliban Bans Women From Parks, Gyms

Group claims it has 'tried its best' to avoid imposing restrictions

(Newser) - More than a year after returning to power in Afghanistan and promising to respect women's rights, the Taliban are busy crushing the few rights women in the country still have. Women are now banned from parks and gyms in the country, according to a Ministry of Vice and Virtue...

Afghan Couple Sues: US Marine Stole Our Baby

US court granted Joshua Mast custody of a foreign citizen, whose relatives allege fraud

(Newser) - US Marine Corps attorney Joshua Mast and his wife, Stephanie, say they "acted admirably" in adopting a young war orphan from Afghanistan. But an Afghan couple tells a very different story, saying Mast stole the child—a relative they gained custody of after her parents and siblings were killed...

Gates Foundation Commits $1.2B to Ending Polio

Virus still spreads in Afghanistan and Pakistan

(Newser) - Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only remaining countries where the polio virus is in circulation. "The last steps to eradication are by far the toughest," said Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he said is committed to a global "polio-free future."...

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