Afghanistan

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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

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."...

9 Months Later, Case of Lina Sardar Khil Still Baffles

The 'New York Times' digs in

(Newser) - Lina Sardar Khil is still missing nine months after vanishing from a San Antonio playground . The 3-year-old's story has received wide coverage, but the New York Times goes deeper, filling in some backstory on the family, the specifics of the day she disappeared, and where things stand today. Edgar...

Biden: US Prisoner Swap Required 'Difficult Decisions'

US frees Afghan drug lord in exchange for American Mark Frerichs

(Newser) - Update: The White House acknowledged and hailed the release of American hostage Mark Frerichs from Afghanistan on Monday. "Bringing the negotiations that led to Mark’s freedom to a successful resolution required difficult decisions, which I did not take lightly," said President Biden in a statement, per USA ...

This Is the World's Unhappiest Country

Afghanistan displaces Iraq at top of Gallup list

(Newser) - Last year was a tough year for many countries—but in Afghanistan and Lebanon, things were so bad that the countries displaced Iraq at the top of the list of countries with the worst emotional health. Gallup says the two countries topped its "composite measure of people's daily...

Russia Denounces Bombing of Its Embassy in Kabul

Islamic State ally opposed to Taliban has been suspected in series of attacks

(Newser) - A suicide bombing outside the Russian Embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Monday killed two members of the embassy staff and at least one Afghan civilian in a rare attack on a foreign diplomatic mission in Afghanistan. The blast went off at the entrance to the embassy's...

Blast Kills Cleric, 20 Others During Evening Prayers

Witnesses say suicide bomber attacked Kabul mosque

(Newser) - A bombing at a mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul during evening prayers killed at least 21 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounded at least 33 others, eyewitnesses and police said Thursday. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack Wednesday night, the latest to strike...

Americans, Afghans Assess Withdrawal a Year Later
Afghanistan Is Back
Where It Was: US General
the rundown

Afghanistan Is Back Where It Was: US General

A year after withdrawal, assessments of the fallout differ

(Newser) - One year ago, the Taliban took control of the government in Afghanistan. The anniversary has sparked assessments and reassessments of the fallout from the withdrawal of US troops, from Afghans as well as Americans. And the Biden administration is preparing to answer them. The latest are from:

Afghan Cleric Killed by Bomb Concealed in Prosthetic Leg

It's a 'very huge loss' for the country, Taliban official says of death claimed by ISIS

(Newser) - An Afghan cleric who supported the Taliban and went up against the Islamic State has been killed in a suicide bombing claimed by that same group. Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani died at an Islamic seminary in Kabul when a man detonated a bomb hidden in his prosthetic leg, reports Reuters . In...

Taliban: We Didn't Know Where al-Zawahri Was

US government claims otherwise

(Newser) - The Taliban broke its silence Thursday, days after a US drone strike killed al-Qaeda's top leader in Afghanistan's capital, acknowledging his slaying and pledging to launch an investigation. The killing of Ayman al-Zawahri on the balcony of a Kabul safehouse Sunday has further strained relations between the Taliban...

After Kabul Strike, Aid Worker Recognizes Former Home

'It was a nice balcony,' he says after strike that killed Ayman al-Zawahri

(Newser) - When news reports showed the Kabul villa where al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri was killed in a US drone strike Sunday, American aid worker Dan Smock was startled. He recognized the distinctive home he shared with several colleagues while working on a US government-funded project. "Reports said the CIA had...

Al-Zawahri's Killing Reveals a Worrisome Alliance

Al-Qaeda leader must have been hiding in Kabul with Taliban's blessing: Fred Kaplan

(Newser) - For journalist Fred Kaplan, the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri stands out not so much for the event itself. Al-Qaeda "is far from the potent global force that it was a decade ago," writes Kaplan at Slate , and while al-Zawahri certainly had a key role in planning...

The Wedding May Save a Family. But the Bride Is 8

Experts warn of child marriage, for some an alternative to starvation, amid catastrophe

(Newser) - Nyekuoth Manyuan dreamed of becoming a doctor. Instead, at 14, she was taken from her village of Kueryiek in South Sudan and wed to a 25-year-old man in exchange for 60 cattle. "I know I'm young," Nyekuoth told CBS News foreign correspondent Debora Patta. "But the...

Clerics, Elders Ask Nations to Recognize Taliban Rule
All-Male Meeting Backs Taliban

All-Male Meeting Backs Taliban

Clerics, elders ask nations to recognize Afghan government

(Newser) - A three-day assembly of Islamic clerics and tribal elders in the Afghan capital concluded Saturday with pledges of support for the Taliban and calls on the international community to recognize the country's Taliban-led government. The meeting in Kabul was tailored along the lines of Afghanistan's traditional Loya Jirgas—...

At Least 255 Dead in Afghanistan Earthquake
At Least 1K Dead in
Afghanistan Earthquake
UPDATED

At Least 1K Dead in Afghanistan Earthquake

Magnitude 6.1 temblor the deadliest in the country since 2002

(Newser) - Update: This file has been updated throughout with new details on the death toll. A powerful earthquake struck a rural, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing 1,000 people and injuring 1,500 more, according to a state-run news agency. Officials warned that the already grim toll would...

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