Afghanistan

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Clerics, Elders Ask Nations to Recognize Taliban Rule
All-Male Meeting Backs Taliban
Jul 2, 2022 1:40 PM CDT

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
Jun 22, 2022 6:40 AM CDT

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...

Taliban Launch Campaign to Wipe Out Poppy Crop

They plan to eradicate opium, heroin production

(Newser) - Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have begun a campaign to eradicate poppy cultivation, aiming to wipe out the country’s massive production of opium and heroin, even as farmers fear their livelihoods will be ruined at a time of growing poverty. On a recent day in Washir district in southern Helmand...

Female Anchors Cover Faces Under New Taliban Order

Male colleagues in Afghanistan wear masks in solidarity

(Newser) - Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Sunday began enforcing an order requiring all female TV news anchors in the country to cover their faces while on the air. The move is part of a hard-line shift drawing condemnation from rights activists. After the order was announced Thursday, only a handful of...

A Plant Is Turning Afghanistan Into a Meth Producer

'Washington Post' says the country is experiencing a meth boom

(Newser) - Afghanistan's poppy fields have helped make it a leader when it comes to opium production. Now another plant is transforming the country into a leading meth producer, report Susannah George and Joby Warrick for the Washington Post . The native plant is locally known as oman, but it's also...

Women Challenge Taliban Rule: 'This Isn't About Hijab'

Some Taliban leaders look for workarounds on the restrictions in Afghanistan

(Newser) - 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...

Taliban Just Resurrected a Hard-Line Mandate

Women once more have to wear face-covering burkas in public

(Newser) - Afghanistan's Taliban leadership ordered all Afghan women to wear the all-covering burka in public, the ministry of vice and virtue said Saturday. The move evoked similar restrictions on women during the Taliban's previous hard-line rule between 1996 and 2001. "We want our sisters to live with dignity...

No More TikTok, PUBG in Afghanistan
Taliban: No More TikTok
Apr 22, 2022 2:50 PM CDT

Taliban: No More TikTok

Afghanistan's rulers say young people are being led astray

(Newser) - The Taliban has been outlawing various products and activities since taking power in Afghanistan. TV shows with women in them were banned last fall, per CNN . Wine fell out of favor earlier this month. The latest prohibition reaches young people, the BBC reports: The use of TikTok and PUBG is...

Taliban Just Banned Afghanistan's Biggest Cash Crop

After decades of financing the leaders, opium, other drugs get the boot

(Newser) - The Taliban was in the restricting mood Sunday, banning opium poppy—which accounts for 80% of the world's supply of opium—along with wine, heroin, and other drugs. The Taliban has had an interesting relationship with opium, having repeatedly tried to ban the narcotic before using the crop to...

Officials: Afghan Women Without Male Companions Booted From Flights

Unaccompanied women reportedly turned away from airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Friday

(Newser) - Afghanistan's Taliban rulers refused to allow dozens of women to board several flights, including some overseas, because they were traveling without a male "guardian," two Afghan airline officials said Saturday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said dozens of women who arrived at Kabul's...

From the Taliban, an 'Unexpected Decision'

Afghanistan's de facto rulers break promise, won't open schools to girls above 6th grade

(Newser) - Afghanistan's Taliban rulers decided against opening schools to girls above the sixth grade, reneging on a previous promise and opting to appease their hardline base at the expense of further alienating the international community. The unexpected decision, confirmed by a Taliban official Wednesday, came at the start of the...

They Fled Afghanistan for US. Now They Can't Find Homes

Tens of thousands of Afghans who escaped Taliban now face housing problems in America

(Newser) - After fleeing her home in now-Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Mozhgan Entazari did everything she could to find a new one for her family in the sunny, palm tree-lined communities of Southern California. The 34-year-old mother of two scoured options on Zillow with her husband, while the family lived at a hotel in...

Joe Biden's Worst Mistake May Be Unfolding Right Now

Ezra Klein is referring to starving Afghans

(Newser) - The worst mistake of the Biden administration might end up being Afghanistan, writes Ezra Klein in the New York Times . And no, he's not referring to the chaotic withdrawal of US troops. He's talking about what has unfolded since, what's unfolding now, and what will continue to...

Boy Stuck in Well for 3 Days Dies Minutes After Rescue

'With great sorrow, young Haidar is separated from us forever'

(Newser) - Two weeks after a 5-year-old boy died after falling into a well in Morocco, another 5-year-old has died in a very similar tragedy in Afghanistan. Officials say Haidar, who fell down a shaft while trying to "help" adults dig a new borehole in a drought-stricken village Tuesday, was alive...

Afghans Oppose US Order on Frozen Funds
Afghans
Protest
Biden Order
Feb 12, 2022 12:30 PM CST

Afghans Protest Biden Order

Demonstrators oppose decision on frozen funds, demand compensation for war deaths

(Newser) - Demonstrators in Afghanistan's capital Saturday condemned President Joe Biden’s order freeing up $3.5 billion in Afghan assets held in the US for families of America's 9/11 victims—saying the money belongs to Afghans. Protesters who gathered outside Kabul's grand Eid Gah mosque asked America for...

Taliban Object to Biden Plan for Frozen Funds
Biden Divides
Afghan Funds
Feb 11, 2022 4:10 PM CST

Biden Divides Afghan Funds

Taliban object to president's plan to split $7B between humanitarian aid and families of 9/11 victims

(Newser) - President Biden signed an executive order Friday to move toward unfreezing about $7 billion in Afghan reserve funds now held in the US. The administration locked down the money in August to keep it from the Taliban when they overthrew Afghanistan's government. Biden's plan would split the money,...

As Kabul Fell, a Last-Minute Scramble to Evacuate: Report

Critics question whether better planning from the Biden administration could have saved lives

(Newser) - The Biden administration was working out crucial details of the civilian evacuation from Kabul even as the Taliban descended on the Afghan city, according to a document obtained by Axios . The National Security Council's summary notes from the Aug. 14 meeting of the Deputies Small Group—chaired by Homeland...

UN: After Taliban Takeover, a Grim Number

Report says 100-plus ex-Afghan, international forces killed since Taliban took over in August

(Newser) - The United Nations has received "credible allegations" that more than 100 former members of the Afghan government, its security forces, and those who worked with international troops have been killed since the Taliban took over the country Aug. 15, according to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In a report obtained Sunday...

Biden to Taliban: Release US Hostage

On 2nd anniversary of Mark Frerichs' kidnapping, president issues call for his release

(Newser) - President Biden on Sunday called for the release of US Navy veteran Mark Frerichs, reports the AP , who was taken hostage in Afghanistan nearly two years ago. Frerichs, a civil engineer and contractor from Lombard, Ill., was kidnapped in January 2020 from the capital of Kabul. He is believed to...

It's Tough to Get Out of Kabul, but These Americans Just Did

Charter flight thought to have dozens of US citizens heads to Qatar amid flight groundings by Taliban

(Newser) - Since November, Americans have had a tough time getting out of Kabul after the Taliban grounded most flights. This week, a chartered flight paid for by the US State Department and run by Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was finally able to depart the Afghan capital for Qatar with...

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