Worldcrunch
👋 Muraho!* Welcome to Friday, where the U.S. vetoes for the sixth time a UN draft resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, Russia returns 1,000 bodies to Ukraine in latest exchange and today’s quiz question comes from Ig Nobel Prize, the annual spoof of the Nobel Prize. Meanwhile, Álex […]
In Afghanistan, where it is considered a disgrace to have only daughters in a family, some families raise their girls as boys — giving them male names, boys’ clothes and the freedoms typically denied to Afghan girls. But what happens to these girls when they grow up?
Iran is reportedly deporting thousands of Afghans — including many legal residents — claiming it can no longer afford to host millions of migrants. Witnesses describe chaotic expulsions marked by beatings and last-minute extortion at the border.
On July 3, Russia recognized the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, a decision that will have a significant effect on the positions of other nations, particularly those in Central Asia.
In Syria the provisional government led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham has removed the term “gods” and images of statues from the school curriculum. Men destroy statues so that the statues do not destroy them. Removing these images and their rightful place in history is a dangerous call to war against truth and equality.
Qatar was crucial to the ceasefire negotiations in the Middle East. It proves that you don’t need a large army or nuclear weapons to play an important role in the world.
The United States, which was stung twice in Afghanistan, recently warned Syria’s new administration against adopting hardline policies like the Taliban. While HST leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has said that he did not want to turn Syria into a copy of Afghanistan, doubts remain over the former al-Qaeda member’s assurances and pledges.
Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Israel are reshaping the Middle East in a possible, bigger deal involving a peace deal in Ukraine. With the regional militias and Syria out of the strategic equation, is the next step removing the Tehran regime?
Since storming back to power in 2021, the Taliban have been revising national education curriculum and aggressively rewriting textbooks for grades 1-12, removing subjects like formal art, women’s rights, elections and democracy, and adding religious material to the curriculum that enforces Taliban narratives.
The nation’ deputy health minister, concerned about declining birth rates, wants more young brides, and expects them to start procreating as soon as possible.
Reporter Daniel-Dylan Böhmer of Die Welt gained exclusive access to key Taliban officials in Kabul, and visited the heavily armed security forces at the airport, to get a sense of what Afghanistan’s future may hold.
Updated July 12, 2024 at 11:35 a.m. Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist and Nobel laureate known for her advocacy of girls’ education and women’s rights was born on this day in 1997 in Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan. She gained international prominence after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban in 2012. How did the Taliban […]
Nothing can beautify life in Afghanistan under the Taliban. So how can we promote a country whose government practices terrorism against its people? That’s what Arab world influencers are doing.
Abdul Majeed al-Zindani was one of the most prominent founders of what was known as the “Islamic Movement” – the Muslim Brotherhood affiliate in Yemen. He was sanctioned by the United States and United Nations’ Security Council over his links with al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.
The Middle East’s militant and terror gangs, often described as Iran’s proxy forces, may have more in common with the cartels of a globalized war than with the fighters with a cause, more typical in the 20th century.
Many Iranians fear unchecked immigration, mostly by Afghans but also Iraqis, will overwhelm a fragile economy that is weakened by the many qualified employees leaving Iran.
Twenty years of American military intervention and occupation have left vast ecological damage that may never be repaired.
After taking control of Kabul two years ago, the Taliban has continued to present a threat to human rights in the region. But the Taliban’s takeover, now slowly nearing official recognition by some governments, has also posed challenges for the country’s neighbors, including Iran and Pakistan.
A 15-year-old girl is murdered by her parents in Iran, three years after her arranged marriage, in yet another possible “honor” killing the Islamic Republic is loath to punish.
Iran is reacting mildly to recurring Taliban provocations on its frontier. Is this due to diplomatic weakness, policy incompetence or is there some murky complicity inside Iran with the Afghan drug trade?
Iran and Afghanistan have long had a tense relationship. Recent skirmishes at their shared border indicate that conflict is escalating, but the causes are unclear.
Amid a severe drought, Afghan scientists are asking the international community to engage with the brutal regime.
Despite controversies at home, Nordic countries were heavily involved in the NATO-led war in Afghanistan. As the Ukraine war grinds on, lessons from that conflict are more relevant than ever.
From Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Tajikistan, countries in Russia’s orbit have refused to help him turn the tide in the Ukraine war. All (maybe even Belarus?) is coming to understand that his next step would be a complete restoration of the Soviet empire.
Certain teachers and female students face extraordinary risks in clandestine schools for girls, recalling similar secret education operations when the Taliban were in charge before 9/11.
After withdrawing from Afghanistan, the U.S. left a power vacuum. The Taliban regime is officially isolated internationally, but the country has vast mineral resources — on which Beijing is keeping a close eye.
Staying in a theocracy whose rulers subjugate women was not an option, but trying to get to destinations in Europe and beyond comes with unthinkable perils of its own.
A new round of comments from inside Iran’s leadership ranks reaffirms its intention to produce a nuclear bomb, a decades-long cat and mouse game between the regime and an ever cautious West that hasn’t seemed to change even as the Russia-Ukraine war brings in a new world order.
No girls, no science, no foreign languages, only the Koran. This is how the Taliban want to erase the generation of students educated for 20 years by the “Western usurpers.” La Stampa’s Francesca Mannocchi visits one of the rigid, boys-only madrasas near Kabul.
Twenty years later the Islamist group is back in power in Afghanistan, but trying this time to win international support. Now that several months have passed, experts on the ground can offer a clear assessment if the group has genuinely transformed on such issues as women’s rights and free speech.
Unlike ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorasan), drug cultivation and trafficking are not an ideological matter for the new rulers of Afghanistan — more likely a bargaining chip in negotiations with the West.
After the Sunni fundamentalist Taliban rulers retook control of Afghanistan, there were initial, friendly signals exchanged with Iran’s Shia regime. But a recent border skirmish recalls tensions from the 1990s, when Iran massed troops on the Afghan frontier.
? Sannu!* Welcome to Friday, where the Taliban issue a decree on women’s rights, the U.S. avoids another government shutdown, and we discover the most metallic planet ever. Delhi-based news website The Wire also suggests Indians should pause before any nationalistic boasting about the choice of Parag Agarwal as new Twitter CEO. [*Hausa – Nigeria […]
The new Taliban commander shows reporters from Die Welt around the deserted Camp Marmal, the German army’s former headquarters in Afghanistan.
? Kamusta!* Welcome to Wednesday, where G20 leaders agree to involve Taliban in distributing help to Afghanistan, the U.S. announces it will reopen borders with Mexico and Canada, and Dutch royals can marry as they please. Thanks to Chilean daily El Mercurio, we also follow the tumultuous journey of a Haitian migrant in her efforts […]
? Hallo!* Welcome to Monday, where American and Taliban negotiators sat down for the first time since the U.S. withdrawal, Taiwan’s president pushes back on China threats and a couple is accused of selling nuclear submarine secrets. We also look at the migratory path of the international bubble tea craze. [*Norwegian] 7 THINGS TO […]
Born some eight centuries ago, the famed poet and philosopher Rumi offered ideas on religion that bear little resemblance to the brand of Islam being imposed right now in Afghanistan by the Taliban regime.
? 안녕하세요* Welcome to Thursday, where Tunisia’s president tightens his grip, Lithuania tells people to throw away their Made-in-China phones, and a memeworthy side-eye gets the NFT treatment. Chinese-language weekly Economic Observer also explains why some cities in China waste millions in massive building projects that go unused. [*Korean] 7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT […]
? Laba diena!* Welcome to Wednesday, where Afghanistan’s Taliban demand to speak at the United Nations, China takes a bold ecological stand and we find out why monkeys kept their tails and humans didn’t. Business magazine America Economia also looks at how Latin American countries are looking to attract a new generation of freelancers known […]
? Goedendag!* Welcome to Monday, where a shooting in a Russian university leaves at least 8 dead, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is confirmed to be safe for children and Philippine boxer star Manny Pacquiao announces he will run for president. Meanwhile, Persian-language daily Kayhan-London meets women in Afghanistan who are taking part in protests against the […]