international

12 Sep

Veiled protest: Afghan women rally in support of the Taliban

editor0 Commentsinternational

Afghan women wearing full face veils sat in rows at a Kabul university lecture theatre Saturday, pledging commitment to the Taliban's hardline policies on gender segregation. About 300 women -- covered head-to-toe in accordance with strict new dress policies for education -- waved Taliban flags as speakers railed against the West and expressed support for the Islamists' policies.A handful wore blue burqas, which have only a small mesh window to see from, but most wore black niqabs covering most of the face apart from the eyes. The women attended an event at a university, in which women speakers spoke in…

09 Sep

Islamabad teachers banned from wearing jeans, some Pakistanis are calling it Talibani

editor0 CommentsEducation, international

Education authorities in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have issued a formal dress code and new restrictions on the teaching and non-teaching staff. The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), which oversees more than 400 schools and colleges in Islamabad, has banned female teachers from wearing jeans and tights during office timings. According to a notification issued by FDE Director Academics and Quality Assurance Saadia Adnan, all subject staff have been asked to maintain a formal dress code while on the official workspace, institutional premises, during official gatherings and ceremonies and meetings alike. A letter in this regard was sent to the principals…

06 Sep

Former France, PSG defender Jean-Pierre Adams dies 40 years after falling into a coma

editor0 Commentsinternational, Sports

The former France defender Jean-Pierre Adams has died at the age of 73, almost 40 years after falling into a coma as a result of a medical error, his former clubs, Paris St-Germain and Nîmes, said on Monday. In 1982, Adams was administered a near fatal dose of anaesthetic before a routine knee operation, which caused brain damage. The Dakar-born Adams won 22 caps for Les Bleus in the 1970s, forming with Marius Tresor what was known as ‘the Black Guard’. He played for Nîmes from 1970-73 and for PSG from 1977-79 after joining from Nice. Since the accident, Adams…

04 Sep

Google locks Afghan govt accounts as Taliban seek access to emails: Source

editor0 Commentsinternational

Google has temporarily locked down an unspecified number of Afghan government email accounts, according to a person familiar with the matter, as fears grow over the digital paper trail left by former officials and their international partners. In the weeks since the Taliban's swift takeover of Afghanistan from a U.S.-backed government, reports have highlighted how biometric and Afghan payroll databases might be exploited by the new rulers to hunt their enemies. In a statement on Friday, Alphabet Inc's Google stopped short of confirming that Afghan government accounts were being locked down, saying that the company was monitoring the situation in…

30 Aug

Want to continue our political, trade ties with India: Taliban leader Stanekzai

editor0 CommentsBusiness, India, international

In what is being seen as a signal to India, a member of the Taliban leadership in Qatar has said that India is “very important for this subcontinent” and that his group wants to continue Afghanistan’s “cultural”, “economic”, “political” and “trade ties” with India “like in the past”. This overture was made by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, deputy head of Taliban’s office in Doha, in a carefully scripted statement that he read out in Pashto in a 46-minute video message broadcast Saturday on the group’s social media platforms and Afghanistan’s Milli Television. In a nearly 46-minute video posted on the…

27 Aug

Situation in Afghanistan ‘critical’, govt committed to full evacuation of Indians, says S Jaishankar

editor0 CommentsIndia, international

India's top priority at the moment is to evacuate all Indian personnel from Afghanistan, where the situation is "critical", said Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday at an all-party meeting.“Our focus is on evacuation and the government is doing everything to evacuate people," Jaishankar said. The government is committed to "full evacuation" of Indians from Afghanistan, where the situation is "critical", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday after briefing the leaders at an all-party meet on the Afghan situation. During the meeting, which lasted for about three and a half hours, Jaishankar said the government has…

25 Aug

Afghan nationals must enter India only using e-Visa: MHA

editor0 Commentsinternational

Owing to the present situation in Afghanistan, all Afghan nationals henceforth must travel to India only on e-visa, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday. "Keeping in view some reports that certain passports of Afghan nationals have been misplaced, the previously issued visas to all Afghan nationals who are presently not in India stand invalidated with immediate effect,” said an MHA statement. The Ministry said after streamlining of the visa process with the introduction of “e-Emergency X-Misc visa”, it had been decided that from now on all Afghan nationals must travel to India only on e-visa. Earlier, the…

25 Aug

Possible Havana syndrome case delays Kamala Harris trip to Vietnam

editor0 Commentsinternational

US vice-president Kamala Harris’ trip from Singapore to Vietnam was delayed by several hours on Tuesday by an investigation into two possible cases of the so-called Havana syndrome in Hanoi, administration officials said. The investigation was in its early stages and officials deemed it safe for Harris to make her scheduled stop in Vietnam, which is part of her trip across Asia meant to reassure allies about American foreign policy amid the tumultuous evacuation of US forces from Afghanistan. Havana syndrome is the name for a rash of mysterious health incidents first reported by American diplomats and other government employees…

24 Aug

CIA director held secret meeting in Kabul with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar: Report

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US Central Intelligence Agency chief William Burns held a secret meeting in Kabul with Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.The Monday meeting, which if confirmed will have been the highest-level encounter between the Islamist group and the Biden administration since the militants' return to power, came as efforts to evacuate thousands of people from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan became increasingly urgent. Burns is one of US President Joe Biden's most experienced diplomats; while Baradar, who headed the Taliban's political office in Qatar, is one of the top leaders in the regime that has taken power in Kabul.…

23 Aug

Gunfire at Kabul airport kills 1; Taliban mass near Panjshir

editor0 Commentsinternational

A firefight broke out between unidentified gunmen, Western security forces and Afghan guards at Kabul airport on Monday, Germany's armed forces said, as thousands of Afghans and foreigners thronged the airport, seeking to flee Taliban rule.One Afghan guard was killed and three were wounded in the battle at the airport's north gate, which involved U.S. and German forces, the German military said on Twitter. While the Taliban have deployed their terrorists outside the airport, where they have tried to help enforce some kind of order, there are Afghan guards helping U.S. forces inside the airport. One Afghan guard was killed…