Politics
UN calls on Taliban to lift ban on Afghan women in its offices
The United Nations called on the Taliban authorities on Sunday to lift its ban on Afghan women working in its offices, saying the restriction puts “life-saving services” at risk.
Since the Taliban regained power in 2021, Afghan women have been barred from doing most jobs, visiting parks and beauty salons, and attending school beyond the age of 12.
In September, the Taliban authorities began prohibiting women staff members from entering UN offices.
“We call for the ban on Afghan women staff and contractors from entering United Nations premises to be reversed, and for their safe access to offices and the field,” Susan Ferguson, the special representative of the UN’s women’s agency in Afghanistan, said in a statement.
“The longer these restrictions remain in place, the greater the risk to these life-saving services,” Ferguson said, adding that they violated the UN’s principles of human rights and equality.
The statement did not say how many staff were affected, but UN sources indicated that several hundred women were facing the ban.
Staff have been working remotely for the past three months, notably providing assistance to the victims of deadly earthquakes and to Afghan migrants deported from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, Ferguson said.
Describing their work as “indispensable”, she said: “Only through their presence can we reach women and girls safely and provide culturally appropriate assistance.”
The Taliban authorities did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.
In September, the UN’s refugee agency suspended cash aid to returned Afghan migrants, citing the impossibility of interviewing and collecting information on more than 50% of returnees who were women.
- Rail agreement signed by MBS and Qatar’s emir.
- High-speed train project to be completed in six years.
- Train expected serve around 10 million passengers annually.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Monday signed a deal to construct a high-speed rail connecting the Gulf countries’ capitals, marking the latest sign of improved ties between the two nations that were once deeply at odds.
According to a statement in the official Saudi press, the “high-speed electric passenger railway” would connect Riyadh and Doha.
The Saudi cities of Al-Hofuf and Dammam are also expected to be on the network.
The train would reach speeds exceeding 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph) and the trip would take roughly two hours between the two capitals.
A direct flight between the cities clocks in at around 90 minutes.
The project, set to be completed in six years, expects to serve 10 million passengers per year, the statement said.
The agreement was signed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani during the latter’s visit to Riyadh.
The deal is just the latest in a series of moves marking the dramatic improvement in ties between the Gulf countries in recent years.
Saudi Arabia and its allies the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt had cut all diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar in June 2017.
Relations were fully restored in January 2021 after a summit in the Saudi desert city of AlUla.
Prince Mohammed visited Doha in December 2021 for the first time since the thaw in ties, as part of a regional Gulf tour.
Since then, leaders from the two monarchies have met regularly and joined forces to back diplomatic initiatives including calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Riyadh also threw its support behind Qatar following Israeli strikes on Doha over the summer.
- Afghan nationals convicted of rape given long detention sentences.
- Both Afghan teenagers arrived in Britain last year.
- Govt seeking to stop influx of migrants arriving in small boats.
LONDON: Two teenage Afghan asylum seekers, who had both arrived in Britain alone in the last year, were given long detention sentences on Monday for raping a 15-year-old girl in central England.
The boys, Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both aged 17, carried out the attack in a park in Leamington Spa in May after taking the girl, who was very drunk at the time, away from her friends, prosecutors told Warwick Crown Court.
The court was played footage that the highly distressed girl had managed to capture during the attack, in which she could be heard sobbing loudly and screaming: “Please help me … let me go … I want to go home.”
“The day I was raped changed me as a person,” the girl, who said the incident was her first sexual experience, said in a victim statement.
MAJOR POLITICAL ISSUE
Crimes, particularly sexual offences, committed by asylum seekers have become a major political issue in Britain, especially as the government is seeking a solution to stop thousands of migrants arriving in small boats from across the Channel.
Last month, an Afghan national pleaded guilty to raping a 12-year-old girl in Nuneaton, in central England, while an Ethiopian man was jailed in September after being convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and another woman in Epping, north of London.
Both cases sparked large-scale protests, some of which turned violent, and prompted demonstrations across the country at hotels housing asylum seekers. Immigration concerns have also helped to propel the populist Reform UK party to leads in opinion polls.
In an acknowledgement of the public concern, the judge Sylvia de Bertodano ordered that the two teenagers, who pleaded guilty in October, could be named despite being only 17, saying it was in the public interest to do so.
Jahanzeb, who turns 18 at the start of next year, was given detention of 10 years and eight months, while Niazal was sentenced to nine years and 10 months in detention.
Jahanzeb’s lawyer Robert Holt said his client had travelled through Europe alone to get to Britain in January, succeeding on his fourth attempt to cross the Channel on a small boat. He faces automatic deportation after his sentence is completed.
Joshua Radcliffe, the lawyer for Niazal, said he had come alone to Britain last November to escape the Taliban, who had murdered his father, formerly in the Afghan army. He is waiting for a decision on his asylum claim, but the judge said she would recommend his deportation after he served his sentence.
De Bertodano said the two teenagers had betrayed the interests of those who came to Britain fleeing harm.
The Sindhi Association of North America (SANA) brought a vibrant slice of South Asian heritage to Texas this weekend as families from across Dallas–Fort Worth gathered to celebrate Sindhi Cultural Day.
What unfolded inside a packed community hall was more than a cultural programme; it was a reaffirmation of identity for a diaspora thousands of miles away from its ancestral soil.
The event drew notable attendees, including Texas State Representative Salman Bhojani, Farhan Ahmed, Vice Consul at the Consulate of Pakistan in Houston, SANA’s Central Vice President Asghar Pathan, Central General Secretary Asad Shaikh, and several community leaders who added stature to the celebration.
Addressing the audience, Rep Bhojani described Sindh’s culture as “a living symbol of peace, love, and tolerance,” adding that Dallas had paid respect to that legacy by gathering in such large numbers. Vice Consul Farhan Ahmed noted that the Sindhi topi and ajrak are not merely garments but “icons of Pakistan’s cultural identity,” and said that Sindhi Cultural Day strengthens a positive image of Pakistan around the world.
SANA leaders Asghar Pathan and Asad Shaikh emphasised that Sindhis carry their traditions wherever they go, calling it their pride and their inheritance. Other speakers highlighted that Sindh is not just a geographical region but a civilisational idea grounded in human dignity, poetry, music, and centuries of coexistence. Ajrak, topi, literature, and folk arts, they said, are living testaments to a culture that refuses to fade.
The programme was elegantly steered by SANA Dallas President Amir Memon, while Suhail Khaskheli, Sarfaraz Abbasi, Shehryar Arshad, Ghulam Nabi Kalwar, Imran Pirzada, Muhammad Shafi, and Fahad Junejo welcomed guests with traditional ajraks and caps.
Among the attendees were prominent Pakistani American community members, including Barkat Basria, Democratic candidate Attorney Sofia Anwar, and Nadeem Akhtar of Pak Pack Group.
One side of the hall showcased hand-crafted Sindhi arts. On the other hand, children performed with a joy that felt like an emotional bridge between generations. Many attendees remarked that for a moment, Dallas felt like Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar, Larkana, or Khairpur — places where identity is woven into daily life and where culture is lived, not displayed.
The evening concluded with the traditional “Ho Jamalo” dance, as women, men, youth, and children joined in a circle, celebrating not only the past but the resilience of a culture carried proudly across continents.
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