World

  Afghan school girls attend a class at an open air primary school in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province, May 14, 2023. The Taliban banned secondary education for girls after the 2021 takeover. washington — Saliha began taking online classes after she lost hope of returning to school to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor in Afghanistan. She was in ninth grade when U.S.-led forces withdrew from the country and the Taliban seized power in August 2021, banning girls\' secondary education. "I used to dream of finishing school and going to university," said Saliha, 18, who did not want her family name to be revealed for security reasons. "But now, considering all the limitations, my hope is just to have any kind of educa...

  Girls in the Eid family eat lentils cooked by their mother, Yasmin, at their tent in a refugee camp in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Nov. 19, 2024. DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA STRIP — Yasmin Eid coughs and covers her face, cooking a small pot of lentils over a fire fed with twigs and scrap paper in the tent she shares with her husband and four young daughters in the Gaza Strip. It was their only meal Wednesday — it was all they could afford. "My girls suck on their thumbs because of how hungry they are, and I pat their backs until they sleep," she said. After being displaced five times, the Eids reside in central Gaza, where aid groups have relatively more access than in the north, which has been largely isolated and heavily destroyed s...

By David Hutt2024.11.23 It now appears to be a question of “when, not if” Chinese security personnel will arrive in Myanmar, with Beijing looking to secure its strategic interests in the war-torn country and those of its ally, the military junta that has lost large chunks of the country since the 2021 coup. The Irrawaddy online news outlet reported that the junta formed a 13-member working committee on October 22 to prepare the groundwork to establish a “joint security company” with China. According to the report, the committee, chaired by Major-General Toe Yi, the junta’s deputy home affairs minister, is currently tasked with “scrutinizing the importing and regulating of weapons and special equipment” until Beijing signs a drafted MOU on forming a “security company.” After that, accor...

  Shiite Muslims hold placards and shout during a protest march against the sectarian attacks in the Kurram district in Parachinar, the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in Lahore, Pakistan, Nov. 22, 2024. ISLAMABAD — Officials in northwestern Pakistan reported on Saturday that a government delegation has begun efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between rival Sunni and Shiite Muslim tribes following armed clashes that resulted in nearly 80 deaths this week. The sectarian conflict in Kurram district, which borders Afghanistan, flared up Thursday when heavily armed men from the Sunni tribe ambushed multiple passenger vehicles and killed at least 45 Shi\'ites, including men, women, and children. On Friday, Shi\'ite community members c...

  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a summit discussion during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, in Lima, Peru, Nov. 15, 2024. WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will travel to Italy over the weekend to attend a meeting of the Group of Seven major democracies next week, the State Department said on Friday, amid rising tensions in the war in Ukraine. G7 leaders last Saturday reiterated a pledge to keep imposing severe costs on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine through sanctions, export controls and other measures, and vowed to support Kyiv for as long as it takes. The State Department said Blinken would discuss issues including "conflicts in the Middle East, Russia’s war against Ukraine, Indo-Pacific security, and the ongoing crise...

  TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran has lodged a protest with Moscow regarding what it described as the "violent" arrest of Iranian students at a university in the Russian city of Kazan, state media reported Saturday. Two Iranian students who visited a visa extension center at Kazan Federal University on Friday were arrested after being subjected to "inhumane and unprofessional beating" by the police, according to the IRNA state news agency, which cited a statement from Iran\'s consulate in the city. In response, Iran submitted "a protest note" to the Russian Foreign Ministry condemning the "violent treatment of the Iranian students by the police," IRNA said. Iran, a close ally of Russia, has requested "expla...

  Members of patched gangs gather before marching to parliament during a protest against a proposed law that would redefine the country's founding agreement between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown, in Wellington, New Zealand, Nov. 19, 2024. WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A ban on New Zealanders wearing or displaying symbols of gang affiliation in public took effect on Thursday, with police officers making their first arrest for a breach of the law three minutes later. The man was driving with gang insignia displayed on the dashboard of his car, Police Commissioner Richard Chambers told 1News. The prohibition on displaying gang insignia anywhere outside private homes, including on clothing or in vehicles, is among a suite of new me...

  Indigenous Māori people walk through the streets of Wellington, New Zealand to protest against a proposed law that would redefine the country's founding agreement between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown, Nov. 19, 2024. WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A proposed law that would redefine New Zealand\'s founding treaty between the British Crown and Māori chiefs has triggered political turmoil and prompted tens of thousands of people to show up in protest at the country\'s Parliament on Tuesday. The bill is never expected to become law. But it has become a flashpoint on race relations and a critical moment in the fraught 180-year-old conversation about how New Zealand should honor its promises to Indigenous people when the country was ...

  Rescue workers and others gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 23, 2024. BEIRUT — A powerful Israeli airstrike targeted central Beirut on Saturday, security sources said, shaking the Lebanese capital as Israel pressed its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. At least four people were killed and 23 wounded in the attack in Beirut\'s Basta neighborhood, Hezbollah\'s al-Manar broadcaster reported, citing the health ministry. Lebanon\'s National News Agency said early on Saturday that the attack resulted in a large number of fatalities and injuries and destroyed an eight-story building. Footage broadcast by Lebanon\'s Al Jadeed station showed at least one destroyed building and seve...

  South Sudan JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN — South Sudanese authorities say a confrontation between the People’s Defense Forces and personnel protecting former spy chief General Akol Koor has been resolved peacefully, with both sides reaching an agreement to prevent further conflict. Heavy gunfire echoed for about an hour Thursday night around Koor’s residence in the Thongpiny neighborhood of Juba, creating panic and raising concerns the confrontation between the two sides might escalate. Major General Lul Ruai Koang, a spokesperson for South Sudan People’s Defense Force, told journalists that the gunfire resulted from a misunderstanding during an operation to relocate Koor to his secondary residence, as directed by President Salva Kiir. "Let m...