UN: Afghans need $4.4bn to have enough to eat
The head of the United Nations has said that Afghanistan needs $4.4bn to avoid a food crisis in the country, as he launched the UN aid office’s biggest-ever funding drive for a single country.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that some Afghans have resorted to “selling their children and their body parts” to...
Afghan panel chats impact of Taliban in Afghanistan during 49th Session
On the sidelines of the 49th Session of the UNHCR, an all-Afghan panel consisting of a scholar, former diplomat and young innovators discussed the human rights situation in Kabul after the Taliban takeover in mid-August.
The panel expressed concern over the transformation of the educational system under Taliban rule which may turn Afghanistan into...
9 million people at risk of starvation in Afghanistan
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that nine million people are at risk of famine in Afghanistan.
Guterres said that the economy of Afghanistan has effectively collapsed and called on donors to fund the country so that the UN and its partners can continue to deliver lifesaving aid.
"The humanitarian situation...
China’s Growth Forecasts Cut as Covid Lockdowns Spread
China’s economy is coming under strain because of an escalating Covid outbreak, with economists warning of a deeper slowdown if lockdowns in Shanghai and elsewhere continue to expand.
Natixis SA estimates the Covid controls will cut the economic growth rate in the first quarter by 1.8 percentage points. Long-lasting restrictions across the country could...
Taliban sharply divided over girls’ education beyond Class 6
The Taliban leadership is deeply divided over girls' education beyond Class 6, raising fears of girls’ education in Afghanistan under the new rule that has largely stripped women of their basic rights.
Just recently, the Taliban banned women from flying unaccompanied.
Rights groups say there are deep divisions within the Taliban's Supreme...
Taliban bars BBC TV programmes in Afghanistan
BBC TV programming has been taken off air in Afghanistan, after the Taliban ordered local channels not to broadcast content from international partners.
Calling it a "worrying development", the BBC said it would affect more than six million viewers of Persian, Pashto and Uzbek language service programmes.
The BBC Persian TV...
Schools and universities in Afghanistan have lost 60 per cent of learners due to tough humanitarian crisis
Learning institutions in Afghanistan have lost more than 60 per cent of students due to an escalating humanitarian crisis. Rights groups said children are staying away from schools as well as university and college students in what is blamed on a crisis in the country since August last year when the Taliban took over leadership.
U.S. FCC adds Russia’s Kaspersky, China telecom firms to national security threat list
WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday added Russia's AO Kaspersky Lab, China Telecom (Americas) Corp (0728.HK) and China Mobile International USA (0941.HK) to its list of communications equipment and service providers deemed threats to U.S. national security.
The regulator last year designated five Chinese companies including Huawei Technologies Co (HWT.UL) and ZTE...
Joint NGO letter ahead of EU-China summit
Brussels, 18 March 2022
To:
Ursula von der LeyenPresident of the European Commission
Charles MichelPresident of the European Council
CC:
Josep Borrell FontellesHigh Representative for Foreign Affairs / Vice-President of the European Commission
Foreign Ministers of EU Member States
Nearly 200 media outlets shut in past 7 months in Afghanistan
Up to 180 media outlets out of 475 have been closed in Afghanistan in the past seven months following the takeover by the Taliban in August this year, local media reported.
On Tuesday, Afghanistan's National House of Journalists in its latest survey said Afghan media outlets have been affected the most after the Taliban...