KABUL — The Taliban leadership has issued a series of sweeping decrees strictly banning the use of smartphones by all government employees and members of their own security apparatus, introducing severe penalties including device destruction and court-martial for violators. The strict directive, attributed to Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, officially went into effect this week following…
GENEVA — Bektash Siawash, a prominent former member of the Parliament of Afghanistan, has officially launched his second protest sit-in outside the United Nations Office in Geneva. The demonstration tent was erected on Thursday, June 18 (28 Jawza). The sit-in aims to seek justice for Afghan women and push an explicit demand to the international…
KABUL — Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, has strongly rejected international criticism of the regime’s domestic policies, stating that the global community has no right to interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs. Speaking at an official gathering with the ministry’s ombudsmen (muhtasibs), Hanafi defended the enforcement…
MOSCOW — Russia was targeted overnight by one of the largest coordinated Ukrainian aerial assaults since the beginning of the conflict. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that its air defense systems intercepted and downed as many as 555 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) across multiple regions. The extensive drone swarm triggered widespread disruption to…
In a major diplomatic breakthrough, US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian have virtually signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at bringing an end to months of intense regional conflict. The historic document, digitally signed by both leaders, sets terms to immediately halt military operations, reopen critical global trade routes, and…
A powerful wave of global solidarity has mobilized across the world following recent public demonstrations in the Jabrail neighborhood of Herat, Afghanistan. Afghans and international civil activists have staged coordinated rallies in at least 14 major global cities to protest the Taliban’s escalating restrictions and recent arbitrary arrests of women and girls. The international rallies…
Germany has deported another group of Afghan citizens back to their home country via a designated charter flight. According to published reports, the flight carried approximately 30 Afghan men who were convicted of different offenses. The security operation was executed under the framework of a direct agreement negotiated with the de facto Taliban administration in…
Members of the Afghan diaspora have launched a coordinated wave of international protests spanning major Western cities, condemning an escalating dress-code crackdown by the Taliban in Western Afghanistan and warning European nations against normalizing relations with the regime in Kabul. The global demonstrations, staged over the weekend in major cities such as Paris, Toronto, and…
TEHRAN — Iranian authorities executed two men on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, who were accused of orchestrating and participating in widespread anti-government demonstrations earlier this year. The executions mark a significant escalation in the state’s judicial crackdown on political dissent and civil unrest. The Mizan News Agency, the official media wing of Iran’s judiciary, identified…
NEW YORK — The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted on Monday, June 15, 2026, to extend the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for another year. Following the vote, Moscow issued a strong call for realistic engagement, stating that the future efficacy of the mission relies entirely on active coordination…
