Taliban threaten to shut down NGOs that employ women

The Taliban have said they will shut down all national and foreign NGOs in Afghanistan that employ women, escalating the clampdown against women and aid agencies.

In a letter published on X on Sunday night, the country’s economy ministry warned that any NGO failing to comply with the directive to stop employing women will lose its licence to operate.

“In case of lack of cooperation, all activities of that institution will be canceled, and the activity license of that institution, granted by the ministry, will also be canceled,” the letter read.

The Taliban government ordered NGOs two years ago to stop employing Afghan women, claiming they were not adhering to the mandated dress code, including the wearing of headscarves.

The latest announcement comes amid reports that female Afghan humanitarian workers are being prevented from carrying out their duties, despite widespread recognition of the critical need for aid in the country.

The Taliban deny allegations of obstructing aid agencies or interfering with relief operations.

Afghan women have already been barred from most jobs, excluded from public spaces, and prohibited from accessing education beyond the sixth grade.

The Taliban recently passed orders restricting women from getting paramedical and midwifery training.

In a separate decree, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has ordered property owners to obscure windows overlooking areas where women might sit or stand, such as yards or kitchens. The directive applies to both new and existing buildings, requiring walls, fences, or screens to block such views.

The decree, also published on X, instructed municipalities to ensure that future constructions adhere to the order.

The Taliban’s tightening restrictions on women and NGOs have drawn widespread international condemnation. The latest decree targeting NGOs comes as Afghanistan remains dependent on humanitarian aid, with millions of Afghans facing food insecurity and other crises.

The Taliban’s policies have repeatedly disrupted aid delivery and created logistical challenges for international organisations operating in the country. The UN and other humanitarian agencies have warned that excluding women from NGO roles could cripple efforts to provide essential services in the already struggling nation.

Additional reporting by agencies.

Australian youth pastor killed in shark attack on Great Barrier Reef

A youth pastor was killed in a shark attack while spearfishing in the waters of Australia‘s Great Barrier Reef.

Luke Walford, 40, a chaplain at the Cathedral of Praise Church in central Queensland, was fishing with his family members on Saturday when a shark attacked him, Queensland police said.

He succumbed to his injuries at the scene just before 6pm local time despite repeated attempts by paramedics to revive him.

A rescue helicopter was called to the Humpy Island camping area in the Keppel Bay Islands National Park, about 18km off the mainland, after the pastor was attacked at around 4.30pm local time, the police said.

A Queensland ambulance spokesperson told AFP Walford suffered a “life-threatening wound to his neck” following the shark attack.

Family friend Doug Webber said he watched the rescue helicopter fly over his house towards the island.

“I always say a little tribute for whoever it may be, but to find out it was Luke was a very sad day,” he told state broadcaster ABC.

Walford’s church paid tribute in a Facebook post saying “he was attacked by a shark while doing something he loved – spearfishing, a passion that was passed down to him by his father”.

“He was truly a beloved figure, especially among our young people, children, and the entire congregation. Our prayers are with Luke’s family, especially his wife, his mother, and all his relatives.”

Local MP Donna Kirkland expressed shock and said Walford was a friend to her and “countless others”.

“My prayers and heartfelt condolences are with his beautiful family and indeed the many who will be devastated, as I am, at this news,” she said.

This was the second shark attack in central Queensland in December. A man was rushed to hospital after he was attacked by a shark off Curtis Island earlier in the month.

Last month, a new study showed a new light system developed by Australian scientists to mimic ocean camouflage could deter Great White Shark attacks. Marine predators like sharks locate prey by looking for silhouettes illuminated by sunlight from above.

Such silhouettes from surfers when seen from below may confuse hunters like the Great White Shark, which may mistake them for seals or other prey.

Taking inspiration from smaller species emitting light from their undersides as a camouflage strategy, the scientists tested a similar strategy by fitting LED lights on seal decoys.

The scientists assessed if different brightness levels of the lights would impact predator attacks. They found that the sharks were much more likely to interact with seal decoys that did not have LED lights attached.

Stone Age architecture in Near East was far more advanced than thought

Early architecture in the Near East included a variety of structures built using advanced techniques, according to a new study that challenges previous beliefs about the region’s history.

Previous research held that the region’s architecture made a simple progression from round to rectangular structures during the early Stone Age. This research relied on qualitative descriptions by scientists which tend to oversimplify complex trends.

A new computer analysis of ancient remains in the Near East, however, shows that advanced building techniques emerged earlier than previously thought in the region.

The analysis covers nearly 120 structures from 23 sites across the Mediterranean region and the Jordan Valley, dating from the Natufian culture of mainly hunters from Palestine and southern Syria to the early Neolithic period.

The study, published in the journal Archaeological Research in Asia, shows diverse architecture in the area 15,000–8,500 years ago.

It offers a new perspective on the transition from round to rectangular structures during the Neolithic period in the Near East. It suggests that building codes and standard practices had not yet emerged in the Near East in this period.

Such building codes and practices have long been tied to societal shifts such as changes in social organisation, demographics, and economic strategies.

Previously, archaeologists thought there was a gradual progression in the region from round to rectangular structures during the Stone Age, or the Neolithic period.

The latest analysis shows structures with right angles, previously associated with later architectural phases, from as early as the Natufian period. “There’s considerably more variability than can be subsumed in the traditional ‘round to rectangular’ scheme of architectural development,” the study says.

The study reflects significant advances in building technology at an earlier stage than previously thought, archaeologists say.

In the later Neolithic period, architecture in the area was largely more uniform, signaling the emergence of codified building traditions, according to the study.

In further studies using the new technique, they hope to better understand the inception of architecture in the Levant. They point out that the method highlights the importance of integrating modern analytical tools into archaeological studies.

South Korean investigators seek arrest warrant for impeached president

South Korean law enforcement officials have requested a court warrant to detain impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol as they investigate whether his short-lived martial law decree this month amounted to rebellion.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military authorities into the power grab that lasted only a few hours, confirmed it requested the warrant on Monday.

Investigators plan to question Mr Yoon on charges of abuse of authority and orchestrating a rebellion.

Mr Yoon has dodged several requests by the joint investigation team and public prosecutors to appear for questioning and has also blocked searches of his offices.

It’s not clear whether the court will grant the warrant or whether Mr Yoon can be compelled to appear for questioning.

Under the country’s laws, locations potentially linked to military secrets cannot be seized or searched without the consent of the person in charge, and it’s unlikely that Mr Yoon will voluntarily leave his residence if he faces detainment.

At least 10 Taliban fighters killed in Kabul ministry attack

At least 10 Taliban fighters were killed and five others wounded in a major attack on the group’s ministry of interior in Kabul on Saturday as tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan escalated.

The attack, which took place at the ministry headquarters on the airport road in Kabul, has been claimed by the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan. It said a Taliban commander was also killed in the attack.

Officials from the Taliban confirmed the attack on the significant building in the country but said that four people were wounded in the incident. Khalid Zadran, a Taliban spokesperson, said the injured had been taken to a hospital and an investigation has been launched into the attack.

The NRF, led by Ahmad Massoud, said the attack targeted a security convoy of the Taliban’s ministry. It said three military vehicles were destroyed.

The attack comes just days after the Taliban’s acting minister of refugees and repatriation, Khalil Haqqani, was killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul. The senior member of the powerful Haqqani network, and uncle of the Taliban’s interior minister and senior leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, was killed in a major attack inside the ministry.

Officials of the resistance group said they are leaking security breaches inside the Taliban group.

“Saturday’s attack was to demonstrate our capabilities against some of the Taliban’s well-guarded locations, and this is not the only complex attack against the Taliban we’ve carried out. This year we’ve carried out more than 360 military operations against them in 20 provinces of Afghanistan,” said Ali Maisam Nazary, the NRF’s head of foreign relations.

“The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, denied any resistance against the Taliban. We are trying to prove them wrong by showing security breaches inside Taliban-held Afghanistan. We’ve not only infiltrated the group but also shown our capabilities,” he told The Independent.

The Afghan Taliban and Pakistan clashed at “several points” at the border, officials said, days after Pakistani aircraft carried out aerial bombing inside Afghanistan.

The airstrikes on eastern Afghanistan killed 46 people, mostly women and children, a Taliban government official had confirmed.

Afghan authorities warned on Wednesday they would retaliate after the Pakistani bombardment, which they said had killed civilians. Islamabad said it had targeted hideouts of Islamist militants along the border.

The Taliban on Saturday said the strikes were conducted “beyond the hypothetical line” – an expression used by Afghan authorities to refer to a border with Pakistan that they have long disputed, but did not mention Pakistan.

Both countries have a strained relationship, with Pakistan saying several militant attacks that have occurred in its country have been launched from Afghan soil – a charge the Afghan Taliban denies.

Artist creates retro Nintendo game to commemorate late grandmother

When Chinese artist Zhou Yichen saw his grandmother’s health deteriorate in July, he sought to memorialise her in an unusual way: by creating a Nintendo video game featuring her as a character.

The short game, aptly titled Grandma, was developed for the Game Boy platform, which carries an added tinge of nostalgia for people who grew up in the 1980s and 90s, like Mr Zhou.

In the game, players can interact with the titular character, designed after Mr Zhou’s grandmother, who became a wheelchair user late in life following an accident.

The player can share a meal with grandma, join her for a chat at home or even take a stroll together in different stages of the game.

“My grandma is a kind and strong woman. She always smiles whenever you see her, no matter how much she has endured. She raised three children by herself. Her life was simple,” the artist tells The Independent.

“Before she fell, she cooked and did housework every day, watched TV and went to bed. My grandma and grandpa took care of me until I was three years old,” he says.

It all started for Mr Zhou in 2020 when he was studying art in New York.

The 31-year-old from central China’s Hubei province says he has been experimenting with designing video games as a form of deeply personal artistic expression since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

When the pandemic hit, and college courses turned to online classes, he still had to keep creating art due to his major, despite campuses and studios being closed.

Having no option but to create art in his tiny apartment, he says he was forced to look beyond traditional creation tools.

One evening, he suddenly got the idea to explore video games as a canvas for creating art.

It was initially a challenge due to the cross-disciplinary nature of the idea, but after days of learning game-related software and drawing tools, he says he could experiment better with creating games as an artistic medium.

So far, the Chinese artist has created 100 artworks using video games, including one about his life with his parents.

About six months ago, Mr Zhou’s grandmother suffered an injury after experiencing a fall at home that forced her to spend her remaining days in bed.

“She was already very weak. She didn’t want to eat or get up. When I noticed that my grandma’s body and mind were not as good as before, her memory began to deteriorate, and her body became weak and powerless, I decided to use games to record my life with my grandma,” Mr Zhou says.

“I have many memories with my grandma, and it was always meaningful to be with her,” the artist says, adding that the game was an effort to cherish the last moments spent with her.

“Thank you [for taking] care of me during this time,” the grandmother character says in the game’s final scene as she ascends towards heaven.

“I will miss you forever grandma,” the player replies.

The five-minute game is already receiving a lot of love from creators.

“I am surprised that my work has received so much attention and love from so many people,” Mr Zhou says.

“At first, this work was a very personal experience. I just saw it as a work to commemorate my grandmother. However, I found that no matter how personal the emotion is, it is common among people,” he says.

The deeply personal connection he had with the Game Boy console and the abstract nature of its pixels made him choose the Nintendo platform for the purpose, he says.

“I would play Game Boy with my classmates at school before going home. I think I had an indissoluble bond with it at that time. And as I grow older, this feeling becomes stronger because it is a part of my childhood,” Mr Zhou tells The Independent in an email.

“Pixel games can be abstract, using particles to describe a specific thing. This is very important. I think abstract, fuzzy things have richer emotions,” the artist explains.

He believes his recent work is proof that video games can be a deeply personal art form for recording people and things, as well as an entertainment format.

“I believe that video games have many functions besides entertainment and competition, and expressing personal emotions is one of them,” Mr Zhou says.

“Through this kind of work, more people can remember their loved ones. I also think that this work is of great significance and can arouse the true love and conscience in people’s hearts,” he adds.

Wearing this type of sneakers increases injury risk for runners

Runners wearing thick-heeled sneakers have a higher risk of injury compared to those using flatter shoes, a new study has found.

Those in thick-heeled shoes seem to struggle to sense exactly how their feet land with each step, likely contributing to the elevated injury rates, according to the study published in the journal Frontiers in Sports and Active Living.

Researchers from the University of Florida instead recommend flatter shoes for most runners which they say are linked to lower injury risks.

They, however, urge runners to gradually transition to flatter shoes as switching too quickly to a new shoe type or altering foot strike patterns can pose injury risks as well.

“It may take up to six months for it to feel natural. It’s a process,” study lead author Heather Vincent said. “I had to teach myself to get out of the big, high-heeled shoes down to something with more moderate cushioning and to work on foot strengthening.”

While previous studies have shown a link between foot strike patterns, shoe type, and running injuries, the exact interaction between these factors has been difficult to identify, researchers say.

In the new study, they assessed data collected over six years from nearly 700 runners about their shoe type and injury history as well as objective data about their running gait acquired using special treadmills and motion capture videos.

After controlling for factors like age, weight, running volume, and competitiveness, scientists found that shoes with thicker heels confused runners about their gait.

This confusion, researchers say, was “strongly linked” to injury.

“The shoe lies between the foot and the ground, and features like a large heel-to-toe drop make it more challenging for runners to identify how they’re striking the ground,” Dr Vincent said.

“That clouds how we retrain people or determine if someone is at risk for future injury.”

The study found that runners who correctly detected their mid- or fore-foot striking appeared to have “very different shoes”.

These runners had a “lower heel-to-toe drop; lighter; wider toe box”.

While the study shows there’s a link between injuries and wearing high-heeled shoes, researchers say there is still no proof that such footwear “causes” these injuries.

In further research, they hope to run controlled experiments to identify the true cause of common injuries among runners and suggest fixes.

“We want to translate what we find to meaningful ways to help runners modify their form to reduce injury risk and keep them healthy for the long term,” Dr Vincent said.

India bids goodbye to former prime minister Manmohan Singh

India bid farewell to its former prime minister Manmohan Singh in a state funeral on Saturday as the country’s top politicians and leaders gathered to mourn his death in New Delhi.

Known as the prime minister who shielded India from the 2008 global financial crisis, the veteran Congress leader died late on Thursday at the age of 92.

Singh was seen as the architect of India’s economic reform in the post-independence era and was lauded for striking a landmark nuclear deal with the US.

A day after Indian leaders from across the party ranks paid tribute to the late prime minister, his body was taken to the headquarters of the Congress party on Saturday morning. Party leaders and activists paid tribute to him and chanted “Manmohan Singh lives forever”.

Dozens of government officials, politicians and family members paid their last respects to Singh, whose casket was adorned with flowers and wrapped in the Indian flag.

Shortly after, his body was transported to a crematorium ground for his last rites via a state funeral procession, with soldiers beating drums. India’s president Draupadi Murmu, prime minister Narendra Modi and his party leaders were also present at the state funeral.

Indian security personnel also honoured Singh with a ceremonial gun salute.

Hymns filled the crematorium hall as Singh’s body was transferred to a pyre and his family and relatives bid their final goodbye.

India has announced a seven-day mourning period and cancelled all cultural and entertainment events in the coming week. As a mark of state mourning and respect to the revered Sikh leader, all government buildings and ministries across the country are flying the national flag at half-mast.

“He used to speak little, but his talent and his actions spoke louder than his words,” said Abhishek Bishnoi, a Congress party leader, who said his death was a big loss for India.

Regarded as India’s lowest-profile prime minister and a mild-mannered technocrat, Singh served as prime minister for 10 years between 2004 and 2014 and as leader of the Congress party in the upper house of parliament.

He was hand-picked by India’s senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, the wife of assassinated prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, to lead the country in 2004 and was re-elected in 2009. However, his second term was hit by financial scandals and corruption charges over India’s hosting of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Leaders from around the world joined the mourning as they remembered Singh’s major diplomatic contributions to the external affairs of India. US president Joe Biden said Singh was a true statesman and a dedicated public servant.

“The unprecedented level of cooperation between the United States and India today would not have been possible without the prime minister’s strategic vision and political courage,” Mr Biden said in a statement.

He added: “From forging the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement to helping launch the first Quad between Indo-Pacific partners, he charted path-breaking progress that will continue to strengthen our nations – and the world – for generations to come. He was a true statesman. A dedicated public servant. And above all, he was a kind and humble person.”

Singh, who also served as India’s finance minister from 1991 to 1996, is credited with opening up the Indian market and workforce to the rest of the world in 1991 in the wake of a financial crisis by instituting reforms aimed at running India on a capitalist model.

This was a remarkable shift from the country’s socialist-patterned economy, which was languishing in payments deficit, and averted a potential economic crisis. Indian economists have credited Singh with the country’s economic progress.

He also safeguarded India as the rest of the world was battered in the 2008 global recession, earning the reputation of an honest and prudent country leader. In one of his biggest achievements, Singh ended India’s nuclear isolation in 2008 after he signed a deal with the US to access American nuclear technology.

Singh was also the first and only Sikh so far to hold the top office in India. After his second term, during which he faced political upheaval, Singh said history would be kinder to him.