Afghan women’s radio to resume broadcast after Taliban lift suspension
An Afghan women’s radio station will resume broadcasts after the Taliban lifted their suspension over alleged cooperation with an overseas TV channel.
Radio Begum launched on International Women’s Day in March 2021, five months before the Taliban seized power amid the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO troops.
The station’s content is produced entirely by Afghan women. Its sister satellite channel, Begum TV, operates from France and broadcasts programs that cover the Afghan school curriculum from seventh to 12th grade.
The Taliban have banned education for women and girls in the country beyond grade six. In a statement issued Saturday night, the Taliban Information and Culture Ministry said Radio Begum had “repeatedly requested” to restart operations and that the suspension was lifted after the station made commitments to authorities.
The station pledged to conduct broadcasts “in accordance with the principles of journalism and the regulations of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and to avoid any violations in the future”, it added.
The ministry did not elaborate what those principles and regulations were. Radio Begum confirmed the ministry had granted permission to resume broadcasting. It did not give further details. Since their takeover, the Taliban have excluded women from education, many kinds of work, and public spaces.
Journalists, especially women, have lost their jobs as the Taliban tighten their grip on the media.In the 2024 press freedom index from Reporters without Borders, Afghanistan ranks 178 out of 180 countries.
The year before that it ranked 152.The Information Ministry did not initially identify the TV channel it alleged Radio Begum had been working with. But the Saturday statement mentioned collaboration with “foreign sanctioned media outlets”.
Cambodian toddlers killed by grenade buried since civil war
Two children in Cambodia died after a rocket-propelled grenade buried since the civil war blew up near their homes.
The children, a girl and a boy both two years old, died after coming across the unexploded ordinance near their homes in rural northwestern Siem Reap province on Saturday.
The province’s Svay Leu district was once a battle site for Cambodian government soldiers and Khmer Rouge fighters in the 1980s and 1990s.
Parents of Muo Lisa and her cousin, Thum Yen, were reportedly working at a far when the toddlers came across the grenade and it detonated. Experts from the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMCA) determined afterward from fragments that it was a rocket-propelled grenade.
“Their parents went to settle on land that was a former battlefield, and they were not aware that there were any land mines or unexploded ordinance buried near their homes,” CMAC director-general Heng Ratana said. “It’s a pity because they were too young and they should not have died like this.”
He said one child was killed instantly while the other succumbed at the hospital.
“The war has completely ended and there has been peace for more than 25 years, but the blood of Cambodian people continues to flow because of landmines and the remnants of war,” Heng Ratana told AFP.
The blast took place after Cambodia was forced to partially suspend demining operations in the aftermath of US president Donald Trump‘s freeze on foreign aid for 90 days. Heng Ratana said Thursday he had been informed that Washington had issued a waiver allowing the aid – $6.36m (£5m)covering March 2022 to November 2025 – to resume flowing.
Cambodian deminers are among the world’s most experienced, and several thousand have been sent in the past decade under UN auspices to work in Africa and the Middle East.
Some four to six million land mines and other unexploded munitions are estimated to have littered Cambodia’s countryside during decades of conflict that began in 1970 and ended in 1998.
Since the end of the fighting in Cambodia, nearly 20,000 people have been killed and about 45,000 injured by leftover war explosives. The number of casualties has declined over time, but there were 49 deaths in 2024.
Last month, two Cambodian deminers were killed while trying to remove a decades-old anti-tank mine from a rice field.
French aircraft carrier stages combat drills with Filipinos in disputed sea and visits Philippines
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines on Sunday after holding combat drills with Filipino forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China.
The Charles de Gaulle docked on Friday at Subic Bay, a former U.S. Naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Filipino forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in the South China Sea, Philippine and French officials said.
Last year, the French navy deployed a frigate for the first time to participate in a joint sail with United States and Philippine counterpart forces in and near the disputed waters. It was part of the largest annual combat exercises in years by American and Filipino allied forces. The drills, known as Balikatan (Tagalog for “shoulder-to-shoulder”), involved more than 16,000 military personnel.
China strongly criticized the exercises then, saying the Philippines was “ganging up” with countries from outside Asia in an obvious reference to the U.S. and its security partners, and warned the drills could instigate confrontation and undermine regional stability.
France’s recent and ongoing military deployments to the Philippines underscore its “commitment to regional security and the shared goal of strengthening maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific,” Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Co. Xerxes Trinidad said.
The Charles de Gaulle, the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the world other than those of the U.S. Navy, led a strike group that included three destroyer warships and an oil replenishment ship in its first-ever visit to the Philippines, French officials said.
France has been shoring up its military engagements with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations at odds with China in the disputed waters, a key global trade and security route although it says those emergency-preparedness actions were not aimed at any particular country.
China, however, has bristled at any presence of foreign forces, especially the U.S. military and its allies, which carry out war drills or patrols in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety although it has not publicly released exact coordinates of its claim other than 10 dashed lines to demarcate vaguely what it calls its territory on maps.
Beijing’s claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan in long-unresolved territorial standoffs. Indonesia has also figured in violent confrontations with Chinese coast guard and fishing fleets in the Natuna waters.
Two weeks ago, Australia protested after a Chinese J-16 fighter jet released flares that passed within 30 meters (100 feet) of an Australian P-8 Poseidon surveillance jet over the South China Sea, according to Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles.
The Australian military plane did not sustain any damage and no crewmember was injured in the Feb. 11 incident. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused the Australian aircraft of “deliberately” intruding into airspace over the disputed Paracel Islands, which China and Vietnam contest.
In late 2023, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro signed an accord to boost military cooperation and joint engagements.
France and the Philippines began talks last year on a defense pact that would allow troops from each country to hold exercises in the other’s territory. French negotiators have handed a draft of the agreement to their Filipino counterparts to start the negotiations.
The Philippines has also signed such status-of-forces agreements with the U.S. and Australia. A signed agreement with Japan was expected to be ratified by Japanese legislators this year for it to be enforced while talks between New Zealand and the Philippines for a similar defense pact recently concluded.
Great Wall of China may be centuries older than previously thought
Archaeological excavations in eastern China‘s Shandong province suggest that some of the oldest sections of the Great Wall were built 300 years earlier than previously thought.
Recent digs in the Changqing area show that the engineering marvel wasn’t a single construction project, but a series of fortifications built during multiple dynasties.
The Great Wall was built to secure ancient China’s northern borders against nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe. Historical records suggest the construction of the Unesco World Heritage monument spanned centuries. However, extant documentation of the wall lacks details that could reveal its true origins.
It was believed that the largest portions of the first walls were constructed around the 7th century BC and joined together under the Qin dynasty around the third century BC.
However, new excavations undertaken last year and covering over 1,000 square meters found sections of the wall dating back to the late Western Zhou Dynasty, which ruled from 1046BC to 771BC, and to the early Spring and Autumn Period of 770-476BC.
The findings shed light on advanced engineering of the ancient Chinese to expand the wall to about 30 meters at the peak of Qi State likely during the Warring States Period.
Some ancient texts suggest that sections of the wall went through many phases of development, use, sometimes collapse and abandonment, and attempts at restoration.
Researchers reportedly used a multidisciplinary approach to date these sections of the wall, including analysis of traditional artefacts collected at the site as well as specimens of plant remains and animal bones.
Archaeologists found buried sections of roads, house foundations, trenches, ash pits, and walls at the site, Zhang Su, the project leader from the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told Global Times.
One particularly well-preserved section was built during the Warring States Period from 475BC to 221 BC and is the best preserved, researchers said.
This section is the “earliest known Great Wall in China”, said Liu Zheng, a member of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics.
The latest research also establishes the proximity of the Great Wall of this time to the ancient Pingyin city mentioned in historical texts, suggesting the wall was not just a fortification against invasion but also served a strategic role in controlling trade and transportation.
The Australian Dream? There’s a dark side to moving down under
There are suitcases, and then there are moving-to-Australia-forever-suitcases, as a quick scan around Heathrow’s Terminal 3 reveals. Every morning at 11.50am, the Qantas QF10 – the only direct flight from Britain to Australia – soars towards sunnier climes without stopping for a single slurp of kerosene. It carries 236 passengers plus a cargo hold loaded with gargantuan luggage and petrified pets. And, around 16 hours later, it will land in Perth, having whizzed 9,009 miles around the world. The Dreamliner, as the plane is branded, holds the promise of a one-way ticket to a dream life.
Since its first flight in 2018, the service has carried around 500,000 passengers to the land of pristine beaches, Neighbours and Tim Tams. Elsewhere, jets head from the UK’s other major airports to the likes of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (after pit-stops in Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai) every week.
Many of those on board are young Brits heading to Oz for the long run. In 2024, nearly 50,000 people moved from the UK to Australia via a working holiday visa, up by 31,000 from the previous year. This increase has partly been fuelled by a new free trade deal: the maximum age was raised from 30 to 35, the mandatory 88 days of gruelling graft on a rural farm was scrapped, and now young Brits can live in Australia for up to three years without having to meet any specified work requirements. Others are travelling for a long holiday or backpacking adventure, rather than making a more permanent move; 590,000 people from the UK enjoyed a vacay down under last year.
But why are so many young Brits going the distance, aside from it being easier? For just over 50 per cent of visitors, it’s to see friends and family; more than 1.2 million Brits now live in Australia. For the rest, it’s often about chasing a dream – Australia is seen as the land of eternal sunshine and near-horizontal levels of laidback living, where affluence goes hand-in-hand with nonchalance.
“On paper, Australia is the perfect place,” says Antonia, a 29-year-old midwife who moved from Manchester to the east coast of Oz nearly a year ago. “It has good weather, it has nice people, it has good infrastructure, a good healthcare system, lots of job opportunities – and it’s beautiful.” The quality of life is indeed enviable, with the average wage equivalent to around £50,000 (compared to under £37,000 in the UK), a genuinely world-beating healthcare system and 3,000 hours of sunshine a year. And while you’re still likely to be called a “Pom” by some jibing Aussies, most have a positive perception of Brits; according to the Lowy Institute’s most recent “feelings thermometer” poll, Australians rank the UK third from the top in their perception of other nations.
And, with many Brits wanting an escape, it’s pretty much the furthest you can physically go (unless you double down and head to Dunedin in New Zealand). “The UK was just so s***, with inflation and the move to far-right politics, I think people were just a bit done … Australia was a good answer to that,” says Izzy, a 29-year-old teacher who lived in Brisbane for a year and is now travelling across NZ.
Plenty of Brits make the move and never look back. James, a 29-year-old publicist, says he’s a “huge fan. The geography, animals and plants are totally unique. The warm weather also influences everything; Aussies love to spend time outdoors and take part in sport or surf or swim. It’s also easy to get a working visa so you get the opportunity to live here, rather than just visit.” Izzy agrees: “They do work/life balance incredibly well, it’s amazing.”
But if moving to Australia is like Vegemite, then some people inevitably don’t love it. Though painted as the land of perpetual beach barbecues and perfect weather, the Australian Dream can wind up being nothing more than an illusion.
In the same way that some tourists experience Paris Syndrome – a feeling of malaise when the French capital doesn’t live up to its elevated expectations – some young Brits seem to be experiencing the Aussie equivalent. Perth Syndrome, if you will. Among the glossy, picture-postcard dispatches from Australia are videos on TikTok “deinfluencing” prospective movers, warning them of its potential downsides.
So why are some Brits experiencing flyer’s remorse? Lyle, a 27-year-old history teacher who moved from Dorset to Melbourne, thinks that some people’s view of the country is too airbrushed. “The idea that you’re surfing all the time and it’s a constant beach party is a mirage,” he says. “I think solo younger travellers with less money and work experience definitely have a bigger comedown to the reality of finding work in an expensive country, when the first month of partying is done.”
Izzy, meanwhile, was surprised by the culture shock. “I think I expected just the UK and the sun; I thought culturally they’d be very similar. And they’re really not. It’s very American,” she says, lamenting that everything is a long drive away. “It takes literally days to get anywhere,” Antonia agrees.
There’s a common sentiment among Brits that culture in Oz is more “polished” – and not necessarily in a good way. “I felt like everything was a bit surface level and I missed the grit,” says Antonia. And you’re more likely to surf than crowdsurf; sport beats the arts, any day. “In the UK, we are so spoiled with our music scene,” she adds. “But we really missed that in Australia. One of the biggest festivals was even cancelled because they couldn’t sell enough tickets.” While Australia has produced the likes of Confidence Man, Tame Impala and Courtney Barnett, its domestic scene is struggling; since Covid, more than 1,300 live music venues have shuttered.
Then there’s the politics. Peter Dutton, the current Leader of the opposition, is in serious election contention this year; he has recently praised Trump and taken aim at “wokeness”. This right-wing spirit seems to be on the rise. “In the UK, we have such a huge diversity of people and a really multicultural environment, and I think we take that for granted as something that’s just inevitable,” says Antonia. “But when you go to Australia, you don’t have that at all. And I did feel my Blackness a lot more in Australia than I ever have in the UK.”
There are many stories of unsettlingly jingoistic comments. “Especially in rural areas, the politics was way more conservative and a bit weirdly obsessed with ‘white British heritage’,” Lyle says.
“We did an open bus tour in Sydney, and the fact that the central business district sewage pipe had been built on a sacred Aboriginal river was just mentioned in passing,” Antonia notes. Izzy adds: “It was really divided in terms of how people spoke about Aboriginal people. You even had people make negative comments about immigrants coming into the UK.”
Perhaps these drawbacks are why many young Australians are heading in the opposite direction: to the UK. Around 87,000 Australians now live in Britain, likely contributing to the many Antipodean brunch spots smashing it in London (Clapham has become known as “Little Australia” thanks to its many expats).
Anna, a 30-year-old working in marketing, moved from Sydney to London five years ago. “The UK really feels like my home,” she says. “I love living seasonally; for me, the four distinct seasons help mark the passing of time in a different way. I love the proximity to Europe, abundance of different cultures, historical architecture and the landscape.”
She also understands the perspective of disillusioned young Brits. “In the Nineties and Noughties, we were really sold this idea of the Australian Dream. We grew up with this firmly embedded phrase that we are ‘the lucky country’. Of course, like all national myths, ‘the lucky country’ is deeply subjective.” She explains that the easy-going culture can “sweep difficult conversations or hard truths under the rug” and that the “scars of colonisation” run deeply in Australia. “I was particularly affected by the outcome of Australia’s 2023 referendum, where the majority of voters chose not to allow First Nations people recognition in the Australian constitution,” she says. “It felt like a regression and a sign that the nation still wasn’t willing to face the realities of its past and present.”
Of course, it would be rich of us Brits to throw shade Australia’s way. Britain faces myriad political issues of its own, with Reform on the rise and far-right violence at boiling point. Plus, we’re arguably no better than Australia when it comes to acknowledging our colonialism; our history curriculum is equally censored (and, of course, Britain itself colonised Australia and still claims monarchical rule).
But, at least for some young Brits, the idealist vision doesn’t materialise and moving to Australia fosters a feeling of regret – it’s a dream that fades in the sun or goes flat like a warm schooner. “I think it’s as complex as anywhere,” says Anna. “To treat Australia like a utopia is to gloss over the realities of the place. Any young person going down there has to educate themselves on the history of the country, and respect the land and its traditional custodians.” Perhaps, whichever way you move, there’s a risk of the grass being greener on the other side.
For many emigrants, that one-way flight to Australia may end up being one of the best decisions they ever make, their life changing as soon as the Dreamliner hits the tarmac on the other side of the globe. For others, booking a round trip – at least for a first visit – might be just the ticket. “It took me leaving the UK to realise how much it meant to me, and how much friends and family mean to me,” Izzy says. “Taking that flight made me realise exactly how far away it was. It felt like I had left my soul behind.”
China accuses Australia of ‘deliberately hyping up’ live-fire drills
China‘s Defence Ministry said on Sunday Australia had made “unreasonable accusations” and deliberately hyped the situation after three planes headed to New Zealand changed course in midflight because of live-fire drills by the Chinese Navy.
Wu Qian, the ministry’s top spokesperson, said China had issued safety notices in advance and that the activity was in compliance with international law and did not affect aviation safety.
“The relevant remarks from the Australian side are completely inconsistent with the facts,” he said in a response posted on the Defence Ministry website.
Three passenger flights from Sydney to Christchurch and Queenstown were in the air Friday when they were first warned by a Chinese warship of a live-fire exercise, Australian media reported.
The flights diverted and no one was put in danger, Australian defence minister Richard Marles told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio. But he also said the Australian Navy would typically give 12 to 24 hours’ notice of a live-fire exercise to give airlines time to plan around it.
Australian foreign minister Penny Wong said she sought an explanation from her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, when the two met in Johannesburg on Saturday following a gathering of foreign ministers from the Group of 20 nations.
“I raised Australia’s expectations around safe and professional military conduct, consular cases, human rights and other issues of concern,” Wong said in a post on the social platform X.
“I also sought an explanation for Chinese naval vessels conducting live fire drills without advance notification.”
The presence of the three Chinese warships in the region – a frigate, a cruiser and a replenishment vessel – had gotten the attention of the Australian and New Zealand militaries earlier last week. Mr Marles described the activity as unusual, though not unprecedented.
Indian minister accuses airline of allotting him broken seat
A federal minister has accused the Indian flag carrier airline of “cheating passengers” after he was allegedly forced to sit on a broken seat for his journey.
Indian agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan publicly criticised the Air India airline for allotting him a “broken” seat on the flight from Bhopal city to the capital New Delhi.
Mr Singh Chouhan in a post on X alleged that when he asked the airline staff why the seat allotted to him was broken, he was told that the management was selling seat ticket despite being advised against it. He claimed there “many” such broken seats on the aircraft.
“My co-passengers requested me to change my seat and sit on a better seat but why should I trouble another friend for my sake,” he said, adding that he continued the journey – estimated to be about 1.5 hours – by sitting on this same seat.
Mr Singh Chouhan said his impression that Air India’s service would have improved after the Tata group took over the management, but turned out to be false.
“I don’t care about discomfort in sitting but it is unethical to make passengers sit on bad and uncomfortable seats after charging them full amount,” he said, adding: “Isn’t this cheating the passengers?”
The airline apologised for the “inconvenience” caused to Mr Singh Chouhan and said it was looking into this matter “carefully to prevent any such occurrences in the future”.
“We would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you, kindly DM us a convenient time to connect,” it added.
India’s Tata Group took control of state-run carrier Air India – the nation’s largest international carrier and second-largest domestic carrier – in 2022, regaining ownership of the airline after nearly 70 years. With the takeover, Indians had hoped for an improved service, but so far they have faced disappointment.
A viral social media video last year revealed a passenger’s “nightmare” first-class experience on Air India, after he found ripped furnishings, dirt around his seat and a broken in-flight entertainment system.
Airlines warned as Chinese navy holds live-fire drills off Australia
A commercial flight from Sydney to Christchurch was directly warned by the Chinese military to avoid a section of airspace on Tuesday morning as its warships reportedly conducted live-fire drills in the area.
The warning, issued to flight UAE3HJ at around 11am Sydney time, came amid concerns over increased Chinese military activity in international waters about 340 nautical miles southeast of the city, ABC News reported.
The incident prompted multiple airlines, including Qantas and Air New Zealand, to divert flights following formal advice from air traffic controllers.
Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, said airplanes crossing the Tasman Sea were forced to change course after China issued an alert about its exercises, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The Australian military, however, did not observe any live fire despite movements consistent with such drills.
China’s foreign ministry defended the drills. The People’s Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command “organised the Chinese fleet to conduct a far seas exercise”, foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.
“The drill was carried out in a safe, standard, and professional manner in accordance with relevant international law and international practice.”
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged the military exercises but refrained from criticising China. “This is activity that has occurred in waters consistent with international law,” he said, adding that “there has been no risk of danger to any Australian or New Zealand assets”.
Mr Albanese said he had spoken with his defence and foreign ministers as well as New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon about the matter.
Mr Marles expressed concern over the lack of prior notification from Beijing. “We weren’t notified by China; we became aware of the issue during the course of the day,” he told ABC Radio Perth. “What China did was put out a notification that it was intending to engage in live fire, and by that I mean a broadcast that was picked up by airlines–literally commercial planes flying across the Tasman.”
Foreign minister Penny Wong was expected to raise the matter with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
“We will be discussing this with the Chinese and already have at an official level in relation to the notice given and the transparency provided regarding these exercises,” she said, adding that Australian officials were closely monitoring the situation.
The New Zealand government confirmed that it was tracking the developments. Defence minister Judith Collins said they were aware of the Chinese task group’s movements but had received no confirmation of live-fire activity.
“Australia and New Zealand are working closely together to monitor the Task Group and gather information on today’s notification. Like Australia, our primary concern is the safety of our people, vessels, and aircraft,” Ms Collins said.
Opposition figures in Australia accused the government of showing weakness in dealing with China’s military actions. Shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie condemned the government’s response, claiming it was failing to defend national interests.
“The Chinese government has built a blue-water navy to project power into the Pacific region. They are now using gunboat diplomacy to test US allies like Australia,” Mr Hastie said. “When will the prime minister and his defence minister stand up for Australia and insist on mutual respect from their Chinese counterparts?”
The Australian and International Pilots Association also weighed in, describing the situation as an inconvenience. Vice president Captain Steve Cornell remarked: “Whilst it was unusual to have Chinese warships in this part of the world, pilots often have to contend with obstacles to safe navigation, whether that be from military exercises, rocket launches, space debris, or volcanic eruptions. That being said, it’s a big bit of ocean, and you would think they could have parked somewhere less inconvenient whilst they flexed their muscles.”
The incident came just days after Australian Air Marshal Robert Chipman met with senior Chinese military leader General Xu Qiling in Beijing. It was the first such meeting since 2019.
Beijing informed Australia it had cancelled planned live-fire exercises ahead of the meeting to avoid disrupting diplomatic discussions. However, it made no commitment regarding future military activities.
China has been growing its military presence in the region.
On Thursday, Mr Marles said Australian ships and aircraft were working “very closely” with New Zealand’s military to monitor a Chinese naval task force moving southeast along Australia’s east coast.
Reports suggested that the flotilla, consisting of a Jiangki-class frigate, a Renhai-class cruiser, and a Fuchi-class replenishment vessel, had been operating in the Coral Sea within Australia’s exclusive economic zone before shifting south.
Defence officials in Canberra previously confirmed a separate incident which saw a Chinese fighter jet release flares in front of an Australian military aircraft, describing the interaction as “unsafe and unprofessional.”
Ms Collins called the presence of Chinese warships a “significant” event. Speaking to RNZ’s Morning Report, she said the vessels were the most sophisticated seen this far south.
“At the moment, they’re just complying with international law,” she said. “They’re entitled to do this under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. But they are certainly significant vessels.”
The New Zealand defence minister criticised Beijing for failing to provide prior notice of the strike force’s arrival. “The Chinese government and Chinese embassy gave New Zealand no warning that it would be sending such a highly capable strike force with enormous strike power into the region,” she said.
The minister said New Zealand was using “highly intelligent” aircraft to monitor the situation in collaboration with Australian forces.
She described the situation as a “wake-up call” and said it demonstrated that geographical distance no longer ensured security. “It’s real evidence that our distance means nothing now,” Ms Collins said, warning that New Zealand should not become complacent about its defence capabilities.