Venezuela Seeks UN Security Council Meeting Over U.S. Oil Tanker Blockade 
Pakistan’s Army Chief Faces Gaza Troop Dilemma Amid US Pressure 
Lukashenko Urges Swift Ukraine Peace Deal, Backs Trump’s Push for Rapid Resolution 
U.S.-Russia Talks in Miami Raise Hopes for Potential Ukraine War Deal 
Zelenskiy Urges Allies to Use Frozen Russian Assets as EU Summit Nears 
U.S. Initiates $11.1 Billion Arms Sale to Taiwan Amid Rising China Tensions 
U.S. House Advances GOP Healthcare Bill as ACA Subsidies Near Expiration 
Italy Supreme Court Upholds Salvini Acquittal in Migrant Kidnapping Case 
Trump Administration Plans Major Increase in Denaturalization Cases for Naturalized U.S. Citizens 
Trump Weighs Reclassifying Marijuana as Schedule III, Potentially Transforming U.S. Cannabis Industry 
Trump Attends Dover Ceremony Honoring U.S. Personnel Killed in Syria 
Sydney Bondi Beach Shooting Sparks Calls for Stronger Protection of Jewish Community in Australia 
U.S. Senators Move Toward Deal to Strengthen Military Helicopter Safety Rules 
Union-Aligned Investors Question Amazon, Walmart and Alphabet on Trump Immigration Policies 
Federal Judge Declines to Immediately Halt Trump’s $300 Million White House Ballroom Project 
Republicans Raise National Security Concerns Over Intel’s Testing of China-Linked Chipmaking Tools 
The Taliban is looking to seek international recognition as the international community demands that the insurgent group ensure equal rights for Afghan men and women. However, the insurgent group returned to a hardline policy as the Taliban ordered Afghan women to keep their faces covered in public.
Reuters reports the Taliban has returned to a policy that harkens back to their hardline rule Saturday as it ordered women to cover their faces when in public. The group’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhunzada, issued a decree that if an Afghan woman did not cover her face outside the house, her father or closest male relative would be punished through either prison time or dismissal from state jobs.
“We call on the world to co-operate with the Islamic Emirate and the people of Afghanistan…Don’t bother us. Don’t bring more pressure, because history is witness, Afghans won’t be affected by pressure,” the minister for Afghanistan’s ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Mohammad Khalid Hanafi said during a news conference.
The insurgent group said that the ideal face covering was the blue burqa, referencing the garment that women were obligated to wear during the Taliban’s hardline rule from 1996 to 2001. To note, most women in Afghanistan wear a headscarf for religious reasons, but in other areas, such as the capital Kabul, most women do not cover their faces.
The UN’s Mission to Afghanistan issued a statement Saturday saying that it would seek a meeting with the Taliban over the issue, saying that it would also consult with others in the international community on the order’s implications.
Afghanistan continues to face domestic terror attacks as back in April. Bombings occurred in two passenger vans that were carrying Shi’ite Muslims in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, killing at least nine people, according to an official.
The blasts followed an explosion at the Shi’ite mosque in the city the week prior, killing 11 people as the country tackles a rise in attacks by Islamic State militants following the West’s withdrawal from the country in August last year. The group has since claimed responsibility for the attack.
