Ruchi Kumar

Six mil­lion Afghans, the UN agency warns, are one step away from famine as it ap­peals for more funds for Afghanistan.

Matiul­lah Wesa, an ad­vo­cate for girls’ ed­u­ca­tion, is ar­rest­ed as the Tal­iban cracks down on women’s rights ac­tivists.

While a deal to ex­tract oil has raised hopes in the war-torn na­tion, ex­perts warn of Chi­na’s sketchy record.

In Tal­iban’s Afghanistan, Haz­ara cousins, both blast vic­tims who loved to read, in­spire a li­brary – and new read­ers.

Many provinces have seen an ex­cep­tion­al­ly cold win­ter, with tem­per­a­tures drop­ping to as low as -21 de­grees Cel­cius.

Alia, an Afghan men­tal health pro­fes­sion­al, said the Tal­iban’s ban on women work­ing with NGOs hurts the vul­ner­a­ble.

The Tal­iban’s de­ci­sion to sus­pend women from ac­cess­ing high­er ed­u­ca­tion has ex­tin­guished a rare source of hope for many.

In Afghanistan, pub­lic flog­gings and ex­e­cu­tions bring back mem­o­ries of harsh Tal­iban rule in the 1990s.

Call for fund­ing grows for diplo­mat­i­cal­ly iso­lat­ed Afghanistan, which is fac­ing dis­as­ters be­cause of cli­mate change.

Women had strug­gled long and hard for the right to di­vorce, but since the Tal­iban’s takeover, the sit­u­a­tion wors­ened.