A group of former players from Afghanistan’s women’s national football team, who were forced to leave the country after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, have now returned to the pitch in England.

The human rights organization Rawadari has reported in its latest findings that in the first six months of 2025, cases of targeted, mysterious, and extrajudicial killings in Afghanistan have increased by around 30 percent.

The Guardian has reported that the Taliban have ordered all women’s beauty salons that continue to operate secretly after the official ban to be identified and shut down.

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, has banned the writing of love poems and the description of girls and boys in poetry, warning that violators will be punished.