Zan News: Despite the final results of the U.S. presidential election not yet being announced, several world leaders have congratulated Donald Trump on his victory. Photo: Getty Images Several World Leaders Congratulate Donald Trump on U.S. Election Victory November 6, 2024 Zan News Zan News: Despite the final results of the U.S. presidential election not yet being announced, several world leaders have congratulated Donald Trump on his victory. Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, are among the figures who have congratulated Trump on his victory. Macron has expressed his readiness to cooperate with Trump, while the UK Prime Minister has called Trump’s victory “historic.” Netanyahu also described the victory as a "great return in history" and, addressing Trump and his wife Melania Trump, said: "Your historic return to the White House marks a new beginning for America and a renewed commitment to the deep alliance between Israel and the United States." Zelensky also congratulated Trump, expressing hope that his approach of "peace through strength" would lead to a "just peace." Currently, Trump has secured 267 electoral votes and needs three more to win the election. According to the Associated Press, Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s candidate, has earned 224 electoral votes. After winning Pennsylvania and securing 267 votes, Trump declared his victory. At a rally with his supporters in Florida, Trump thanked the American people for electing him as the 45th president of the United States and stated, “I will not rest until I deliver a strong, safe, and prosperous America that our children deserve, and you deserve.” He added, “This will truly be America’s golden age.”

Zan News: The "Ghazi Naib Aminullah Khan Foundation" has called for the immediate reopening of girls' schools above the sixth grade in Afghanistan in a statement sent to Zan News, emphasizing that no government has the right to deny women and girls their right to education. Photo: AP Ghazi Naib Aminullah Khan Foundation: No Government in Afghanistan Has the Right to Deny Women and Girls' Right to Education November 5, 2024 Zan News Zan News: The "Ghazi Naib Aminullah Khan Foundation" has called for the immediate reopening of girls' schools above the sixth grade in Afghanistan in a statement sent to Zan News, emphasizing that no government has the right to deny women and girls their right to education. In its statement, the foundation said, "We will not allow those who have been used in the country for the benefit of others and those who will be used in the future to decide the future of the country." The Ghazi Naib Aminullah Khan Foundation asserted that, according to the foundation's charter and the country's legislative laws, the right to education and the protection of children's rights, especially for women in Afghanistan, is "non-negotiable," and no regime can take away these "God-given" rights. The statement referenced the Taliban's policies, noting that this group has kept schools closed to girls above the sixth grade for over three years and has removed all educational and vocational centers from their access. According to the foundation, this action has caused deep concern among the people of Afghanistan. The foundation called for the immediate reopening of girls' schools above the sixth grade and warned that if this demand is not met, the Taliban will face strong and explicit reactions from the people. They emphasized that threats and bullying against the Afghan people are no longer acceptable. The statement also indicated that the people of Afghanistan are calling for the groundwork to be laid for holding elections, and the foundation believes that the only viable solution for the country is to conduct nationwide and transparent elections.

Zan News: Local sources in Nangarhar province have reported the killing of a young boy by his father. Social media Father Kills His 14-Year-Old Son in Nangarhar February 3, 2025 Zan News Zan News: Local sources in Nangarhar province have reported the killing of a young boy by his father. The incident occurred on Saturday (February 1) in the Achin district of Nangarhar. According to local sources, the 14-year-old boy was first abducted by his father and then murdered. The motive behind the killing remains unclear. It has been reported that the boy’s father has been arrested by the Taliban. So far, local Taliban officials in Nangarhar have not commented on the incident. This comes as criminal incidents in parts of Nangarhar province have seen a significant increase in recent months.

Zan News - Kabul: The UN Women in Afghanistan warns that if the Taliban continues to ban girls' education, child marriage in the country will increase by 25%. UN: Continued Ban on Girls' Education will Increase Child Marriage of Girls in Afghanistan by 25% May 26, 2024 Zan News Zan News - Kabul: The UN Women in Afghanistan warns that if the Taliban continues to ban girls' education, child marriage in the country will increase by 25%. A report released by the agency on Saturday (May 25) predicts that if the ban continues, early childbearing among teenage girls will increase by 45% and maternal mortality by 50%. According to the report, Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where girls' education above the sixth grade is "banned as a policy" and women are barred from attending university. The UN Women says the Taliban has issued more than 50 decrees against women since regaining control of Afghanistan, none of which have been repealed. The organization says these restrictions and bans have had a devastating impact on the lives of Afghan women, with 82% of women describing their mental health as "bad". The report states that Afghan women are calling on the international community to focus on the situation in the country and work to restore women's rights, including the right to education, work and participation in public decision-making. They also demand their continued presence at the international level and emphasize that the Taliban can in no way represent the women of Afghanistan. According to the report, Afghan women are calling on the international community not to recognize the Taliban without lifting all restrictions on women. Recognition of the Taliban before tangible progress on women's rights is seen as the "worst-case scenario" for the lives and future of Afghan women. It should be noted that since regaining power in Afghanistan, the Taliban has banned women from education and work and has imposed wide-ranging restrictions on their participation and presence in society. The Taliban's restrictions on women have been met with widespread global backlash, with UN experts calling them a "crime against humanity".

Zan News: Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan, has released his new report on the human rights situation, particularly focusing on women, and emphasized the need for coordinated international action against the Taliban's policies. Richard Bennett Emphasizes the Need for Coordinated International Action Against Taliban Policies June 13, 2024 Zan News Zan News: Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan, has released his new report on the human rights situation, particularly focusing on women, and emphasized the need for coordinated international action against the Taliban's policies. This report was published on Wednesday (June 12) and is set to be presented at the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council from June 18 to July 12. In the report, Bennett details the condition of women during the three years of Taliban rule in Afghanistan and offers several recommendations, including policy changes and coordinated international actions against the Taliban's gender oppression. Bennett's report calls for the lifting of the ban on girls' education, the immediate release of imprisoned women and girls, human rights activists, and the prompt restoration of women's rights to work and access to healthcare. He also demands that perpetrators of human rights violations be prosecuted according to international standards. Bennett also calls for the transparent publication of government budgets by the Taliban and the allocation of specific funds to improve the financial and living conditions of people with disabilities, widows, and women heads of households. Bennett emphasizes the international community to avoid normalizing or legitimizing Taliban officials until significant and measurable improvements in women's conditions are achieved. He urges international support for efforts to bring the Taliban to international court for human rights violations. In his report, Bennett refers to the "institutionalized system of dominance and repression" of the Taliban against Afghan women and girls, calling for the criminalization of "gender apartheid" in international laws. He suggests that the definition of gender apartheid be amended in the Rome Statute to be defined as "inhumane acts committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one gender group over any other gender group or groups with the intention of maintaining that regime." He also calls for political support for activists in Afghanistan who are mobilizing around the concept of gender apartheid. This report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan is being released ahead of the third United Nations meeting on Afghanistan, scheduled for June 30 in Doha, where, according to reports, human rights issues are not on the agenda. In his previous reports, Richard Bennett described the Taliban's policies against Afghan women as "systematic" and "institutionalized," labeling them as "crimes against humanity" and suggesting that these policies could be considered "gender apartheid." It is noteworthy that since the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, they have imposed extensive restrictions on women, depriving them of many fundamental rights, including the right to education, work, and freedom of movement.

Zan News - Kabul: A number of women protesters in Kabul took to the streets to mark the third anniversary of Afghan women's resistance against the Taliban regime and to protest the handover of Afghan embassies to the group. Sent to Zan News Street Protest of Protesting Women in Kabul September 11, 2024 Zan News Zan News - Kabul: A number of women protesters in Kabul took to the streets to mark the third anniversary of Afghan women's resistance against the Taliban regime and to protest the handover of Afghan embassies to the group. The Afghanistan Women's History Transformation Movement released a statement today, Wednesday (September 11), coinciding with the street protest. The statement said that Afghan women, despite severe pressures and restrictions over the past three years, have continued to fight for Afghanistan's freedom, civil rights, freedom of expression, and the rights of minorities. The movement added, "Afghan women have been fighting in the most difficult conditions for three years; a struggle that has been accompanied by imprisonment, torture, execution, rape, and stoning. Arbitrary executions, the imprisonment of women protesters, public floggings, and dozens of other cases have been repeatedly documented by international media, bearing witness to the prevailing tyranny." According to the movement, the Taliban's latest decree has ordered the execution of 700 people, and thousands more are held in "horrific and terrifying" Taliban prisons. The movement called on the international community and human rights organizations to put pressure on the Taliban to prevent illegal mass executions, the only crime of which is resistance to "tyranny and dictatorship." The Afghanistan Women's History Transformation Movement also warned that "the Taliban have turned Afghanistan into a safe haven for regional and international terrorists. Despite the fact that many Taliban leaders are wanted by international police, they occasionally travel freely to other countries, which poses a serious threat to regional and global security." The movement stated that the handover of Afghanistan's diplomatic missions to the Taliban has made the group "bolder" and that this action is a kind of betrayal of the individual and social freedoms of the people of Afghanistan. The Afghanistan Women's History Transformation Movement has called on the United Nations, world countries, and human rights organizations to support human rights, freedom of expression, and the rights of Afghan women in the face of Taliban dictatorship. They considered the establishment of a democratic government to be the only solution to the current crisis.

Zan News: The Taliban Interior Ministry has announced that a man has been arrested in Herat province in connection with the rape and murder of a girl child. Photo: abdulmateenqani Taliban Arrest Man in Herat for Rape and Murder of a Child October 10, 2024 Zan News Zan News: The Taliban Interior Ministry has announced that a man has been arrested in Herat province in connection with the rape and murder of a girl child. Abdul Matin Qane, spokesman for the Taliban Interior Ministry, announced this arrest today, Thursday (October 10), on his X (formerly Twitter) page. Qane wrote that the arrested man had first abducted the girl child of one of his relatives in Anjil district of Herat and after sexually assaulting her, had killed the child in a "very heinous and merciless" manner. Qane added that the individual was arrested in a special operation and confessed to his crime during initial investigations. However, the Taliban Interior Ministry spokesman did not mention the exact time of the crime.

Zan News: Malala Yousafzai, a children’s education activist and Nobel Prize winner, has once again urged countries around the world to recognize the "Taliban regime" as an example of "gender apartheid." Social Media Malala Yousafzai: The Taliban Regime Must Be Recognized as an Example of "Gender Apartheid" October 31, 2024 Zan News Zan News: Malala Yousafzai, a children’s education activist and Nobel Prize winner, has once again urged countries around the world to recognize the "Taliban regime" as an example of "gender apartheid." In a message posted on her X account, she called on members of Parliament and ministers in Britain to formally acknowledge the Taliban regime as "gender apartheid." During this meeting, human rights activists emphasized the necessity of holding the Taliban accountable for their severe restrictions against women and girls, expressing hope that the British Parliament and government would take effective steps through practical actions and serious follow-ups to support the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. It is noteworthy that since their return to power, the Taliban have imposed strict laws severely limiting women's access to education, employment, and participation in society. Many human rights activists and international organizations consider these actions to be instances of systematic gender oppression, calling for immediate action from the global community to combat it.

Zan News: The UN Women, in a report, has expressed concern over the catastrophic consequences of depriving Afghan women and girls of their rights and has called for global action on this issue. UN Women: The Deprivation of Women and Girls in Afghanistan is Catastrophic; Global Action is Needed July 2, 2024 Zan News Zan News: The UN Women, in a report, has expressed concern over the catastrophic consequences of depriving Afghan women and girls of their rights and has called for global action on this issue. The report states that with the Taliban's restrictions on girls' education beyond the sixth grade, about 1.1 million girls have been deprived of education. The UN Women describes the current situation in Afghanistan as an unprecedented international challenge for targeted interventions on gender equality. It should be mentioned that since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, they have stripped women and girls of their basic rights. Through various decrees, the group has targeted the country's gender equality infrastructure and suspended the activities of related organizations. The Taliban abolished the Ministry of Women's Affairs, which had been actively promoting women's rights during the two decades of the republic's governance. The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice now operates in its building. The Human Rights Commission's activities have also been suspended, and women have been banned from working in judicial and legal institutions. The UN Women report states that the Taliban have systematically dismantled all institutions and infrastructure that worked towards women's empowerment and gender equality between 2001 and 2021. The report adds that with the prohibition of these organizations' activities, collecting data on gender equality issues in Afghanistan has become difficult. Additionally, the report mentions that it has been over a thousand days since the ban on girls' education in Afghanistan was imposed, and women and girls are deprived of the most basic and fundamental rights besides education. The release of this report by the UN Women comes as the United Nations hosts an international meeting on Afghanistan in Doha without the presence of women.

Zan News: Taranom Saeedi, the leader of the Women's Political Participation Network of Afghanistan, criticized the United Nations' interaction with the Taliban in a video in response to the Doha third session, describing the organization's dual policy towards the people of Afghanistan as "truly worrying." Taranom Saeedi in Reaction to the Doha Third Meeting: UN's Dual Policy Towards Afghanistan is Truly Worrying June 24, 2024 Maryam Naiby Zan News: Taranom Saeedi, the leader of the Women's Political Participation Network of Afghanistan, criticized the United Nations' interaction with the Taliban in a video in response to the Doha third session, describing the organization's dual policy towards the people of Afghanistan as "truly worrying." Ms. Saeedi stated in the video, "The third session of Doha is scheduled to be held behind closed doors between UN representatives and the Taliban. There is no information available regarding the topics under discussion, potential agreements, and interactions between the parties." Expressing concern over the UN's engagement with the Taliban, she said, "What concerns the people of Afghanistan, especially the women of this country, is the interaction of the United Nations and the international community with a terrorist group that has made life difficult for the people of Afghanistan, deprived women and girls of all their rights, and deprived a large portion of Afghan society of a livelihood." Ms. Saeedi deemed the UN's dual policy towards Afghanistan "truly worrying" and added, "It is unclear what the United Nations aims to achieve and why, despite slogans of democracy and defense of human and women's rights, it continues to engage with a terrorist group that has been the cause of misery for the people and women of Afghanistan, funneling millions of dollars into the pockets of this terrorist group." Referring to Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN's Deputy Political Affairs who leads this summit, she said, "Ms. DiCarlo has traveled to Afghanistan several times and is aware of the dire human rights and women's rights situation in the country. Our expectation from her, the United Nations, and the international community is not to play games with the fate and future of the people, girls, and women of Afghanistan. They should set aside their dual policy and instead support women and the people of Afghanistan, striving for the establishment of a legitimate government elected by the will and vote of the Afghan people, and ensure that the future of Afghan girls is not held hostage by the Taliban." Ms. Saeedi concluded by emphasizing, "We, the people of Afghanistan, do not want the Taliban. We, the women of Afghanistan, do not want the Taliban. Support the women of Afghanistan." This comes as the third Doha session hosted by the United Nations with special representatives of countries on Afghan affairs and Taliban representatives is scheduled to take place on June 30 and July 1.