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Afghan school year starts without millions of teenage girls

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Afghanistan’s schools have reopened for the new academic year, but hundreds of thousands of teenage girls remain barred from attending classes as Taliban authorities ban their attendance in secondary school.

Education Minister Habibullah Agha confirmed in a statement that schools up to grade six “will currently be open for girls”, effectively retaining a ban on high school for female students.

Madrassas, or Islamic schools, are the only education centres open for girls of all ages. Yalda, a ninth grader in Kabul, told Al Jazeera that the madrassa was good for enhancing her knowledge of religion.

But “the madrassa cannot help me become a doctor, because that’s done in school”, she said.

Tenth grader Sara said she daydreamed of schools reopening “all the time”.

“Maybe someday schools will reopen and my education will progress further. I will never lose hope,” she said.

Taliban authorities have imposed an austere interpretation of Islam since storming back to power in August 2021 after the withdrawal of United States-led foreign forces that backed the previous governments.

The ban on girls’ secondary education came into effect in March last year, just hours after the education ministry reopened schools for both girls and boys. No Muslim-majority country bans women’s education.

Taliban leaders, who also banned women from university education in December, have repeatedly claimed they will reopen secondary schools for girls once “conditions” have been met, including remodelling the syllabus along Islamic lines.

Taliban officials have justified the school ban and curbs on women’s freedom due to a lack of a “safe environment”. Some senior Taliban leaders, however, said that Islam granted women rights to education and work.

(aljazeera.com)

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Trump gives Elon Musk and Fox News host key jobs

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Elon Musk has been made head of a new “Department of Government Efficiency” by Donald Trump, the latest appointment to his emerging new team.

Trump says the billionaire businessman will co-lead the organisation with former Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

It will “provide advice and guidance from outside of government” to “dismantle government bureaucracy” and cut spending – though it is not yet fully clear what form it will take.

Trump has also picked Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host and Army veteran, to be defence secretary, and John Ratcliffe as his director of national intelligence.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been chosen as Homeland Security Secretary.

Property developer Steve Witkoff – Trump’s long-time golf partner and a major campaign donor – has been named as special envoy to the Middle East, while former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will be nominated as ambassador to Israel.

(BBC News)

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Zhuhai Airshow kicks off

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Zhuhai Airshow kicks offThe 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, also known as Airshow China or the Zhuhai Airshow, opened on Tuesday in Zhuhai City of south China’s Guangdong Province. 

The highly-anticipated biennial aerospace trade show will run until Sunday, and a four-hour flight demonstration, including performances of aerobatic teams and military jets, will be staged each day of the event. 

On the first day, China’s J-20 and J-35A stealth fighters, along with Russia’s Su-57 stealth fighter, performed stunning aerobatics on the same aerial stage for the first time. 

At the outdoor and indoor exhibition areas of the airshow, equipment of China’s army, navy and air forces are on display, including the debut of the J-15D carrier-based fighter, the debut of the HQ-19 surface-to-air missile weapon system, and the new reconnaissance and strike drone. 

This year’s airshow also features the debut of lunar soil samples brought back by China’s Chang’e-6 mission from the far side of the moon in June this year and a separate exhibition zone displaying unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned ships. 

The airshow has attracted 1,022 companies from 47 countries and regions to showcase their star aviation and aerospace products, including a record number of products being debuted to the public at the event. 

On the sidelines of the airshow, domestic airlines signed orders with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) for a total of 130 C909 and C919 passenger planes. 

Meanwhile, Air China has signed an intention agreement with COMAC to become the first customer of the C929 wide-body aircraft.

(CCTV +)

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Car plows into crowds, killing 35, injuring 43 in Zhuhai

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Thirty-five people died and 43 were injured after a car plowed into crowds at a stadium in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, local police reported on Tuesday.

At 19:48 pm on Monday, a divorced man surnamed Fan, 62, allegedly drove a small SUV through a barrier and forced his way into a sports center in Zhuhai, ramming people who were exercising on the road inside the venue, the city’s public security bureau said in a statement, adding that the injured were immediately sent to hospitals for medical treatment.

Fan was caught as he tried to cut himself with a knife in his car, the statement said, revealing that he is currently in a coma as a result of the serious self-inflicted injuries in his neck and other parts of his body.

Due to the coma, the police has been unable to question him, it added.

A preliminary investigation showed that the incident was allegedly triggered by Fan’s dissatisfaction with the split of financial assets in his divorce, police said.

Fan has been detained on suspicion of endangering public security, and further investigation into the incident and medical treatment of the injured are ongoing, it said.

(chinadaily.com.cn)

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