Male anchors in Afghanistan are wearing masks on air in solidarity with their female colleagues. This is the latest Taliban order to threaten the freedoms and careers of Afghan women.
From the moment Saleema Rehman was born, her father believed she was destined to be a doctor. Now she is the winner of a top U.N. award for her work helping displaced women in Pakistan.
The head of Save the Children in Afghanistan says that it has been difficult to operate under the Taliban and its restrictions on women. Without humanitarian aid, he predicts serious casualties ahead.
Risking beatings by the Taliban, Afghan women have taken to the streets to protest against the hard-line regime, its new curbs on their rights — and Pakistan's influence in their country.
President Biden addressed the nation after images from the airport in the Afghan capital showed desperate people fleeing before the Taliban advance. He said he stands by his decision to withdraw.
"Whatever happens in the coming days, we hold true to the idea that women can and should help shape the future of Afghanistan," said one nonprofit, as alarm rises about the Taliban takeover.
At the championship of the Afghan women's soccer league, players sprint across the field. Hoodie-style hijabs cover their hair. The scene was once unthinkable. But now the players face new obstacles.
Roya Rahmani is Afghanistan's first woman ambassador to the U.S. "What makes me hopeful about women's rights in Afghanistan is that women themselves, they have their own voice," she tells NPR.
Afghan women and young people say the peace negotiations exclude their wants and needs. "The U.S. is negotiating with a group that's notorious for denying women basic human rights," says one activist.
Scaling Afghanistan's tallest mountain will be difficult enough. But Afghan female climbers and their American guides also face civil war, red tape and cultural taboos.
Afghanistan is a mountainous land where mountain climbing is rare among men and virtually nonexistent among women. An American is now preparing young Afghan women to scale the country's highest peak.
