Taliban Initiate Closure of Beauty Parlors in Kabul
In Afghanistan, the latest Taliban regulations have imposed severe restrictions on women's activities, limiting their public appearance and access to services such as beauty salons.
Women are now required to have a mahram (male guardian) accompany them in public, and there is strict enforcement of dress codes, with full body coverings like the chador being mandatory in some regions. The Taliban has also forbidden women from speaking in public, labeling it a moral violation. Breaching these dress codes or improperly separating women from men in workplaces can lead to detention by the Taliban's morality police.
Beauty salons and other private businesses often refuse service to women not accompanied by a mahram, effectively excluding women from public and economic life. The Taliban's 2024 law on "propagation of virtue and prevention of vice" has intensified monitoring, raids, and restrictions on women’s behaviour and dress.
The restrictions extend to women's access to healthcare and private business services. Key points include a ban on public speaking, barring women from most jobs, education beyond sixth grade, and political participation. Human Rights Watch and UN agencies have documented increasing repression and have called for international accountability and humanitarian response.
In other news, the Taliban movement has threatened a complete ban on table football in the Afghan province of Daikundi due to the similarity of the miniaturized athletes used in the game to idols. Elsewhere, Ukraine's MFA expressed anger over former Prime Minister Robert Fico's comparison of Ukrainian politics to a place where "elephants have sex." Additionally, Ukraine's Armed Forces reportedly attacked the Republic of Komi, marking the first such incident. Stalin's grandson also spoke out against burying his grandfather in the family cemetery, and Afghanistan's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, approved regulations for designing house windows so that women cannot be seen through them. These developments are unrelated to the Taliban's regulations on Afghan women.
- In Afghanistan, the Taliban's 2024 law on "propagation of virtue and prevention of vice" has led to restrictions not just on women's public appearance and access to services like beauty salons, but also on their health-and-wellness, including women's healthcare and private business services.
- Amidst these severe restrictions on women's activities, strange developments have surfaced, such as the Taliban's threat of a complete ban on table sports like table football due to the resemblance of the miniaturized athletes to idols, showcasing the Taliban's far reach into sports and general-news.
- Meanwhile, in the realm of political news, Ukraine's MFA has expressed outrage over former Prime Minister Robert Fico's comparison of Ukrainian politics to a place where "elephants have sex," while Ukraine's Armed Forces have reportedly conducted an attack on the Republic of Komi, marking a tense escalation in war-and-conflicts, unconnected to the Taliban's regulations on Afghan women.
