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Afghanistan

Australia aren’t going to take us lightly: Trott warns Afghanistan

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott is not allowing his team to enjoy the England win for long as their path to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi-finals is now crystal clear, and Friday's clash against world champions Australia could be a virtual quarterfinal for the Afghans.

Lesson learnt?

After cutting and running from Afghanistan last year, and having earlier effectively Balkanised an Iraq which under the Ba’ath Socialists/Saddam Hussein was a functional, secular ~ albeit criminally oppressive ~ state, the US Administration has now clarified that nation-building is expressly not a part of Washington’s agenda in countries where it has intervened militarily, more often than not on a dodgy legal basis.

Sartorial clock back

Monday’s advisory has directed drivers not to play music in their cars carrying women. Still more crucially, drivers have been told not to pick up female passengers, if they are not wearing the hijab, covering the hair. Taliban’s police have erected checkpoints across the capital of Kabul to keep track of taxi drivers and ensure whether they were complying with the government’s orders. Of a piece with these directives is the Taliban decision to shut down all public bathhouses for women in Afghanistan’s northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.