6-year-old girl sold into marriage with 45-year-old in Afghanistan; Taliban intervenes: ‘Wait until she's nine'
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
The incident, first reported by US-based Afghan news outlet Amu.tv on June 28, took place in the Marjah district. According to Hasht-e Subh Daily, the groom was already married and had two wives. Local sources revealed that the girl's father arranged the marriage under financial pressure.
While the Taliban authorities did intervene in the ceremony, their response has raised fresh alarm. Rather than cancelling the marriage or arresting the parties involved, Taliban officials reportedly instructed them to 'wait until the girl turns nine before bringing her home.'
The statement, widely circulated on social media, has reignited criticism over the Taliban's stance on women's and children's rights since their return to power in 2021. International bodies and human rights advocates have repeatedly condemned the regime's rollbacks on education, employment, and basic freedoms for Afghan women and girls.
Several nations have declared they will not officially recognise the Taliban government unless it guarantees and protects women's rights under international law. This case, however, has only deepened fears that those protections remain out of reach for Afghanistan's most vulnerable.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
27 minutes ago
- First Post
Microsoft bars China-based engineers from Pentagon support after US scrutiny
Microsoft, a key contractor for the US government, has previously experienced high-profile breaches by Chinese and Russian hackers. It said that it had disclosed its arrangements with China-based personnel to the government read more Microsoft said it will no longer allow engineers based in China to provide technical assistance for US military cloud computing systems, following a report that raised concerns over potential cybersecurity threats and prompted a high-level review by the Pentagon. The move comes after investigative outlet ProPublica published a report detailing how Chinese engineers had been involved in supporting the Pentagon's cloud infrastructure, under the supervision of American 'digital escorts'. These escorts, employed via subcontractors and holding security clearances, were reportedly often not equipped with the technical expertise to detect cybersecurity risks posed by the Chinese engineers' work. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Microsoft, a key contractor for the US government, has previously experienced high-profile breaches by Chinese and Russian hackers. It told ProPublica that it had disclosed its arrangements with China-based personnel during the government's authorisation process. Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw said on the social media platform X that the company had modified its procedures 'in response to concerns raised earlier this week … to assure that no China-based engineering teams are providing technical assistance' for services supporting the Pentagon. Review launched, senator raises alarm Earlier on Friday, Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas and chair of the Senate intelligence committee, sent a letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding clarification on Microsoft's reported practices. Cotton, who also serves on the armed services committee, requested a list of contractors using Chinese personnel and more detail on how digital escorts are trained to identify suspicious activities. 'The US government recognises that China's cyber capabilities pose one of the most aggressive and dangerous threats to the United States, as evidenced by infiltration of our critical infrastructure, telecommunications networks, and supply chains,' Cotton wrote. He added that the military 'must guard against all potential threats within its supply chain, including those from subcontractors'. In a video statement posted on X, Hegseth said he had ordered a two-week review to ensure that no China-based engineers were involved in other Department of Defence cloud contracts. 'I'm announcing that China will no longer have any involvement whatsoever in our cloud services, effective immediately,' Hegseth said. 'We will continue to monitor and counter all threats to our military infrastructure and online networks.'
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Syria's armed Bedouins say they have withdrawn from Druze-majority city after weeklong fighting Mazraa
Syria's armed Bedouin clans on Sunday announced that they had withdrawn from Sweida following over a week of clashes and a US-brokered ceasefire, as humanitarian aid convoys started to enter the battered southern clashes between militias of the Druze religious minority and the Sunni Muslim clans killed hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria's already fragile postwar transition. Israel also launched dozens of airstrikes in the Druze-majority Sweida province, targeting government forces who had effectively sided with the Bedouins. A series of tit-for-tat kidnappings sparked the clashes in various towns and villages in the province, which later spread to the city. Government forces were redeployed to halt renewed fighting that erupted Thursday, before withdrawing again. Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was more sympathetic to the Bedouins, had tried to appeal to the Druze community while remaining critical of the militias. He later urged the Bedouins to leave the city, saying that they 'cannot replace the role of the state in handling the country's affairs and restoring security.' 'We thank the Bedouins for their heroic stances but demand they fully commit to the ceasefire and comply with the state's orders,' he said in an address broadcast convoys enter Sweida but tensions persist. The Bedouins' withdrawal brought a cautious calm to the area, with humanitarian convoys on their way. The Syrian Red Crescent said Sunday it sent 32 trucks loaded with food, medicine, water, fuel and other aid, after the fighting left the province with power cuts and shortages. Syria's state news agency SANA reported that the convoy entered Sweida on Sunday, but accused Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and his armed supporters of turning back a government delegation that accompanied another convoy. Al-Hijri in a statement did not directly respond to the accusations but said that he welcomes any assistance for Sweida and slammed what he claims was distorted medic campaigns against him. 'We reaffirm that we have no dispute with anyone on any religious or ethnic basis,' the statement read. 'Shame and disgrace be upon all those who seek to sow discord and hatred in the minds of young people.' The UN International Organization for Migration said 128,571 people were displaced during the clashes, of those 43,000 on Saturday alone. US envoy appeals for an end to fighting Washington's special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, said the clashes and atrocities 'overshadowed' an initial cautious optimism about the country's post-war transition and the international community's lifting of sanctions. 'All factions must immediately lay down their arms, cease hostilities and abandon cycles of tribal vengeance,' Barrack said on X. 'Syria stands at a critical juncture — peace and dialogue must prevail — and prevail now.'Dozens of Druze civilians were killed in a series of targeted attacks in the city at the hands of Bedouin fighters and government forces. Videos also surfaced online of fighters destroying portraits of Druze religious officials and notables in homes, and shaving the mustaches of elderly Druze, seen as an insult to culture and tradition. Druze militias in return attacked Bedouin-majority areas in the outskirts of the province, forcing families to flee to the neighboring Daraa than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981. Syria's Druze largely celebrated the downfall of the Assad family that ended decades of tyrannical rule. While they had concerns about Al-Sharaa's de facto Islamist rule, a large number wanted to approach matters diplomatically. However, the the recent clashes have made a growing number of Druze in the area more skeptical about Damascus' new leadership and more doubtful of peaceful coexistence.——Chehayeb reported from Beirut.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Vedanta rejects baseless allegations, calls Viceroy's claims unfounded
Continuing its triad against mining Moghul Anil Agarwal's Vedanta group, US-based Viceroy Research has alleged that the group's semiconductor unit was a "sham commodities trading operation", designed to avoid classification as an NBFC, a charge the mining conglomerate dismissed as baseless. US short seller Viceroy Research, which last week published a scathing report about Vedanta Group and followed it with similar reports on group companies, in fresh allegations said Vedanta Ltd's subsidiary, Vedanta Semiconductors Pvt Ltd, was part of a scheme to allow the Mumbai-listed firm to remit brand fees to parent Vedanta Resources in April this year, when it faced a severe liquidity crisis. In a statement, Vedanta spokesperson said the group "strongly rejects the baseless allegations made in the report regarding Vedanta Semiconductors Pvt Ltd (VSPL)". "All business activities of VSPL have been transparently disclosed and are in line with statutory norms," it said. Viceroy said, "VSPL is a sham commodities trading operation designed to improperly avoid classification as a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC)". "This scheme was devised to facilitate Vedanta Ltd's remittance of brand fees to Vedanta Resources' (VRL) in April 2025, when it faced a severe liquidity crisis," Viceroy said. "VSPL's operational illusion needs 24 months of regulatory silence to fulfil its purpose, repaying its offshore lenders and hiding the near-catastrophe of April 2024. While credit analysts are snoozing through the alarm bells, India's regulators are famously light sleepers." In April 2024, Vedanta Limited (VEDL) faced a severe liquidity crisis. "In response, VEDL reactivated VSPL, not as a semiconductor venture, but as a zero-margin trading entity, whose operations appear to consist entirely of paper-based commodity trading." "VSPL tapped offshore lenders for a short-term, INR-denominated, 10 per cent NCDs secured by VEDL's stake in HZL (equivalent to 1 per cent of outstanding shares). VSPL then began trading commodities (copper, silver, gold) on a zero-margin basis reminiscent of wash trading," Viceroy alleged. VSPL, it said, remitted the loan to VEDL as a 24-month 12 per cent loan, with the spread intended to cover the sham operation's costs. The semiconductor unit, superficially an operating entity, would face reduced scrutiny for loan repayments under FEMA, Companies Act, PMLA and AML frameworks. "VSPL will likely have to continue these sham operations until FY27, when the loans fall due and repayment will have to be routed back through it. If, at any point, the regulators intervene at VSPL, the lender group is likely facing a total wipeout," the US short-seller alleged. Vedanta spokesperson in the statement said, "Loans between VSPL and Vedanta Ltd were executed in full compliance with applicable laws, corporate governance standards, and both Vedanta Ltd and VSPL have consistently reported accurate loan terms, interest rates, and collateral in line with statutory norms," it said, adding that it would encourage stakeholders to only reply on verified disclosures and audited financials. Viceroy, on July 9, said it has taken a short position against the debt of Vedanta Resources, the UK-based parent of Indian miner Vedanta Ltd, and alleged in the report that the British firm is "systematically draining" its Indian unit. Vedanta had dismissed the report as "a malicious combination of selective misinformation and baseless allegations", and that Research issued it without contacting the group. Viceroy, in its latest report, said despite Vedanta's claim that it failed to engage, it is yet to receive a response to the issues flagged since July 9. "For a company so quick to dismiss our findings, one might expect answers to be equally swift. It's been over a week since we formally requested clarification," the short seller added.
