Taliban Authorities

Afghanistan's embassy in London closed on Friday after Taliban authorities cut ties with diplomatic missions set up by the previous government in Kabul and fired its UK staff.

A sports authority official told local media MMA was banned in part because it was considered too violent and posed the risk of injury or death.

Taliban authorities were told women must be included in public life, UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said on Monday as she defended a decision to sideline civil society groups at official talks in Doha.

A suicide bombing killed three people and wounded 12 others on Thursday in the Afghan city of Kandahar, a provincial official said, the heartland of the Taliban authorities that rule the country.

Schools in Afghanistan opened for the new academic year on Wednesday, with girls lamenting being banned from joining secondary-level classes for a third year in a row.

Taliban authorities publicly executed two men convicted of murder in a football stadium in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

Taliban authorities publicly executed two men convicted of murder in a football stadium in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

Authorities in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, ordered its officials on Sunday not to take pictures or videos of "living things".

Afghanistan's Taliban authorities on Saturday criticised the UN Security Council's plan for a special envoy to promote gender and human rights in the country as "unnecessary".

An Afghan activist who campaigned for girls' access to education was released from detention on Thursday, more than seven months after he was arrested by Taliban authorities, his family said.

Afghanistan's Taliban authorities have arrested at least 18 staff of an international NGO, including an American woman, accusing them of carrying out Christian missionary work, the country's leaders said Saturday.

Authorities from Afghanistan's vice ministry created a bonfire of confiscated musical instruments and equipment in Herat province at the weekend, deeming music immoral.

Thousands of beauty parlours across Afghanistan were due to close permanently Tuesday following an order by Taliban authorities that cuts off one of the few revenue streams available to women, as well as a cherished space for socialising.

Security officials shot in the air and used firehoses Wednesday to disperse dozens of Afghan women protesting in Kabul against an order by Taliban authorities to shut down beauty parlours, the latest curb to squeeze them out of public life.

A ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations was an internal issue, the country's Taliban authorities said Wednesday, adding that the decision "should be respected by all sides".

Afghanistan's embassy in London closed on Friday after Taliban authorities cut ties with diplomatic missions set up by the previous government in Kabul and fired its UK staff.

A sports authority official told local media MMA was banned in part because it was considered too violent and posed the risk of injury or death.

Taliban authorities were told women must be included in public life, UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said on Monday as she defended a decision to sideline civil society groups at official talks in Doha.

A suicide bombing killed three people and wounded 12 others on Thursday in the Afghan city of Kandahar, a provincial official said, the heartland of the Taliban authorities that rule the country.

Schools in Afghanistan opened for the new academic year on Wednesday, with girls lamenting being banned from joining secondary-level classes for a third year in a row.

Taliban authorities publicly executed two men convicted of murder in a football stadium in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

Taliban authorities publicly executed two men convicted of murder in a football stadium in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

Authorities in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, ordered its officials on Sunday not to take pictures or videos of "living things".

Afghanistan's Taliban authorities on Saturday criticised the UN Security Council's plan for a special envoy to promote gender and human rights in the country as "unnecessary".

An Afghan activist who campaigned for girls' access to education was released from detention on Thursday, more than seven months after he was arrested by Taliban authorities, his family said.

Afghanistan's Taliban authorities have arrested at least 18 staff of an international NGO, including an American woman, accusing them of carrying out Christian missionary work, the country's leaders said Saturday.

Authorities from Afghanistan's vice ministry created a bonfire of confiscated musical instruments and equipment in Herat province at the weekend, deeming music immoral.

Thousands of beauty parlours across Afghanistan were due to close permanently Tuesday following an order by Taliban authorities that cuts off one of the few revenue streams available to women, as well as a cherished space for socialising.

Security officials shot in the air and used firehoses Wednesday to disperse dozens of Afghan women protesting in Kabul against an order by Taliban authorities to shut down beauty parlours, the latest curb to squeeze them out of public life.

A ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations was an internal issue, the country's Taliban authorities said Wednesday, adding that the decision "should be respected by all sides".