Why Qatar fosters close contact with the Taliban

Speaking to DW, former Afghan MP Mariam Solaimankhil blamed Pakistan, particularly its spy agencies, for the Taliban's seizure of power in Afghanistan. She also stressed that "people around the former president Ghani" brought the country down.

When Taliban fighters took over Afghanistan it spelled disaster for female judges, who faced threats of violent retribution. But 150 women and their families managed to escape. DW's Matthew Moore met with two of them who are now in Germany.

The Taliban has said they want to allow girls to continue attending school. That does not mean, however, an education in the Western sense of the word.

Amnesty International on Monday called on football's global governing body FIFA to put more pressure on 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar to improve conditions for workers in the Gulf country. But the rights group said Qatar was at risk of slipping backwards.

Is tying humanitarian assistance to human rights the right course for Afghanistan? Aid agencies are this week imploring the West and in particular the US Treasury to allow money transfers to flow unhindered and to unblock desperately needed funds.

The Taliban promised to bring peace – but now that they are the government of Afghanistan, the war against the 'Islamic State' group is just beginning. There has been a series of attacks by 'IS' and bloody reprisals by the Taliban.

We focus on the plight of women in Afghanistan six months after the Taliban retook the country. For those women and girls left behind, many have found their lives shrunk to the four walls of their homes, either due to losing their jobs or being unable to continue their education. This as a number of women's rights activists have gone missing in recent weeks as the Taliban continue to seek international recognition.

The Pul-e-Sukhta bridge in Kabul is synonymous with hard drug use. After many NGOs and charities fled Afghanistan, drug addicts have been largely left on their own. And the number of users is swelling, residents say.

Six months after the Taliban retook Afghanistan, FRANCE 24 spoke to former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who remains in the country. Karzai strongly criticised the Biden administration's recent decision to unfreeze Afghan assets but divide the funds between aid to Afghanistan and victims of the 9/11 attacks, saying the funds "belong to the Afghan people". He also said he believed the Taliban would eventually allow girls to return to school, since doing so is "absolutely necessary for the well-being" of Afghanistan.

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Germany has vowed to wean itself off Russian gas imports in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. Economy Minister Robert Habeck is visiting Qatar, one of the world's largest exporters of liquified natural gas (LNG).

The Taliban has sparked outrage and concern among rights groups, after it reversed stance and closed secondary schools for girls across Afghanistan. Thousands of young students were sent home, confused and worried about their future.