41 h. ago How ordinary men became unpaid Taliban enforcers in their own homes

Afghan fathers, brothers and husbands are under pressure to ensure the women in their families observe the country’s repressive laws. Here, men and women across the country explain how it is affecting family bondsTo be a father of daughters in the Taliban’s Afghanistan has become a daily nightmare for Amir. Now, he says, he is more prison guard than loving parent, an unwilling and unpaid enforcer of a system of gender apartheid that he despises yet feels compelled to inflict on his two teenage girls in order to protect them from the Taliban’s rage and reprisals.Just a few years ago, Amir’s daughters had a life and a future. They went to school, to see friends and moved around their community. Now, he says he would prefer it if his daughters never left the house. He, like many other fathers in Afghanistan, has heard stories about what can happen to young women who find themselves in the crosshairs of the Taliban’s “morality police”. Continue reading...

Politics

42 h. ago The Reeling, Glasgow review: 'don't underestimate the vibrancy of the trad scene'

Occupying a middle ground somewhere between the Killers and Big Country, Tide Lines are representative of a new spirit in traditional music, writes David Pollock

Politics

64 h. ago Craig Bellamy: ‘I loved living in Brussels it gave me freedom and allowed me to breathe’

Coach learned his trade under Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht, now he leads Wales back to Belgium for a World Cup qualifierThe last of Craig Bellamy’s 78 Wales caps came in Brussels in October 2013 and although that 1-1 draw concluded an underwhelming World Cup qualifying campaign, the Belgian capital is where he considers his coaching career achieved liftoff. He spent a little more than two years working at Anderlecht alongside his former Manchester City teammate Vincent Kompany, first as the under-21 coach and then as Kompany’s assistant, a springboard that has led him to representing his country at the King Baudouin Stadium for another qualifier, this time as a manager.It is a city Bellamy remembers fondly, despite leaving Anderlecht in September 2021, before the end of his contract, to return to Cardiff to deal with depression after struggling being away from his family. “I loved living in Brussels,” he says. “It gave me a good step back. I was completely unrecognisable – no one h...

Politics

4 d. ago Trump’s new travel ban is a gratuitously cruel sequel | Moustafa Bayoumi

The policy is alienating, counterproductive and racist – and it isn’t the flex that Trump thinks it isTrump’s new travel ban: the countries chosen and how it differs from the last oneI’m not much for horror movies, but I have just read that the film Black Phone 2 “will creep into cinemas” in October and that, compared to the original, it’s supposed to be a “more violent, scarier, more graphic” film. I’ll pass on the movie, but that description seems pretty apt to what living under this Trump administration feels like: a gratuitously more violent sequel to a ghoulish original.Consider the Muslim ban. Back in late 2015, candidate Donald Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”. He signed the first version of the Muslim ban on 27 January 2017, and protests erupted at airports across the nation at the revival of a national policy, similar to the Chinese Exclusion Act, that b...

Politics

6 d. ago Millie Bright withdraws from England’s Euro 2025 squad for her health

‘This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make’Earps and Kirby have retired from international footballThe England vice-captain Millie Bright has withdrawn from this summer’s Euros in Switzerland, saying it “is the right thing for my health and my future”. The decision is a major setback for Sarina Wiegman before the defence of the title the Lionesses won three years ago.“This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make but after careful thought and discussions with my team, I have decided to withdraw from selection for the England squad ahead of Euro 2025,” Bright said in an Instagram post. “Football has given me so much and representing my country has always been my greatest honour. My pride and ego tells me to go but I think the team and the fans deserve more. Right now I’m not able to give 100% mentally or physically. Continue reading...

Science

6 d. ago Women behind the lens: ‘The bridal dress is meant to present her as a queen but to me it always felt like a cage’

The work of the Moroccan photographer Sara Benabdallah explores ritual and repression in her country’s marriage traditionsThrough my series Dry Land, I explore the deep contradictions embedded in Moroccan marriage traditions – how they oscillate between sacred ritual and social imprisonment. This image was taken on the arid outskirts of Marrakech, where the earth is cracked and open, a stark contrast to the heaviness of the dress the woman carries on her body. It shines beautifully but restricts, almost theatrical in its weight.The woman stands still in a traditional Fassi bridal garment, a piece that is both exquisite and nearly unbearable to wear. It is a dress I grew up seeing and quietly fearing – not just for its grandeur, but for what it symbolised. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Fran Kirby announces international retirement ahead of Euro 2025

The midfielder revealed she was not selected for the Euros and says it was the ‘biggest honour to represent my country’

Politics

8 d. ago Poland’s presidential election result is a morale boost for Maga forces in Europe | Catherine De Vries

Karol Nawrocki’s win is a blow for prime minister Donald Tusk – and it symbolises a larger battle over the political narrativePolish voters returned to the polls on Sunday for the decisive round of a presidential election whose outcome reverberates far beyond Poland’s borders. The race was a showdown between two candidates who represent the country’s stark political and ideological divide: Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian backed by the far-right opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS), and Rafał Trzaskowski, the liberal and strongly pro-European mayor of Warsaw representing the Civic Platform (PO) party of the prime minister, Donald Tusk. The razor-thin victory for Nawrocki, who secured just over 50% of the vote, is a domestic setback for Tusk, but it also threatens wide and gloomy repercussions within the EU and beyond.Tusk’s return to power as prime minister in 2023, after previously serving from 2007 to 2014, was widely seen as a bid to re-anchor Poland within the Europea...

Politics

9 d. ago EastEnders star eyes up BBC return with a never been done before twist

EXCLUSIVE: Eurovision legend Cheryl Baker is eyeing up a return to Albert Square and plans on bringing a brand new twist to the BBC soap as she celebrates her roots

Politics

1 week ago Trump’s lawlessness is emboldening El Salvador’s brutal regime | Noah Bullock and Amrit Singh

The detention of a leading human rights lawyer is part of a wave of repression sweeping the country under Nayib BukeleThe Trump administration’s agreement with President Nayib Bukele to detain US migrants deported to El Salvador without due process seems to have emboldened Bukele’s autocratic regime. Last week, in a troubling sign of escalating repression, Salvadorian police detained Ruth López Alfaro, a prominent Salvadorian human rights lawyer at Cristosal, an organization fighting for human rights in Central America.Last year, the BBC recognized Ms López Alfaro as one of the 100 most inspiring and influential women in the world, describing her as “an outspoken critic of the country’s government and institutions” who “conducted a broad social media campaign to promote political transparency and public accountability overseen by the citizens themselves”. This year, on 18 May, Salvadorian security forces detained her at her residence on embezzlement charges and held her incommunicad...

Politics

1 week ago Inside 'Mr World' competition for hottest men – and celeb who competed

People are only just learning about a 'Mr World' competition thanks to a viral video showing the handsome competitors representing their country on stage – and one turned up in a 'Halloween costume'

Politics

2 w. ago Israel latest: UN says Gaza aid blocked after Netanyahu accused of ‘killing babies as a hobby’

Israeli opposition leader's comments represent some of the strongest criticism from within the country since start of Gaza offensive

Events

3 w. ago ‘We are a passionately multiracial team’: Zimbabwe return to England transformed

Visitors have endured political chaos and miserable results over 22 years but cricket is finally a national gameTwenty-two years is a long time, even in a sport that measures its games in days and its history in centuries. The last time England played a Test match against Zimbabwe, in 2003, Rob Key was in the middle order instead of the managing director’s job, Jimmy Anderson was a 20-year-old tearaway playing in his very first series, and the England and Wales Cricket Board was just about to launch the world’s very first professional Twenty20 tournament. Zimbabwean cricket has changed, too. Back then the team was in the earliest stages of a transformation that was meant to turn cricket from a minority game, played by the small white population, into a sport that better represented the whole country.They have been hard years, riven by player strikes, political interference, maladministration, and a miserable drop-off in results. The team temporarily withdrew from Test cricket, suspe...

Politics

3 w. ago Remember Monday flog tour tickets for just £52 as Eurovision stars return to UK

Remember Monday, who are represented the UK at Eurovision 2025, will hit the road for a new headline tour this October - here's how to get yourself some tickets

Economics

3 w. ago Eurovision 2025 fans spot UK's entry for 2026 after Remember Monday's efforts

Remember Monday representing the UK this year, the country's first girl group entrant since 1999

Politics

3 w. ago Eurovision chaos as security stop stage invader storming Israel's performance

Eurovision security were reportedly forced to stop two protestors from storming the 2025 final stage while Israeli singer Yuval Raphael sang to represent her country

Events

3 w. ago Celine Dion could be set for huge Eurovision return 37 years after win as she jets to Basel

Celine Dion was spotted jetting to Basel ahead of the Eurovision 2025 final on Saturday night, but it is still uncertain if she will be able to perform at the event

Politics

3 w. ago Who is Eurovision 2025 host Sandra Studer? All you need to know about singer who represented Switzerland in 1991 as she prepares to present final in Basel

Sandra Studer is well accustomed to Eurovision and even represented her country, Switzerland, back in 1991.

Politics

3 w. ago Eurovision winner Nemo on ‘insanity of having glittery party’ amid world events

The Swiss non-binary singer, 25, triumphed in Malmo, Sweden, and will return to the Eurovision stage in Switzerland.

Politics

4 w. ago Traumatised Eurovision star who 'hid under pile of dead bodies' prepared 'for booing'

Israel's Yuval Raphael will appear at Eurovision as it returns this week with 26 acts to take to the stage and represent their country – but she is already anticipating a negative reaction before getting behind a mic

Events