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Women TV Presenters Defy Taliban Order to Cover Faces on Air

Afghan presenters record a morning TV program in Kabul in 2017. (AFP)
Afghan presenters record a morning TV program in Kabul in 2017. (AFP)
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Women TV Presenters Defy Taliban Order to Cover Faces on Air

Afghan presenters record a morning TV program in Kabul in 2017. (AFP)
Afghan presenters record a morning TV program in Kabul in 2017. (AFP)

Women presenters on Afghanistan's leading TV channels went on air Saturday without covering their faces, defying a Taliban order that they conceal their appearance to comply with the group's strict interpretation of Islam.

Since surging back to power last year the Taliban have imposed a slew of restrictions on civil society, many focused on reining in the rights of women and girls.

Earlier this month Afghanistan's supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a diktat for women to cover up fully in public, including their faces, ideally with the traditional burqa.

The feared Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice ordered women TV presenters to follow suit by Saturday.

Previously they had only been required to wear a headscarf.

But broadcasters TOLOnews, Shamshad TV and 1TV all aired live programs Saturday with women presenters' faces visible.

"Our female colleagues are concerned that if they cover their faces, the next thing they will be told is to stop working," said Shamshad TV head of news Abid Ehsas.

"This is the reason they have not observed the order so far," he told AFP, adding the channel had requested further discussions with the Taliban on the issue.

Taliban orders such as this have caused many female journalists to leave Afghanistan since the hardliners stormed back to power, a woman presenter said.

"Their latest order has broken the hearts of women presenters and many now think they have no future in this country," she said, requesting not to be named.

"I'm thinking of leaving the country. Decrees like this will force many professionals to leave."

'Implement the order'

Mohammad Sadeq Akif Mohajir, spokesman for the vice ministry, said the women presenters were violating the Taliban directive.

"If they don't comply we will talk to the managers and guardians of the presenters," he told AFP.

"Anyone who lives under a particular system and government has to obey the laws and orders of that system, so they must implement the order," he said.

The Taliban have demanded that women government employees be fired if they fail to follow the new dress code.

Men working in government also risk suspension if their wives or daughters fail to comply.

Mohajir said media managers and the male guardians of defiant women presenters would also be liable for penalties if the order was not observed.

During two decades of US-led military intervention in Afghanistan, women and girls made marginal gains in the deeply patriarchal nation.

Soon after they took over, the Taliban promised a softer version of the harsh rule that characterized their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.

Since the takeover, however, women have been banned from traveling alone and teenage girls barred from secondary schools.

In the 20 years after the Taliban were ousted from office in 2001, many women in the conservative countryside continued to wear a burqa.

But most Afghan women, including TV presenters, opted for the headscarf.

Television channels have already stopped showing dramas and soap operas featuring women, following orders from Taliban authorities.

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World

Georgia Arrests Two Foreigners Trying to Purchase Uranium

FILE PHOTO: A block with the symbol, atomic number and mass number of Uranium (U) element, in this illustration taken January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A block with the symbol, atomic number and mass number of Uranium (U) element, in this illustration taken January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Georgia Arrests Two Foreigners Trying to Purchase Uranium

FILE PHOTO: A block with the symbol, atomic number and mass number of Uranium (U) element, in this illustration taken January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A block with the symbol, atomic number and mass number of Uranium (U) element, in this illustration taken January 21, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Georgia has ‌detained two people who attempted to purchase $3 million worth of uranium and a cache of a radioactive isotope found in nuclear weapons testing programs, the national security service said on Thursday.

Two foreign nationals from unspecified countries were arrested in the city of Kutaisi, the State Security Service said in a statement.

"They were planning to ‌illegally purchase ‌nuclear material uranium and radioactive ‌substance ⁠Cesium 137 for $3 ⁠million and illegally transport it to the territory of another country," Reuters quoted it as saying.

It said other foreigners had been arriving in Georgia in recent weeks with the aim of purchasing and transporting the nuclear and ⁠radioactive materials, without elaborating further.

The ‌statement did ‌not specify the quantity of materials the individuals were ‌attempting to procure. There were ‌no details on the substances' origin or potential destination.

Cesium 137 is a radioactive isotope present primarily in the aftermath of nuclear weapons testing ‌and nuclear power plant accidents such as the Chernobyl disaster in ⁠then-Soviet ⁠Ukraine in 1986.

The security of nuclear materials was one of the biggest concerns after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, of which Georgia was part. There have been several serious incidents involving the illicit trade in nuclear materials in Georgia over recent decades.

Most recently, three Chinese citizens were arrested in the capital Tbilisi for attempting to purchase two kilograms of "nuclear material" uranium.

World

Former South Korean President Yoon Receives Life Sentence for Imposing Martial Law

FILE PHOTO: South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, 23 January 2025. JEON HEON-KYUN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, 23 January 2025. JEON HEON-KYUN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Former South Korean President Yoon Receives Life Sentence for Imposing Martial Law

FILE PHOTO: South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, 23 January 2025. JEON HEON-KYUN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, 23 January 2025. JEON HEON-KYUN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to life in prison for his brief imposition of martial law in a dramatic culmination to the country’s biggest political crisis in decades.

Yoon was ousted from office after a baffling attempt to overcome an opposition-controlled legislature by declaring martial law and sending troops to surround the National Assembly on Dec. 3, 2024, The Associated Press said.

Judge Jee Kui-youn of the Seoul Central District Court said he found Yoon guilty of rebellion for mobilizing military and police forces in an illegal attempt to seize the liberal-led Assembly, arrest politicians and establish unchecked power for a “considerable” time.

Martial law crisis recalled dictatorial past Yoon’s martial law imposition, the first of its kind in more than four decades, harkened back to South Korea’s past military-backed governments when authorities occasionally proclaimed emergency decrees that allowed them to station soldiers, tanks and armored vehicles on streets or at public places such as schools to prevent anti-government demonstrations.

As lawmakers rushed to the National Assembly, Yoon’s martial law command issued a proclamation declaring sweeping powers, including suspending political activities, controlling the media and publications, and allowing arrests without warrants.

The decree lasted about six hours before being lifted after a quorum of lawmakers managed to break through a military blockade and unanimously voted to lift the measure.

Yoon was suspended from office on Dec. 14, 2024, after being impeached by lawmakers and was formally removed by the Constitutional Court in April 2025. He has been under arrest since last July while facing multiple criminal trials, with the rebellion charge carrying the most severe punishment.

Yoon's lawyers reject conviction Yoon Kap-keun, one of the former president’s lawyers, accused Jee of issuing a “predetermined verdict” based solely on prosecutors’ arguments and said the “rule of law” had collapsed. He said he would discuss whether to appeal with his client and the rest of the legal team.

Yoon Suk Yeol told the court the martial law decree was only meant to raise public awareness of how the liberals were paralyzing state affairs, and that he was prepared to respect lawmakers if they voted against the measure.

Prosecutors said it was clear Yoon was attempting to disable the legislature and prevent lawmakers from lifting the measure through voting, actions that exceeded his constitutional authority even under martial law.

In announcing Yoon and Kim’s verdicts, Jee said the decision to send troops to the National Assembly was key to his determination that the imposition of martial law amounted to rebellion.

“This court finds that the purpose of (Yoon’s) actions was to send troops to the National Assembly, block the Assembly building and arrest key figures, including the National Assembly speaker and the leaders of both the ruling and opposition parties, in order to prevent lawmakers from gathering to deliberate or vote,” Jee said. “It’s sufficiently established that he intended to obstruct or paralyze the Assembly’s activities so that it would be unable to properly perform its functions for a considerable period of time.”

Protesters rally outside court

As Yoon arrived in court, hundreds of police officers watched closely as Yoon supporters rallied outside a judicial complex, their cries rising as the prison bus transporting him drove past. Yoon’s critics gathered nearby, demanding the death penalty.

There were no immediate reports of major clashes following the verdict.

A special prosecutor had demanded the death penalty for Yoon Suk Yeol, saying his actions posed a threat to the country’s democracy and deserved the most serious punishment available, but most analysts expected a life sentence since the poorly-planned power grab did not result in casualties.

South Korea has not executed a death row inmate since 1997, in what is widely seen as a de facto moratorium on capital punishment amid calls for its abolition.

Other officials sentenced for enforcing martial law

The court also convicted and sentenced several former military and police officials involved in enforcing Yoon’s martial law decree, including ex-Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who received a 30-year jail term for his central role in planning the measure and mobilizing the military.

Last month, Yoon was sentenced to five years in prison for resisting arrest, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting before declaring the measure.

The Seoul Central Court has also convicted two members of Yoon’s Cabinet in other cases. That includes Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who received a 23-year prison sentence for attempting to legitimize the decree by forcing it through a Cabinet Council meeting, falsifying records and lying under oath. Han has appealed the verdict.

Yoon is the first former South Korean president to receive a life sentence since former military dictator Chun Doo-hwan, who was sentenced to death in 1996 for his 1979 coup, a bloody 1980 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Gwangju that left more than 200 people dead or missing, and corruption.

The Supreme Court later reduced his sentence to life imprisonment, and he was released in late 1997 under a special presidential pardon. He died in 2021.

World

UK Condemns 10-year Sentence for British Couple in Iran

(FILES) A handout photograph released in London on August 4, 2025 by the family of Craig and Lindsay Foreman, shows Craig and Lindsay at Naqsh-e Jahan Square, or Shah Square, with the Shah Mosque in the background, in Isfahan, Iran, at an undated time. (Photo by FAMILY HANDOUT / AFP)
(FILES) A handout photograph released in London on August 4, 2025 by the family of Craig and Lindsay Foreman, shows Craig and Lindsay at Naqsh-e Jahan Square, or Shah Square, with the Shah Mosque in the background, in Isfahan, Iran, at an undated time. (Photo by FAMILY HANDOUT / AFP)
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UK Condemns 10-year Sentence for British Couple in Iran

(FILES) A handout photograph released in London on August 4, 2025 by the family of Craig and Lindsay Foreman, shows Craig and Lindsay at Naqsh-e Jahan Square, or Shah Square, with the Shah Mosque in the background, in Isfahan, Iran, at an undated time. (Photo by FAMILY HANDOUT / AFP)
(FILES) A handout photograph released in London on August 4, 2025 by the family of Craig and Lindsay Foreman, shows Craig and Lindsay at Naqsh-e Jahan Square, or Shah Square, with the Shah Mosque in the background, in Isfahan, Iran, at an undated time. (Photo by FAMILY HANDOUT / AFP)

British foreign minister Yvette Cooper on Thursday condemned as "totally unjustifiable" the 10-year sentence given to a British couple in Iran for spying, saying the government would continue to press for their release.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman had been charged with espionage after Iran accused them of gathering information in several parts of the country.

"We will pursue this case relentlessly with the Iranian government until we see ‌Craig and Lindsay ‌Foreman safely returned to the UK and reunited with ‌their ⁠family," Reuters quoted Cooper as saying in ⁠a statement.

The Foremans were arrested on January 3 of last year while travelling through Iran on a global motorcycle journey. Iranian state media announced their detention the following month over espionage charges and they have now been held for more than 13 months.

Joe Bennett, Lindsay's son, said in a separate statement the couple had appeared at a three-hour trial ⁠on October 27, in which they were not allowed to ‌present a defense.

"We have seen no ‌evidence to support the charge of espionage," he said, adding that the family ‌was deeply concerned about the couple's welfare and the lack of transparency ‌in the judicial process.

Bennett called on the British government to "act decisively and use every available avenue" to secure their release.

The Iranian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sentencing.

According to a family ‌statement, the couple have been held for extended periods without being able to communicate. They have had limited or ⁠delayed access ⁠to legal representation, periods of solitary confinement and delays in receiving funds for basic necessities. They also reported disrupted or cancelled consular visits.

Cooper, whose office did not comment on the disruption, said they would continue to provide consular assistance.

Lindsay Foreman has been held in the women's section of Tehran's Evin Prison, while her husband Craig has been held in its political wing.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have in recent years detained foreign and dual nationals, typically on espionage or national security charges.

Human rights organizations say the authorities use such arrests as leverage in disputes with other countries, a practice they describe as part of a broader pattern of politically motivated detentions. Tehran has rejected those accusations and said the cases involved legitimate security concerns.