MIDDLE EAST

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In a stark reminder of their repressive governance, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has issued a new set of vice and virtue laws that significantly curtail women’s freedoms, marking a disturbing escalation in their campaign against women’s rights. These laws, published by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, and approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, represent the first formal declaration of such rules since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.

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On September 17, 2024, a devastating wave of exploding pagers swept across Lebanon and parts of Syria, resulting in at least eight fatalities and over 2,700 injuries. This unprecedented incident sent shockwaves through the region, raising tensions in an already volatile area.

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Tiers of graves are stacked deep underground in a bloated Gaza cemetery, where Sa’di Baraka spends his days hacking at the earth, making room for more dead.

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Afghanistan officials said on Wednesday that work would begin on a $10 billion gas pipeline traversing South Asia as officials joined dignitaries in neighboring Turkmenistan to celebrate its completion on that side of the border.

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International mediators are hoping to kickstart stalled cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas with a new round of talks meant to finally clinch a deal between the sides. But the chances of a breakthrough appear slim.

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Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across southern Lebanon early Sunday in what it called a preemptive strike to avert a large Hezbollah rocket and missile attack. The militant group said it fired hundreds of rockets and drones to avenge the killing of a top commander last month.

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Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been appointed as Bangladesh's interim leader following the dramatic ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The 84-year-old economist and pioneer of microloans was named interim chief a day after Hasina fled the country amid deadly protests demanding her resignation.