asia
China's advice to stockpile sparks speculation of Taiwan war
A seemingly innocuous government recommendation for Chinese people to store necessities for an emergency quickly sparked scattered instances of panic-buying and online speculation: Is China going to war with Taiwan?
The answer is probably not — most analysts think military hostilities are not imminent — but the posts on social media show the possibility is on people’s minds and drew out a flurry of war-mongering comments.
Taiwan is a self-governing island of 24 million people China regards as a renegade province that should come under its rule. Tensions have risen sharply recently, with China sending a growing number of warplanes on sorties near the island and the U.S. selling arms to Taiwan and deepening its ties with the government.
Most residents interviewed in Beijing, the Chinese capital, thought war was unlikely but acknowledged the rising tensions. They generally favored bringing Taiwan under Chinese rule by peaceful means, the official position of China's long-ruling Communist Party.
Read: At least 46 killed in Taiwanese apartment building inferno
“I don’t feel panic but I think we should be more alert about this than in the past,” said Hu Chunmei, who was taking a neighborhood walk.
War fears or not, there were scattered reports of runs on rice, noodles and cooking oil in some Chinese cities, according to local media. The more immediate worry for some was the possibility of neighborhood lockdowns as a COVID-19 outbreak spreads in several provinces.
The government moved quickly to try to tamp down fears with assurances of sufficient supplies. A bright yellow sign in an aisle of a Beijing supermarket asked customers to buy reasonably and not to listen to rumors or stockpile goods.
The online speculation started with a Commerce Ministry notice posted Monday evening about a plan to ensure the supply and stable price of vegetables and other necessities for the winter and spring. A line in it encouraged families to store some necessities for daily life and emergencies.
That was enough to set off some hoarding and a discussion on social media that the ministry could be signaling people should stock up for war.
China's state media has covered the rising tensions with Taiwan heavily, including the often-tough words exchanged between China on one side and the U.S. and Taiwan on the other.
“It is natural to have aroused some imagination,” social commentator Shi Shusi said. “We should believe the government’s explanations, but the underlying anxiety deserves our thought.”
He said the populist views cheerleading for war don't represent majority opinion but do send a signal or warning to Taiwan.
Read:Tensions flare as Chinese flights near Taiwan intensify
Other developments fueled the war speculation. One person shared a screenshot of a list of recommended emergency equipment for families issued in August by the government in Xiamen, a coastal city near an outlying Taiwanese island. An unverified report — denied Wednesday by a military-affiliated social media account — said veterans were being called back to service to prepare for combat.
It's difficult to gauge how many people interpreted the notice as a possible prelude to war, but the reaction was strong enough to prompt a state media response the next day.
The Economic Daily, a government-owned newspaper, said people's imagination shouldn't run so wild, explaining that the advice was meant for people who may find themselves suddenly locked down because of a COVID-19 outbreak.
Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the Global Times newspaper, blamed the the online speculation on the amplification of public opinion during a time of tension.
“I do not believe that the country wants to send a signal to the public at this time through a notice from the Commerce Ministry that people need to ‘hurry up and prepare for war,’" he wrote.
Zhang Xi, another Beijing resident, ruled out the possibility of war and counseled patience in a dispute extending to when Taiwan and China split during the civil war that brought Mao Zedong's Communists to power in 1949.
“This is a leftover from history, and it’s impossible to solve this right away," she said.
Covid vaccine: India-made Covaxin approved by WHO for emergency use
India-made COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, developed by the biotechnology company Bharat Biotech, on Wednesday was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use.
According to an India Today report, the WHO's technical advisory group has recommended the Emergency Use Listing status for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.
Earlier on Monday, Australia's medicines and medical devices regulator had formally recognized Covaxin, as the country's border was reopened for the first time in nearly 20 months, said the report.
World's first partnership for transnational solar power grid launched in Glasgow
World's first partnership for interconnected solar grid, known as the Green Grids Initiative - One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG) launched on Tuesday at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.
The International Solar Alliance (ISA), India Presidency of the ISA, and the UK COP Presidency unveiled plans for the first international network of global interconnected solar power grids, GGI-OSOWOG, at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, an ISA statement said, reports the Economic Times.
The announcement was accompanied by the One Sun declaration.
"Realizing the vision of One Sun One World One Grid through interconnected green grids can be transformational, enabling all of us to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement to prevent dangerous climate change, to accelerate the clean energy transition, and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.These efforts can stimulate green investments and create millions of good jobs. By sharing the sun's energy, we can help to build a more peaceful and prosperous world," the declaration stated.
The declaration has been endorsed by 80 ISA member countries.
The project, being spearheaded by India and the UK in partnership with the ISA and the World Bank Group, aims to harness solar energy wherever the sun is shining, ensuring that generated electricity flows to areas that need it most.
READ: Bangladesh’s single largest rooftop solar power plant inaugurated in Korean EPZ
The GGI-OSOWOG will bring together a global coalition of national governments, international financial and technical organisations, legislators, power system operators and knowledge leaders to accelerate the construction of the new infrastructure needed for a world powered by clean energy.
In doing so, the project aims to reduce reliance on non-renewable energy such as coal by enabling them to purchase affordable solar power from other countries.
The ISA aims to help mobilize USD 1 trillion of funding by 2030 to assist developing countries in expanding their solar power grids, both in transmission and generation, to meet their energy needs.
The initiative is widely seen as a big and bold move in ISA's ongoing efforts to realise a global solar transition roadmap and will go some way towards realising its vision for a solar energy future.
Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: "The One Sun One World One Grid and Green Grids Initiative is an idea whose time has come. If the world has to move to a clean and green future, these interconnected transnational grids are going to be critical solutions."
READ: Solar power plant in Manikganj starts commercial operation
The event also featured an address by the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
"The UK is working hand-in-hand with our friends in India to transform the future of the power sector and ensure clean and reliable electricity is accessible everywhere by the end of this decade. It's fantastic that over 80 countries have backed our newly launched Green Grids Initiative, whose collaboration will not only see greater growth, jobs and investment in our global green future, but also make sure no one is left without access to energy," Johnson said.
ISA Director General, Dr. Ajay Mathur said: "This network has the potential to be a modern engineering marvel, and a catalyst for greatly expanding renewable electricity generation, and effectively mitigating climate change in the next decade.
"At a global level, almost 2600 GW of interconnection capacity may be possible up to 2050, delivering estimated power savings of 226 billion euros per year. The One Sun Declaration is multilateralism in action, with leaders of the world coming together to drive sustainable impactful change for a cleaner planet and a greener economy."
"Through the power of solar and other renewables, and our collective efforts, we believe we can build and support a transition away from fossil fuels to a cost-effective solar future and open up affordable, renewable electricity supplies to markets that have been historically underserved."
The project will drive global interconnectivity across the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, while leveraging African power pools.
The global grid concept was first announced by Modi in October 2018 during the first assembly of the ISA. In May 2021, the UK pledged technical, financial and research support for the OSOWOG project.
The International Solar Alliance (ISA), was launched at COP21 in Paris and has recently expanded its membership scope to include all UN member states. There are 90 signatories and 193 prospective members.
IS attack on Kabul hospital leaves 7 dead, 16 wounded
Islamic State militants set off an explosion at the entrance to a military hospital in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, killing at least seven people, a senior Taliban official said. It was one of the most brazen IS attacks yet since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in the summer.
Among those killed were three women, a child, and three Taliban guards, said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. Five attackers were also killed, he said, adding that Taliban guards prevented them from getting into the hospital. He said the attack was over within 15 minutes.
Read:In Afghanistan, a girls’ school is the story of a village
“No one was killed inside the hospital,” the spokesman said. He said Taliban guards thwarted IS plans to target medical staff and patients in the 400-bed facility.
He said Taliban special forces were subsequently deployed and searched the hospital and that a helicopter was used in the operation.
Health officials said 16 people were wounded in the attack on the Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan hospital in Kabul’s 10th district. Mujahid said five Taliban fighters were among the wounded.
Earlier, another Taliban official had said the attack was carried out by six men, and that two of them were captured.
Read:Suicide attack on Shiite mosque in Afghanistan kills 47
During the attack, city residents had reported two explosions in the area, along with the sound of gunfire.
In recent weeks, IS militants carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks. IS has stepped up attacks since the Taliban takeover of the country.
Australian recognition for Covaxin a booster dose for mutual agreements with other countries
Australia’s decision on Monday to accept Bharat Biotech-manufactured Covaxin as a “recognised” vaccine for the purpose of determining a traveller’s vaccination status has come as a big boost for India’s first-indigenous Covid-19 vaccine as it awaits emergency approval from the WHO. Australia had already approved AstraZeneca-manufactured Covishield for travel last month, reports The Hindu Business Line.
While Covaxin is pending WHO approval and is not recognised by a majority of countries, including the US and the UK, India has worked the diplomatic channels for mutual agreements with about a dozen nations to facilitate entry of Indians vaccinated by Covaxin. Covaxin has thus far been approved for travel in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Iran, Mauritius, Greece, Zimbabwe, Mexico and the Philippines.
Read: COP26: India will reach net zero emissions by 2070, says PM Modi
The Ministry of External Affairs is in negotiations with several others, including many European nations, for mutual recognition of vaccine certifications, so that WHO recognition ceases to be a mandatory condition. One such agreement has already been struck between India and Hungary last month and the government is hopeful of more success soon.
Modi lauds decision
Australia’s move to recognise Covaxin will have significant impact for the return of international students, and travel of skilled and unskilled workers to Australia, according to a statement released by Department of Health, Australia on Monday. Australian health regulatory body, Theraupatic Goods’ Administration (TGA), has also approved BBIBP-CorV, manufactured by Sinopharm, China, for travellers aged between 18 and 60.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his appreciation for Australia’s decision. “It is an important step forward in post-Covid partnership between Indian and Australia,” Modi tweeted.
Read:Indonesia first to greenlight Novavax COVID-19 vaccine
The Australian health regulator said recognition of Covaxin, and BBIBP-CorV, along with the previously announced recognition of Coronavac (manufactured by Sinovac, China) and Covishield (manufactured by AstraZeneca, India), means many citizens of China and India will now be considered fully vaccinated on entry to Australia.
“In recent weeks, the TGA has obtained additional information demonstrating these vaccines provide protection and potentially reduce the likelihood that an incoming traveller would transmit Covid-19 infection to others while in Australia or become acutely unwell due to Covid-19. The supporting information has been provided to the TGA from the vaccine sponsor and/or the WHO,” the TGA statement said.
COP26: India will reach net zero emissions by 2070, says PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday gave a five-pronged target for India and finally committed to a Net Zero emission target by 2070, joining the likes of the US, the UK and China, reports Business Standard.
“I am giving a panchamrit — five targets that India is committing to join the global fight for climate change — by 2030. Our non-fossil capacity will touch 500 Gw and 50 per cent of our energy needs will come from renewable energy sources. From now to 2030, the projected carbon emissions will reduce by 1 billion tonnes and our overall carbon intensity of the economy will see a 45 per cent reduction.”
In line with expectations from the UK and the US, he said India would be a Net Zero economy by 2070.
Net Zero is achieved when the amount of greenhouse gas produced is offset by the amount removed from the atmosphere. This entails no future investment in coal or fossil fuels and greening several industries and economies.
Read:How virtual galleries kept Indian art alive amid Covid
Modi also upped the renewable energy target of the country to 500 Gw by 2030. It was 450 Gw earlier. India’s current RE capacity stands at 175 Gw.
“Today India’s installed renewable capacity is fourth in the world. In the last seven years, our non-fossil fuel energy has seen 25 per cent growth and the share of green energy in the mix reached 40 per cent,” Modi said, adding that India’s national transporter, Indian Railways, had declared a Net Zero target year of 2030.
“This entails 60 million tonnes of emission reduction every year. Another 40 million tonne emissions reduction will come from our LED programme,” Modi said.
He spoke of several other initiatives of India, including the International Solar Alliance (ISA), and said India had joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
He asked the developed world to increase financing to meet the enhanced targets that India had declared.
“India has raised its ambition in setting its targets. They also need to raise ambitions in climate finance and tech transfer. The world cannot achieve newer targets with old goals of climate finance,” Modi said.
India is the only country to fulfil commitments made in Paris. India is putting climate change at the centre of its policies, Modi said.
"Whole world thinks is only one economy which has worked Paris agreement on letter and spirit and it is India," said the PM.
The US has declared Net zero by 2050, same as the UK. China has net zero target year 2060.
India has been long pressed by global leaders to declare a net zero target. From the US, John Kerry, special Presidential envoy for climate change, has long pressed India to declare a headline ‘Net Zero’ target. On his last visit to India, Kerry termed India a “red-hot investment destination” for the solar sector, saying the country has set an example for developing nations by reaching 100 Gw of renewable energy capacity.
Read: US returns antiquities to India in stolen art investigation
Speaking at the same event, Joe Biden, the US President said his government has proposed to quadruple the climate financing by the US by 2024 for adaptation efforts. He said the country will try to meet the $100 billion annual financing target of developed world to developing countries.
A day before, Bhupendra Yadav, union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said developed countries have not only failed to meet the $100 billion goal per year of support to developing countries.
Delivering the statement on behalf of the BASIC group of countries, comprising Brazil, South Africa, India and China at the UN Climate Change Conference underway at Glasgow, Yadav said, "In a context where developing countries, including BASIC countries, have massively stepped up their climate actions since 2009, it is unacceptable that there is still no matching ambition from developed countries on the enabling means of implementation on climate finance support."
Indonesia first to greenlight Novavax COVID-19 vaccine
Biotechnology company Novavax said Monday that Indonesia has given the world's first emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine, which uses a different technology than current shots.
The vaccine is easier to store and transport than some other shots, which could allow it to play an important role in boosting supplies in poorer countries around the world.
The two-dose Novavax vaccine is made with lab-grown copies of the spike protein that coats the coronavirus. That’s very different from widely used mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna that deliver genetic instructions for the body to make its own spike protein.
Read: Indonesia prison fire kills 41 drug inmates, 80 hospitalized
The emergency authorization of the vaccine is a “very important step” for Indonesia's COVID-19 vaccination program, Indonesian epidemiologist Dicky Budiman said.
“This vaccine will be much easier to transport, store and distribute in a place like Indonesia, where we have many islands,” he said.
Budiman said if the rollout of the vaccine is successful, it could lead to its approval and use in other developing nations.
The need for more vaccines remains critical in many countries, including Indonesia.
In June, U.S.-based Novavax announced the vaccine had proven about 90% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 in a study of nearly 30,000 people in the U.S. and Mexico. It also worked against variants circulating in those countries at the time, it said.
The company said side effects were mild and included tenderness at the injection site, headache, aches and pains and fatigue.
In October, it addressed concerns that production of the vaccine had been slowed due to a lack of raw materials and other issues, saying it planned to “achieve a capacity of 150 million doses per month by the end of the fourth quarter” through partnerships with Serum Institute of India, SK Bioscience in South Korea and Takeda in Japan, among others.
Novavax said it has already filed for authorization of the vaccine in the United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, Australia, India and the Philippines.
Read: Rapid virus spread through Indonesia taxes health workers
Indonesia was battered by a deadly wave of COVID-19 fueled by the delta variant and post-holiday travel from June through August. New cases have now dropped, averaging less than 1,000 a day since mid October.
About 36% of people in Indonesian have received two doses of a vaccine, and about 58% have received one dose, according to the Ministry of Health.
Over 143,400 people have died from the virus in Indonesia. The number is thought to be an undercount due to low testing and tracing.
Japan votes in national election, 1st key test for Kishida
Japanese voters are casting ballots in national elections Sunday, a first big test for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to determine if he has a large enough mandate to tackle a coronavirus-battered economy, a fast-aging and dwindling population and security challenges from China and North Korea.
Up for grabs are 465 seats in the lower house, the more powerful of the two-chamber Japanese Diet, or parliament.
Kishida's governing Liberal Democratic Party is expected to lose some seats from pre-election levels, but maintain a comfortable majority together with its junior coalition partner Komeito.
Kishida, 64, was elected prime minister on Oct. 4 after winning the leadership race in his ruling party, as its conservative leaders saw him as a safe status-quo successor to Yoshihide Suga and his influential predecessor Shinzo Abe.
Kishida’s immediate task has been to rally support for a party weakened by Suga’s perceived high-handed approach to pandemic measures and his insistence on holding the Tokyo Summer Olympics despite widespread opposition.
Kishida dissolved the lower house only 10 days after taking office, calling for this election and declaring that he wanted a mandate from voters for his new government before getting to work.
The short, 17-day interval between the lower house dissolution and the vote that followed the LDP leadership race, which had dominated media coverage, unfairly gave Kishida's party an advantage over the opposition, some experts say.
Read: Japan's ruling party loses 1 of 2 by-elections in blow to PM Kishida
Kishida’s long-term grip on power will depend on how well he does in the election.
Kishida repeatedly stressed his determination to listen to the people and to address criticism that the nine-year Abe-Suga leadership had caused corruption, tamed bureaucrats and muzzled opposing opinions.
The campaign has largely centered on COVID-19 response measures and revitalizing the economy.
While Kishida’s ruling party stressed the importance of having a stronger military amid worries over China’s growing influence and North Korea’s missile and nuclear threat, opposition parties focused on diversity issues and pushing for gender equality.
Opposition leaders complain that recent LDP governments have widened the gap between rich and poor, did not support the economy during the pandemic and stalled gender equality and diversity initiatives. Japan this year ranked 120th in the World Economic Forum's 156-nation gender-gap ranking.
Kishida has set a modest goal for the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito. He wants to jointly keep their majority, which would be 233 seats in the 465-member lower house. That's a low bar, considering that the LDP alone had 276 seats before the election. A big drop, even if the party keeps its majority, would be a bad start for Kishida’s weeks-old administration.
Media polls suggest the LDP is likely to lose seats, in part because five opposition parties formed a united front to unify candidates in many small electoral constituencies and are expected to gain positions there.
If, as many predict, the ruling coalition secures 261 seats, they could control all parliamentary committees and easily push through any divisive legislation.
Most results are expected by early Monday.
The opposition has long struggled to win enough votes to form a government after a brief rule of the now-defunct center-left Democratic Party of Japan in 2009-2012, as they have not been able to show a grand vision for Japan.
On the economy, Kishida has emphasized growth by raising incomes, while opposition groups focus more on redistribution of wealth and call for cash payouts to pandemic-hit low-income households.
Read: Japan's Kishida sends offering to controversial Tokyo shrine
Kishida, in his final speech Saturday in Tokyo, promised to spur growth and “distribute its fruit” to the people as income. “It’s for you to decide who can responsibly do so.”
The LDP opposes legislation guaranteeing equality for sexual minorities and allowing separate surnames for married couples.
Of the 1,051 candidates, only 17% are women, despite a 2018 law promoting gender equality in elections, which is toothless because there is no penalty. Women account for about 10% of parliament, a situation gender rights experts call “democracy without women.”
Voters, including young couples with small children, started arriving at polling stations in downtown Tokyo early in the morning.
Shinji Asada, 44, said he compared COVID-19 measures to pick a candidate, hoping for a change of leadership, as he thought the ruling party lacked explanation and transparency over its pandemic measures. He said that despite Kishida's promise to be more mindful of the people's voices, “I thought nothing would change (under him) after seeing his Cabinet," whose posts largely went to party factions that voted for him.
A 50-year-old part-time worker, Kana Kasai, said she voted for someone who she thought would “work fingers to the bone” for a better future.
In Afghanistan, a girls’ school is the story of a village
Mina Ahmed smears a cement mixture to strengthen the walls of her war-ravaged home in rural Afghanistan. Her hands, worn by the labor, are bandaged with plastic scraps and elastic bands, but no matter, she welcomes the new era of peace under the Taliban.
She was once apprehensive of the group’s severe style of rule in her village of Salar. But being caught in the crosshairs of a two-decade long war has granted her a new perspective.
Taliban control comes with limits, even for women, and that is alright, the 45-year-old said. “With these restrictions we can live our lives at least.”
But she draws the line on one point: Her daughters, ages 13, 12 and 6, must go to school.
From a bird’s eye view, the village of Salar is camouflaged against a towering mountain range in Wardak province. The community of several thousand, nearly 70 miles from the capital Kabul, serves as a microcosm of the latest chapter in Afghanistan’s history — the second round of rule by the Taliban — showing what has changed and what hasn’t since their first time in power, in the late 1990s.
Residents of Salar, which has been under Taliban hold the past two years, are embracing the new stability now that the insurgents’ war with the U.S. military and its Afghan allies is over. Those displaced by fighting are returning home. Still, they fear a worsening economic crisis and a drought that is keenly felt in a province where life revolves around the harvest.
In Kabul and other cities, public discontent toward the Taliban is focused on threats to personal freedoms, including the rights of women.
In Salar, these barely resonate. The ideological gap between the Taliban leadership and the rural conservative community is not wide. Many villagers supported the insurgency and celebrated the Aug. 15 fall of Kabul which consolidated Taliban control across the country.
But even in Salar, changes are afoot, beginning with the villagers’ insistence on their local elementary school for girls.
Read: Suicide attack on Shiite mosque in Afghanistan kills 47
That insistence helped push the Taliban to accept a new, small school, funded by international donors. But what the school will become — a formal public school paving the way to higher education, a religious madrasa, or something in between — is uncertain, like the future of the village and the country.
A VILLAGE DEMAND
By 8 a.m., 38 small faces framed by veils are seated on a carpeted floor looking up at their teacher, Qari Wali Khan. With a stick in hand and furrowed brow, he calls on the girls to recite from the Quran.
Rokia, 10, is the unlucky first. Merely three words of classical Arabic escape her lips when Wali Khan interrupts, correcting her pronunciation. When she repeats again, he exclaims, “Afarin!” — “Excellent,” in Pashtu.
In three hours, the students, ages 9-12, will cover Quranic memorization, mathematics, handwriting, and more Islamic study. Homework: What is 105 x 25?
The school opened two months ago, marking the first time in 20 years girls in the village have ever stepped foot in a classroom, or something like it. In the absence of a building, lessons are held in Wali Khan’s living room.
The classes are the product of U.N. negotiations with the Taliban.
In 2020, the U.N. began working on a program to set up girls’ learning centers in conservative and remote areas, including ones under Taliban control at the time, like Sayedabad district where Salar is located.
Taliban interlocutors were initially reluctant to embrace the idea, but an agreement was eventually reached in November 2020, said Jeanette Vogelaar, UNICEF’s chief of education. International funding was secured, $35 million a year for three years to finance 10,000 such centers.
Launch was delayed by COVID-19. By the time centers were scheduled to open, the Taliban had taken over in Kabul. To everyone’s surprise, they allowed the project to go ahead, even using the previous government’s curriculum — though they have introduced more Islamic learning and insisted on gender segregation and female teachers.
Wali Khan, a madrasa teacher by training, got the job in Wardak because most educated women had left for the capital.
The program enables girls without formal schooling to complete six grades in three years. When completed, they should be ready to enter Grade 7.
It remains unresolved whether they can continue after that. In most districts, the Taliban have prohibited girls ages 12-17 from going to public school.
Still, it’s a good start, Vogelaar said. “Based on what we see now, somehow the Taliban doesn’t seem to be the same as how they behaved before,” she said.
Ten years ago, the Taliban were at the forefront of a deadly campaign targeting government officials in Wardak, with particular venom reserved for those campaigning for girls’ schools. Two village elders recounted the shooting death of Mirajuddin Ahmed, Sayedabad’s director of education and a vocal supporter for girl’s’ access to education.
Several public girls’ schools were burned down in 2007 in the province. To this day, not a single one stands.
Times have changed.
“If they don’t allow girls to go to this school now, there will be an uprising,” said village elder Abdul Hadi Khan.
Read: Taliban says US will provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan
The shifting attitudes may be part of a broader trend in support of education. In 2000, when the Taliban were last in power, there were just 100,000 girls in school, out of a total 1 million schoolchildren. Now they are 4 million out of 10 million schoolchildren, according to the U.N.
Salar’s villagers wanted no different. They convinced Wali Khan to teach.
“They put their trust in me, they told me, this is a need in our society,” he said.
That might be one reason why the Taliban decided to cooperate; with the economy in ruins, they could not risk alienating a constituency that supported them throughout the insurgency.
There are concerns of how much the Taliban will shape the schooling. The U.N. is aware the Taliban enter villages and insist on more Islamic study, said Vogelaar.
Most families are not against it, either. Sayedabad district is composed primarily of Afghanistan’s dominant Pashtun ethnic group, from which the Taliban are mostly drawn. Religion and conservatism are central to daily village life.
But a madrasa-type education “was not the intention,” said Vogelaar.
Wali Khan said he received specific orders from the Taliban-controlled education directorate in Sayedabad to “include more religious study” in the curriculum. He obeyed.
In late October, local Taliban officials came to visit Wali Khan. They wanted to know how the classes were going.
“The girls have a hunger to learn,” he told them.
A FATHER’S PRIDE
After class, 12-year-old Sima runs home, whizzing past Salar’s mud-brick houses, a cloud of dust in her wake.
Her father, Nisar, is away picking tomatoes in the fields for 200 afghanis ($2.5) a day. He is their only breadwinner.
Her mother, Mina, is still mixing cement.
Mina expects it will be a long time before her home is in one piece again.
She’s rebuilding bit by bit, buying cement bags for the equivalent of $1 whenever she can. She has accumulated some 100,000 afghanis ($1,100) in debt to relatives and friends.
The family returned home just a month ago. Only one of the house’s four rooms was usable. Walls are still riddled with bullet holes.
They had fled more than 11 years earlier, moving to the other side of the village where it was safer. Their home was too dangerous, located on a strategic incline overlooking Highway One, which connects Kabul to the south and was a hotbed of insurgent activity throughout the war.
She remembers standing out in the cold as American troops inspected their house for insurgents. By 2007, ambushes of army convoys on the highway became frequent. Many times, Mina saw army tanks burst into flames from her kitchen window. She has lost two brothers-in-law.
Read: US, Taliban to hold first talks since Afghanistan withdrawal
The ruins of an army checkpoint lie above Mina’s home. The Afghan army held it for 18 years, until the Taliban took over the area decisively two years ago.
Mina has made slow progress with the house but fears what will happen as temperatures drop and market prices rise.
Afghanistan is grappling with an economic crisis after the U.S. froze Afghan assets in line with international sanctions against the Taliban. Foreign aid that once accounted for 75% of state expenditure has also paused.
Mina has six children and they all need to be fed, she said.
Everyone who has returned has a similar story.
“You won’t find one person in this village who is in a good situation,” said Mahmad Rizak, 38, standing outside his home with a face flecked with cement.
Food shortages are taking a toll. The Mohammed Khan Hospital, the only one in the district, is struggling with a rising number of malnourished newborns wailing in the maternity ward.
In the surgical ward, an unusual museum of mementos hangs on the wall. It consists of bullets and kidney stones removed from patients — the first from the war, the second from poor water quality.
“Tells you everything about this place,” said Dr. Gul Makia.
Drought has decimated the harvest, leaving many whose lives revolve around tilling the earth and raising livestock with no means to make a living.
When October ends, so does tomato-picking season, and Nisar will be out of work.
He joins his wife in mixing cement.
He points to the room once occupied by Afghan soldiers, and then Taliban insurgents after them. “My daughter will become a teacher one day, and we will make this into a school for her to educate other girls.”
“She will be our pride,” he said.
India test-fires intercontinental ballistic missile Agni-V
India Wednesday successfully test-fired its surface-to-surface intercontinental ballistic missile Agni-V, developed with the intent of being able to hit China.
The long-range Agni-V was launched from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of the eastern Indian state of Odisha, at 7.50 pm (local time), a Defence Ministry statement said.
The missile, which uses a three-stage solid fuelled engine, is capable of striking targets at ranges up to 5,000 km with a very high degree of accuracy, it added.
Read: India among world's top 10 for climate tech investment: Report
However, the Ministry made it clear that the test of Agni-5 "is in line with India's stated policy to have credible minimum deterrence that underpins the commitment to No First Use".
The missile, which forms the bedrock of India's nuclear deterrent, has been developed by the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation.
Experts say that even with a range of 5,000 km, Agni-V could hit targets in China, including in Beijing. Agni-V was first test-fired some nine years ago.