DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Konya: Turkey’s ancient city of whirling dervishes
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Robert Iddiols | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Konya, Turkey CNN —When most people think of Turkey bucket list destinations, a few obvious ones spring to mind - Istanbul, Turquoise Coast hotspots like Bodrum or the otherworldly landscapes of Cappadocia. As well as being a renowned Islamic scholar, Rumi launched the Mevlevi Order of the Whirling Dervishes. And while they can be seen in various locations across Turkey, Konya is the beating heart of their activities. Abdullah Çetín, a photographer based in Konya, says the city and region’s history is also what puts it on the map. Murat Oner Tas/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesKonya is also a jumping off point for Lake Tuz, a large hypersaline lake that lies about two hours’ drive northeast of the city.

Persons: –, it’s, Celaleddin Rumi, Rumi, Maulana, ”, Kerem Polat, Adem Altan, Polat, “, ” Polat, Abdullah Çetín, Çetín, Murat Oner Tas, Fahri Tunç, Tunç, ’, ‘, ” Tunç, he’s Organizations: CNN, Turkey CNN, Getty, ”, Mevlana Museum, Anadolu Agency Locations: Konya, Turkey, Istanbul, Turquoise, – Konya, Adem, AFP, Sultanate of Rum, Balkh, Afghanistan, Mecca, Medina, Anatolia, mycan, Sille, Gevale, Rumi, Konya “, Lake Tuz, Salt, Tuz

☆ Art therapy offers relief to Afghan women struggling with mental health
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But she sank into depression since the Taliban closed tertiary institutions to women in December, requiring psychiatric treatment where she was recommended art therapy classes. But many women, particularly in urban areas, who gained opportunities in education and work during the 20-year presence of foreign troops and a Western-backed government are now struggling with a deep sense of despair and mental health challenges, Afghan women and mental health experts say. There are few reliable figures on mental health trends but anecdotally doctors and aid workers say more women are struggling with mental health in the wake of the orders restricting women's work and education. Not only did I make good friends here, I also receive art therapy," said a former university student at the class. Khushi said the art therapy gave her a respite from home and a little hope for the future.

Persons: Khushi, I'm, Charlotte Greenfield, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Health, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MAZAR, SHARIF, Afghanistan, Balkh province's, Islamic Emirate, Balkh's, Mazar

☆ The Taliban promised to provide security to Afghans. New data shows threat from ISIS is growing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh Ehsan Popalzai Antonio Jarne Lou Robinson | Eliza Mackintosh | Ehsan Popalzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“Currently we don’t have security in Afghanistan at all, whenever we go out we don’t know if we will come home alive or not,” he added. Taliban security forces guard a checkpoint near the foreign ministry in Kabul on March 27, after an ISIS-K suicide bomber struck the site. The data, which is available in a live map, includes 367 pieces of open-source evidence — largely videos and images shared on social media — about 70 ISIS-K attacks since August 2021. As the Taliban try to minimize the threat ISIS-K poses, attacks on civilians continue. Taliban security forces have been waging ongoing operations and night raids against ISIS-K.

☆ Blast in Afghanistan's northern Balkh province kills one, injures 5
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, March 11 (Reuters) - A blast hit the capital of Afghanistan's northern Balkh province on Saturday, police said, killing one person and wounding five a few days after the death of the province's governor in an explosion claimed by Islamic State. "A blast has taken placed in the second police district of Balkh," said Mohamad Asif Waziri, Balkh's police spokesperson. A journalist based in Balkh, Mohammad Fardin Nowrozi, told Reuters he and other journalists were injured in the explosion, but did not provide further details. Taliban authorities were already investigating the explosion that killed the provincial governor, Mawlawi Mohammad Dawood Muzamil, and two others at his office on Thursday. The governor of Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar will temporarily run Balkh, his spokesman Haji Zaid told Reuters, until Supreme Spiritual Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada selects a new governor for the northern province, an important trade hub with Central Asia.

☆ Blast at Afghanistan journalist event kills at least one, injures eight
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, March 11 (Reuters) - A blast hit a cultural centre during an event for journalists in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding eight, according to authorities and journalists, a few days after the province's governor died in an explosion claimed by Islamic State. Takor added that five journalists and three children were among the injured and a security guard was killed. Sajad Mosawi, a journalist in Balkh who was injured in the blast, said it had torn through the centre during an event to celebrate journalists. Taliban authorities were already investigating the explosion that killed provincial governor Mawlawi Mohammad Dawood Muzamil and two others at his office on Thursday. Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by William Mallard and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Taliban plans to turn former foreign bases into special economic zones
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Mohammad IsmailKABUL, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The Taliban administration will move ahead with plans to turn former foreign military bases into special economic zones for businesses, the acting deputy prime minister for economic affairs said in a statement on Sunday. "Following a thorough discussion, it was decided that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce should progressively take control of the remaining military bases of the foreign forces with the intention of converting them into special economic zones," Mullah Baradar said in the statement. He added a pilot plan would begin to convert bases in the capital Kabul and in northern Balkh province. Afghanistan's economy has struggled and aid agencies are warning of a severe humanitarian crisis since the Taliban took over in 2021 as foreign troops withdrew after 20 years of war. The Taliban have said they are focused on boosting economic self-sufficiency through trade and investment.

☆ Exclusive: Afghan government officials helped smugglers sneak almost $1 billion in cash and gold out of Afghanistan as the US-backed government neared collapse, documents show
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | Edris Lutfi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The office of Ashraf Ghani, the US-backed Afghan president, had been informed about the problem, insiders say. The smuggling flouted Afghan laws requiring travelers to declare cash or gold worth $10,000 or more and a strict ban on exporting $20,000 or more. The documents identify the two men as being part of the 2021 smuggling ring; they do not allege who was behind the $824 million smuggled in 2019 and 2020. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani meets with President Joe Biden in June 2021. The UAE is also the home of Ghani and Noor, the former provincial governor with alleged ties to the Hairatan smuggling ring.

☆ Taliban ban women from parks, morality ministry says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Afghan women will no longer be allowed in parks, a spokesperson for the Taliban's morality ministry said, in part because they had not been meeting its interpretation of Islamic attire during their visits. "Unfortunately, the owners of parks didn't co-operate with us very well, and also the women didn't observe hijab as was suggested. However, the Taliban have said women should wear long flowing clothes that cover their bodies and also cover their faces, such as the all-enveloping burqa. Some women in Kabul and other urban centres do not cover their faces in public and others wear a surgical face mask. The Taliban say they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.

☆ Former Pakistan leader Imran Khan disqualified from holding office
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s elections commission on Friday disqualified former Prime Minister Imran Khan from holding public office for five years, accusing him of unlawfully selling state gifts and concealing assets, his spokesman and officials said. Chaudhry condemned the move and urged Khan’s supporters to protest publicly. Balkh Ser Khosa, a prominent lawyer, said the commission disqualified Khan from holding public office because he unlawfully sold state gifts given to him by other countries when he was in power. Banaras Khan / AFP via Getty ImagesLaw Minister Azam Nazir Tarar confirmed that the commission found Khan guilty of the charges. Tarar said Khan has been disqualified from holding public office for five years.

☆ Talibanii au cucerit două noi districte în Afganistan
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-12 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +2 min

Sursa foto: Getty ImagesTalibanii au cucerit două noi districte în AfganistanTalibani au cucerit încă două districte în Afganistan. Astfel, de la începutul retragerii trupelor NATO din Afganistan, la 1 mai, un număr de 17 districte afgane au căzut sub controlul talibanilor. „Prezenţa oricăror trupe străine în patria noastră, indiferent de numele lor, este inacceptabilă pentru poporul afgan şi Emiratul islamic”, au precizat talibanii într-un comunicat. Demararea procesului de retragere a trupelor NATO din Afganistan a început la 1 mai 2021, după ce miniştrii apărării şi de externe ai ţărilor alianţei au decis ca toți militarii din Afganistan să fie retrași până pe 11 septembrie. Decizia de retragere a trupelor a fost propusă de președintele Statelor Uunite ale Americii, Joe Biden.

Persons: Talibanii, Joe Biden Organizations: NATO Locations: Afganistan Talibani, Afganistan, americane, Ghor, Zara, Emiratul, Turcia, afgan, Kabul, Statelor Uunite, Americii, Statele Unite, România

☆ I'm a photographer who covered 9/11 and its aftermath. Here are the most gripping photos I took, and the stories behind them.
▼ + stars: | 2001-09-11 | by ( Alan Chin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

A month after that, I got an assignment to go to northern Afghanistan. Their soldiers had repelled a Taliban offensive in 1997, and massacred thousands of the Taliban prisoners they had captured. Air Force flights from as far away as Germany were dropping American military and humanitarian food packets in an effort to win hearts and minds. This was taken aboard the ferry connecting the east and west sides of the American military base. Even as the American war in Afghanistan ends in both ignominy and relief, the conflicts there and in dozens of other places continue.

Search resuls for: "Balkh"

11 mentions found