World News
Don tears certificate on TV *Says, they’re useless if women are denied education
“From today, I don’t need these diplomas anymore because this country is no place for an education. If my sister and my mother can’t study, then I don’t accept this education,” were the exact words with which Ismail Mashal, publicly tore his certificate to protest the exclusion of women from university education in Aghanistan.
A viral video, captured Mashal, a Kabul professor, destroying his diplomas certificate on a live television interview in Afghanistan in protest over the Taliban’s barring of women from higher education.
Said to be the founder of the private Mashal University in Kabul and also a lecturer at Kabul University, Mashal, with tears in his eyes and his voice quivering, while ripping up the diplomas during an on-set appearance for the country’s Tolo News on Monday, added that the diplomas were for his multiple Masters and Doctorate degrees, and that they were the originals.
The clip of his appearance has since gone viral, including being retweeted by Shabnam Nasimi, the former policy adviser to the Minister for Afghan Resettlement & Minister for Refugees, based in the UK.
“Astonishing scenes as a Kabul university professor destroys his diplomas on live TV in Afghanistan,” tweeted Nasimi, alongside the clip.
The Taliban announced on December 20 that university education for all female students had been suspended. This follows the government barring girls from attending secondary school in March of this year.
It also comes on the heels of many other limitations placed on women’s freedoms, including their access to public spaces. In November, women were banned for entering all parks in Kabul. The same month, a Taliban official in Kabul announced that women would be barred from using gyms across the country.
Women are also required to wear the hijab and dress modestly in public under the Taliban rules.
Volodymyr Zelensky, on Monday, expressed his readiness for a face-to-face meeting with Vladmir Putting, after a devastating overnight Russian blitzkrieg from Russian forces, which hit Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, setting fire on Dormition Cathedral, one of the iconic Orthodox monasteries in the country.
Reports, about the incident, narrated how residents, scampered in different directions as they sought safety from the projectiles intercepted in the sky and glowing debris falling across the city, with Zelensky, for the umpteenth times calling on world leaders to mount more pressure on Moscow from G7 summit in France.
As onslaught, said to have killed five people and wounded 34, following the outbreak of the fire on the grounds of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO world heritage site, Zelensky, reportedly told US President Donald Trump he was willing to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the United States.
Quoted as calling it an offer Putin would find “harder to refuse,” the Ukrainian leader, reportedly, said on his social media handles: “This is one of Russia’s most serious crimes against Christian culture to date.
Denying a direct attack on the iconic monument, founded in the 11th century, with huge significance for Orthodox believers in both Ukraine and Russia, Russia’s military said it only carried out a “massive strike” on military sites in Kyiv, as well as the Kharkiv and Dnipro regions, saying the facility was hit by an outdated US Patriot air defence missile.
But Zelensky, who visited the site said two Russian drones “deliberately” targeted Kyiv’s monastery quarter in the attack where Moscow was said to have fired 70 missiles and 611 drones, mainly targeting the capital, Ukraine’s air force said, adding that it had downed 50 of the missiles and 582 drones.
Makariy, a resident monk in the monastery, quoted as saying that he jumped from his bed after having been woken by a strong roar at five in the morning, was reported to have added that after stepping out of his room, he saw the complex engulfed in “fire and smoke” and took cover in a shelter.
Kyiv’s Metropolitan Epiphanius, heading the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who joined the United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO in condemning the attack, said to have killed 11 people, including four in Kyiv and five — rescue workers and a civil servant — in the northeastern city of Kharkiv was quoted to have said: “What more must the Kremlin antichrist do for the world to realise that decisive action must be taken to stop Russian terror against Ukraine and against the very principles of peace?”
In Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike also killed three people and wounded three others in the city of Tula, around 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Moscow, the regional governor Dmitry Milyaev said on Monday.
Zelensky said he was waiting to see what came of his proposal to meet Putin in the US, warning that if Russia again refuses talks, “additional pressure will be needed.”
Putin has repeatedly rejected calls for a face-to-face meeting, including a fresh invitation from Zelensky to meet during the G7 summit.
Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has turned into Europe’s worst conflict since World War II, with thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of troops killed.
As the near-daily pummelling of its cities by Russian drones and missiles continues, Ukraine has in recent weeks stepped up its own aerial attacks, which it says mostly target Russia’s oil infrastructure to sap its profits that fund the war.
Journalists and other guests, were forced to dock under their tables, fended by security operatives after sounds of gunshots were heard within the precinct of the venue where Donald Trump, President of the United States was hosting media personalities to a dinner on Saturday.
The POTUS and his wife Melania, were declared unhurt after the incident, in which one person was arrested and taken away and is said to be currently in custordy, as a result.
The incident took place at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., on Saturday night, with the United States Secret Service confirming that a suspect was been taken into custody, adding that investigations were ongoing in collaboration with local law enforcement.
The shooting occurred near the main security screening area at the event venue, the Washington Hilton, where hundreds of journalists, politicians, and guests had gathered, reports say, quoting the statement as saying: “The President and first lady are safe along with all protectees.”
The report maintained that the condition of those involved in the incident was still being assessed, while witnesses said they heard what sounded like gunshots shortly after 8:30 p.m., triggering panic as attendees fled the ballroom.
Security operatives were seen swiftly evacuating top officials, including Vice President J.D. Vance and members of the cabinet with a video footage from the scene showing Secret Service agents clearing the stage and ushering the President and other dignitaries to safety, while voices were heard urging people to “stay down.”
Trump, who spoke shortly after the incident, praised security agencies for their swift response, saying via a post on social media: “Secret Service and law enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended.”
He added that while he initially suggested the event continue, final decisions would be made by security authorities, noting that the evening’s programme had been significantly disrupted.
Organisers later confirmed that the president would address the press, with plans to possibly reschedule the event within 30 days.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is an annual gathering that brings together journalists, political leaders, and public figures, and is often seen as a key moment celebrating press freedom in the United States.
With the announcement of a $10million bounty on the head of Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new Supreme Leader, The United States, appears to be showing no let in its campaign in the Middle East country, where it had already killed scores of its previous leaders.
“These individuals command and direct various elements of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which plans, organizes and executes terrorism around the world,” the State Department said, to indicate Washington’s preparedness to pay $10 million reward for information about the whereabouts of Khamenei, whose father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed at the start of the campaign a fortnight ago.
The department’s Rewards for Justice Programme (RFJP) placed a bounty on 10 of Iran’s most senior remaining leaders, including Khamenei and Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and the country’s top security official, said to lead the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, accused of planning, organising and executing terrorism around the world.
The RFJP has previously offered bounties for terrorists like former al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, as well as Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was the subject of a $10 million reward under the programme until he was removed in 2024.
Five of the people designated on Friday are listed by their titles with no name or photograph, including “secretary of the defense council” and “the IRGC commander.”
The United States and Israel have killed many of Iran’s top leaders, including former IRGC commander Mohammad Pakpour and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader and Mojtaba’s father.
Ali Larijani, the secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council, who had also appeared in a live interview with Iranian media during the march, had posted a video of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian walking in Tehran on Friday for the country’s annual Quds Day demonstrations against Israel.
Taunting U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s claim that Iranian leaders were hiding undergroundm, he wrote: “Mr. Hegseth, our leaders have been, and still are, among the people. But your leaders? On Epstein’s island!”
Earlier Donald Trump, U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News in an interview that aired Friday morning to underscore his belief that Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since he was elevated to supreme leader, was wounded, said: “I think he’s damaged, but I think he’s probably alive in some form,”
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