KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: Ali Ahmad Alizai has no choice but to obey when the Taliban come knocking on his door demanding food, shelter or a slice of his hard-earned harvest to fund their insurgency.
“The Taliban run a dictatorship here. They have their own laws. We have some security, but no freedom,” the farmer told AFP by telephone from a militant-controlled district of Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province.
Alizai is one of millions living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, where the group controls more territory than at any time since being toppled in 2001 by US-led forces.
As momentum for peace talks builds, with a fresh round of negotiations between the Taliban and Washington set to begin in Doha on Monday, testimonies from Afghans like him paint a picture of what life might be like should the militants return to power as the US exits its longest war.
In some ways Taliban governance appears to have evolved, with the insurgents open to some small compromises as Afghans refuse to part with their hard-won freedoms.
But zeal for the harsh brand of Islamic justice that defined their former regime is unwavering, and remains pivotal to enforcing obedience today in countryside under its influence.
Abdul Bari, who abandoned his home in an insurgent fiefdom in Uruzgan province three months ago, spoke darkly of life under the white flag of the Taliban.
“They would stage public executions from time to time,” the 66-year-old told AFP in Kandahar, where he fled with his family.
“Their fighters would decide the fate of people.”
Taliban courts preside over justice in huge swathes of the country — even areas ostensibly under government control, said Ashley Jackson, a research associate with the Overseas Development Institute.
Verdicts under their own strict interpretation of Sharia law are swift, and punishments severe, from limbs amputated for theft to condemned prisoners hung by roadsides as a warning.
“People are terrified of them,” said Sayed Omar, who escaped Taliban brutality in Uruzgan.
“They have not changed, they are the same as they were during their rule.”
Mohammad Qasem, a shopkeeper who spoke to AFP by phone from another Taliban bastion in Kandahar, said the militants had banned smartphones and confined women to the home — effectively reversing the clock to 1996, when they stormed to power.
But they were “a bit easier” on men having shorter beards — a floggable offense under their former regime.
The Taliban have told AFP they want to establish “an Islamic system” as opposed to the democracy built since 2001, but that they have modified their stance on some issues including dropping a ban on the education of women and girls.
AFP was unable to speak to any women currently living under Taliban rule.
Human Rights Watch senior researcher Heather Barr said in some areas the militants now allow girls to attend primary school, “if it was segregated by gender, the teachers were female, and the Taliban controlled the curriculum.”
However, it was “ridiculous and harmful” to suggest that proved the Taliban had softened their stance on women, she said.
“Limiting girls to primary education is an extreme form of misogyny ... Too many men are in a rush to argue that a Taliban deal will be fine for women. Women know better — but is anyone listening to them?“
Qasem said the restrictions were unpopular. Times have changed since the Taliban were deposed, he added.
“This time, if they don’t change, it might create a backlash,” he told AFP.
There are some signs the insurgents are listening.
Phone use is permitted during the day and televisions watched without fear of punishment, a far cry from the violent Taliban purges against technology in the past.
“What they say is don’t listen to music, listen to sermons and religious programs. But there is no smashing of TV sets anymore,” Thomas Ruttig, from the Afghanistan Analysts Network, told AFP.
The Taliban are also keen to show they can govern a modern nation.
In territory where control is split with the government, the militants ensure teachers and clinic staff show up for work and prod electricity providers to fix power outages.
Jackson said this Taliban “shadow government” exists partly to embarrass corrupt local politicians, but also to exert soft power and demonstrate competence.
“It’s both carrot and stick. I think they realize they have to provide... some tangible benefit,” Jackson said.
Mullah Rauf, a former Taliban commander, said the insurgents had evolved.
“They can’t have a hard-line government anymore. Nowhere in the world do such governments exist,” he told AFP by telephone from Panjwaee, a Taliban district in Kandahar.
As America pushes for a peace deal, many Afghans want to know the Taliban’s intentions once foreign troops leave.
The militants say they do not want to rule by force, but share power with other parties.
Taliban justice is one area “where compromise will be the hardest,” Jackson said.
Ruttig said the militants had not abandoned their ideology, but know “they cannot rule against the population,” and therefore might be open to some compromise.
“But whether that’s good enough for most Afghans — who now have tasted completely different freedoms than what they had under the Taliban — that will be up to the Afghan population,” Ruttig said.
The Taliban have not changed, warn Afghans living under their rule
The Taliban have not changed, warn Afghans living under their rule
- “The Taliban run a dictatorship here. They have their own laws. We have some security, but no freedom,” a farmer said
- As the US pushes for a peace deal, many Afghans want to know the Taliban’s intentions once foreign troops leave
Man with Palestinian flag arrested after scaling London’s Big Ben
- Negotiators indicated concerns about an injury to his foot, saying there was “quite a lot of blood” and that his clothes were not warm enough
London: A man who scaled London’s Big Ben, and spent the day perched on the historic clock tower with a Palestinian flag, was arrested shortly after he came down after midnight Sunday, police said.
Pictures from the scene showed a cherry picker transporting him to waiting emergency crews on the ground.
London’s Metropolitan Police force, which was first alerted to the climber around 0700 GMT Saturday, said the man was arrested after the “protracted incident.”
The man spent the day perched barefoot on a ledge several meters up the landmark, even as emergency crews urged him to come down from the Elizabeth Tower in central London, more commonly known for its clock bell, Big Ben.
Negotiators had boarded a fire truck lift and used a megaphone to speak with the man, but footage on social media showed the figure in a hoodie and baseball cap saying: “I will come down on my own terms.”
In the footage, negotiators indicated concerns about an injury to his foot, saying there was “quite a lot of blood” and that his clothes were not warm enough as temperatures dropped after nightfall.
AFP journalists at the scene earlier said the man appeared to be bleeding from his foot.
Crowds gathered from behind a police cordon, with supporters chanting “Free Palestine” and “you are a hero.”
Police had closed off the surrounding area, including Westminster Bridge, while the Houses of Parliament canceled tours.
Westminster police later said all roads in the area had been reopened.
“Every day in Parliament I see dozens of armed police officers patrolling Portcullis House and the parliamentary estate. Where were they today?” Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty posted on X.
“On Monday there needs to be a full explanation to MPs and staff as to how this protester was able to evade security so easily.”
On Friday night, pro-Palestinian protesters sprayed “GAZA IS NOT 4 SALE” in huge white letters on the lawn of US President Donald Trump’s golf resort in Scotland.
The Palestine Action group said it was a “direct response to the US administration’s stated intent to ethnically cleanse Gaza.”
Police Scotland told AFP it was investigating after receiving a report of damage.
Protesters rally on International Women’s Day, fearing far right
- Many of the women marching in European capitals said they feared the growing strength of reactionary political forces, including a resurgent far right
PARIS: Protesters took to the streets across the world Saturday to mark International Women’s Day, demanding equal pay, political representation and an end to gender-based violence while voicing fears of rising repression.
In eastern Ukraine, scores of demonstrators held a minute’s silence to honor women killed defending the country from Russia’s invasion. Many carried banners bearing the faces of the deceased.
“Women are half of our society and we need to talk about what they do, what they are like, how they protect and what they do to make our country free and independent,” activist Iryna Lysykova told AFP in Kharkiv.
Many of the women marching in European capitals including Paris, Berlin and Madrid said they feared the growing strength of reactionary political forces, including a resurgent far right.
“It is coming now and we’re taking backwards steps,” said Dori Martinez Monroy, 63, in the Spanish capital. “We have to reclaim what has already been won, because women are the first to be targeted.”
In Jakarta, one activist, Ajeng, accused the Indonesian government of budget cuts that were “making women lose their rights.
“Women are killed, impoverished, criminalized,” she said, as nearby protesters held up placards reading “This body belongs to me” and “Glory to the women of the working class.”
“Indonesian woman are fighting against the state for these reasons,” she said.
Some demonstrators directed their ire at US President Donald Trump.
In Paris, women from the Femen activist group marched topless with either the US or the Russian flag, marked with a swastika, painted on their chests.
The Republican has been accused of sexual abuse by multiple women, and his administration has been blamed for pushing through policies hostile to women.
“This is a battle, it’s not over,” said 49-year-old Sabine, who was marching with her seven-year-old son in Paris, where organizers put turnout at around 250,000. Police gave a figure of 47,000.
“We’re going in the right direction: Trump, the masculinists, they make lots of noise but they’re not as strong as we are,” she told AFP.
In Argentina, thousands joined demonstrations across the country, with many criticizing President Javier Milei for policies including shuttering the ministry responsible for addressing gender violence and inequality.
At the Berlin protest, some demonstrators held placards bearing messages including “Burn the patriarchy not the planet.”
One marcher, Steff Voigt, expressed her fears for the future.
“I find it quite frightening how certain developments are reversing, how women’s rights could simply be moving backward again, so to speak, because of the right. Especially in the USA,” she said.
At the rally in Istanbul, Cigdem Ozdemir took aim at male violence against women and the Turkish authorities’ declaration of 2025 as “The Year of the Family.”
“Since 2025 was declared ‘The Year of The Family’, we as women have been confined to our homes,” the psychologist lamented, adding that LGBTQ people like her were “criminalized.”
“Today, we are here to make our struggle visible, to defend our lives against male violence, to defend our place in society and our rights.”
Mohammadi, 52, who won the 2023 Nobel prize in recognition of her years-long fight for human rights in Iran, is on temporary release from prison for health reasons.
In Mexico, where the UN says an average of 10 women are murdered every day, thousands marched in the capital, Mexico City.
In Venezuela, around 150 protesters, most with their faces hidden for fear of reprisals from security forces, gathered in Caracas. Many called for the release of political prisoners held by the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
A single day of Trump and Musk’s cost-cutting campaign remakes huge sections of government
- Some changes appeared designed to increase political control over agencies that have historically operated with some degree of autonomy
- Other directives increased burdens on federal workers, who have already endured insults, layoffs and threats from the president and other top officials
WASHINGTON: A series of decisions revealed Friday provided a glimpse of the turmoil engulfing federal agencies since President Donald Trump and Elon Musk launched their campaign of disruption, upending how government functions in ways big and small.
Some changes appeared designed to increase political control over agencies that have historically operated with some degree of autonomy, such as requiring Environmental Protection Agency officials to seek approval from the Department of Government Efficiency for any contracts exceeding $50,000.
Other directives increased burdens on federal workers, who have already endured insults, layoffs and threats from the president and other top officials. For example, government credit cards issued to civilian employees at the Pentagon were altered to have a $1 limit, choking off their ability to travel for work.
The Transportation Security Administration became another target. The administration canceled a collective bargaining agreement with 47,000 workers who screen travelers and luggage at airports around the country, eliminating union protections in a possible prelude to layoffs or privatization.
The cascading developments are only a fraction of the upheaval that’s taken place since Trump took office, but they still reshaped how hundreds of thousands of public servants do their jobs, with potentially enduring consequences. The ongoing shakeup is much more intense than the typical whiplash that Washington endures when one administration gives way to another, raising fundamental questions about how government will function under a president who has viewed civil servants as an obstacle to his agenda.
The White House has wrestled with political blowback over Musk’s role and legal challenges that have tried to block or slow down his work. Republicans who are facing growing pressure in contentious town halls have started to speak up.
“I will fully admit, I think Elon Musk has tweeted first and thought second sometimes,” said Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Michigan, during a virtual meeting with constituents on Friday. “He has plunged ahead without necessarily knowing and understanding what he legally has to do or what he is going to be doing.”
Mistakes are being made
The overhaul of the federal government is happening at lightning speed, reflecting years of preparation by Trump’s allies and the president’s decision to grant Musk sweeping influence over his administration. Musk, a billionaire entrepreneur with no previous experience in public service, has shown no interest in slowing down despite admitting that he’ll make mistakes in his crusade to slash spending and downsize the workforce.
The government is facing even more dramatic changes in the coming weeks and months. Trump has directed agencies to prepare plans for widespread layoffs, known as reductions in force, that will likely require more limited operations at agencies that provide critical services.
The Department of Veterans Affairs could shed 80,000 employees, while the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration are considering plans that would cut their workforces in half.
Trump has vowed not to reduce Social Security benefits, but Democrats argue that layoffs would make it harder to deliver payments to 72.5 million people, including retirees and children.
There are also concerns that politics could interfere with Social Security. Trump has feuded over transgender issues with Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, and his administration recently said children born in the state would no longer have a Social Security number assigned at birth. Instead, parents would have to apply for one at a local office.
Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner of Social Security, rescinded the order on Friday.
“In retrospect, I realize that ending these contracts created an undue burden on the people of Maine, which was not the intent,” he said in a statement. Dudek added that “as a leader, I will admit my mistakes and make them right.”
A startup mindset takes hold
More than a month after Trump took office, there’s still confusion about Musk’s authority. In public statements and legal filings, administration officials have insisted that Musk does not actually run DOGE and has no direct authority over budgets.
But Trump has contradicted both statements. He said Tuesday that DOGE is “headed by Elon Musk” in a prime-time speech to a joint session of Congress, and he said Thursday that “Elon will do the cutting” if agency leaders don’t reduce their spending.
Their approach has energized people like David Sacks, a venture capitalist serving as a Trump adviser on cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, who praised the administration as moving “faster than any startup that I’ve been part of.”
Trump denied reports of friction between Musk and Cabinet officials, particularly Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a meeting Thursday.
“Elon gets along great with Marco,” the president said. The State Department had no immediate comment.
Norm Eisen, executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund, an organization that has been suing the Trump administration, said the president “made clear that Musk and DOGE have been calling the shots.”
Musk serves as a presidential adviser, not a Senate-confirmed official, which Eisen argued makes his role unconstitutional. He said Trump’s comments are “an admission that the vast chaos that Musk and DOGE have wrought without proper approval and documentation is illegal — and so must be completely unwound.”
Trump is using executive orders to reshape government
Many of the changes sweeping through Washington were ignited by Trump’s executive orders. One order issued last week said agencies must develop new systems for distributing and justifying payments so they can be monitored by DOGE representatives.
The EPA distributed guidance intended to ensure compliance.
“Any assistance agreement, contract or interagency agreement transaction (valued at) $50,000 or greater must receive approval from an EPA DOGE team member,” said the documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the involvement of Musk’s “unvetted, inexperienced team raises serious concerns about improper external influence on specialized agency decision-making.”
Republicans have shied away from holding town hall meetings with constituents after critics started using them to vent their frustration.
Some protesters gathered outside Huizenga’s district office in Holland, Michigan, calling on him to answer questions in person.
“I would like to ask him why he thinks that someone like Musk can go in and simply blow up agencies without seemingly even knowing what they’re doing,” said Linda Visscher, a Holland resident.
She said increasing the efficiency of government was a good idea, but she doesn’t agree with “just taking the blowtorch to it.”
Phone bans sweep US schools despite skepticism
ALEXANDRIA, United States: At a red-brick school in Virginia, Hayden Jones is one of 1,000 students banned from using their phones as part of a trial hoping to boost learning.
But the 12-year-old’s verdict on the restrictions — a shrug of his shoulders — reflects the skepticism shared by some students and parents.
The phone ban at Twain Middle School is among a wave of measures implemented around the United States, and is part of a global movement replicated in Brazil, France and beyond.
Supporters believe restrictions will guard pupils from the apparent harms of smartphone use while at school, but opponents say the measures fail to prepare teenagers for the digital world they will inevitably enter.
Since September, Jones must now place his Android phone in a magnetic pouch each morning, which is locked until the end of the school day as part of a pilot scheme this academic year.
Jones, speaking to AFP in a corridor lined with classrooms, said he hopes the ban will be gone by the time he starts eighth grade in September.
“I like being able to go to my locker and call my parents. That’s a big concern for me,” he said, adding that some pupils have found ways to still use their devices — including by bringing a “dummy phone” to put in the pouch.
School principal Matthew Mough admitted that enforcing the ban — and winning over students — has proved challenging, though he said most follow the rules.
“The majority of kids who have phones don’t love it,” he said. “However, if you dig deeper with them in the conversation, they will acknowledge that it’s helped them remain focused.”
Mough said the phone ban has reduced classroom distractions, cyberbullying and instances of students meeting up to skip lessons.
Cell phone bans come alongside research suggesting that social media use increases the likelihood of mental illnesses like anxiety and depression in young people.
Advocacy groups regularly cite these studies as justification for school phone bans, which have seen rare political consensus in a nation deeply divided on virtually every other political issue.
Around 76 percent of US public schools — from liberal California to conservative Florida — had some sort of ban on non-academic phone use, according to the latest Department of Education figures, with several state-wide measures also in place or under consideration.
They are largely backed by teachers, with the National Education Association saying 90 percent of its members support policies banning phones during lessons.
“The biggest problem is that kids aren’t in a place developmentally where they’re able to handle the type of technology that we’re talking about,” said Sabine Polak, co-founder of the Phone-Free Schools Movement, which backs full-scale phone bans.
Critics of the restrictions argue that educating children about the potential risks of social media and smartphone use is better than prohibition.
“The answer is not to just ban and put our heads in the sand,” said Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, which represents over 1,000 parent organizations in the United States.
She compared efforts to ban phones to “abstinence education,” noting that failing to properly teach children about complicated issues such as sex has failed in the past.
“It’s not effective, and frankly, it’s dumb,” Rodrigues told AFP. “What we need to do is equip our kids with the information, with the skills and the strategies they’re going to need to navigate a digital future.”
At the school in Virginia, Jones said the phone ban has not changed how he interacts with his device, still using it for games, social media and watching YouTube videos.
His one complaint about his phone? “Nothing really, honestly, I mean besides the fact that it weighs a ton in my pocket.”
Trump denies reported Musk-Rubio clash in cabinet meeting
- But stresses that cabinet secretaries will now take the lead on staffing choices, implying that he had taken the opportunity to rein Musk in
- Also insists that cuts be made with a “scalpel” instead of a “hatchet,” in reference to Musk's indiscriminate firing of federal employees
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump denied on Friday a report that his senior adviser, billionaire Elon Musk, had clashed with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and another cabinet official during a White House meeting.
According to The New York Times, Musk argued with Rubio and separately with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy during a cabinet meeting chaired by Trump on Thursday.
Musk is leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a drive to slash costs and cut jobs across government departments, reportedly leading to tensions with department heads.
Musk reportedly faulted Rubio for having fired “nobody,” except for a staff member from Musk’s DOGE. He also told Rubio he was “good on TV,” as if to say he was not good for much else, the Times said.
An incensed Rubio lashed back at Musk for not being truthful. He countered that 1,500 State Department officials had accepted early retirement, and sarcastically asked whether he should hire them back just to sack them again more spectacularly.
In another exchange, Duffy accused DOGE of having tried to sack vital air traffic controllers right as he deals with the aftermath of several plane crashes, prompting Musk to accuse him of a “lie,” again according to the New York Times.
Trump reportedly intervened to halt the argument and suggest that henceforth the controllers be hired from the “geniuses” studying at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After the meeting, Trump announced that cuts would continue but with a “scalpel” rather than a “hatchet,” implying that he had taken the opportunity to rein Musk in.
But, asked on Friday about the reported dispute, the president dismissed it.
“No clash, I was there, you’re just a troublemaker,” he told a reporter who asked about the report.
He went on to insist of Musk and Rubio “they’re both doing a fantastic job ... they both get along fantastically well.”
Since coming to office, Trump’s administration has sacked or announced the departure of tens of thousands of federal employees in a scorched-earth efficiency drive.
Several US media have reported friction between Musk and senior officials, who accuse his young crew of DOGE officials — recruited from Silicon Valley — of exceeding their authority.
The meeting was convened following complaints about the Musk operation’s blunt-force approach from agency heads to top White House officials, including chief of staff Susie Wiles.
The White House Office of Legislative Affairs has been inundated with calls in recent days from frustrated Republican members of Congress all over the country, some of whom have faced anger from constituents at home.
(With AFP & Reuters)
