A central laboratory equipped with the latest technologies will analyse food samples, to make sure safe and quality food is offered to pilgrims
Afghanistan's Taliban face criticism over their human rights record at a UN meeting on Monday, with Washington accusing them of systematically depriving women and girls of their human rights.
However, in an awkward first for the UN Human Rights Council, the concerned country's current rulers will not be present because they are not recognised by the global body.
Afghanistan will instead be represented by an ambassador appointed by the previous US-backed government, which the Taliban ousted in 2021.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
In a series of questions compiled in a UN document ahead of the review, the United States asked how authorities would hold perpetrators to account for abuses against civilians, "particularly women and girls who are being systematically deprived of their human rights"?
Britain and Belgium also raised questions about the Taliban's treatment of women. In total, 76 countries have asked to take the floor at the meeting.
The Taliban say they respect rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law.
Since they swept back into power, most girls have been barred from high school and women from universities. The Taliban have also stopped most Afghan female staff from working at aid agencies, closed beauty salons, barred women from parks and curtailed travel for women in the absence of a male guardian.
Under the UN system, states' human rights records are subject to peer review in public meetings of the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, resulting in a series of recommendations.
While non-binding, these can draw scrutiny of policies and add to pressure for reform. The UN Human Rights Council, the only intergovernmental global body designed to protect human rights worldwide, can also mandate investigations whose evidence is sometimes used before national and international courts.
A central laboratory equipped with the latest technologies will analyse food samples, to make sure safe and quality food is offered to pilgrims
The country opened an inquiry last week into the recruitment of its citizens for the conflict
Prabir Purkayastha was arrested last year after a New York Times investigation alleged his outlet was funded by a network pushing Chinese propaganda
The deportees were among hundreds of employees, Filipino and foreign, rounded up by an anti-crime government task force in a raid on March 14
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the bright flash of the X-ray flare — it was the strongest since 2005, rated on the scale for these flares as X8.7
The move comes amid a temporary halt in the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs and 500-pound bombs by the US to Israel
Waibhav Anil Kale, who worked for the UN, died while travelling in a vehicle to a hospital in the Khan Younis area from Rafah
The proportion reached its highest levels during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021