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Afghanistan peace talks
The second day of talks between representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban has begun in the Qatari capital, Doha. Head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, and former president Hamid Karzai are in attendance. The new round of talks has raised hopes that lasting peace can be achieved in Afghanistan. For months, the government and the Taliban have been meeting on and off in Doha, without any major breakthrough. The negotiations come as the militants have stepped up their attacks in different parts of Afghanistan, seizing a vast swath of territory. Meanwhile, Taliban top official Hibatullah Akhundzada says he strenuously favors a political settlement, despite the group’s gains.
EU court hijab ruling
Turkey has condemned a ruling by the top European Union court allowing companies to ban employees wearing headscarves under certain conditions. Ankara slammed the verdict as a clear violation of religious freedoms, adding that the move would exacerbate prejudices against Muslim women in Europe. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the ruling was a sign of rising Islamophobia at a time when Muslim women in Europe are being subjected to increasing discrimination for their religious beliefs. The Luxembourg-based EU Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that employers may ban the wearing of visible symbols of religious or political belief, such as headscarves. It added however in its ruling that respective courts in the bloc’s 27 member states should consider whether the ban corresponds to a genuine need on the part of employers.
COVID-19 in Indonesia
Indonesia has registered a record number of doctor deaths from the coronavirus in the first half of July. Health officials say 114 doctors died of the virus in the mentioned period. That accounts for 20-percent of all such deaths in Indonesia since the pandemic began. The country has registered more new covid cases than any nation in the world in recent days due to the spread of the Delta variant. On Sunday, Indonesia logged over 44,700 new cases and over a thousand fatalities in 24 hours. The country entered a lockdown on July 10. It says some curbs due to end Tuesday might be extended. In neighboring Vietnam, covid is surging too, prompting the authorities to tighten social distancing measures from Monday in the capital Hanoi.
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