On Friday evening, a group of gunmen isolated a vehicle at a market by the narrow motorway snaking from the Afghan capital of Kabul to Parwan, a neighbouring province, and opened fire on the women inside. One of the women was Fawzia Koofi, one of only four female members of the 21-person team appointed by the Afghan government to negotiate with the Taliban. Ms Koofi survived, escaping with a bullet wound in her arm. But on the same day, 300 kilometres up the motorway in Kunduz province, a policewoman was dragged out of her house and shot dead in front of her family.
A passage from Ms Koofi’s memoirs describes how, as a newborn, she spent the first day of her life outside and alone; her parents had abandoned her to die because she was born into a family with too many daughters. Fortunately for Afghanistan, they changed their mind. Forty-five years later, Ms Koofi bears the distinction of having served two terms as a Member of Parliament, during which she was instrumental in the passage of a 2009 law to eliminate violence against women – a mission that Friday’s attacks demonstrate is far from accomplished.
They also show how difficult the peace negotiations undertaken by Ms Koofi's colleagues and the Taliban will be. Those negotiations are meant to begin this week, though there had already been talk of delaying them before the attempt on Ms Koofi's life. Although the Taliban has denied any involvement in that attack (its involvement in the killing of the policewoman in Kunduz is unclear), Afghan and international observers will pay close attention to the militant group's handling of the aftermath.
The Taliban's denials have not yet been followed by any strenuous condemnation of the gunmen, any vows to help the government identify and arrest them nor any sympathy extended to Ms Koofi and other women targeted by such violence. Since February, when the Taliban reached an agreement with the US to reduce violence across the country, it has hidden behind aggression from ISIS and other extremist outfits by allowing violence to escalate in areas it controls while denying responsibility. It also does not help that Taliban militants have attempted to kill Ms Koofi several times in the past.
Taliban militants have attempted to kill Ms Koofi several times in the past
But the Taliban now claim to want to move towards peace, and seek a permanent stake in Afghan governance. To do so meaningfully, it will have to show that they understand what governance within the modern framework of universal human rights looks like. Women, as Ms Koofi frequently points out, comprise 55 per cent of Afghanistan's population. The ultimate success of any peace talks will depend upon both sides not only recognising that fact, but embracing it.
Afghanistan is a very different place today from the one it was on the day that Ms Koofi's parents tried to abandon her in the sun. The country's daughters outnumber its sons, but that must be seen as an asset. As the peace process moves forward, anyone who believes otherwise will be a liability.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THREE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Rain Management
Year started: 2017
Based: Bahrain
Employees: 100-120
Amount raised: $2.5m from BitMex Ventures and Blockwater. Another $6m raised from MEVP, Coinbase, Vision Ventures, CMT, Jimco and DIFC Fintech Fund
UAE central contracts
Full time contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Usman, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid
Part time contracts
Aryan Lakra, Ansh Tandon, Karthik Meiyappan, Rahul Bhatia, Alishan Sharafu, CP Rizwaan, Basil Hameed, Matiullah, Fahad Nawaz, Sanchit Sharma
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
RACE CARD
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5.30pm: Liwa Oasis Group 3 Dh300,000 1,400m
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7.30pm: Handicap (40-70) Dh80,000 1,600m.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
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Bharatanatyam
A ancient classical dance from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Intricate footwork and expressions are used to denote spiritual stories and ideas.
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
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Price: From Dh139,000
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Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
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Key facilities
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- 600-seat auditorium
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 310hp
Torque: 366Nm
Price: Dh200,000