World Tour: Taliban celebrates three years

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour.

AUDIO: [Sound from parade]

ONIZE OHIKERE: Taliban Anniversary—We begin today’s roundup in Afghanistan, where the Taliban held parades across the country to mark the three-year anniversary of the group’s return to power.

The parades featured displays of military power—one was held at what was once the largest U.S. and NATO military base in the country.

KABIR: [Speaking Pashto]

Taliban Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Abdul Kabir says here that the Taliban has provided work for the Afghan people and that foreign nations should cooperate with them.

But China is the only non-Muslim country to have formal relations with the Taliban as a legitimate government and the World Food Program estimates that one in four Afghans are living in food insecurity.

Human Rights Watch also reports that the Taliban is systematically keeping women and girls from work, education, and traveling freely. They did not allow women at the anniversary celebrations.

AUDIO: [Afghan resident speaking Pashto]

This Afghan resident says billions of dollars that belong to the Afghan nations are frozen. He says the West tried to kill them with bombs and now it is trying to kill them with poverty.

U.S. officials established a trust in 2022 with over $3 billion of frozen Afghan funds. The money could be used toward expenses like electricity payments or debt payments that could keep the country open to development assistance. In February, a board member for the fund said that the Taliban has not requested any of the money.

Trial starting for Kenya cult leaders—We move now to Kenya…

AUDIO: [Sound from courtroom]

… where survivors of a doomsday starvation cult began to give testimony in the trial of the cult’s leaders.

The leader said parents should starve themselves and their children to death so they could meet Jesus. So far, police have found more than 400 bodies, and some people are still missing.

One 9-year-old girl says her parents denied her and her siblings food and water for eight days and began dressing her in what she described as her “death clothes.” She was wearing those clothes when officers rescued her.

Prosecutors say they’ve prepared about 90 witnesses to testify.

Pakistan flooding—Now, to Pakistan where flooding from monsoon downpours has killed 209 people.

AUDIO: [Pakistani woman speaking Urdu]

This Pakistan resident says the floodwater broke an embankment and flooded her house. She says her children’s clothes, their groceries, everything was washed away.

AUDIO: [Pakistan official speaking Urdu]

This Pakistan official is saying that they are working to make sure the water doesn’t accumulate.

The country will likely get more rain this week and monsoon season usually lasts through September.

Last year’s monsoon season resulted in nearly 2,000 deaths.

India, Kashmir election—We end today’s round-up in Kashmir, where India is overseeing the first elections since 2019.

Pakistan and India split control of Kashmir about 75-years-ago, though both claim the entire territory. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stripped Kashmir of its special statehood status in 2019, saying there were ideological differences between the largely Hindu nation and the Muslim-majority area.

AUDIO: [Kashmir resident speaking Urdu]

This Kashmir resident says people have suffered because no one was representing them. But other residents worry the elected representatives won’t have enough power to do anything and that India should restore statehood.

That’s it for today’s World Tour.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere with reporting and writing from Mary Muncy.

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