In Afghanistan, Taliban rulers held a military parade in Kabul, marching through Bagram, the former U.S. airbase, to mark three years since their return to power. The U.N. has warned of a worsening humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan and a “gender apartheid,” where women and girls have largely disappeared from public life. Meanwhile, Afghans are calling on the U.S. and Europe to release billions of dollars of frozen Afghan assets.

Naseebullah Zahid: “These billions of dollars that are frozen are not related to the Emirate government but belong to the entire Afghan nation. The Western powers ruled over us for 20 years, did bomb blasts and killed Afghans. They did not hesitate. And now they want to destroy us through poverty.”