Friday, 20th May, 2022

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Female presenters - faces uncovered - have
become common on screen in recent years
The Taliban have ordered
female Afghan TV
presenters and other
women on screen to
cover their faces while
on air.
Media outlets were told of the
decree on Wednesday, a religious
police spokesman told BBC
Pashto.
The ruling comes two weeks
after all women were ordered to
wear a face veil in public, or risk
punishment.
Restrictions are being tightened
on women - they are banned
from travelling without a male
guardian and secondary schools
are shut for girls.
One female Afghan journalist
working for a local TV station in
Kabul, who did not want to be
named, said she'd been shocked
to hear the latest news.
"They are putting indirect
pressure on us to stop us presenting
on TV," she told the BBC.
"How can I read the news
with my mouth covered? I don't
McDonald's has
found a local buyer
for its Russian
business, after the
war in Ukraine
pushed it to quit the country.
Alexander Govor, who currently
operates 25 McDonald's
restaurants in Siberia, will take
on the firm's restaurants and
staff, operating them under a new
brand, the fast food giant said.
It did not disclose the sale
price, but has warned investors it
would take a more than $1bn hit
from the exit.
McDonald's had operated in
Russia for more than 30 years.
The opening of its first restaurant
in Moscow in 1990 came to
symbolise a thaw in Cold War
tensions.
A year later, the Soviet Union
collapsed and Russia opened
up its economy to companies
from the West. More than three
decades later, however, it is one of
a growing number of corporations
pulling out as the war in Ukraine
and Western sanctions make it
difficult to operate.
McDonald's, which had nearly
850 restaurants in the country,
most of them directly owned,
said it expected the deal, which is
subject to regulatory approval, to
close in coming weeks.
Mr Govor has been a licensee
of McDonald's since 2015. He is
also co-founder of Neftekhimser-
know what to do now - I must
work, I am the breadwinner of
my family."The new decree will
take effect from 21 May, Reuters
news agency reported, quoting
a spokesman for the Taliban's
Ministry for the Prevention of
Vice and Promotion of Virtue.
Media caption,
(From August 2021) Female
presenters return on Afghanistan's
Tolo News, with one
interviewing the Taliban
The spokesman referred to
the ruling as "advice" - it is not
clear what will happen to anyone
who fails to comply.
"Based on information
received by Tolo news, the order
has been issued to all media outlets
in Afghanistan," the news
channel reported.
The decision is being widely
criticised on Twitter, with many
calling it another step by the
Taliban to promote extremism.
"The world deploys masks to
protect people from Covid. The
Taliban deploys masks to protect
Russian McDonald's buyer
to rebrand restaurants
vice, a refining company, and a
board member of another firm
that owns the Park Inn hotel and
private clinics in Siberia.
Russia's Industry and Trade
Minister Denis Manturov said the
deal was the result of a "long and
difficult" negotiation process and
the government would provide
Mr Govor with all the necessary
assistance to set up operations.
The terms provide for Mc-
Donald's 62,000 staff in Russia
to be retained for at least two
years, with their existing pay and
Mr Govor will pay the salaries of
corporate staff in Russia until the
deal is completed.
McDonald's will retain its
trademark in the country, it said,
while the restaurants will be
stripped of their menu, logo and
other branding.
Announcing plans for the sale
earlier this week, chief executive
Chris Kempczinski called the
decision "extremely difficult".
"However, we have a commitment
to our global community
and must remain steadfast in our
values. And our commitment to
our values means that we can no
longer keep the arches shining
there," he said.
McDonald's suspended operations
at the restaurants it owned
in Russia in March, citing the
"humanitarian crisis" and "unpredictable
operating environment"
caused by the Ukraine war.
DAILY ANALYST Friday, 20th May, 2022
people from seeing the faces of
women journalists. For the Taliban,
women are a disease," one
activist tweeted.
The private Shamshad news
channel posted a photo of its
news presenter wearing a mask,
and other similar images are
being shared on social media.
During their first stint in
power in the 1990s the Taliban
forced women to wear the all-encompassing
burka in public.
The hardline Islamist movement
was driven from power by
US-led troops in 2001, after which
many restrictions eased. Women
appearing on television showing
their faces became a common
sight.
After retaking power last
August, following the withdrawal
of foreign forces, the Taliban
had held off issuing new laws on
what women should wear.
This raised hopes they would
govern Afghanistan, a deeply conservative
and patriarchal country,
more flexibly this time.
Many women still wore the
burka, but in bigger cities it was
also common to see women continuing
to wear headscarves.
However in early May the
Ministry for the Prevention of
Vice and Promotion of Virtue
announced that all women would
have to cover their face in public,
and indicated that a burka would
be the ideal garment to achieve
this
Ȧnyone refusing to comply
The move drew outrage among
Russian politicians and prompted
threats the business would be
seized.
A patent application for an
"Uncle Vanya" restaurant chain
was filed with Russian authorities
shortly after. The name, the same
as the famous work by Russian
playwright Anton Chekhov, was
one of several brand knock-offs of
Western companies to surface.
Last year, Russia and Ukraine
accounted for about 9% of McDonald's
revenue.
The move by McDonald's came
after French carmaker Renault
sold its majority stake in carmaker
Aftovaz to a state research institute
for a symbolic sum, while
its Renault Russia business was
taken over by the city of Moscow.
Manufacturing at the Renault
plant is expected to resume under
a Soviet-era brand.
Global News
Afghanistan's female TV presenters
must cover their faces, say Taliban
with the ruling risks an escalating
series of punishments.
Most Muslims around the
world do not consider women
covering their face mandatory, or
oppose them working.
Women are still employed in
some jobs in Afghanistan, such
as healthcare and education, but
many others have been told not
to return to work now the Taliban
are back in power.
The country has been plunged
into economic crisis and famine
under Taliban rule.
Western diplomats have
indicated that resuming development
funding and unlocking
frozen cash depends on better
treatment of women.
Cases of suspected and
confirmed Monkeypox
are being investigated
in a number of European
countries, the US,
Canada and the UK, according
to health authorities and local
media reports.
The most recent confirmed
cases were reported in Italy and
Sweden.
It follows the confirmation
of cases in the US, Spain and
Portugal on Wednesday, as well as
the investigation of 13 suspected
cases in Canada.
Monkeypox is most common
in remote parts of Central and
West Africa.
Cases of the disease outside
of the region are often linked to
travel to the area.
Monkeypox is a rare viral infection
which is usually mild and
from which most people recover
in a few weeks, according to the
UK's National Health Service.
The virus does not spread
easily between people and the
risk to the wider public is said to
be very low.
The first case of the disease
in the UK was reported on 7 May.
The patient had recently travelled
to Nigeria, where they are
believed to have caught the virus
before travelling to England, the
UK Health Security Agency said.
There are now nine confirmed
cases in the UK. The source of
But early hopes the Taliban
might relax their approach have
been eroded amid signs influential
hardliners in the group have
the upper hand.
The journalist in Kabul who
spoke to the BBC wanted the
international community to put
pressure on the Taliban.
"They should tell them you
have 10 days to change otherwise
we are going to cut off relations
and aid."
She said she believed the Taliban
planned to stop women doing
all kinds of work outside their
homes. "They want women to live
like prisoners at home. Every day
they issued decrees against us - I
don't think we can survive."
Symptoms of monkeypox include a rash, fever, headache, muscle
Monkeypox cases
investigated in Europe,
US and Canada
these infections has not yet been
confirmed but cases seem to have
been "locally acquired", the World
Health Organization (WHO) says.
In Europe, one confirmed
case was reported in Sweden on
Thursday, as well as one in Italy.
Swedish authorities said they
were not sure how the individual
had contracted the virus, but local
media report that the individual
in Italy had recently returned
from the Canary Islands.
Five confirmed cases were
also reported in Portugal on
Wednesday, as well as seven in
Spain.
Though no vaccine has been
approved for Monkeypox in
Europe, Spanish health authorities
have reportedly purchased
thousands of smallpox vaccines
to deal with the outbreak, according
to Spanish newspaper
El País. Monkeypox is a member
of the same family of viruses as
smallpox.
In North America, health
authorities in the US state of
Massachusetts also confirmed
that a man has been infected
with Monkeypox.
He had recently travelled to
Canada, where local media report
that 13 suspected cases of the
virus are being investigated.
According to health officials,
the man has been hospitalised, is
in "good condition" and "poses no
risk to the public".