Business Standard: United Nations agencies have said that the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women and girls will increase the number of child marriages among Afghan girls by 25 per cent, Afghanistan-based TOLO News reported. UN Women, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) have released a joint two-page brief. In the brief, the UN agencies have highlighted the issues faced by Afghan women and their demands of the international community.      Full news...

The New York Times: General Abdul Raziq was one of America’s fiercest allies in the fight against the Taliban. He was young and charismatic — a courageous warrior who commanded the loyalty and respect of his men. He helped beat back the Taliban in the crucial battlefield of Kandahar, even as the insurgents advanced across Afghanistan. But his success, until his 2018 assassination, was built on torture, extrajudicial killing and abduction. In the name of security, he transformed the Kandahar police into a combat force without constraints. His officers, who were trained, armed and paid by the U.S., took no note of human rights or due process, according to a Times investigation into thousands of cases. Most of his victims were never seen again.      Full news...

AFP: When she first heard the gunshots, French tourist Anne-France Brill thought for a split second there was a celebration in the Afghan market where she and her fellow travelers stopped to buy fruit. But then she heard one of her companions screaming: “I realized she had blood all over her stomach.” The 55-year-old had been sitting in a van during a group tour in the mountainous city of Bamiyan on Friday evening when a gunman approached their vehicles and opened fire.      Full news...

RSF News: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is alarmed by a worrying increase in the restrictions imposed on journalists, with authoritarian directives on women journalists' dress, restrictions on women’s access to the audiovisual media and a ban on filming or photographing Taliban officials. The Afghan repression continues to intensify and specifically targets women’s access to the media, whether as journalists or as listeners and spectators. A series of directives issued since February illustrate this. The governor of Kandahar, in the south of the country, has banned video footage of local Taliban leaders. The chief of police in the eastern province of Khost has banned calls from women during radio or television broadcasts.      Full news...

TNN:Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials intercepted consul general of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Zakia Wardak, at the Mumbai airport recently and recovered 25 kg of gold worth Rs 18.6 crore that she was allegedly trying to smuggle into India from Dubai.The incident occurred on April 25 and a case of gold smuggling under the Customs Act, 1962, has been registered.The gold has been seized under a panchnama.Wardak was not arrested as she enjoys diplomatic immunity, sources said. Under the law, if the amount of smuggled gold is valued above Rs 1 crore, the suspect is arrested and faces criminal prosecution.      Full news...

Khaama Press: In videos circulated on social media, protesters in Badakhshan are heard expressing their opposition to the Taliban in the province, rejecting the “Islamic Emirates” presence. The residents of Darayim district, Badakhshan province, staged widespread protests against The Taliban on Friday, May 3rd. Residents of Badakhshan stated that protests continued following the killing of at least one person due to Taliban gunfire.      Full news...