Afghanistan, Kenya, Honduras.

Today's three stories you should know.

Jul 19, 2023

Afghanistan

Afghan women are brave. Today they faced down tasers, fire hoses, and gunfire to protest a Taliban order to shut down beauty parlours and salons. Public protests are rare in Afghanistan, and women have been violently attacked at them before, but about 50 took part in the demonstration and were quickly surrounded by security forces. "Work, bread and justice!" they chanted. Since coming to power two years ago, the Taliban has systematically stripped women and girls of most of their rights.

Kenya

At least two people have been killed, and several badly wounded, after police fired on protesters in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. The opposition has called for three days of demonstrations over tax hikes and a cost of living crisis despite the government warning that they shouldn’t go ahead. Hundreds of protesters set up flaming roadblocks and pelted police with rocks in the capital’s Kibera neighbourhood, which is an opposition stronghold and frequent flashpoint. Authorities said about 300 people were arrested across the country, including nine senior opposition figures.

Honduras

Honduras, suffering with a rampant gang violence problem, is planning to build the Western hemisphere’s only island prison colony, according to a report from the AP news agency. President Xiomara Castro’s government could imprison 2,000 of the country’s most-feared gang leaders on the Islas del Cisne archipelago 155 miles off the coast, the report said. Last month, 46 people were killed by rival gang members in a horrific massacre inside a women’s prison. Some were shot, some were hacked to death with machetes and others were burned alive in their cells. Castro said in the aftermath that she would take “drastic action” to get the violence under control.