Six In The Morning Tuesday 2 November 2021

She was sold to a stranger so her family could eat as Afghanistan crumbles

By Anna Coren, Jessie Yeung and Abdul Basir Bina, CNN

Updated 0008 GMT (0808 HKT) November 2, 2021

Parwana Malik, a 9-year-old girl with dark eyes and rosy cheeks, giggles with her friends as they play jump rope in a dusty clearing.

But Parwana's laughter disappears as she returns home, a small hut with dirt walls, where she's reminded of her fate: she's being sold to a stranger as a child bride.

The man who wants to buy Parwana says he's 55, but to her, he's "an old man" with white eyebrows and a thick white beard, she told CNN on October 22. She worries he will beat her and force her to work in his house.

Bosnia is in danger of breaking up, warns top international official

Exclusive: high representative says threat by Serb separatists to create their own army risks return of conflict

Julian Borger World affairs editor

Tue 2 Nov 2021 11.29 GMT

The international community’s chief representative in Bosnia has warned that the country is in imminent danger of breaking apart, and there is a “very real” prospect of a return to conflict.

In a report to the UN seen by the Guardian, Christian Schmidt, the high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that if Serb separatists carry out their threat to recreate their own army, splitting the national armed forces in two, more international peacekeepers would have to be sent back in to stop the slide towards a new war.

International peacekeeping duties in Bosnia are currently the task of a residual EU force (Eufor) that is 700 strong. Nato retains a formal toehold with a headquarters in Sarajevo. The year-long mandate for both is up for renewal this week at the UN security council, but Russia has threatened to block a resolution unless all references to the high representative are removed, potentially undermining Schmidt’s authority as the overseer of the 1995 Dayton peace deal.

Afghanistan: Victims' families decry glorification of suicide bombers

A recent event to "honor" the Taliban's suicide bombers and their "sacrifices" has drawn heavy criticism from Afghans. Relatives of suicide bombing victims told DW they feel repulsed by the glorification of murderers.

As she heard the news of the Taliban "honoring" families of their suicide bombers, 19-year-old Sharifa, who lost her father in a 2018 suicide attack in Kabul, burst into tears.

"It's like rubbing salt in the wound," she said.

On October 20, Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban's interim interior minister, lauded the "sacrifices" of the suicide bombers, who perpetrated countless violent attacks across Afghanistan during the 20-year US occupation of the country.

What political, economic consequences will Lebanon face over Saudi Arabia row?

A diplomatic row between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia – prompted by a senior Lebanese cabinet minister slamming the Saudi military intervention in Yemen – has raised fears that the Middle East’s geopolitical faultlines will amplify Lebanon’s already acute political and economic crises.

Lebanon urged Saudi Arabia to be receptive to “dialogue” on Monday to resolve the diplomatic crisis between the two countries, amid Riyadh’s anger over Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi’s description – before he entered government – of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the war in Yemen as “absurd”.

Saudi Arabia stopped imports from Lebanon on Friday, after recalling its ambassador from Beirut – a move emulated by several Gulf countries – and requesting the departure of the Lebanese ambassador in Riyadh. This sweeping sanction dealt a severe blow to a country already reeling from a severe economic crisis.

Ethiopia declares nationwide state of emergency

Move comes after Tigrayan fighters said they had captured two strategic towns in Amhara region and considered marching on Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia’s council of ministers has declared a nationwide state of emergency effective immediately, according to state media.

The move on Tuesday came after fighters from the northern Tigray region said they had captured the strategic towns of Dessie and Kombolcha in the Amhara region. The northern fighters, who have been fighting federal government forces for a year, indicated they might advance further south, on the capital, Addis Ababa.

COP26: US and EU announce global pledge to slash methane

The US and the EU have announced a global partnership to cut emissions of the greenhouse gas methane by 2030.

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and US President Joe Biden made the announcement at the COP26 summit on Tuesday.

The Global Methane Pledge aims to limit methane emissions by 30% compared with 2020 levels.

It is one of the most potent greenhouse gases and responsible for a third of current warming from human activities.

More than 80 countries have signed up to the initiative, first proposed by the US and the EU in September.