About Global Good News

	Top Stories Dars: BBC education show in Afghanistan helps children banned from school Afghan women spin new careers by reviving ancient Silk Road crafts In Afghanistan, a new national park carries hopes for conservation and peace

	Top Stories Afghanistan: 'Transcendental Meditation could be the answer to ending war' 'Military solution improbable in Afghanistan': Invincible Defence Technology addresses root causes of terrorism and war - Pajhwok Afghan News

	Top Stories Dozens of people killed after powerful earthquakes hit Afghanistan, UN says Afghanistan is the fastest-growing maker of methamphetamine, UN drug agency says UN food agency: Afghan malnutrition rates at record high
Positive Trends Short Summaries of Top Stories Dars: BBC education show in Afghanistan helps children banned from school 1 April 2023 - The BBC has launched a new education programme for children in Afghanistan who are banned from school. It is aimed at children aged 11 to 16, including girls whose secondary education has been stopped by the ruling Taliban. The weekly programme is called Dars, which means lesson in Dari and Pashto, Afghanistan's official languages. (more) Afghan women spin new careers by reviving ancient Silk Road crafts 9 July 2020 - Once an important Silk Road trading hub, the Afghan city of Herat has long been a cultural centre, but decades of war have ravaged its ancient traditional crafts. Now thousands of women are returning to the ancient practices, seeking to revive the traditions of a city where traders once came to haggle for silk in thick-walled houses and dome-shaped bazaars. On the outskirts of the ancient city, about 4,000 women work to cultivate silk ... (more) In Afghanistan, a new national park carries hopes for conservation and peace 11 March 2020 - Afghanistan established its fifth national park last year, the massive Bamyan Plateau Protected Area. The site is home to the Persian leopard and ibex, and serves as a key breeding ground for the endemic Afghan snowfinch. Local inhabitants were crucial to developing the park and are set to have a voice in its management. In addition to conserving the landscape and its plants and wildlife, the protected area is expected to boost tourism and local livelihoods, and serve as a natural respite for a country weary of war. (more) Afghanistan: A school with no heat or computers but many college-bound students. Mostly girls. 27 June 2019 - In a remote corner of Afghanistan's Yakawlang District [Rustam School] is the area's only high school, years 1 through 12, and has an enrollment of 330 girls and 146 boys -- astonishing in a country where normally only a third of girls attend school. (more) Swapping Kalashnikovs for bat and pads: Afghan cricket, the Taliban and peace 1 April 2019 - During a lull in Afghanistan's never-ending war ...Taliban fighters recall laying down their Kalashnikovs and, for a brief moment, enjoying a game of cricket. The sport is the only one most of the fighters enjoy, commanders say ...They are also fans of the increasingly successful national team. Cricket bears some resemblance to traditional Afghan children's games involving throwing and using sticks to hit smaller sticks or balls. ... Such broad appeal has seen the sport widely hailed as a unifying force in Afghanistan, a patchwork of different languages and cultures. (more) Afghan farmers enjoy sweet smell of success 30 July 2018 - More than 800 farmers in the Afghanistgan's Nangarhar province (bordering Pakistan) are benefiting from the 'Roses for Nangarhar' project, a joint Afghan-German initiative set up in 2007 to encourage poppy growers to switch to a legal, money-making flower. (more) Photos - Guns and roses: Afghan farmers enjoy sweet smell of success 29 July 2018 - In Afghanistan's conflict ridden Nangarhar province, poppy growers are finding sweet success in the cultivation of rose petals that are turned into rose water and oils for sale around the world. (more) Flower power: Afghanistan's poppy farmers harvest success with roses 23 July 2018 - Standing in a field of roses in eastern Afghanistan, former poppy grower Mohammad Din Sapai quickly but carefully plucks the delicate petals that will be turned into rose water and oils for sale around the world. The sweet smelling crop is providing farmers in Nangarhar province with a viable alternative to growing opium poppies. 'I am very happy with this harvest of flowers,' Sapai tells AFP as he stands among hundreds of blooming rose bushes. (more) Afghanistan farmers enjoy sweet smell of success growing roses (AFP video) 22 July 2018 - Standing in a field of roses in eastern Afghanistan, former poppy grower Mohammad Din Sapai quickly but carefully plucks the delicate petals that will be turned into rose water and oils for sale around the world. The sweet smelling crop is providing farmers in Nangarhar province with a viable alternative to growing opium poppies, the sale of which has fuelled the conflict raging across the country. (more) Busy bees turn Afghan schoolgirl into an entrepreneur 7 April 2018 - In war-torn Afghanistan, honey is regarded as a traditional cure-all but for one schoolgirl, the sticky commodity has also created sweet opportunities to work and own a business in a country where few women do so. Three years ago, Frozan, now 19-years-old, obtained a small loan, bought two beehives and learned about apiculture from Hand in Hand International, a non-governmental organization that focuses on poverty. (more)
Success of Maharishi's Programmes Short Summaries of Top Stories Afghanistan: 'Transcendental Meditation could be the answer to ending war' 20 June 2017 - War and terrorism in Afghanistan could quickly end if a minimum of 578 of Afghanistan's troops were trained in Invincible Defense Technology (IDT), writes Dr David Leffler in TOLOnews.com. The purpose of this IDT group would be to practise the non-religious Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique and its advanced programmes in groups twice a day. Extensive peer-reviewed research and military field-tests worldwide show that proper application of these programmes brings about measurable decreases in crime, terrorism and war and improvements in quality of life, resulting from the reduction of societal stress. (more) 'Military solution improbable in Afghanistan': Invincible Defence Technology addresses root causes of terrorism and war - Pajhwok Afghan News 17 June 2009 - A scientifically verified alternative to military action is available in Afghanistan, say Invincible Defence Technology (IDT) experts Major General (Ret.) Kulwant Singh, Colonel Brian Rees, and David Leffler, PhD. Extensive peer-reviewed published research demonstrates the effectiveness of group practice of the Transcendental Meditation Programme and its advanced techniques for reducing the societal stress that fuels violence, terrorism, and war. (more)
Flops Short Summaries of Top Stories Dozens of people killed after powerful earthquakes hit Afghanistan, UN says 7 October 2023 - Hundreds of people are feared dead after a series of powerful earthquakes hit western Afghanistan. The United Nations said more than 320 had lost their lives before later saying the figure was still being verified. A local Taliban official told the Guardian the death toll 'is much higher than that'. ...'Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread,' a preliminary United States Geological Survey (USGS) report said. 'Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response.' (more) Afghanistan is the fastest-growing maker of methamphetamine, UN drug agency says 10 September 2023 - Afghanistan is the world's fastest-growing maker of methamphetamine, a report from the United Nations drug agency said Sunday [10 September]. The country is also a major opium producer and heroin source, even though the Taliban declared a war on narcotics after they returned to power in August 2021. (more) UN food agency: Afghan malnutrition rates at record high 1 February 2023 - Malnutrition rates in Afghanistan are at record highs with half the country enduring severe hunger throughout the year, a spokesman for the World Food Program said Thursday [26 January]. The Taliban takeover in August 2021 drove millions into poverty and hunger after foreign aid stopped almost overnight. (more) Afghan women weep as Taliban fighters enforce university ban 21 December 2022 - Taliban security forces in the Afghan capital on Wednesday [21 December] enforced a higher education ban for women by blocking their access to universities, with video obtained by The Associated Press showing women weeping and consoling each other outside one campus in Kabul. The country's Taliban rulers a day earlier ordered women nationwide to stop attending private and public universities effective immediately and until further notice. (more) Taliban bar women from university education in Afghanistan 21 December 2022 - Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Tuesday [20 December] banned female students from attending universities effective immediately in the latest edict cracking down on women's rights and freedoms. Despite initially promising a more moderate rule respecting rights for women's and minorities, the Taliban have widely implemented their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. (more) Taliban close girls schools in east that had briefly opened 10 September 2022 - Taliban authorities Saturday [10 September] shut down girls schools above the sixth grade in eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province, according to witnesses and social media posts. The schools had briefly opened after a recommendation by tribal elders and school principals. ... A year after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, teenage girls are still barred from school and women are required to cover themselves from head to toe in public, with only their eyes showing. Hard-liners appear to hold sway in the Taliban-led government, which imposed severe restrictions on access to education and jobs for girls and women, despite initial promises to the contrary. (more) More than 1,000 people killed after magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits eastern Afghanistan 22 June 2022 - Afghanistan was rocked by its deadliest earthquake in decades on Wednesday [22 June] when a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the country's east, killing more than 1,000 people and wounding many more, according to a regional official. The humanitarian disaster comes at a difficult time for the Taliban-ruled country, currently in the throes of hunger and economic crises. (more) Parents selling children shows desperation of Afghanistan 31 December 2021 - Many of Afghanistan's growing number of destitute people are making desperate decisions such as these as their nation spirals into a vortex of poverty. The aid-dependent country's economy was already teetering when the Taliban seized power in mid-August amid a chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops. The international community froze Afghanistan's assets abroad and halted all funding, unwilling to work with a Taliban government given its reputation for brutality during its previous rule 20 years ago. The consequences have been devastating for a country battered by four decades of war, a punishing drought, and the coronavirus pandemic. (more) Changing climate parches Afghanistan, exacerbating poverty 23 December 2021 - Fed by rain and snowmelt from mountains, this valley nestled among northwestern Afghanistan's jagged peaks was once fertile. But the climate has changed in the last few decades, locals say, leaving the earth barren and its people struggling to survive. (more) Afghans face hunger crisis, adding to Taliban's challenges 1 September 2021 - The United Nations' stockpiles of food in Afghanistan could run out this month, a senior official warned Wednesday, threatening to add a hunger crisis to the challenges facing the country's new Taliban rulers as they try to restore stability after decades of war. About one third of the country's population of 38 million doesn't know if they will have a meal every day, according to Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N.'s humanitarian chief in Afghanistan. ... The Taliban, who seized control of the country ahead of the withdrawal of American forces this week, now must govern a nation that relies heavily on international aid and is in the midst of a worsening economic crisis. (more)