Latest news with #Mursal
San Francisco Chronicle
04-07-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
PHOTO ESSAY: Iranians struggled with quiet moments of fear and anxiety for 12 days of war
CAIRO (AP) — For 12 days, Tehran fell dark and silent, except for the sound of explosions. In their houses and apartments, Iranians tried to pass the hours — sleepless, eyes on the TV for news of the war. A series of images document the moments in which residents of Iran's capital struggled to hold onto something familiar amid the uncertainty. They were taken by a freelance photographer and obtained by The Associated Press outside of Iran. The AP is publishing them on condition of anonymity over fears for the photographer's safety. The photos, made under unpredictable and often unsafe conditions amid evacuation alerts and falling missiles, show the tension between normalcy and chaos. Israel said its campaign aimed to cripple Iran's nuclear facilities, which its officials maintain are for peaceful means. Israel's strikes also pounded buildings around Tehran, while Iran fired back with barrages into Israel. A ceasefire began June 24. For 12 days, Tehran was transformed. The city normally bustles at all hours, its highways packed with cars and apartment towers lit up. During the war, most of the population fled. At night, blackness descended on the city. Those who remained largely stayed indoors. Outside their windows came the rhythm of explosions — sometimes distant, sometimes close enough to shake them — and the crackle of air defenses. One night, a group of friends gathered for dinner at a Tehran home. The table was full, the atmosphere warm. Guests joked with one another. But even as they dished up food and sat down in the living room to eat, everyone was glued to the television for any news. The next night, one of the largest and most powerful explosions in Tehran struck a short distance from where they had gathered. For Sara, a 9-year-old Afghan girl, reading and drawing in her sketchbook helped her endure the days at home. She sat on the living room floor with her markers, turning to see the TV. Her family fled to Iran to escape the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan four years ago; now during Israel's campaign, they were living through a new war. The family stayed inside not just for fear of strikes. They also worried they might be detained and deported amid wartime suspicion of Afghan refugees among some. 'Afghanistan is my homeland, and so is Iran. I have two countries that feel like one,' Sara said. On one page of her sketchbook, she wrote, 'Mursal, I love you, my dear' — a message for her best friend, whose family fled back to Afghanistan during the bombardment. Sara and others are only being identified by their first names out of concern for their security. During the day, some might step outside between blasts, capturing smoke rising in the distance with their phones. After one strike hit a building, a puddle of blood remained on the street. Evacuation alerts often came late at night. Some people spent nights in subway stations for safety. They lay down sheets and blankets on the tile floor or sat on the steps, scrolling through their phones as fighter jets and explosions could be heard on the streets above. Maryam and daughter Mastaneh live in a middle-class Tehran neighborhood. During the war, their usually active home fell quiet; both became anxious and withdrawn. Before the war, Maryam would wake at 6 a.m., go to the gym, then head to work at a hotel. But once the bombardment began, the hotel closed. Maryam's workout routine fell apart. She couldn't sleep at night and wound up waking late in the day. Depressed and exhausted, she couldn't bring herself to do housework. The war's final day was the most terrifying, Maryam said, as the sound of explosions never stopped.
Hamilton Spectator
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
PHOTO ESSAY: Iranians struggled with quiet moments of fear and anxiety for 12 days of war
CAIRO (AP) — For 12 days, Tehran fell dark and silent, except for the sound of explosions. In their houses and apartments, Iranians tried to pass the hours — sleepless, eyes on the TV for news of the war. A series of images document the moments in which residents of Iran's capital struggled to hold onto something familiar amid the uncertainty. They were taken by a freelance photographer and obtained by The Associated Press outside of Iran. The AP is publishing them on condition of anonymity over fears for the photographer's safety. The photos, made under unpredictable and often unsafe conditions amid evacuation alerts and falling missiles, show the tension between normalcy and chaos. Israel said its campaign aimed to cripple Iran's nuclear facilities , which its officials maintain are for peaceful means. Israel's strikes also pounded buildings around Tehran, while Iran fired back with barrages into Israel. A ceasefire began June 24. For 12 days, Tehran was transformed. The city normally bustles at all hours, its highways packed with cars and apartment towers lit up. During the war, most of the population fled. At night, blackness descended on the city. Those who remained largely stayed indoors. Outside their windows came the rhythm of explosions — sometimes distant, sometimes close enough to shake them — and the crackle of air defenses. One night, a group of friends gathered for dinner at a Tehran home. The table was full, the atmosphere warm. Guests joked with one another. But even as they dished up food and sat down in the living room to eat, everyone was glued to the television for any news. The next night, one of the largest and most powerful explosions in Tehran struck a short distance from where they had gathered. For Sara, a 9-year-old Afghan girl, reading and drawing in her sketchbook helped her endure the days at home. She sat on the living room floor with her markers, turning to see the TV. Her family fled to Iran to escape the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan four years ago; now during Israel's campaign, they were living through a new war. The family stayed inside not just for fear of strikes. They also worried they might be detained and deported amid wartime suspicion of Afghan refugees among some. 'Afghanistan is my homeland, and so is Iran. I have two countries that feel like one,' Sara said. On one page of her sketchbook, she wrote, 'Mursal, I love you, my dear' — a message for her best friend, whose family fled back to Afghanistan during the bombardment. Sara and others are only being identified by their first names out of concern for their security. During the day, some might step outside between blasts, capturing smoke rising in the distance with their phones. After one strike hit a building, a puddle of blood remained on the street. Evacuation alerts often came late at night. Some people spent nights in subway stations for safety. They lay down sheets and blankets on the tile floor or sat on the steps, scrolling through their phones as fighter jets and explosions could be heard on the streets above. Maryam and daughter Mastaneh live in a middle-class Tehran neighborhood. During the war, their usually active home fell quiet; both became anxious and withdrawn. Before the war, Maryam would wake at 6 a.m., go to the gym, then head to work at a hotel. But once the bombardment began, the hotel closed. Maryam's workout routine fell apart. She couldn't sleep at night and wound up waking late in the day. Depressed and exhausted, she couldn't bring herself to do housework. Meanwhile Mastaneh, a university student studying French, struggled with the internet cutoffs that made it nearly impossible to take her online final exams. One explosion from a strike blasted only a few blocks away. The war's final day was the most terrifying, Maryam said, as the sound of explosions never stopped. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
GIRLS IN WAITING
In September 2012 in Kabul, Afghanistan, two young sisters, Parwana and Khorshid were killed by a suicide bomber meant for the American military. Their 8-year-old sister Mursal survived. There were seven Afghans killed including the two little girls. No Americans were harmed. A couple of years later California muso Lanny Cordola found himself just over the border in Pakistan arranging a charity music event for 'Peace through Music'. Somehow drawn to that Afghan tragedy, in a then undefined mission he kept reaching out to see if someone could introduce him to the family in Kabul and to meet the little girl who lost both of her sisters. More from Spin: Prince Royce: 'With Music, We Can Become One' Here's Why Comics Artist Jack Kirby Still Reigns Supreme Bruce Springsteen Unloads On Trump At Summer Tour Kickoff When they finally met, Mursal drawn to Mr. Lanny's (as she called him) guitar, asked him to teach her how to play, as did her eager friends… Cordola knew this was a way he could help. He could bring music to the kids. He went into action mode, calling upon his glitterati of muso friends in California to help, and a year later officially started a music school for girls in Kabul, and a non-profit on their behalf. Initially named Girl with a Guitar, after Mursal, they became The Miraculous Love Kids, and with the school they could safely gather and practice every day. Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland donated 15 guitars, so they were off and running. Over the next six years they moved around different buildings in Kabul, from a stark military barracks to above a supermarket, where the power would go off and an explosion, so they moved to another place… Always bare bones buildings, grassroots, but the girls would eagerly gather after regular school, and they were driven. Life was relatively good. They were happy, they were learning guitar and English, and Cordola paid them to show up through the foundation he'd created. It encouraged them, and also discouraged them from having to sell sunflower seeds or beg on the streets. Cordola had found a new mission in life, and he wanted to give them a global voice. The London Times had called him, flatteringly, the 'guitar god of Kabul'. He enlisted his friend Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys, and virtually, over Zoom, they played and recorded 'Love and Mercy.' It was 2018. By 2020 they were singing the Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams' alongside Kathy Valentine and Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave, a huge supporter of the girls. In May 2021 they released Steve Miller's track 'Fly Like an Eagle' with Sammy Hagar singing into his iPhone. You may have seen the girls on Good Morning America or TMZ. Their musical progression was outstanding, and they continued to make videos. They didn't realize it at the time, but things were relatively wonderful then, meeting in the rundown hot dusty rooms in Kabul, a couple of fans if the electricity was on, surrounded by broken windows, or at the national monument above Kabul where they gathered sometimes, and from other places they made their videos. Occasionally, a bomb would go off in the distance. The girls didn't understand the magnitude of what they were doing–it was all for fun. They had no idea who these musicians were that they were collaborating with. They just loved to play guitar. Cordola and his excellent network of friends had found global recognition for the girls. Remarkable considering. Things in Afghanistan had been slowly progressing. Before they went barreling backwards. In August 2021, Cordola took a plane out of Afghanistan into neighboring Pakistan to renew his visa in Islamabad. Unbeknownst to him, he'd taken the last plane out before the Taliban swooped in to take control of Kabul, after the US military's sudden mass withdrawal. The Taliban hate music. They really hate it. It's a threat to their regime. No joy allowed. They started capturing, beating, and torturing musicians, and artists, going house to house. The girls' lives were in danger. Cordola instructed them via video call from Pakistan to smash their guitars and went into overdrive on an evacuation plan for them to escape. I managed to talk to one of the girls, Jellybean, as she's affectionately called, briefly. The Taliban had taken over, she and the girls were hiding and waiting. Still sounding optimistic, and hopeful, her English surprisingly good from six years of learning song lyrics. She was one of the first girls to come to the Miraculous House as they call it. Suddenly banished from school in her birth country and having to go out in a face veil, and never alone in the street. She learnt the hard way, with a Taliban gun pushed in her face. Getting out of Afghanistan was complex, yet Jellybean managed to and arrived in Pakistan by April 2022, the others soon followed via precarious smuggling routes, Cordola paying for their guides. Running for their lives, with the risk of getting caught by the Taliban and harassment from border guards at the other end. Not exactly met with open arms, yet it was the lesser of two harms at the time. What could they do but try to carry on, hold together and wait. Pakistan having its own political unrest (increasing as I'm writing this). The girls kept on with their music regardless. And Cordola continued raising funds through paying for rent, expenses, medicine, food, and books. By 2023 nine of the girls were living in Islamabad, Pakistan 'three separate homes close to each other – six family units, nine girls and twenty family members.' Cordola proudly told me for an article I wrote for WONDERLUST. The Miraculous Love Kids released their last video shot in Afghanistan before the Taliban takeover, 'I Won't Back Down', with Blake Shelton singing from the comfort of his studio, probably in Nashville, and these immensely brave girls thousands of miles away, high up in the hot dusty ruins of Kabul, Afghanistan. Two visual panels in a duet, a song in harmony, together yet far apart. Cordola's tenacity in improving the girls' lives and teaching them music grabbed the attention of a further slew of renowned musicians, who have jumped on board to help, from the enigmatic Matt Sorum (G n' R, Hollywood Vampires), to Beth Gibbons of Portishead, Nick Cave, Nils Lofgren, Rami Jaffee, Beth Hart, Nancy Sinatra, Gilby Clark, Nandi Bushell, Kathy Valentine, Joe Walsh, Chad Kroeger from Nickelback, and more. Sia just sent them a video message after they covered her empowerment song 'Unstoppable'. Roger Daltrey is working with them, and so is Peter Gabriel. They just premiered an incredible version of 'Red Rain'. Cordola managed to get some of the girls into the US last year, four of them, including Mursal and her family. Four went back to Afghanistan mid 2023, and a further four are in hiding in Islamabad in Pakistan, as he works to find a safe outlet for them. Those in the US are now at the mercy of Trump's agenda and his Executive Order of January 20, 2025, effectively halting all refugee admissions (including, shamefully, those under Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for Afghans who assisted U.S. forces). As of May 2025, Afghan refugees in the US are facing vast challenges due to the suspension of the Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). It's political bullshit playing with the lives of innocents. Children stuck between borders, their lives on hold, and just when they thought they were safe. They'd had a plan. Lanny has been in Pakistan the past eight months with the girls and their families. They've had to go underground once again, the Pakistani police offering $20 to any local who gives up information on Afghans. The girls and their families are living in two rooms. Eighteen of them, families included. They can't go out, they can't go to the park, they can't be visible. They've been in hiding for many weeks now that the Pakistani authorities are rounding up and sending Afghans back to their country and Taliban rule. In April, 100,000 Afghans were deported from Pakistan – sent back to the Taliban and an unknown future. Pakistan has deported almost a million Afghans since 2023. Around 10,000 are still in Pakistan, with US cases in limbo because Trump blocked them. Shawn VanDiver, who heads #AfghanEvac, says it's outrageous and stresses the need for the US government to honor its commitments to these refugees. He's also appealed to the government of Pakistan to give the refugees more time. Asmat Ullah Shah, the Chief Commissioner for Afghan Refugees in Islamabad says that Afghans waiting for resettlement hold no legal status under Pakistani law. The humanitarians in this story are the musicians who have stood up for these girls by sharing their music, talent and fame to uplift the situation. 18-year-old Yasemin, aka Jellybean, 16-year-old Zakia, 14-year-old Shukriya, and seven-year-old Uzra and their families sit in tenacious hope. So many children in Afghanistan only know a life of extremes, running from extremists, of unbridled/perpetual violence by savages. Cordola's hoping to get them asylum anywhere now, if not the US, then the UK, or Canada, other locations. He told me this morning from Pakistan, 'Peter Gabriel has jumped in to do what he can, and is trying to get them into Belfast which is a UNESCO city of music—an organization called Beyond Skin is also helping, and the girls just released their video of 'Red Rain', and a new video with Roger Daltrey and Brian Wilson comes out next week'. He's also in touch with the US Embassy in Islamabad, but they're just taking orders from DC. Cordola hasn't been back to Afghanistan since he left. A friend went back and was arrested and thrown in Taliban jail. Certain people have metaphorical blood on their hands. Trump's suspension of refugee admissions has upended the lives of thousands of Afghan refugees and the communities trying to support them. In Connecticut, organizations like Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS) and Jewish Family Services (JFS) have been gutted—losing critical funding, laying off staff, and closing their doors just when they're needed most. In Virginia and Maryland, at least 42 Afghan families have received eviction notices, left to face homelessness after the government withdrew the rental aid it once promised. And far from American shores, some 1,200 Afghans who risked everything to help U.S. forces are still stranded at a base in Qatar, waiting—abandoned in bureaucratic limbo. Cordola told me the latest news this morning that a judge had ordered those who had been approved for entering the U.S. and who had a scheduled flight, were to be relocated there in the next two weeks. If Trump complies—which is anyone's guess. His mind changes daily. The Miraculous Love Kids—so aptly named for all they've been through—just released 'Love and Mercy' with Roger Daltrey and Brian Wilson. While the situation in Pakistan is increasingly tense, with stifling heat, the odd earthquake, and now war with India, with bombs landing close to where the girls are staying, they keep on keeping on. To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
Business Insider
28-04-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Russia deepens influence in Africa with strategic partnership in Somalia
Russia's diplomatic efforts in Africa have reached new heights. Moscow is now strengthening its ties with Somalia, a strategically important country in the Horn of Africa. Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister for the Middle East and African Countries, arrived in Mogadishu on Saturday for a high-level visit. He was officially received at Aden Abdullah International Airport by Somalia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Isaac Mohamud Mursal. Both emphasized the importance of promoting bilateral cooperation. The visit marks Somalia's addition to Russia's growing list of African partners as the Kremlin strengthens its influence in Africa through economic diplomacy, security cooperation, and political engagement. In a statement after the meeting, Mursal reaffirmed Somalia's commitment to deepening relations with Russia. According to the Deputy Foreign Minister, Somalia is ready to deepen cooperation in energy, infrastructure, and trade. "We are pleased to welcome Deputy Foreign Minister Bogdanov to Somalia and look forward to expanding our partnership in the coming years," Mursal said. Somalia's location on key sea routes and its efforts to rebuild after years of conflict make it a key partner for countries vying for influence in Africa. Russia's engagement in Somalia underscores Moscow's broader efforts to forge alliances in underserved but strategically important regions—a pattern that has intensified across Africa in recent years. Although Bogdanov's visit comes at a time Russia is trying to grow its influence in Africa, the discussions are expected to pave the way for greater Russian involvement in Somalia's economic and security development.
