The exterior is a silent reminder of the gloomy atmosphere that prevails in the capital. "Can you let us in?" they whisper.
A woman called Sonia* opens the door. Before the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, this 56-year-old hairstylist and beauty salon owner never imagined that one day she would have to work in secret.
After letting her clients in, Sonia unpacks her beauty paraphernalia: makeup palettes, hairdryers, flat irons, waxes, mascara, nail polish, false nails, kohl and brushes. Running the secret salon could cost her a fine, several months in prison or worse. But Sonia cannot afford to let fear overwhelm her. If she does not concentrate, the eyeliner will not be applied properly and her customers won't come back.
"What can I do for you?" Sonia asks her clients, who are both in their 20s. In the world's most repressive country for women, such courtesies have become dangerous.
The Taliban announced the closure of beauty salons in July 2023, claiming a number of the services they offered were violating Islamic law.
Denne historien er fra August 09, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra August 09, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
What Can America Expect From Trump 2.0
THE 45TH AND 47TH commander-in-chief will face fewer limits on his ambition when he is sworn in again in January.
New World Order How Will Trump Reshape US Foreign Policy?
DURING THE FIRST TRUMP TERM, Richard Moore, then the political director of the UK Foreign Offi ce and now the head of MI6, has admitted that half of Britain’s diplomats woke up each morning dreading what they might read on the president’s Twitter feed.
Seed drill: what can I make with tahini beyond just hummus?
'Tahini has a beautiful versatility,\" says Fadi Kattan, chef/co-founder of Akub in London and author of Bethlehem, \"from a drizzle over your morning toast or granola, to an earthy background flavour in a sauce, to all sorts of cakes and cookies.\"
Trump unleashed will be even worse than last time's dress rehearsal Jonathan Freedland
Are you ready for Trump unbound? You may have thought the former and future president was already pretty unrestrained, not least because Donald Trump has never shown anything but brazen disrespect for boundaries or limits of any kind. And you would be right. But, as an earlier entertainer turned president – and Trump combines the two roles – liked to say: You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Trump's return is bleak for America and the world
This is an exceptionally bleak and frightening moment for the United States and the world. Donald Trump swept the electoral college and the popular vote -giving him not merely a victory, but a mandate. If many voters gambled on him in 2016, they doubled down this time.
Flower Power
Once a modest sign of remembrance for the war dead, the poppy has increasingly been used as a prop for performative patriotism, and a tool that helps to gauge others' loyalty to an ideal of national sacrifice
When adult children cut the cord
Grownups who cut off contact with their family are often trying to break away after a traumatic childhood. But sometimes the estrangement can be totally unexpected for parents who really believe they've done their best
Battle lines Pyongyang's Russia entente is a dilemma for Xi Jinping
In October 1950, barely a year after the Chinese civil war ended, Mao Zedong sent the first Chinese soldiers to fight in the Korean war. Between 180,000 and 400,000 of Chairman Mao's troops would die in that conflict, including his own son. But it was important to defend North Korea then, Mao reportedly said, because \"without the lips, the teeth are cold\".
The hospital on the frontline of unstoppable gang warfare
It was mid-morning in central Port-au-Prince and already two shooting victims had been rushed into the hospital past a mural instructing visitors to leave machetes and rifles outside.
Small wonders Unravelling the paradoxes of plankton
Scientists are using technology to sequence the DNA of microscopic marine life for the first time-to help us learn more about ourselves
