Taliban Makes No Concessions After 10 Days of Negotiations With U.N.
U.N. officials departed from Afghanistan late last week after 10 days of negotiations with Taliban leaders brought no new concessions.
Taliban Planning Minister Kari Din Mohammad said that any past security or accessibility problems experienced by aid organizations and U.N. officials was "unintentional and incidental." Regarding women's access to health care, Mohammad claimed that services were "already there," and that the Taliban's decree banning girls from attending school is "in line with Islamic law."
5/20/2013 Afghan Violence Against Women Law Blocked in Parliament - On Saturday, the Speaker of the Lower House of Afghan Parliament delayed a vote on the Elimination of Violence against Women law after two hours of vociferous debate between conservative religious and more liberal members of Parliament. . . .
5/20/2013 Walmart, American Retailers Refuse to Join Bangladesh Accord - Walmart, along with 13 other major North American companies, refused to sign a legally binding agreement to improve working conditions for overseas factory workers that manufacture their clothes after a garment factory collapsed in Bangladesh killing an estimated 1300 workers, the New York Times reports.
The agreement requires retailers pay $500,000 to improve worker safety measures over a five year period. . . .
