the us and south korea have carried outjoint military exercises over the waters around the korean peninsula. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. taliban rule was re established in afghanistan almost a year ago. for afghans, it s meant the return of repressive religious authoritarianism and new levels of economic impoverishment. the mullahs seem ready to absorb indefinite isolation to reimpose their orthodoxy. but is that a sustainable strategy? my guest is fawzia koofi, former deputy speaker of the afghan parliament, now a democracy activist in exile. is there any glimmer of light in afghanistan s darkness? fawzia koofi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it s good to be with you. well, it s great to have you in this studio. i m sure you wish you were speaking to me from kabul, from afghanistan, but you have been in exile since the taliban returned to power. how difficult for you is that separation from your country? extremely difficult. i ne
to absorb indefinite isolation to re impose their orthodoxy. but is that a sustainable strategy? my guest is fawzia koofi, former deputy speaker of the afghan parliament, now a democracy activist in exile. is there any glimmer of light in afghanistan s darkness? fawzia koofi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it s good to be with you. well, it s great to have you in this studio. i m sure you wish you were speaking to me from kabul, from afghanistan, but you have been in exile since the taliban returned to power. how difficult for you is that separation from your country? extremely difficult. i never actually wished, i never hoped, to leave the country that gave me the identity, a country that i did not only invest my time, but i invested my blood to make it a better country for everyone. it has been a very difficult decision for me to leave afghanistan. i actually was in kabulfor a few weeks after the taliban takeover with the hope that things will get to a situation where we c
In Verona for the Arena of Peace the gesture of two people who have both lost loved ones in the Gaza conflict. The pontiff told the weavers of dialogue in the Holy Land: ‘Ask world leaders to listen to your voice, so that agreements are born from reality and not from ideologies’. ‘The sin of political regimes that have ended in dictatorships is not to admit plurality: only a society where conflicts are addressed and dialogue takes place has a future’.