this is bbc news broadcasting in the uk and around the globe. i m samantha simmonds. our top stories. at least 20 people have died in extreme winter storms in the us and canada. more than one million people are without power. the un and ngos condemn a new taliban order barring women the united nations and ngos in afghanistan are meeting today to discuss whether to suspend aid operations in response to a taliban order banning women agency employees. as ten civilians are killed by russian shelling in the ukrainian city of kherson, president zelensky says airstrikes will not diminish the spirit of ukrainians. translation: we will return freedom to all ukrainians. - wherever we are, we will be together today, and together we will look into the evening sky.
in a defiant video message on christmas eve, president volodymyr zelensky said russian airstrikes would not harm what he called the steel spirit of ukrainians. someone will see it on the highway, on the road from the ukrainian polish border to kherson or zaporizhzhia. some will see it through the holes of the bullet riddled roof of their own homes. someone will celebrate the holiday in other people s homes, but not with strangers. and someone will spend this christmas in captivity, but please remember that we are coming for our people. we will return freedom to all ukrainians. wherever we are, we will be together today. and together, we will look into the evening sky. the united nations and ngos in afghanistan are meeting today to discuss whether to suspend aid operations in response to a taliban order banning women agency employees. the un said this violated
it is the latest assault on women s rights in afghanistan since the taliban returned to power last year, and it could have a devastating impact on the incomes of afghan families, as well as the life saving work of aid agencies. women who are working right now in the ngos are the only breadwinners for theirfamilies, the only people who are working and bringing income to their families, in the context that there are no job opportunities and there is an economic crisis going on. dozens of non governmental organisations working in afghanistan could be affected by the latest ban. the international rescue committee says its 3,000 female staffers are critical for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and it is dismayed by the move . us secretary of state antony blinken also shared his deep concern, tweeting that the taliban order will disrupt vital and life saving assistance to millions.
in a defiant video message on christmas eve, president volodymyr zelensky, said russian airstrikes would not harm what he called the steel spirit of ukrainians. someone will see it on the highway, on the road from the ukrainian polish border to kherson or zaporizhzhia. some will see it through the holes of the bullet riddled roof of their own homes. someone will celebrate the holiday in other people s homes, but not with strangers. and someone will spend this christmas in captivity, but please remember that we are coming for our people. we will return freedom to all ukrainians. wherever we are, we will be together today. and together, we will look into the evening sky. the united nations and ngos in afghanistan are meeting today to discuss whether to suspend aid operations in response to a taliban order banning women agency employees, which the un said violated
erasure of women in afghanistan. we know that this is so much bigger than just banning education or banning now as of today, employment in most areas for women, this is a a sickening approach towards stripping women of their agency and power in society and going back to the horrors of the last century, when the taliban were in power for the first time. joining me now from kabul, obaidullah baheer, a lecturer at the american university of afghanistan. thank you forjoining us. my first question is, if you stop women working for these ngos, charitable organisations, what is the impact on the women and the children they have been helping?