GRIF MAG

The Telegraph obtained the 60-page penal code – signed by Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban supreme leader, and distributed to courts across Afghanistan – which classifies spousal beatings as "ta'zir" – discretionary punishment – rather than a criminal act.

A husband may strike his wife and children freely, provided the violence does not leave visible bone fractures or open wounds.

Even where serious injury can be proven, the maximum sentence is 15 days in prison.

The law is written to ensure that the bar is almost never met.

To pursue a complaint, a woman must present her wounds in person to a male judge while remaining fully veiled and accompanied by a male guardian.

In the majority of domestic violence cases, that guardian is the husband who committed the beating.

There is no provision in the code prohibiting physical, psychological or sexual violenceagainst women.

For those who do attempt to flee, thelaw offers another trap.

Article 34 says that a woman who goes to her parents' home without her husband's permission – even to escape violence – faces up to three months in prison. Family members who shelter her face the same sentence.

The code dismantles the legal framework established under Afghanistan's previous government, including a 2009 law that criminalised forced marriage, rape and gender-based violence and imposed sentences of between three months and one year for domestic abuse.

Working-class Afghans at the bottom of the hierarchy face imprisonment and corporal punishment.

The code explicitly distinguishes between"free" citizensand "slaves."

The requirement to bring a male chaperone to court – where that chaperone is, in most cases, the abuser – makes justice structurally impossible.

The criminalisation of fleeing to a parent's home makes escape structurally impossible.

The Taliban has since ruled that discussing the penal code is itself a criminal offence.

Narges, a former university student in western Herat, told The Telegraph: "The world has always shown its unjust side to us. I do not feel like I am living, and this feeling is shared by everyone I know."

She added: "Our life is more like a constant resistance against everything out there. No one sees us.No one cares about us.

"This new law is not just a law – it is making our bodies their field of control.No one would see our painunless our bones are broken. They are legalising fear. We are living in fear and silence."

Article 59 criminalises dancing – performing it and watching it – without providing any legal definition of what dancing constitutes.

"Dance for boys and girls, and those who play music for them, or the people who watch (attend) the show, are all criminals. The judge shall sentence each one of them to two months' imprisonment."

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The new law also criminalises thought. Criticising any action banned by the Taliban leadership is itself a criminal offence, including criticism of the ban on girls' education, which Taliban courts now classify as a lawful restriction.

Under Article 23, insulting Taliban leaders carries 20 lashes and six months in prison.

Any Afghan who witnesses opposition activity and fails to report it to Taliban authorities faces two years in prison.

There is no right to a lawyer anywhere in the legal document.

The entire edifice of fair trial has been stripped out and replaced with the discretion of Taliban judges, operating without oversight, without appeal, and now with the force of signed, distributed, enacted law.

Religious minorities face their own specific jeopardy.

Article 2 designates followers of non-Hanafi Islamic schools – including Shia Muslims, Ismailis, Salafis and Ahl-e-Hadith, roughly 15 per cent of the population – as "innovators" or apostates.

Teachers are permitted to beat children in their care, with only the most extreme injuries – broken bones, torn skin, heavy bruising – defined as excess.

Other physical violence, all psychological violence, all sexual violence against children are not prohibited.

Article 48 explicitly permits fathers to physically punish sons from the age of 10. The code frames this as acting in the child's interest.

Article 9 divides Afghan society into four formal tiers: religious scholars, elites, middle class, lower class.

The same crime committed by a scholar earns advice. Committed by an elite, it earns a court summons. If committed by a middle-class Afghan, the punishment is prison. And if committed by a working-class Afghan, the result is prison and corporal punishment.

Article 17 criminalises "mockery" of Islamic rulings with two years in prison, with no definition of what mockery means, leaving judges to decide arbitrarily.

Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban has systematically curbed women's rights in Afghanistan.

The restrictionsaffect their daily lives, ranging from preventing them from showing their faces in public or driving a car, to forbidding conversations with men and restricting how they dress.

Women have already been ordered to cover their faces "to avoid temptation and tempting others" and refrain from speaking in the presence of unfamiliar men who are not husbands or close relatives.

Afghan women have also been ordered not to speak loudly inside their homes, to prevent their voices from being heard outside.

Women who defy the new rules will be arrested and sent to prison, the Taliban said.

In July 2024, a United Nations report said the ministry for promoting virtue and preventing vice was contributing to a climate of fear and intimidation among Afghans through its edicts and the methods used to enforce them.

However, in recent months, there have been increasing signs of discord from within the ranks of the Taliban as it tries to transform itself from a guerrilla force to a functioning government.

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Inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, in Washington

WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told the first meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday that nations had contributed $7 billion to a Gaza reconstruction fund that aims to rebuild the enclave once Hamas disarms, an objective that is far from becoming a reality.

The disarmament of Hamas militants and accompanying withdrawal of Israeli troops, ‌the size of the reconstruction fund and the flow of humanitarian aid to the war-battered populace of Gaza are among the major questions likely to test the effectiveness of the board in the months ‌ahead.

The meeting in Washington came amid a broader push by Trump to build a reputation as a peacemaker. It also took place as the United States threatens war against Iran and has embarked on a massive military buildup in the region in case Tehran refuses to give up ​its nuclear program.

The Board's founding membership does not include some key U.S. Western allies concerned about the scope of the initiative.

In a flurry of announcements at the end of a long, winding speech to representatives from 47 nations, Trump said the United States will contribute $10 billion to the Board of Peace. He did not say where the money would come from or whether he would seek it from the U.S. Congress.

MOSTLY MIDDLE EASTERN MEMBERSHIP

Trump said contributing nations had raised $7 billion as an initial down payment for Gaza reconstruction. Contributors included Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Kuwait, he said. The membership is mostly made up of Middle Eastern countries, plus leaders from outside the region who may ‌be looking to gain favor with Trump.

Estimates for rebuilding Gaza, which was reduced ⁠to rubble after two years of war, range up to $70 billion.

Trump proposed the board in September when he announced his plan to end Israel's war in Gaza. He later made clear the board's remit would expand beyond Gaza to tackle other conflicts worldwide, a point he reiterated on Wednesday by saying it would look into "hotspots" around the world.

Trump said FIFA will ⁠raise $75 million for soccer-related projects in Gaza and that the United Nations will chip in $2 billion for humanitarian assistance.

The Board of Peace includes Israel but not Palestinian representatives. Trump's suggestion that the Board could eventually address challenges beyond Gaza has stirred anxiety that it could undermine the U.N.'s role as the main platform for global diplomacy and conflict resolution.

"We're going to strengthen the United Nations," Trump said, trying to assuage his critics, even though the United States is in arrears on making payments.

Trump said Norway would ​host ​a Board of Peace event, but Norway clarified it was not joining the board.

IRAN SABER-RATTLING

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Even as he talked up himself as a ​man of peace, Trump rattled sabers against Iran.

Trump said he should know in 10 ‌days whether a deal is possible to end a standoff with Tehran. "We have to have a meaningful deal," he said.

Trump said several nations are planning to send thousands of troops to participate in an International Stabilization Force that will help keep the peace in Gaza when it eventually deploys.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announced his country would contribute up to 8,000 troops to the force.

The plan for the force is to begin working in areas Israel controls in the absence of Hamas disarmament. The force, led by a U.S. general with an Indonesian deputy, will start in Israeli-controlled Rafah, an area that Israeli forces depopulated and demolished during the war. The aim is to train 12,000 police and have 20,000 troops.

HAMAS DISARMAMENT A KEY ISSUE

Hamas, fearful of Israeli reprisals, has been reluctant to hand over weaponry as part of Trump's 20-point Gaza plan that brought about a fragile ceasefire last October in the two-year Gaza war.

Trump said he ‌hoped the use of force to disarm Hamas would be unnecessary. He said Hamas had promised to disarm and it "looks like they're ​going to be doing that, but we'll have to find out."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Israel that Hamas will be disarmed ​one way or the other. "Very soon, Hamas will face a dilemma - to disarm peacefully or disarmed forcefully," ​he said.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said in a statement that the real test of the Board of Peace "lies in their ability to compel the occupation to halt its violations ‌of the ceasefire, to oblige it to meet its obligations, and to initiate a ​genuine relief effort and launch the reconstruction process."

The Board of ​Peace event had the feel of a Trump campaign rally, with music blaring from his eclectic playlist that included Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys. Participants received red Trump hats.

Hamas, which has resumed administration of the ruined enclave, says it is ready to hand over to a U.S.-backed committee of Palestinian technocrats led by Ali Shaath, but that Israel has not allowed the group into Gaza. Israel has yet to comment ​on those assertions.

Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian with a senior role in the Board of ‌Peace, said at the meeting that 2,000 Palestinians have applied to join a new transitional Palestinian police force.

"We have to get this right. There is no plan B for Gaza. Plan B ​is going back to war. No one here wants that," said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

(Reporting By Trevor Hunnicutt, Steve Holland, Simon Lewis, Samia Nakhoul, and Nidal al-Mughrabi; additional reporting by Steven ​Scheer and Omri Taasan in Jerusalem and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Don Durfee, Ross Colvin, Philippa Fletcher, Rod Nickel)

The contempt finding by US District Judge Laura Provinzino on Wednesday appears to mark the first time a federal attorney has faced court-ordered sanctions during President Donald Trump's second term.

It comes as judges in the Twin Cities and elsewhere have grown increasingly impatient with the administration's repeated violations of court orders, particularly in fast-moving immigration cases.

The appointee of former President Joe Biden said that starting Friday, the lawyer, Matthew Isihara, must pay $500 each day that the immigrant is not given back identification documents that weren't initially returned to him when he was released last week from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, as she had ordered.

As Provinzino imposed the sanction, she brushed aside Isihara's attempt to explain that the violation wasn't intentional, but instead a result of the case slipping through the cracks amid an "enormous volume of cases" stemming from Operation Metro Surge.

"The government's understaffing and high caseload is a problem of its own making and absolutely does not justify flagrant disobedience of court orders," the judge said during a hearing Wednesday, according to a transcript obtained by CNN.

"I don't believe I need to do additional hand-holding on this. I think it's clear what needs to happen," she added. "Petitioner needs to get his documents immediately, and there will be a $500 sanction any day beyond tomorrow that they are not received by his attorney."

CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

Isihara is amilitary attorney who went to the Twin Cities to helpthe Justice Department handle a flood of immigration cases brought by noncitizens seeking to be released from ICE custody, which had overwhelmed its team on the ground, leading to non-compliance issues in other cases.

Provinzino on February 9 ordered the government to release the man, a Mexican national who had lived in Minnesota since 2018, after she determined that he was being unlawfully detained. Her order mandated that he be released in Minnesota no later than February 13 and that all his property be handed over to him. But the government flouted that order in three different ways, the judge said, including by releasing him in Texas, where he was being held, and not giving him back his identification documents.

"It's very troubling, in the court's review of this record," the judge said as she ticked through the various violations. She noted later that Isihara and his colleagues hadn't done any work on the case until that morning.

"It's a capacity issue, your honor, and that's the fundamental underlying issue," Isihara said. "It's not any willful attempt to defy the court."

Provinzino and her colleagues on the bench in Minnesota had regularly been threatening to hold Justice Department lawyers or immigration officials in civil contempt in recent weeks as non-compliance issues in dozens of cases stemming from Operation Metro Surge continued to add up. But the monetary sanctions represent a turning point.

"We've seen other cases in which district judges have opened more formal contempt proceedings, but this is the first time we've seen a court directly use its coercive power to try to compel immediate compliance with a court order," said Steve Vladeck, CNN legal analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center.

"The notion that lawyers must themselves pay a price for their client's non-compliance with court orders is hardly new, but it may be long overdue in the context of the current administration," Vladeck added.

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Isihara's explanation to the judge mirrored similar statements made earlier this month by a different Trump administration lawyer who found herself in the hot seat over repeated violations of court orders in immigration cases she was handling in the Twin Cities.

That lawyer, Julie Le, wasremoved from her post in Minnesotaafter she told Judge Jerry Blackwell the violations were the result of both a personnel shortage and lackluster procedures intended to ensure orders are followed.

"And, yes, procedure in place right now sucks. I'm trying to fix it," she said. "The system sucks. This job sucks."

Compliance issues in immigration cases are not limited to Minnesota.

In Baltimore on Wednesday, a Trump-appointed judge scrutinized claims that federal immigration agencies had violated a 2024 settlement agreement meant to protect some young migrants with pending asylum claims from being deported.

At least a handful of the young migrants covered by the settlement were deported last year before they were given the opportunity to have their asylum claims heard, as guaranteed by the agreement.

US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher did not rule from the bench on a request from lawyers for the migrants for the government to be held in civil contempt. Instead, she said she would be scheduling an evidentiary hearing to hear live testimony from Department of Homeland Security officials after a DOJ lawyer was not able to answer her questions about why those migrants were deported.

DOJ found more than 50 violations of court orders

In New Jersey, a high-ranking Justice Department official told a federal judge there last week the government had identified more than 50 instances of violations of court orders across hundreds of immigration cases brought in the state since early December.

The accounting was undertaken by two dozen lawyers with the US Attorney's Office in New Jersey after Judge Michael Farbiarz found that the government had violated his order in the case of an Indian national challenging his detention. The judge had directed officials to not transfer the man out of New Jersey while his case played out, but he was nonetheless flown to Texas.

The DOJ official, Jordan Fox, told the judge that many of the violations occurred when a migrant challenging their detention was moved from one facility to another even after a judge had expressly prohibited such a change.

Fox said the violations were accidental and due to "logistical delays in communicating the court order" to the relevant ICE officials or "administrative oversight of the court order."

The other violations included missing filing deadlines or not giving an immigrant a bond hearing within the timeframe outlined by a judge.

Farbiarz, a Joe Biden appointee, is still weighing what to do in the case of the Indian national, but he made clear Tuesday that he is unhappy with the noncompliance identified by the lawyers.

"This falls below the relevant standards," he wrote in an order directing the US Attorney's Office to explain in coming days how it will work to ensure the pattern isn't repeated. "Judicial orders should never be violated. And they very rarely are, especially not by federal officials."

This story has been updated with additional details.

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The anchors on the NBC morning show this week have been wearing yellow ribbons, and filling their studio with yellow roses, as a way of showing their support for their colleague amid the disappearance of her84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie.

On Feb. 18,Hoda Kotbnoted on air that many people were placing yellow flowers near the Guthrie home in Arizona, so the "Today" show decided to follow suit.

"We got a suggestion from one of our viewers, and we're doing the same here," Kotb said as the camera panned across a row of yellow flowers on the "Today" show set. "We have yellow roses around Studio 1A, and we're all wearing ribbons as we send our love to Savannah and her family."

"Today" show host Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie, was seemingly abducted from her home outside Tucson, Arizona, in the early hours of Feb. 1, 2026. Authorities released photos and videos on Feb. 10, of a potential suspect who was caught tampering with a camera on her front door on the morning of her disappearance. 

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> New images from a Nest camera show an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie's front door on the morning of her disappearance.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> U.S. journalist and television host Savannah Guthrie, accompanied by her siblings Annie and Camron, speaks in a video message, addressing that they are willing to pay for the release of their elderly mother, Nancy Guthrie, who went missing from her Arizona home several days ago, in this screen grab obtained from social media video taken at an unspecified location and released February 7, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of "Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie is missing, and Arizona officials say they are investigating her disappearance as a "crime."

"Today" show cohost Savannah Guthrie, accompanied by her siblings Annie and Camron Guthrie, speaks in a video message addressing a possible kidnapper who might be holding her 84-year-old mother, Nancy Guthrie in this screen grab obtained from social media video taken at an unspecified location and released Feb. 4, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> The Pima County Sheriff's Office in Arizona received a 911 call reporting Nancy Guthrie missing from her home outside Tucson around noon local time on Sunday, Feb. 1.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> She was reported missing from her home in a community just north of Tucson on Feb. 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Search for Nancy Guthrie and person suspected of taking her continues

"Today" show host Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother,Nancy Guthrie, was seemingly abducted from her home outside Tucson, Arizona, in the early hours of Feb. 1, 2026. Authorities released photos and videos on Feb. 10, of a potential suspect who was caught tampering with a camera on her front door on the morning of her disappearance.

"For the national collective, this is our missing mom, and this is a nice symbol," Carson Daly added.

Nancy Guthrie's neighbor Laura Garganopreviously told Peoplethat "some of us put flowers at the front of Nancy's house, while others who may not have wanted to go down to Nancy's house, put ribbons on their mailboxes," noting, "The yellow ribbon is a sentiment of hope and support after someone goes missing. I believe the use of the yellow ribbons goes back to hostage-taking in the 1970s."

Yellow ribbons were used as a symbol of hopeduring the Iran hostage crisisthat began in 1979. They were also used during the disappearance of 3-year-old Madeleine McCann in 2007,the BBC notes.

"Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother Nancy Guthrie was reported missing in February 2026. See photos of the mother-daughter duo together through the years on NBC and beyond. Here, they're pictured in an undated photograph. Arizona officials say they are investigating Nancy Guthrie's disappearance as a "crime."

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Nancy Guthrie and "Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie are pictured in an undated photograph provided by NBC.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Nancy Guthrie and "Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie are pictured in an undated photograph provided by NBC.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Nancy Guthrie and "Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie are pictured on April 17, 2019, on "Today with Hoda & Jenna."

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Nancy Guthrie and "Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie are pictured in an undated photograph provided by NBC.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of "Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie, is pictured in an undated photograph provided by NBC. Pictured here are Savannah and her mother on the set of the "Today" show on June 15, 2023.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Nancy Guthrie and "Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie are pictured in an undated photograph provided by NBC.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

Search for Nancy Guthrie and person suspected of taking her continues

"Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old motherNancy Guthriewas reportedmissing in February 2026. See photos of the mother-daughter duo together through the years on NBC and beyond. Here, they're pictured in an undated photograph. Arizona officials say they are investigating Nancy Guthrie's disappearance as a "crime."

The anchors on the "Today" show continued to wear their yellow ribbons on Feb. 19, and the flowers have remained in the studio. Kotb, a former "Today" anchor who left the show in early 2025, has been helping fill in for Guthrie amid her absence. Earlier this week, she reflected on the messages of support she has been receiving from viewers.

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"I was walking through the airport yesterday, I was just flying back here. The number of people who came up and said, one thing they kept repeating, which just struck me is, 'She's like all of our moms. She's like all of our moms. Tell her we're praying. Tell her we're here,'" Kotb said. "And I think that's so important. It's touched everybody."

Nancy Guthrie was reported missing from her home in Arizona on Feb. 1, and authorities have said they believe she was taken against her will. Law enforcement is calling on the public to share any information that could lead to her recovery, and the FBI is offering a reward of $100,000.

A suspect in the case has not been identified, but according to the Pima County Sheriff's Department, investigators are analyzing biological evidence found at the Guthrie residence.

The "Today" show has been providing regular coverage of the case. Throughout the month, the show's anchors have also reflected on how the story has hit close to home. Nancy Guthrie had made numerous appearances on on the "Today" show with her daughter over the years, and the NBC anchors have noted they met and became close with her.Jenna Bush Hagershared earlier this month that Savannah Guthrie's mom is "loved deeply by everyone here at 'Today,'" whileSheinelle Jonesreflected, "Behind the scenes, we're all rattled. We're all shaken."

Savannah Guthrie most recently spoke out about thecase in a video shared on Instagramon Feb. 15, in which she addressed her mother's apparent kidnapper.

"We still have hope, and we still believe," Guthrie said. "And I wanted to say, to whoever has her, or knows where she is, that it's never too late, and you're not lost or alone, and it is never too late to do the right thing."

Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'Today' show anchors wear yellow ribbons to support Savannah Guthrie