Ruddhi Phadke

A new Taliban penal code effectively legalising domestic abuse exposes not just the brutality of Afghanistan’s rulers but also the world’s uneasy willingness to look away. “A husband may beat his wife, so long as there are no broken bones or open wounds.” Few sentences better capture the moral universe now taking shape in Afghanistan. What reads like a fragment from a medieval legal text is, in fact, part of a newly circulated penal code reportedly approved by the Taliban’s supreme leader,...

Mumbaikars recall their encounter with the missile attacks in Middle East Govandi Muslim Youth Front stage protest condemning killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatulla Khameni, at Govandi, in Mumbai, on Sunday. | Pic: Bhushan Koyande Mumbai: Dombivli resident Meghana Modak who flew to Dubai 15 days ago, as a tourist told ‘The Perfect Voice’ that she heard loud sounds and huge clouds of smoke in the air when she felt something was unusual. She was out for a casual walk on Saturday, but had to...

Economic despair at home and American bluster abroad have revived old fears of regime change in Iran. Iran has seen protests before that have changed the course of its history. It has seen foreign pressure, sanctions and threats in abundance. But what makes the present moment unsettling is the coincidence of both. Ever since demonstrations spread across the country last month, sparked by a collapsing currency and surging prices, they have quickly become entangled with a far more combustible...