Egregoros

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgvk9p2n7ko

Governor Abdullah Sarhadi gives money to treat a boy's broken arm and hands out funds for a local mosque - then, in his office in northern Afghanistan, an astonishing exchange unfolds. A young woman tells the grey-bearded former Taliban commander that she wants to divorce her husband, who she accuses of months of abuse and beatings. She will not take no for an answer. In a country where girls are banned from secondary education, the 18-year-old argues her case calmly and confidently, her face completely hidden behind a full-face veil and sunglasses. "If there was any chance to live together, I wouldn't be here… I have taken my decision," she says. After trying to persuade her to avoid divorce, the governor later comments that women are "mindless" and "deficient in intellect", to laughter from the male officials, bodyguards and elders around him. The moment gives a rare glimpse into the day-to-day realities of the Taliban's rule, five years after they swept aside the US-backed government in 2021.

But in other ways his worldview seems largely unchanged from the Taliban's position 25 years ago. Then, he was a military commander in Bamiyan, where the Taliban blew up ancient giant Buddha statues, triggering international shock and condemnation. He initially tries to avoid our questions about the archaeological site, but eventually, he says: "I destroyed it with my own hands. "Whatever we did and we do is in accordance with the guidance and God's law… We smash idols rather than sell them. Why should I regret? It was God's will."

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15855333/Migrant-gang-five-abduct-foreign-tourist-subject-72-hour-gang-rape-case-shocked-Italy.html

A migrant gang of five men abducted a foreign tourist before subjecting her to 72-hours of violent gang rape in Italy. The 32-year-old Colombian woman had arrived in Rome on May 9, before going for dinner alone near the city's Termini Station just ten days later. Outside the restaurant, the holidaymaker was approached by a man who convinced her to follow him so he could sell her hashish. After walking for around half an hour, she and the stranger reached a van, where another man abducted her. He drove her to an abandoned building, occupied by at least 22 illegal migrants, on Via Cesare Tallone, in Tor Cervara, on the eastern outskirts of the capital. The victim was held captive in the complex for 72 hours, where she was forced to endure several gang rapes by five men who drugged her and threatened to kill her. She was also robbed of her mobile phone and wallet. After managing to eventually escape the abuse, an Italian driver found the woman lying half-naked on the pavement on Via di Tor Cervara.

The five arrested are Saidykhan Lamin and Karamba Kanteh, two Gambian men aged 29 and 38; Harouna Traore, a forty-three-year-old Malian; and Isibor Wisdom and Paul Nwabueze, two Nigerians aged 29 and 39. They were charged with gang rape, aggravated by taking advantage of the victim's defencelessness. In addition to the five arrested, the Flying Squad are also investigating the responsibilities of at least three other individuals, including the man who lured her from the restaurant, the person who transported her to the abandoned building, and the owners of the shack where she was held captive. During the raid at the building on Via Tallone, 22 non-EU citizens with illegal immigration status were identified. Eleven of them were issued expulsion orders and taken to the pre-removal detention centres in Ponte Galeria, Palazzo San Gervasio, and Bari. Among them, five men were those later identified by the victim through photographic identification as the perpetrators of the violence she suffered during the three days of captivity.