Every Monday on Global Comment, we share the slow, thoughtful, considerate words that our brains – and souls – need but that it’s easy to miss in our busy world. We distil the best of the web and recommend just three links every week that you absolutely must see.
No fluff, no fuss, just three exceptional picks.
Here are this week’s recommendations:
Afghanistan Women’s Shelters Are Dwindling Under Taliban Rule (Lynzy Billing / Elle)
In addition to the lack of funding, threats of violence have also forced some shelters to close their doors. Those that remain open do so knowing they could be closed at any moment. In September 2021, Taliban gunmen entered a women’s shelter in Kabul, interrogated staff and residents, and forced the head of the shelter to sign a letter promising not to allow the residents to leave without Taliban permission, according to a U.S. state department report. The Taliban told the shelter operator that married shelter residents would have to return to their abusers, while unmarried shelter residents would be married to Taliban fighters. The report also said that “sources reported the Taliban were conducting ‘audits’ of women’s shelters and women’s rights organizations, including those that provided protection services, enforced with intimidation through the brandishing of weapons and threats of violence.”
People Blamed an Influencer’s Murder-Suicide on the Eclipse. What Really Happened? (EJ Dickson, Brittany Spanos / Rolling Stone)
On Astrology Twitter, some wondered if Danielle Johnson had been struggling with a postpartum mental health disorder, or a little-understood phenomenon called spiritual psychosis, which has been linked to hallucinations and delusions of grandeur. Others claimed she had been overtaken by demonic forces, with rumors circulating that she had dabbled in dark magic. Many found it difficult to accept that the woman they’d turned to for healing had been capable of such violence. (Some of the people who followed Danielle online declined to talk to Rolling Stone for this reason, saying they were still too troubled by what she had done to speak about her.) As more details emerged, it became clear how much of Danielle’s private life she had kept from her followers; she had rarely spoken publicly about being a mother, or about her relationship with Chaney, let alone her recent pregnancy.
Rishi Sunak and the Eye-Roller (Michael Spicer)
@itsmichaelspicerThe Room Next Door – Rishi Sunak and the Eye-Roller
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Image: Sam Amil