She was one year away from going to college. Then the Taliban banned her from school.

JUNE 14, 2022

THE BIG STORY

She was one year away from going to college. Then the Taliban banned her from school.

Sajida Hussaini

As her first day of school under Taliban rule approached, Sajida Hussaini was hopeful. The regime had announced that it would reopen schools on March 23, allowing her to finish her final year of high school.

Sajida was among a million or so girls in Afghanistan who were preparing to return to their classrooms after an eight-month hiatus. But when she and her classmates arrived at the school's front gate, administrators informed them that girls beyond sixth grade were no longer allowed.

Many of the students broke into tears. "I will never forget that moment in my life," Sajida said. "It was a dark day."

With the Taliban out of power in the early decades of the 21st century, girls and women across the country gained new freedoms that were suddenly thrust back into question when the fundamentalist group swept through Kabul in August. Despite early statements suggesting otherwise, the Taliban has maintained its education ban for girls, ordered women to cover themselves from head to toe while in public and barred them from working outside the house, traveling abroad without a male guardian, and participating in protests.

Amid international pressure, the Taliban announced that it was establishing an eight-member commission to deliberate its policy on girls' schools. Sajida and four other girls who spoke to BuzzFeed News expressed skepticism that they would be allowed to return to classrooms.

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

The stakes of Donbas

Russia and its allies control roughly 80 to 90% of the Donbas region, according to Ukrainian officials. As reporter Cassandra Vinograd explains in the New York Times, Donbas "makes up about 9 percent of Ukraine's land, but holds significance for its industry, location and potential as a bargaining chip for Moscow." The fight for this territory, especially within the city of Sievierodonetsk, could shape the entire trajectory of the war.
Pope Francis calls Ukrainians "a courageous people, a people who are fighting to survive and have a history of fighting." Francis also said there weren't "good guys and bad guys" in this conflict, but added that it would be "simplistic and wrong" to interpret this as him condoning Vladimir Putin, AP reports.

SNAPSHOTS

A group of men described by police as members of the Proud Boys yelled anti–LGBTQ slurs and interrupted a Drag Queen Story Hour at a Bay Area library. An "active hate crime investigation" is now underway, as well as an investigation into the "annoying and harassing of children."

Britney Spears' ex Jason Alexander has been charged with felony stalking after crashing her and Sam Asghari's wedding. Alexander, who was briefly married to the pop star in 2004, shared footage of him making his way through her home in an Instagram Live video.

Prince Andrew was scheduled to appear at a high-profile ceremony on Monday, but at the last minute was removed from the public-facing elements of the event. A spokesperson for the Duke of York told BuzzFeed News that it was "a personal decision." A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said it was a "family decision."

QUIBBLES AND BITS

Using someone's pronouns respectfully isn't complicated. Here are BuzzFeed News' guidelines.

A person wears a jacket designed with pronoun sets at a Pride Month event in Bangkok, June 1, 2022. Lauren Decicca / Getty Images

Pronouns are an unassuming part of speech, but they're also an elemental part of identity and far from inconsequential. It's crucial for anyone who helps assemble a story (including the writer, editor, and copy editor) to ensure that the language matches someone's identity.

If you're unsure what pronouns someone uses, it's not rude to just ask, "What pronouns do you use?" BuzzFeed News also uses they/them in our reporting if it is unclear what pronouns a person uses and it's not possible to ask them. Claiming the singular they will confuse readers is a common excuse that some style guides point to, but that's becoming rarer as time goes on; plus, the use of a singular nongendered pronoun in the English language dates back centuries, and isn't a novel or modern phenomenon.

Beyond they/them, plenty of people use neopronouns (ze/hir/hirs; ze/zir/zirs; e/em/eir; xe/xem/xyr; etc.), which are less traditional and which a reader might not immediately recognize. For stories in which these people are featured or interviewed, the BuzzFeed copy desk might advise editors to explicitly state that the person uses neopronouns before the story employs them, reword subsequent references to the person, or repeat their name.

This is a short excerpt from Quibbles & Bits, our copy desk's monthly newsletter about sensitive and inclusive language, style guidance, grammar memes, and more. It's pretty fantastic, and you can read this month's whole issue — and sign up for newsletter updates — here.

THE BAND THAT TOOK OVER THE WORLD

Some of the most nostalgic moments from BTS's "Yet to Come" music video

Celebrating nearly a decade of hit music-making, Korean megastars BTS released a new anthology album and a music video for the main single "Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)" on Friday.

"We are honored to capture our nine-year journey in this album," Suga, one of the group's rappers, said in a press release. "Listening to the album will trace you back in memory and the paths BTS have walked."

In the music video for "Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)," the BTS members stand in a desert, joined by plenty of self-referential items that may look familiar to ARMYs. These are a few of our favorites:

A seating formation that's nearly identical to the one from "Just One Day," which was released in 2014. Top: "Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)," 2022 HYBE / BTS / Via youtube.com Bottom: "Just One Day," 2014 HYBE / BTS / Via youtube.com

The angel statue that Jin approaches while sitting on a pickup is a throwback to "Blood, Sweat & Tears" from 2016. However, the car he is sitting on appears to be a reference to the one used in the video for 2015's "Run." Top: "Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)," 2022 HYBE / BTS / Via youtube.com Bottom: "Blood, Sweat & Tears," 2016 2022 HYBE / BTS / Via youtube.com

ARMY has been obsessed with trying to decipher the number on this cargo container, 20219, ever since its appearance in BTS's video "Run." What secrets does it contain? What does it mean? Will we ever have closure? Top: "Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)," 2022 HYBE / BTS / Via youtube.com Bottom: "Run," 2015 HYBE / BTS / Via youtube.com

Sometimes doing something right takes time,

Alexa

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