Taliban ban on women List of US states banning TikTok grows
SELMA, Ala. — A giant, swirling storm system billowing across the South spurred a tornado on Thursday that shredded the walls of homes, toppled roofs and uprooted trees in Selma, Alabama, a city etched in the history of the civil rights movement.
In Autauga County, Alabama, which is 41 miles (66km) northeast of Selma, officials estimate that 40 to 50 homes were damaged or destroyed by storms that cut a strip across the county, said Ernie Baggett, the county’s emergency management director. He said crews were focused Thursday evening on cutting through downed trees to look for people who may be injured.
“Search and rescue is really more what’s going on right now,” Mr Baggett said by telephone.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Last June, a team of female doctors and nurses drove six hours across mountains, dry riverbeds and on unpaved roads to reach victims of a massive earthquake that had just hit eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 1,00 people.
When they got there, a day after the earthquake hit, they found the men had been treated, but the women
In Selma, brick buildings collapsed, cars were on their side and traffic poles were strewn about in the downtown area. Plumes of thick, black smoke rose over the city from a fire burning. It was not immediately known whether the storm caused the blaze.
A few blocks past the city’s famed Edmund Pettus Bridge, an enduring symbol of the voting rights movement, buildings were crumpled by the storm and trees blocked roadways.
Selma Mayor James Perkins said that no fatalities had been reported at this time, but first responders are continuing to assess the damage.
“People have been injured, but no fatalities,” Mr Perkins said. had not. In Afghanistan’s deeply conservative society, the women had stayed inside their tents, unable to come out to get medical help and other assistance because there were no women aid workers.
“The women still had blood on them,” said Samira Sayed-Rahman, from the aid agency International Rescue Committee.”
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MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin and North Carolina have joined at least 22 other states in banning the popular social media app TikTok on state-owned devices, including Mississippi, Indiana, Louisiana and South Dakota.
Congress also recently banned TikTok from most US government-issued devices over bipartisan concerns about security.
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020. It has been targeted by critics who say the Chinese government could access user data, such as browsing history and location. US armed forces also have prohibited the app on military devices. ■