Wellington
AP
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A New Zealand woman was arrested on suspicion of negligence of a child on Sunday after the bus driver found a two-year-old girl alive in a suitcase stored in the vehicle’s luggage compartment, authorities said.

The bus driver noticed movement inside the bag at a planned stop at Kaiwaka Settlement in northern Auckland after passengers sought access to the luggage compartment, detective inspector Simon Harrison said in a statement.

When the driver opened the suitcase they discovered a two-year-old girl who was extremely hot but otherwise appeared physically unharmed, Harrison said. Authorities did not say how long the toddler was in the luggage compartment, or the times in the cities where the buses are traveling between.

The child was taken to the hospital, where she remained on a Sunday night local time.

The arrested woman was charged with child abuse or neglect and was scheduled to appear in court on Monday. She was not named by law enforcement.

Bus company Intercity confirmed to a New Zealand news outlet that the episode was related to one of its vehicles. The company does not charge fares for children under the age of 3 and allows free travel on the lap of adults.

Editor’s Note: This story is part of AS Equals, CNN’s ongoing series on gender inequality. Please see our FAQ for information on how to raise funds for the series.

Kabul, Afghanistan
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“I want” – the girl stops herself – “I wanted to be a doctor in the future. But when the Taliban came to Afghanistan, all the doors in the school were closed.”

Taliban approved Naj e Bashra Madrasa – A religious school exclusively for girls in the outskirts of Kabul – a teenage girl in a full face covering speaks nervously. Her classmates grabbed her arm under the table and realize that criticism of the dominant Taliban government is unwise.

Although imperfect, these religious institutions are, they are the only options for most Afghan girls over the age of 12 who want to be educated. Afghanistan remains the only country in the world that prohibits girls and women from receiving general education at secondary and higher levels.

The ban is part of the Taliban’s wide crackdown on women’s rights as it gained power in August 2021. The government decides how women must dress, where they can and cannot go, such as having a male guardian for travel.

In July this year, the International Criminal Court sought a warrant from two of the top Taliban leaders, citing persecution as evidence of crimes against humanity among women and girls. The Taliban accused the court of showing “hospitality and hatred towards Islam’s pure religion.”

The Taliban originally said the suspension of women’s education was temporary, with some leaders saying they hope to reopen in mainstream schools once security issues are resolved. But four years later, the Taliban fundamentalist wings seem to be prevailing. Secular schools, universities and even medical training centres remain closed to half their population. A report released in March by UNESCO, a UN agency, found that nearly 1.5 million girls have been banned from attending secondary schools since 2021.

“We told girls to wear the right hijab, but they didn’t. They were wearing dresses that would go to weddings,” the representative minister of higher education Needa Mohammad Nadim explained why the school was closed in December 2022. “The girls were studying agriculture and engineering, which is not in line with Afghan culture. Girls should learn, but they are not in an area that violates Islam and the honor of Afghanistan.”

Meanwhile, the number of madrasus educating Afghan girls and boys is growing rapidly. According to data from the Ministry of Education, 22,972 state-funded madrasas have been established over the past three years.

Among the Madrasa approved by the Afghan Taliban

Among the Madrasa approved by the Afghan Taliban

2:41

At Naji-e-Bashra Madrasa, where CNN has gained rare access to films in recent weeks, registrations have skyrocketed since the Taliban began robbing girls of “mainstream” education.

The sounds of dozens of girls reciting Quran poems echoing through the hallways, as golden standard clans and religious texts stack up on the classroom floor. In the principal’s office, a large Taliban flag is supported in the corner. The certificate, engraved by the Taliban Ministry of Education, is located in the center of the principal’s desk. The Taliban directs the curriculum here, along with all the madrasas across the country.

This is a private facility funded by the parents of students who generally lead more privileged lives, so staff are given a little room to teach language and science along with Islamic research. In public madrasas funded by the Taliban government, the curriculum is almost entirely religious.

In 2022, the Taliban announced plans for the school’s curriculum, reporting by the Human Rights Centre, a human rights oversight group, “not only does it fail to meet the human development goals of international human rights instruments, but it also teaches students’ content that promotes violence, but also opposes a culture of tolerance, peace and human rights values.”

A report released last December claims that the Taliban has “aligned educational goals that are consistent with extremists and violent ideologies.” They have revised historical, geography and religious textbooks and stated that they have banned teaching on concepts such as democracy, women’s rights, and human rights.

“Students are very pleased with our environment, our curriculum and us,” says Shafiura Dilawar, principal of Naji e Bashra Madrasa, a self-declared and longtime supporter of the Taliban. “The curriculum set up in madrasas is set to be very beneficial for the role of mothers in society, so we can raise good children.”

He denied the suggestion that such institutions are being used to promote the Taliban ideological goals.

The principal argued that many families were satisfied with education for girls of this form, as Afghanistan’s population is already deeply religious, and called on the international community to support his efforts.

The Taliban rejected multiple requests for interviews.

However, many Afghan girls and women consider a madrasus, an alternative to more accessible education over the 20 years ahead of the chaotic US withdrawal in 2021.

“I wasn’t interested in attending the madrasa. They don’t tell us what we need to learn,” said Nargis, a 23-year-old woman from Kabul. CNN chose to use a pseudonym for her safety.

Nargis is a model student. She is conscientious, organized, hardworking, and has been a lifelong, hardworking student.

Nargis was studying economics at a private university when the US military had withdrawn from her city. She went to class in the morning, worked part-time in the afternoon, and taught English in the evening. She never got bored of learning.

“When I asked what I wanted to do in my life four years ago, I had a lot of goals, dreams and hopes,” she said with care. “At the time I wanted to be a very big businessman. I wanted to import from other countries. I wanted to create a big school for girls. I wanted to go to Oxford University. Maybe I have my own coffee shop.”

It changed in August 2021. She is no longer allowed to attend classes, is no longer employed, and she can no longer dream of the future she once mapped for herself.

But what broke her heart was seeing her younger sisters’ faces at the age of 11 and 12.

“They didn’t eat anything in a month. They were distraught,” Nargis said. “I realized they were so crazy like this, so I decided to help them with their research.

Nargis began collecting all the textbooks of the past and began teaching girls everything she learned. Other relatives and neighbors also began to ask for help – and she found it difficult to say no.

And then, every morning at Sharp, at 6am, about 45 female students, from the age of 12, creep across the city into the family homes of Nargis, before Taliban security guards are born. Nargis has no support or funding. Often, girls snuggle around one textbook and share a notepad and pen.

Together, they learn mathematics, science, computing and English. Nargis racks her brain for all the knowledge she has accumulated so far and passes it on to her students.

When it’s time for them to go home, she worries endlessly.

“It’s very dangerous. There’s no one day of the week that I can relax. I’m very worried when they come to me every day. It makes me mad. It’s a huge risk,” she said, fearing that the Taliban would discover her makeshift classroom and close it.

Two months ago, members of the Taliban began raiding the house she was teaching. She spent the night in prison and was primped for work. Her father and the other man’s family asked her to stop and said it was worthless. However, Nargis, horrifyingly, says she refuses to abandon her students. She changed places and carried them around.

Until the beginning of this year, USAID (US Agency for International Development) funded secret schools across the country known as “Community-based Education.” Under the Trump administration, some of these education programs are now being repealed due to the cancellation of $1.7 billion worth of aid agreements (of which $500 million had not yet been paid).

Nargis himself was a beneficiary of one such program, studying online for a bachelor’s degree in business administration in a US funded program. The program was cancelled last month, she says. It was a nail in the co for Nargis’ ambition. Not only cancelling her research, but also “Cancel My Hopes and Dreams.”

Nargis tries to keep him busy. However, on more days than she had hoped, a sense of despair creeps up, and she studies so hard to educate her sisters and friends, wondering if there is any point in being in danger. In Afghanistan, the Taliban, women cannot mix with men who are not associated with them, or work in doctors, lawyers, or most public spaces.

“My mother was never educated. She always told me if it had not gone under the previous Taliban government, so we studied hard…but what is the difference between me and my mother?” she asked. “I’m educated, but we’re both at home.

“What are we working hard? What work and future?”

As strong waves surged across the vast Pacific on Wednesday, people all over the world remained glued to their phones, tracking the rapid advances in the tsunami.

However, in China, over a million people were looking for an unusual term: “prophecy.”

This is because, to some, it seemed that natural disasters were predicted four years ago in Japanese comic books.

Published in 2021 by artist Ryotzki – fans say her previous works have also prophesied similarly – the manga claims that the next major earthquake will be a hit this July, sparking viral internet memes and debate in most of Asia in recent months.

In China, the search term associated with Tatsuki’s so-called “prophecy” won over 1.1 million views on the video app Douyin shortly after Wednesday’s Pacific Tsunami.

“Will Ryocki’s predictions for the July disaster come true?” The headline for Wednesday’s article was executed in Hong Kong newspapers.

The manga has gained enthusiastic support since its publication in 2021. However, fans were anticipating the arrival of obvious predictions from the author, which became a cultural phenomenon in most Asia earlier this year, with many canceling their summer trips to Japan.

Some tourists are ready to go home in peace after the Wednesday event caused minimal damage. But others are on the edge and are determined to be far apart for now.

“I’m getting goosebumps!” I wrote one Japanese user on X following the massive 8.8 earthquake.

Andrea Wang, a 25-year-old Chinese traveler, canceled his trip to Japan in April, and the manga called her “worried about the risks of my life.” The tsunami is currently dying, but she has no plans to travel to Japan for the rest of 2025, she told CNN on Friday.

It is impossible to project accurately beforehand if an earthquake could be attacked, and seismologists have strongly warned against believing in the increasing number of so-called predictions. In an interview with Japanese media in May, even Tatsuki herself urged people not to “overshake” her dreams.

But the valence of debate proves the cartoon’s harsh grip on the popular imagination, which amplified bullying in both Asia and social media, especially in seismic Japan, where constant threats of earthquakes and tsunamis are looming heavily on the popular imagination.

Many people were injured in the 2011 Tohoku disaster when the earthquake caused a devastating tsunami wave that caused the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. The disaster has resulted in more than 22,000 deaths or disappearances. It was then embedded in the national spirit, and Japanese infants conduct earthquake training from when they can walk, and the government regularly warns them of earthquakes in the next century.

Tatsuki’s manga depicts a cartoon version of her own Greening Vision from her Slumbers. Some fans believe she predicted the death of Princess Diana and Freddie Mercury, but skeptics are so vague that she is vague to take seriously.

The trembling of 2011 boosted Tatsuki’s supposed belief in science. Her 1999 manga, “The Future I Saw,” is on the cover of “The Large-scale Disaster in March 2011.” Many believe they predicted an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude more than a decade before they hit Tohoku.

In a follow-up in 2021, Tatsuki warned that an earthquake in the Philippine Sea on July 5th this year would cause three times the height of the tsunami waves.

Ultimately, Wednesday’s earthquake struck thousands of kilometers from the predicted epicenter, with the highest recorded wave in Japan measuring only 4.3 feet, much lower than the 30-foot wave seen in 2011.

However, many travelers like King have decided not to seize their chance in the last few months, canceling their trip to Japan, pointing to similar warnings from the psychics in Japan and Hong Kong.

CN Yuen, managing director of Hong Kong-based travel agency WWPKG, said that bookings for Japan tours fell by about 70% in June and July compared to last year.

Oscar Chu, a 36-year-old traveler from Hong Kong, has also decided not to go this summer despite visiting Japan multiple times, usually in the year. “I’m not saying I was 100% certain (about forecasts), but I won’t amortize that possibility,” he told CNN on Friday.

When July 5 passed without incident, he said some of his friends had booked a flight to Japan the following day.

He headed there a few weeks later and accidentally bought a ticket on Wednesday morning, just before receiving the news of the tsunami. But he’s still going. “You can’t avoid going for the rest of your life,” he said.

But not everyone is at ease. Several of Chu’s friends, who like him, love visiting Japan, have taken precautions such as avoiding coastal areas and skipping beaches.

They are not the only ones to be wary of “big things” on the horizon. Wednesday’s tsunami highlighted the vulnerability of millions of people living on coastlines around the Pacific Ocean, where the seismically active “Ring of Fire” has produced many of the world’s most powerful earthquakes.

Despite the science still remains contested, Japan’s fears have been rising since the government’s recent warning that a massive earthquake could hit the Valley of South Nankai within the next 30 years.

The Nanjing trough is a 700-kilometer (435 miles) long subduction zone with one tectonic plate being another. According to the Japanese government’s Earthquake Research Committee, serious earthquakes are recorded every 100 to 200 years in line with this obstacle.

The last such earthquake took place in 1944 and 1946, killing at least 2,500 people and destroying tens of thousands of homes.

The Japanese government has repeatedly warned that there is a 70-80% chance that Japan will be shaken by an earthquake in another South Ankai Trough within 30 years, and many scientists have questioned the accuracy of that probability.

Regardless of the reliability of the prediction, the nation is highly wary and kicks it into gear every time an earthquake hits it. This highly effective, sophisticated warning system was on display this week when local governments issued evacuation warnings and urged more than 2 million residents to seek high altitudes in high-risk areas along the coastline.

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When a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck southern Japan last August, authorities responded as quickly as possible, slowing down trains and warning of potential tsunami warnings, but ultimately there was no major damage.

Whether Wednesday’s trembling was what Tatsuki was supposed to be in Tatsuki’s manga, public vigilance about potential disasters will remain in Japan ever since the waves recede this week.

“It’s because of (Tatsuki’s) warnings, but it encouraged more people to start paying attention to earthquake risks in advance, improving their awareness of disaster prevention, learning relevant knowledge, and preparing emergency supplies.”

“People’s vigilance is increasing and in itself is very important.”

London
AP
–

Oasis said on Sunday that after the man died at a band’s concert at Wembley Stadium in London, its members were “shocked and saddened.”

Metropolitan Police said officers and paramedics responded to reports of injured people Saturday before 10:30pm.

A man in his 40s said he was found “with an injury that coincided with a fall.” He was declared dead at the scene.

The squad urged the person who caught it via telephone video to contact police what happened.

“We are shocked and saddened to hear the tragic death of our fans on last night’s show,” Oasis said in a statement, “We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends involved.”

The first tour of the Britpop icon for 16 years began on July 4th in Cardiff, Wales. Saturday’s concert was the fourth of seven planning shows at Wembley.

Stadium management said Sunday’s gig will go as planned.

Cairo
AP
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The boat capsized on Sunday in water off Yemen’s coast, killing 68 African migrants and 74 are missing, the UN immigrants said.

The tragedy was the latest in a series of shipwrecks that killed hundreds of African migrants who fled hundreds of African migrants in the hopes of reaching wealthy Gulf Arab countries.

The vessel carrying 154 Ethiopian migrants was sank in the Gulf of Aden off the coast of southern Yemen province of Abdusaita Esoev, head of the International Migration Agency for Yemeni immigrants.

He said the bodies of 54 migrants were washed on land in the Khanfah area, and 14 others were found dead and taken to the morgue at a hospital in Zinjibal, the capital of Avian province on Yemen’s south coast.

Esoev said that only 12 migrants survived the wreck, while the rest were estimated to have disappeared and died.

In a statement, Avian’s security department described a massive search and rescue operation, taking into account the numerous deaths and missing immigrants. He said many bodies were found scattered across a wide area of the coast.

Despite more than a decade of civil war, Yemen is the main route that the East African immigrants and the Horn of Africa are trying to reach the Gulf Arab countries for work. Immigrants are often taken to smugglers in dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden.

Hundreds of migrants have been killed or gone missing on shipwrecks in Yemen, including in March when two migrants died in March and 186 people went missing after 186 boats capsized Yemen and Djibouti, according to the IOM.

More than 60,000 migrants have arrived in Yemen, probably from 97,200 in 2023 to 97,200 in 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of not wanting a ceasefire contract and called for the international Red Cross to bring food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza.

Tens of thousands of protesters joined the rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening – some carrying placards read as “Stop the war” and “No one left” – they called for Netanyahu to launch a deal to release Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.

Last week, a video released by extremist groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad showed hostages Eviyata David and Rom Braslavsky in visibly vulnerable states.

On Sunday, Israel’s International Red Cross (ICRC) and the occupying territory said it was “applauseful” by video, urging that “the dire situation must end.”

Several world leaders also denounced videos of Israeli hostages, French President Emmanuel Macron described them as “unbearable,” while German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz said “it shows Hamas has no role in Gaza’s future.”

Netanyahu’s office said on Sunday that the prime minister spoke to Julian Lelison, head of the Red Cross delegation in the region, demanding “involvement in the immediate provision of food and medical care to hostages.”

The office also repeated Netanyahu’s denial this week that starvation is spreading in enclaves despite an unresolved Food Security Agency warning that a “worst-scene hunger scenario” is unfolding in Gaza.

Hamas says he is ready to “actively deal with” the Red Cross’s demands to deliver food and medicine to hostages, but only on the condition that humanitarian corridors are open in Gaza.

The terrorist group claims that the hostage debilitating state reflects the worsened state of the strip. However, other hostages released in the past appeared similarly gay and frail at release, explaining malnutrition in captivity.

Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Al-Kassam Brigade, Hamas military division, said this weekend that the group would not intentionally starve hostages, and would eat the same food as Hamas fighters and Gaza’s population generals. “They will not receive any special privileges in the crimes of starvation and siege,” he added.

Izat al-Rashik, a member of Hamas Politburo, described the image as “a critical response to everyone who denied the existence of Gaza hunger.”

The World Health Organization warned last week that deaths related to Gaza malnutrition were spiked in July, the latest indication of an worsening hunger crisis. The agency said the rate of malnutrition in Enclave reached “amazing levels,” with over 5,000 children, less than five, were seen in outpatient treatment for malnutrition in the first two weeks of July.

Gazan also faces fatal dangers when trying to gather help from distribution sites where violent clashes can erupt. On Sunday, a shooting incident near an aid scene in northern Gaza killed at least 13 people and left dozens of injuries, according to Gaza Emergency and Medical Services.

Allowing access to the Red Cross is a shift for Hamas, previously opposed access to hostages by humanitarian groups. The ICRC, which only promoted the release of previous hostages during the war, said in March it emphasized that it was “very disappointing” and not because of no attempt to visit previous hostages.

The recent ceasefire talks have brought little fruit to mind when Israeli-US negotiators reminiscent of last month’s negotiations. Steve Witkoff, the US Special Envoys group at the time, criticising Hamas for its poor adjustments and “the lack of desire to reach a ceasefire,” and said the US would consider “alternative options.”

On Sunday, Netanyahu cited the latest images of Hamas prisoners as evidence of malicious intent. “When I see this, I know exactly what Hamas wants. They don’t want a deal. They want to break us with these horrible videos.

Israeli leaders are now “seeking the release of hostages through Hamas’ military defeat,” Israeli officials told CNN on Sunday.

“We’re talking with Americans. There’s a growing understanding that Hamas is not interested in dealing,” the official added that Netanyahu would like to combine hostage release.

As Israel’s war in Gaza was crushed, it faced an increase in resistance from the Israeli masses, increasing frustration with the fate of the remaining hostages.

More than 70% of Israelis supported negotiations with Hamas to end the battle and to withdraw Israeli people in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages, according to a vote released by the Israeli Institute for Democracy during the March ceasefire. Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, of which at least 20 are believed to be alive.

Hostage families have repeatedly urged Netanyahu to sign a contract, warning that the Red Cross aid alone is not enough and that further expansion of the fighting in Gaza could put the lives of the remaining hostages at risk.

“Netanyahu is preparing all the biggest deceptions. The repeated claims to release hostages through military victory are lies and fraud,” the Israeli Hostages and Missing Family Forum said in a statement Sunday.

The group also denounced Hamas, saying, “We cannot hide the fact that we deal with evil terrorist groups that have had innocent people under impossible conditions for more than 660 days.”

Hamas publicly claims he is still committed to hostage release talks, but only if Gaza conditions first improve. The group recently stopped engaging in discussions about ceasefires and hostage releases. Two sources familiar with the issue told CNN last week.

“It is essential to significantly improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation and get written responses from our enemies regarding our response,” Bass Naim, a senior political officer at Hamas, also told CNN.

“This is a condition for us to return to negotiations.”