UN official, Taliban minister meet on Afghan women NGO ban

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The United Nations says its top official in Kabul has met the Taliban government’s economy minister in the Afghan capital. The meeting on Monday followed a decision by the country’s Taliban rulers to bar women from working for non-governmental organizations, allegedly because some female NGO employees were not wearing the Islamic headscarf, or hijab, correctly. The measure was announced on Saturday and caused widespread condemnation outside Afghanistan. A tweet from the U.N. in Afghanistan said its acting chief urged the economy minister to reverse the ban. Four major aid agencies have stopped their operations in the country because of the ban.