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Afghanistan's Paralympians Arrive In Tokyo, Taiwan Offers Free Period Products For Girls In Taipei And More

All the world news you should know about this week.

Sep 3, 2021 — 3 min read

Happy Friday! Here’s your weekly email to help you stay updated and make sense of important stories happening around the world including:

Afghanistan’s two Paralympic athletes Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli have arrived safely in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Village and successfully competed in the Games after a major global operation.

In a statement on Saturday Aug. 28, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) confirmed the pair were evacuated from Afghanistan to Paris, where they spent a week training before boarding a flight to Tokyo.
This comes just 12 days after Khudadadi posted a video appealing to the public for assistance, after the Afghanistan Paralympic Committee announced the two would not be attending the games following the country’s fall to the Taliban.
22-year-old Khudadadi competed on Thursday Sep. 2 in the women’s K44-49kg category for taekwondo as Afghanistan’s first woman Paralympic competitor since Athens 2004. She lost the match to Ziyodakhon Isakova of Uzbekistan.
Rasouli, a 26-year-old sprinter who had his left hand amputated after a landmine explosion, had missed his 100m event by the time he arrived. He chose to compete in the T47 long jump instead on Tuesday Aug. 31. Although he finished last place, he recorded a personal best distance at 4.46m and was met with applause.

🇮🇹 Dolce & Gabbana’s outdoor runway show in Venice, Italy, on Aug. 30 was struck by a freak hailstorm, pelting models and celebrities in the audience alike. The pair were showcasing their latest Alta Sartoria collection.
🇪🇸 After 15 tons of dead fish washed up on its shores, Spain has banned the use of fertilizers near one of its biggest saltwater lagoons, Mar Menor.
🇨🇳 The Chinese government has banned children under 18 years old from playing video games for more than three hours per week, split evenly into one-hour slots on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 8pm to 9pm. They will also be allowed to play for one hour on public holidays.

Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, has launched a pilot project to offer free period products to middle school students, a first for Asia.

The initiative, sponsored by sanitary product company Kotex, will be trialed for one semester starting September in five middle schools in the capital with the goal of expanding to cover the rest of Taipei’s middle and high schools.
Students at the schools will be able to collect boxes containing various types of menstrual pads from free dispensers in the women’s bathrooms. City officials said the schools will also integrate relevant sex education into the curriculum.
Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je said the project’s goal is to promote gender equality and end the stigma surrounding periods, as well as the issue of period poverty.
“We hope to help people understand that menstrual pads are just as normal as toilet paper,” Ko, who is a doctor, wrote on his Facebook page. “Girls don’t have to hide or feel embarrassed or ashamed when they are holding a menstrual pad. It’s a part of life, and it is a part of you.”

🇦🇫 Members of Afghanistan’s all-girls robotics team have safely fled to Qatar and Mexico after the Taliban took control of the country.

About a dozen cows were airlifted down from the Swiss Alps on Friday Aug. 27 in a majestic sight for an annual cattle parade.

Every year, about a thousand cows make their way down from the high alpine pastures to the Urnerboden valley in Switzerland to take part in the parade.
However, injured and pregnant cows, which may have struggled with the steep walk down, were carried down by helicopter in mesh harnesses over the Swiss meadows to Klausenpass, about 1,950 meters (6,400 feet) above sea level.

🇩🇪 Not deterred by the rain, more than 10,000 people united on Sunday Aug. 29 to take part in a massive pride parade along Christopher Street in Cologne, Germany.