When, in 1838, Britain and Afghanistan shared a common enemy in the ambitiously expansionist Russians, a strong Anglo-Afghan alliance appeared to be a distinct reality.
Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, came under intense western pressure yesterday to scrap a new law that the UN said legalised rape within marriage and severely limited the rights of women.
In a massive blow for women’s rights, the new Shia Family Law negates the need for sexual consent between married couples, tacitly approves child marriage and restricts a woman’s right to leave the home.
