Laurie Penny insists that it’s people in the real world, not the internet, which hates women. BCCI invites Ashraf Ghani to attend Afghanistan’s debut test cricket match against India.

Putin’s wisdom averted US-Russia war in Syria

Syrian President Bashar al Assad told Russia Times Thursday that Russia and the US had come dangerously close to a direct conflict, but this was averted because of “the wisdom of the Russian leadership.”

Vox had earlier reported that the US bombing of Syria in April, ostensibly to punish Assad for carrying out a chemical attack, had dramatically raised the possibility of a war with Russia.

Damascus had nearly won the seven-year war, despite continued interference by the US, Assad said, but the possibility of peace could potentially make his opponents in the West desperate.

Moreover, while the end of war was in sight, some victories would still only take place on the battlefield.

Women and the internet? Think back to 2010

“Misogyny is among the many things millennials did not invent. Long before Twitter was a glint in Jack Dorsey’s eye, women who stepped out of line were being shamed by the Left and Right alike regardless of which wave of feminism they rode.”

That’s author Laurie Penny and she insists in Longreads that it’s people in the real world, not the internet, which hates women and is able to successfully use the medium to spread the message of hate and online sexual violence.

Now a report from Manchester Metropolitan University has said that 2010 was the year when the new wave of feminism gathered up enough steam to become a threat to established norms and that momentum came from the internet.

Come and watch cricket, says BCCI to Ashraf Ghani

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) invited Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani to attend the country’s debut test cricket match against India in Bengaluru mid-June, Pajhwok reported Thursday.

Meanwhile, India’s deputy national security adviser (NSA) Rajinder Khanna met his Afghan counterpart, Haneef Atmar, in Kabul Wednesday to discuss the regional security situation including cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, Tolo News reported.

The visit from the deputy NSA comes only three days after Atmar led a delegation to Pakistan to resume peace talks. The Afghan NSA’s high-level meeting with Pakistan authorities is seen as a potential dampen to the India-Afghanistan relationship, especially as India has helped the country to stand on its feet 16 years since the fall of the Taliban.

Two weeks ago, seven Indian engineers working for a power plant project were abducted in Baghlan, an area largely controlled by the Taliban. Atmar, in a tweet, without making any reference to the incident, assured that Afghanistan ‘will work hard to ensure the security of Indian citizens in Afghanistan.’