Taliban reject UN concerns over laws banning women's voices and bare faces in public

The Taliban is rejecting concerns and criticism raised by the United Nations over new vice and virtue laws that include a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public. On Sunday, the head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said the law showed a “distressing vision” for the country's future. Roza Otunbayeva said the laws extend the “already intolerable restrictions” on the rights of women and girls, with “even the sound of a female voice” outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid warned on Monday against what he called “arrogance” from those who he said may not be familiar with Islamic law, particularly non-Muslims who might raise objections.