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

ISLAMABAD (AP) — 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.