Irish director Nora Twomey, has already made a huge impression on animation as the director of the Academy Award-nominated film, The Secret of Kells. Now, she's delivering her second feature film, The Breadwinner, based on the best-selling children's novel by Deborah Ellis.

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After being denied their visas twice, a six-girl robotics team from Afghanistan was awarded the Rajaa Cherkaoui El Moursli Award for Courageous Achievement at an international robotics competition.

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After public outcry ensued when they were initially denied their visas, the all-girl robotics team from Afghanistan has been granted parole to enter the U.S. and compete in the FIRST Global Challenge in Washington, D.C.

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A team of six girls from Afghanistan has been denied travel visas to the United States, where they were hoping to compete in an international robotics competition.

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Did you know there was a huge flood in Sri Lanka a few days ago that has killed over 200 people? Did you know there was a bombing in Afghanistan that killed more civilians than the Manchester attack did? It's likely you didn't.

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The film comes from Nora Twomey who co-directed The Secret of Kells and Cartoon Saloon, a studio that boasts breathtaking hand-drawn animation.

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One of the things Sesame Street does in its mission to help kids all over the world "grow smarter, stronger and kinder," is having characters on each version of the show that the local kids can relate to. For the fifth season of the Afghan version of the show, Baghch-e-Simsim, they're introducing their first Afghan muppet — and it's a girl!

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Motley's Law, an upcoming documentary by filmmaker, Nicole N. Horanyi, tells the story of a badass American lawyer fighting for justice against a corrupt legal system in Afghanistan. Check out the trailer after the jump.

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, an adaptation of the award-winning children's book The Breadwinner is coming our way in 2017 from a team of female creators.

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There are a lot of confusing things happening in the Middle East: many girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan are discouraged and get hurt for trying to go to school, and when you combine that with a strong fear of technology, you get a whole lot of gender and education inequality. But there's a brave woman trying to fix that.

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Skateistan was created by Australian skateboarder Oliver Percovich a few years ago after children on the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan saw him using his board. And with that, skateboarding hit Afghanistan. But it didn't end there. "Skateistan's development aid programs work with growing numbers of marginalized youth through skateboarding, and provide them with new opportunities in cross-cultural interaction, education, and personal empowerment programs," explains their website. "In Kabul, Skateistan's participants come from all of Afghanistan’s diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and include 40% female students, hundreds of streetworking children, and youth with disabilities. In our skatepark and classrooms they develop skills in skateboarding, leadership, civic responsibility, multimedia, and creative arts, exploring topics such as environmental health, culture/traditions, natural resources, and peace." Take a look at this short video they put together then watch this short film for more information. (Upworthy via Kate Kotler) Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

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Sending an inappropriately revealing email to the wrong person is the working adult equivalent of that high school nightmare where you show up to school naked: It's something you're pretty sure you'll never do, but thinking about the idea just stresses you out. Unfortunately for some of us, making a mistake while writing an email is much easier to do than leaving the house without figuring that you're naked. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmedi learned that the hard way yesterday when he sent a press release that accidentally outed his entire mailing list.

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Not known for having the freedoms that most of us enjoy, Afghan women are often "supervised" by men, whether they are brothers, husbands, fathers, or other relatives. However, the group Young Afghan Women for Change have rallied to create a brock-and-mortar hangout for women who want to freely surf the internet. The Sahar Gul Internet Café opened in Afghanistan's capitol last week, providing one more place where women can do their web thing without worrying about being watched or harassed by men.

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It was an ordinary task that was taken on by an extraordinary group -- in Helmand province in Afghanistan, a project to build four 20-by-30-foot barracks in the mountains was handed over to the U.S. Navy's construction forces, the Seabees. Not an unusual request. However, for the first time ever, the Seabees team tasked with building the barracks consisted of all women. Not only did they complete the project, but they completed it way ahead of scheduled, breaking Navy records. Not too shabby, ladies!

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Where there's a will, there's a way. Residents of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, supported by the National Science Foundation, have managed to rig up some gigantic Wi-Fi transmitters using only what they could finding hanging around. The FabFi network, as it's called, is staggeringly efficient considering it's transmitters are constructed of boards, bottles, plastic tubs, the occasional wire and some off the shelf electronics. To put things in perspective, your average wireless router will operate at about 22Mbps real throughput for an area of a few feet on a good day. The longest connection in the FabFi network is a whopping 2.41 miles with a real throughput of 11.5 Mbps, an amazing feat considering the operative distance is several orders of magnitude larger. Surprisingly enough, these transmitter nodes are also relatively inexpensive. Fast Company says that one of these nodes, which can serve an entire community, can be made for approximately $60 dollars worth of everyday materials. Needless to say (I'll say it anyway) this technology could have a revolutionary effect on overall access to broadband internet. While this naturally has a practical application in war-torn or third world countries, for good or for evil, it could also be put to use in rural portions of the U.S. or Canada, where conventional broadband is prohibitive. Maybe someday, everyone will finally have a connection suitable for playing Team Fortress 2.

(Insteading via Shareable)

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We choose to believe this is real and not Photoshopped. Do not ruin this for us. (At Buzzfeed)

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It's no secret that unmanned robots are a big part of fighting wars. But what's interesting about them is how little they rely on humans to tell them what to do. The machine above is called an X-47B and not only does it fly on its own, but it can land and take off from aircraft carriers with little to no human guidance. It also carries bombs, but that is where the humans come in -- while it flies on its own, the bombs are only released when an actual person gives it the cue to do so. So, is the next step a human-like fighter, like the T-1000? Probably not. Many of these robots exist only to be shot and detect other bombs (and be blown up before a soldier does). But the idea of some of these robots progressing towards being programmed to detonate on their own? ... You know they're thinking about it, and that's the tiniest bit creepy. Think about how many times a day your computer takes too long to load ... or crashes. Video of Fareed Zakaria discussing this on his CNN show Fareed Zakaria GPS is after the jump.

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