Judges in Afghanistan are surprised to see how a constitution works.

The Supreme Court protested the lifting of a ban on female singers on state television. "This is totally against the decisions of the Supreme Court and it has to be stopped," the deputy chief justice, Fazl Ahmad Manawi, said. He said the court had complained to the culture minister, Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, the main figure behind the ending of the ban, which had been in force for nearly 12 years. A broadcast by Kabul Television on Monday featured old images of Parasto, a popular singer who now lives in the West, performing without a head scarf. The deputy culture minister, Abdul Hamid Mubaiz, said the move was in line with the new Constitution. "There should be no discrimination between man and woman," he said.