The United Nations announced a new deputy special representative for Afghanistan, but it’s unclear how soon the world body may replace its top official there. For now, the newly appointed political affairs deputy, German diplomat Markus Potzel, will be in charge of the U.N.’s political mission in Afghanistan, U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said. (https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/UN-names-deputy-rep-for-Afghanistan-no-word-on-a-17249785.php) The announcement came a day after Deborah Lyons ended her tenure as the U.N.’s chief representative in Afghanistan, departing with a lament for a country that was reshaped by Taliban militants’ takeover last year. “I could not have imagined, when I accepted this job, the Afghanistan that I am now leaving,” she said in a statement Thursday, adding that “my heart breaks” for Afghan girls and women kept from school and work because of Taliban edicts.