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☆ Harris' campaign adds top adviser to lead outreach to Muslim and Arab voters
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-13 | by ( Yamiche Alcindor | Yamiche Alcindor Is An Nbc News Washington Correspondent. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is hiring Nasrina Bargzie to lead outreach to Muslim and Arab voters, according to a campaign official who first shared details of the plan with NBC News — a move focused on a key constituency that soured on President Joe Biden over his support of Israel. Bargzie worked in Harris’ White House office until July as a policy adviser on Muslim, Arab and Gaza-related issues, as well as reproductive rights, voting and democracy, the campaign official said. Bargzie will focus on talking to Muslim and Arab communities as voters wait to see whether Harris will lay out a different approach to the Middle East and Israel from Biden’s. The Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund, a national Muslim organization that had declared itself “uncommitted” on Biden’s re-election bid, announced this month it was endorsing Harris. Salima Suswell, the founder and chief executive of the Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund, praised Harris.

Persons: WASHINGTON, Kamala Harris ’, Nasrina Bargzie, Joe Biden, Bargzie, Harris, Biden, “, ” Bargzie, “ I’ve, Nasrina, ”, Mazen Basrawi, Josh Hsu, ” Hala Hijazi, ” Hijazi, ” Harris, Donald Trump, “ Kamala ”, ” “ Harris’s, It’s, Salima Suswell, ” Suswell Organizations: NBC News, Democratic National Convention, Berkeley Law School, White, Biden, Muslim Leadership Council Fund, Muslim, Biden’s, Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund Locations: Israel, Harris ’, Gaza, Chicago, East, Biden’s, Kandahar, Afghanistan, Pakistan, San Francisco, Detroit, Arizona

☆ Heavy rains set off flash floods in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 84 people
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Remainings of houses damaged by the flood are pictured in Firozkoh the capital city of Ghor Province, Afghanistan, May 18, 2024. REUTERS/StringerMore heavy rains in Afghanistan have triggered flash floods, raising the death toll to 84 in the country's north following weeks of devastating torrents that had already left hundreds dead and missing, a Taliban spokesman said Sunday. The new round of heavy rains and floods hit four districts in Faryab province Saturday night, leaving 66 dead, five injured and eight missing. Afghanistan has been witnessing unusually heavy seasonal rains. Last week, the World Food Program said the exceptionally heavy rains in Afghanistan had killed more than 300 people and destroyed thousands of houses, mostly in the northern province of Baghlan.

Persons: Stringer, Esmatullah Moradi, Moradi, Abdul Wahid Hamas, Ghor Organizations: REUTERS, Food Program Locations: Ghor Province, Afghanistan, Faryab, Ghor, Baghlan, Farah, Herat, Zabul, Kandahar

☆ Flash floods due to unusually heavy seasonal rains kill at least 68 people in Afghanistan
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Remainings of houses damaged by the flood are pictured in Firozkoh the capital city of Ghor Province, Afghanistan, May 18, 2024. REUTERS/StringerFlash floods from heavy seasonal rains have killed at least 68 people in Afghanistan, Taliban officials said Saturday, adding the death toll was based on preliminary reports. Afghanistan has been witnessing unusually heavy seasonal rains. In the hard-hit western province of Ghor, 50 people were reported dead, said Abdul Wahid Hamas, spokesman for the provincial governor. The U.N. food agency posted on social media platform X, saying Ghor was the most affected by the floods where 2500 families were impacted.

Persons: Abdul Wahid Hamas, Feroz Koh, Esmatullah Moradi, Ghor Organizations: REUTERS, Stringer, WFP, World Food Organization Locations: Ghor Province, Afghanistan, Ghor, Farayab, Baghlan, Farah, Herat, Zabul, Kandahar

☆ The US military isn't ready for the coming drone war
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

The Department of Defense is working on initiatives to face the drone threat, but the US military doesn't yet appear ready to confront this ever-evolving challenge, especially on the scale seen in Ukraine. AdvertisementA US military MQ-9 Reaper drone waits for take-off at Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan on March 9, 2018. US military leaders have repeatedly stressed there's no silver bullet to defeat small drones in battle. Shellie HallStudents there spend several weeks learning how to identify, engage, and defeat small drones. The drone threat draws certain parallels to fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, where hidden bombs posed a tremendous threat.

Persons: GENYA SAVILOV, Mick Ryan, hasn't, you've, Franz J, Marty, Samuel Bendett, Paul Scharre, that's, Mike Parent, Mark Schauer, Parent, Paul Butcher, Cpl, Doug Bush, Amber Osei, Moseph Sauda, doesn't, Sauda, America's, Bram Janssen, Scharre, Justin Bronk, Jack Watling, Ryan Organizations: Business, Troops, of Defense, Department of Defense, Getty, Australian Army, Islamic State, Kandahar Air Base, Defense Ministry, Karabakh . Defense Ministry, Azerbaijan, AP, Pentagon, US Army, Aircraft Systems, Solutions, 71st Jaeger Brigade, US Army Yuma, Technology, Army, sUAS University, US Marine Corps, Force, Central Command, Shellie, National Training Center, US Army Air Defense Artillery, Center, New, New American Security, Base, London's Royal United Services Institute Locations: Russian, Ukrainian, Ukraine, prowling, Jordan, Chasiv Yar, Donetsk, AFP, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Nagorno, Karabakh, Avdiivka, Yuma, East, Oklahoma's Fort Sill, California, Fort Sill, China, Luhansk Region, Europe, Iran, New American, Iraq, Washington, Bagram, Kabul, Australian

☆ An Explosion in Afghanistan Nearly Killed Him. Now, It’s Inspiring His Senate Bid.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Kellen Browning | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Lying in an Afghan desert, engulfed in flames and soaked in diesel fuel, Sam Brown realized he was about to die. It was September 2008, and Mr. Brown, a U.S. Army captain, had been leading his platoon to the aid of fellow soldiers who had been ambushed by the Taliban. What happens as I die?” Mr. Brown recalled in an interview with The New York Times. A fellow soldier, also injured in the blast, saved Mr. Brown, and his platoon provided first aid until he could be evacuated to a hospital. At a burn unit in Texas, he underwent more than 30 surgeries over a three-year recovery, and he was left permanently scarred.

Persons: Sam Brown, Brown, “, Mr Organizations: U.S . Army, The New York Times Locations: Afghan, Kandahar, Texas

☆ How ISIS has Europe and the US in sights after deadly Moscow attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack. Maxim Shemetov/ReutersHe regards the Moscow attack as a “breakthrough success” for the group, demonstrating a level of planning not previously seen beyond south Asia. Russia’s support for authoritarian regimes in central Asia – which ISIS-K has described as Russia’s “puppets” – has deepened the animus. The attitude of the Russian government, both pre- and post- the Moscow attack, may not help it confront the threat. For ISIS-K, the Moscow attack is a coup.

Persons: Erik Kurilla, “, Sanaullah Ghafari, Edmund Fitton, Brown, Fitton, Amira Jadoon, ” Jadoon, Hans, Jakob Schindler, Christine Abizaid, ” Fitton, Maxim Shemetov, –, Gabriel Attal, ”, Jadoon, Putin, Abu Bakr al, Sinai, Vladimir Putin, Assad, Shamsidin, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Yulia Morozova, Shamil Hukumatov, ” Putin, ” Schindler, Alexander Bortnikov, they’ll, Rita Katz Organizations: CNN, Analysts, ISIS, Islamic, US Central Command, UN, Taliban, Russian, Clemson University, Counter, ”, K, US National Counterterrorism Center, –, Crocus City, US Defense Department, Paris, Central, Crocus City Hall, St, City, Tajik, Kyiv, SITE Intelligence Locations: State, Ukraine, Gaza, Moscow, Khorasan, Afghanistan, Europe, Asia, Russia, ‘, Islamic State, Pakistan, Iran, Crocus, United States, West, New York, Tajik, Kabul, Afghan, Kandahar, Central Asia, Baujur, Pakistani, Baluchistan, Iranian, Kerman, Germany, al Qaeda, Turkey, France, America, Russian, Sharm el, St . Petersburg, Syria, Kaluga, St Petersburg, Istanbul, Washington

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Officials from Afghanistan's ruling Taliban on Wednesday welcomed the resumption of FlyDubai flights to Kabul's international airport two years after stopping service following the collapse of the Western-backed government. All international airlines halted flights to Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in mid-August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces departed after two decades of war. FlyDubai, the sister carrier of long-haul airline Emirates, now will make two flights a day to Kabul. In May last year, the Taliban signed a deal allowing an Emirati company to manage three airports in Afghanistan. Two Afghan airlines, Kam Air and Ariana Afghan Airlines, operate from Kabul to destinations such as Dubai, Moscow, Islamabad and Istanbul.

Persons: FlyDubai, Abdul Ghani Baradar, ”, Abu, Ashraf Ghani, Jon Gambrell Organizations: —, Wednesday, NATO, United, Emirates, Taliban, Solutions, Kam, Ariana Afghan Airlines, Associated Press, Badruddin Haqqani, Airbus, Dubai Air, UAE . The Emirates, U.S, ___ Associated Press Locations: ISLAMABAD, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Kabul, Abu Dhabi, Herat, Kandahar, Dubai, Moscow, Islamabad, Istanbul, UAE

Seven generations of its men before him had trained as Islamic scholars, known as Mawlawis. But his father, Mawlawi Mohammed Rafiq Habibi, was a conflicted man. He dressed in suits and ties and was open to debating theological questions with his son about the existence of God. On a bus ride from Kandahar to Karachi, the conductor softly sang the song. “All these distances in the world — the threads, the ropes are in God’s hand,” she told him.

Persons: Mohammed Sadiq Habibi, Kandahar “, Mawlawi Mohammed Rafiq Habibi, Bibi Hazrata, “, ”, tugged Organizations: Radio Afghanistan Locations: Afghan, Kandahar, Karachi, India, Arghandab

☆ Pakistan speeds up Afghans' repatriation after deadline expires
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Mushtaq Ali | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Those arriving in Afghanistan complained of hardships they had to face to move out of Pakistan and uncertainty over their future. We had very bad situation," said Mohammad Ismael Rafi, 55, who said he lived for 22 years in the southwestern Pakistani border town of Chaman where he had a retail business. Pakistani authorities started rounding up foreigners, most of them Afghans, hours before the deadline. Khan, the official, said 19,744 Afghans had crossed the Torkham border on Thursday, 147,949 in total since the government announced the deadline. More than 35,000 undocumented Afghans have left through another southwestern Pakistani border crossing at Chaman.

Persons: Abdul Nasir Khan, Mohammad Ismael Rafi, Rafi, Sarfraz, Khan, Asif Shahzad, Ariba Shahid, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Kim Coghill, Nick Macfie Organizations: United Nations, Refugees, Kabul, Reuters, Authorities, Norwegian Refugee Council, Danish Refugee Council, International, Thomson Locations: burqa, Pakistan, UNHCR, Azakhel, Nowshera, PESHAWAR, Afghanistan, Torkham, Khyber, Pakistani, Chaman, Kandahar, Helmand province, Peshawar, U.S, Karachi, Kabul

☆ US Air Force special operators' search for new runways is expanding from highways to beaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The growing reach of the Chinese military has the US Air Force worried about its bases. Air Force special operators are widening the search, seeking more roads and even beaches to land on. AdvertisementAdvertisementA Royal Air Force Atlas A400M lands on a beach during at Pembrey Sands in Wales in June 2023. Royal Air ForceNew technology and eventually new aircraft are also helping to expand Air Force Special Operations Command's "runway-agnostic options." Air Force officials say that capability allows the MQ-9s to go to more bases and reduces the number of airmen needed for support.

Persons: Tony Bauernfeind, Bauernfeind, Al Udeid, Kenneth Wilsbach, we're, Command Bauernfeind, We're Organizations: US Air Force, Air Force, Service, Force Special, Command, The Air Force, Agile, Employment, Pacific, Air Force Special Operations Command, Operations Command, Air and Space Forces Association, Christopher Quail, US Air Forces, Royal Air Force Atlas, Royal Air Force, US Air Force Special, DARPA Locations: Wall, Silicon, Europe, Washington, Bagram, Kandahar, Balad, Al, Tinian, Palau, Michigan, Wyoming, Texas, Pembrey Sands, Wales

☆ Weekend episode: Afghans in limbo two years on, and we remember Danish Siddiqui
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Yet, many of the Afghans who worked for U.S. organizations during the 20-year war are still left waiting for visas. On this special weekend episode we visit with one family waiting for visas in Pakistan, and examine the photographic legacy of our colleague Danish Siddiqui, who was killed while covering a clash between Afghan Special Forces and the Taliban in Kandahar. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Further ReadingAfghan Taliban celebrate return to power two years on amid erosion of women's rightsAfghans dreaming of U.S. refuge feel stuck in processing limboDanish Siddiqui: A tributeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: It's, Danish Siddiqui, Siddiqui Organizations: Apple, Google, Reuters, Afghan Special Forces, Thomson, Reading Locations: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kandahar

☆ UN envoy urges world court to prosecute Afghan gender discrimination
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A beauty salon with defaced pictures of women is seen in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 6, 2023. On the second anniversary of the Taliban's return to power as U.S.-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war, Brown said he had written to ICC prosecutor Karim Khan to argue his point. Girls over the age of 12 have been mostly excluded from school classes since the Taliban returned to power. "The International Criminal Court should recognize this gender discrimination as a crime against humanity and investigate it with a view to the arraignment and prosecution of those responsible," said Brown, a former British prime minister. Khan is investigating suspected war crimes committed in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.

Persons: Ali Khara, Gordon Brown, Brown, Karim Khan, Khan, We've, Michelle Nichols, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, UNITED NATIONS, Criminal Court, ICC, Girls, Taliban, Muslim, Thomson Locations: Kabul, Afghanistan, British, Kandahar

☆ Taliban official letter reinforces bar of female aid staff in southern Kandahar
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KABUL, June 23 (Reuters) - Taliban authorities in Afghanistan's Kandahar province ordered female aid workers this week to stop work on a refugee project, according to an official letter, reinforcing rules against women working despite exemptions sought by some organisations. The letter underscored the uncertainty of the operating environment in Afghanistan for aid agencies who say they intend to stay and deliver aid during a humanitarian crisis but seek exemptions to let female staff work, to reach female beneficiaries and avoid breaching UN charter principles. The Taliban administration signalled in January it would work on a set of written guidelines that could allow aid groups to operate with female staff in some cases, but it has not yet done so. The Norwegian Refugee Council, an international NGO, in May said it had received exemptions for many of its operations in Kandahar and was resuming work with female staff. The Taliban's restrictions on women aid workers and access to education have been widely criticized by the international community.

Persons: Haibatullah Akhundzada, Charlotte Greenfield, Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Peter Graff Organizations: Reuters, Department of Refugees, United Nations, Norwegian Refugee Council, NRC, Diplomats, Thomson Locations: KABUL, Afghanistan's Kandahar, Kandahar, Spin, Pakistan, Afghanistan, United States

☆ Opinion: A blistering indictment of the Trump-Biden legacy in Afghanistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The withdrawal agreement was supposed to be predicated on the Taliban negotiating with the elected Afghan government about some kind of power-sharing arrangement and cutting their ties to terrorist groups like al Qaeda. Zawahiri was living in Kabul with the “awareness” of Taliban officials, according to a Biden senior administration official. Worrisomely, al Qaeda is “covertly rebuilding its external operations capability,” according to the UN, i.e., its ability to launch attacks outside of Afghanistan. Of these, an astonishing 35 hold cabinet-level positions in the de facto Afghan government, according to the report. In sum, “debacle” seems almost too kind a word to describe the Trump-Biden legacy in Afghanistan.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Donald Trump’s, Joe Biden, Biden, Zalmay Khalilzad, “, al Qaeda, Ayman al Zawahiri, Zawahiri, Hibatullah Akhundzada, Edmund Fitton, Brown, ”, Fitton Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, United, US, Afghan, Biden, Trump, US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Taliban, UN, ISIS, Pakistan, Twitter, “, NATO Locations: New America, United Nations, Afghanistan, al Qaeda, United States, Qaeda, Kabul, Pakistani, Afghan, Kandahar, America

☆ Aid group NRC resumes work with female staff in Taliban heartland
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The move comes after Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Secretary General Jan Egeland told Reuters last month that key Taliban leaders in Kandahar had signaled a willingness to agree to an interim arrangement for NRC female aid workers. "All our work is for women & men, girls & boys alike, & with equal participation of our female & male humanitarian colleagues," Egeland wrote. In April, Taliban authorities began enforcing a ban on Afghan women working for the U.N. after stopping women working for aid groups in December. The U.N. and aid groups have been trying to carve out exemptions for women to deliver aid, particularly in health and education. The Taliban administration has been promising since January a set of written guidelines to allow aid groups to operate with female staff.

Persons: Jan Egeland, Egeland, Michelle Nichols, Hugh Lawson Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, Taliban, Norwegian Refugee Council, NRC, Reuters, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Afghanistan, Kandahar, U.N

☆ Exclusive: Qatar prime minister, Taliban chief hold secret Afghan talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The Taliban say they respect women’s rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs. The Taliban in March 2022 barred girls from high schools and extended the ban to universities in December. ADDRESSING HUMANITARIAN CRISISSheikh Mohammed and Haibatullah also discussed efforts to remedy Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis, the source said. The U.S. and its allies say the Taliban harbor members of al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban. Sheikh Mohammed, who also serves as Qatar's foreign minister, met publicly in Kandahar with Mullah Hassan Akhund, the Taliban prime minister, on the same day he met the supreme leader.

Persons: Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Akhunzada, Joe Biden's, Sheikh Mohammed, Haibatullah, al, Mullah Hassan Akhund, Jonathan Landay, Don Durfee, Deepa Babington Organizations: Qatari, Qatar, United, The State Department, Human Rights, United Nations, Islamic, Haibatullah, Thomson Locations: Afghan, Kandahar, Thani, Kabul, United States, Washington, Qatar, U.S, Geneva, Islamic State, Afghanistan, The U.S, al Qaeda, Doha

☆ Qatar’s prime minister met with top Taliban leader in Afghanistan earlier this month, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Alex Marquardt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Qatar’s prime minister met secretly with the Taliban’s top leader earlier this month in Afghanistan, two sources familiar with the meeting confirmed to CNN. The meeting happened in the southern city of Kandahar on May 12, between the Taliban Supreme Leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada and Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani. The meeting, first reported by Reuters, is believed to be the first between Akhundzada and a foreign leader. Despite American warnings to the Taliban not harbor terrorists, Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri took up residence in Kabul before being killed in a US drone strike last July. Qatar serves as the US protecting power in Afghanistan, where it does not have a diplomatic presence.

Persons: CNN —, Haibatullah, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim, Biden, Antony Blinken, Qatar’s, ”, Qatar’s Al Jazeera, Thani, Al Qaeda’s, Ayman al, Zawahiri Organizations: CNN, Taliban, Qatar’s, Reuters, State Department, ” CNN, US State Department, Qatari Embassy, US Locations: Afghanistan, Kandahar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al, Thani, Qatar, Washington, Al, Doha, Kabul, Kabul –

☆ The Taliban promised to provide security to Afghans. New data shows threat from ISIS is growing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh Ehsan Popalzai Antonio Jarne Lou Robinson | Eliza Mackintosh | Ehsan Popalzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“Currently we don’t have security in Afghanistan at all, whenever we go out we don’t know if we will come home alive or not,” he added. Taliban security forces guard a checkpoint near the foreign ministry in Kabul on March 27, after an ISIS-K suicide bomber struck the site. The data, which is available in a live map, includes 367 pieces of open-source evidence — largely videos and images shared on social media — about 70 ISIS-K attacks since August 2021. As the Taliban try to minimize the threat ISIS-K poses, attacks on civilians continue. Taliban security forces have been waging ongoing operations and night raids against ISIS-K.

☆ US Air Force secretary says it's time to move on from the A-10 Warthog because it 'doesn't scare China' and has only 'limited usability'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US Air Force has been trying for years to retire its aging fleet of A-10 Warthog planes. During a Thursday hearing, the service secretary said the aircraft "doesn't scare China." I was an advocate for that program for a long time, but it doesn't scare China." US Air Force maintainers work on an A-10 Warthog at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, September 2, 2011. In December 2021, the Air Force secretary lauded the Warthog, C-130 transport aircraft, and MQ-9 Reaper drone for their past effectiveness.

☆ Sudan conflict: 'Am I going to get killed in front of my family?' Stories of terror on the risky escape route
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Sana Noor Haq Catherine Nicholls Celine Alkhaldi Magdy Samaan | Sana Noor Haq | Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Safa Babikir was sleeping in her aunt’s house in Khartoum when she was woken by gunfire. Then, she says, “the screams started.”Desperate to escape the fierce fighting in Sudan’s capital, Babikir soon made a decision to flee the country on a treacherous bus journey to neighboring Egypt. In Sudan, bus drivers are avoiding areas under RSF control, according to al-Idrisi, as they try to avoid skirmishes between the armed forces and the paramilitary group. “The darkest thought I had was, am I going to get killed in front of my family? “Ultimately they were able to escape Khartoum; which seems to be the ultimate mission for a lot of people,” Imad said.

☆ 'I screamed so loud, I blacked out': Afghans tell of the Taliban's return to their old torture playbook
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Zahid Mahmood | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

"There were about 12 Taliban members surrounding me, they tied me to a chair and started beating me from all sides," Zafri told CNN. He added: "I screamed so loud, I blacked out because of the trauma." Fereshta Abbasi, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, told CNN that, since the Taliban's comeback, a local journalist told her how bleak the media landscape is, threatening free speech. "Freedom of speech and media in Afghanistan was one of the country's biggest achievements, which has now unfortunately gone." Meanwhile, Zafri remains stuck in Afghanistan despite repeated attempts to leave following his detention and torture by the Taliban.

☆ Saudi money is flowing to US media and entertainment, from Live Nation to LIV Golf, 5 years after Jamal Khashoggi's murder: 'The ice has thawed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment. Insider identified some key people connecting Middle East investors with American companies. Saudi Arabia is trying to pitch itself to the world as a cultural and economic reformer and spur tourism. Vince McMahon's WWE has a long-term partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a major live WWE event there slated for May. Vince McMahon's WWE was one of the first US companies to create unique events in Saudi Arabia.

☆ Saudi money is pouring into Hollywood and media, 5 years after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Here's who's cashing in and how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment. Saudi Arabia is trying to pitch itself to the world as a cultural and economic reformer and spur tourism. Even those media players that are comfortable with invetment from the Middle East may not find funds flowing, one Hollywood veteran said. A major live WWE event in Saudi Arabia is slated for May. Of the growing ties between US entertainment and media and Middle East investors, this person added, "Presumably media organizations got into this to help society make better decisions."

☆ Blast in Afghanistan's northern Balkh province kills one, injures 5
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, March 11 (Reuters) - A blast hit the capital of Afghanistan's northern Balkh province on Saturday, police said, killing one person and wounding five a few days after the death of the province's governor in an explosion claimed by Islamic State. "A blast has taken placed in the second police district of Balkh," said Mohamad Asif Waziri, Balkh's police spokesperson. A journalist based in Balkh, Mohammad Fardin Nowrozi, told Reuters he and other journalists were injured in the explosion, but did not provide further details. Taliban authorities were already investigating the explosion that killed the provincial governor, Mawlawi Mohammad Dawood Muzamil, and two others at his office on Thursday. The governor of Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar will temporarily run Balkh, his spokesman Haji Zaid told Reuters, until Supreme Spiritual Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada selects a new governor for the northern province, an important trade hub with Central Asia.

☆ Blast at Afghanistan journalist event kills at least one, injures eight
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, March 11 (Reuters) - A blast hit a cultural centre during an event for journalists in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding eight, according to authorities and journalists, a few days after the province's governor died in an explosion claimed by Islamic State. Takor added that five journalists and three children were among the injured and a security guard was killed. Sajad Mosawi, a journalist in Balkh who was injured in the blast, said it had torn through the centre during an event to celebrate journalists. Taliban authorities were already investigating the explosion that killed provincial governor Mawlawi Mohammad Dawood Muzamil and two others at his office on Thursday. Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by William Mallard and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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