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CNN —Biden administration officials, watching the remarkable speed of the Syrian rebel advance, increasingly see the possibility of the regime of Bashar al-Assad falling within days, five US officials told CNN. “Probably by next weekend the Assad regime will have lost any semblance of power,” one said. The Biden administration appeared caught off guard by the speed of the rebel advance launched last week. Regime troops have collapsed and melted away, leaving a fragile shell of an army to defend the president and Damascus. Leading the rebel advance in Syria is a group designated by the US as terrorist organization: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which was previously linked to al Qaeda.

Persons: CNN —, Bashar al, Assad, hasn’t, isn’t, Biden, Tahrir, Jake Sullivan, —, Turkey Organizations: CNN, CNN — Biden, US, Rebels, “, Pentagon, Syrian Democratic Forces, ISIS, SDF Locations: Syrian, Homs, Syria’s, Damascus, Afghanistan —, Ukraine, Russia, Syria, al Qaeda, Iran, Kurdish, Turkey, Moscow, Tehran, Latakia

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell speaks in the early hours at the conclusion of the UNFCCC COP29 Climate Conference on November 24, 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Ambitious climate action often requires ambitious financing — be it a clean energy transition project or helping developing countries mitigate the effects of natural disasters. Nearly 50,000 people from 200 countries — including, for the first time, the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan — were in Azerbaijan for this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference, with the goal of reaching a critical deal on climate finance. Some of the highest human costs will be paid by smaller nations that are disproportionately affected by climate change, including Pacific Island nations whose existence is threatened by rising seas. But with COP29 weighed down by geopolitics and domestic turmoil, some were reluctant to attend at all.

Persons: Simon Stiell, Donald Trump, General Ban, Ruth Townend, COP29 Organizations: Conference, Change, World Meteorological Organization, House, Pacific Locations: Baku, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, United States, Paris, London

Nearly 50,000 people from 200 countries — including, for the first time, the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan — were in Azerbaijan for this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, with the goal of reaching a critical deal on climate finance. Participating world leaders Tuesday at the United Nations Climate Change Conference. “It is really disappointing to see that world leaders haven’t shown up in force in solidarity,” she added. While Trump “may put climate action on the back burner,” U.S. climate envoy John Podesta said, “the work to contain climate change is going to continue.”U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said states, cities, nongovernmental organizations and companies are still “all-in” on pursuing climate goals. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks Tuesday on day two of the COP29 climate conference.

Persons: Donald Trump, Alexander Nemenov, General Ban, ”, Ruth Townend, COP29, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, Justin Trudeau, Shigeru Ishiba, ” Townend, haven’t, Matiul Haq Khalis, Laurent Thomet, Trump, John Podesta, Jennifer Granholm, ” Granholm, Darren Woods, Who, Ilham Aliyev, Carl Court, Getty Images Aliyev, Adel, Lord Adair Turner, Britain, “, James Marape, Marape, Asadullah Jawid Organizations: Change, United Nations, Getty, World Meteorological Organization, House, Pacific, British, Seven, Canadian, Japanese, Environmental Protection Agency, Getty Images, U.S . Energy, Infrastructure Law, NBC, Exxon, Independent, Climate Finance, U.S, Energy, Commission, Union, Baku, American University of Locations: BAKU, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, United States, Paris, AFP, London, Baku, U.S, ”, Saudi, Adel Al, Saudi Arabia, Saharan Africa, China, Papua New Guinea, American University of Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban will attend a U.N. climate conference for the first time since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the country’s national environment agency said Sunday. Matiul Haq Khalis, the agency’s head, said the delegation would use the conference to strengthen cooperation with the international community on environmental protection and climate change, share Afghanistan’s needs regarding access to existing financial mechanisms related to climate change, and discuss adaptation and mitigation efforts. Experts told The Associated Press that climate change has led to numerous and negative impacts on Afghanistan, creating serious challenges because of the country’s geographical location and weak climate policies. Professor Abid Arabzai, from Kabul University, said the climate conference would help to secure international assistance and funding to address Afghanistan’s climate challenges. “Afghanistan can clarify its climate actions and commitments to the global community, enhancing its international reputation,” Arabzai said.

Persons: Matiul Haq Khalis, ”, Hayatullah Mashwani, Abid Arabzai, ” Arabzai Organizations: Environmental Protection Agency, Associated Press, Kabul University Locations: KABUL, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Baku, Kabul

☆ Andrew Webber's forever war
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-27 | by ( Sam Fellman | Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +38 min

Like others in Chosen Company, Webber had been drawn to Ukraine for reasons he couldn't quite explain. AdvertisementNow, as Webber and his fellow members of Chosen Company got acquainted in the bar, uncertainty hung over the gathering. One showed an assault team clearing a World War I-style bunker, using live rounds. AdvertisementCats are everywhere on the front lines in Ukraine; Webber rescued one from a building under fire. "It seemed like he had stuff he was working on," says O'Leary, the CO of Chosen Company.

Persons: Andrew Webber, Webber chatted, he'd, Webber, Vera, Gwen, DeeDee, He'd, Jovelle Tamayo, she'd, I'm, hadn't, Rhodesian Bush, Dee Dee, David Roller, Sweeney, Tom Mader, Mader, vomited, patting, Andrew, Matthew James When Webber, wasn't, Karla Stephens, Karla, He's, Dubs, would've, Ryan O'Leary, Thomas Waszak, Elizabeth Gil, Fenwick, —, Sayed Zuhoor, Hilarie Atkisson, who's, Joe, O'Leary, Webber wasn't, marveled, Tango, Pervomaiske, Chosen, Wayne Hallatt, Hallatt, Thomas Waszak Wearing, wouldn't, Delta, Lance Lawrence, Lawrence, CeeBee, it's, Webber couldn't, we're, Waszak, Nichole, he's, Sam Fellman, Ryan Pickrell Organizations: White Sox, Chosen Company, Army, Company, corgi, Chosen, French Foreign, Rhodesian, Ranger School, intel, Operating, Taliban, Motorized Infantry Brigade, LinkedIn, Northwestern, Fenwick & West, Big Law, United, Fenwick, Ranger, Volunteers, Delta, AK, 173rd Airborne Brigade, Webber, Business Locations: Ukrainian, Dnipro, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, America, Seattle, Bakhmut, Washington, West Point, West, Georgia, Afghanistan's, Taliban, Kandahar, Fort Benning, Russian, Donetsk, Pervomaiske, Kabul, United States, Afghan, Russia, German, Delta, Kyiv

☆ Opinion | The Olympics Should Stand With Afghanistan’s Women Athletes
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-17 | by ( Friba Rezayee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, one of its first actions was to bar women and girls from participating in sports publicly. Female athletes in Afghanistan today face similar threats from the Taliban, including physical abuse and raids on their homes. The most recent example is the International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow a team representing Afghanistan in the Paris Games. It should let the athletes — most of whom live in exile — compete on the Refugee Olympic Team, which would send a message of hope to refugees around the world. But none of the three women representing Afghanistan — in athletics and cycling — live and train in the country, nor could they visit without risking their lives.

Persons: — Organizations: Taliban, Paris, Refugee Olympic, Afghan Locations: Afghanistan

☆ Time Is Running Out for Rahul Gandhi’s Vision for India
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Samanth Subramanian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The crush of people at the rally was suffocating, although in India a crowd is no index of popularity. At 53, with a well-salted beard and serious eyes, he’s too old to be called Congress’s “scion,” but he still wears the sheen of dynasty. Then, on the heels of several corruption scandals, the mighty party — 140 years old next year — came unstuck. One of Modi’s successes has been not just to trounce the Congress Party but also to persuade people that the party has weakened India and emasculated its Hindus. (Amnesty itself halted its work in India in 2020, in the midst of what it later called an “incessant witch hunt” by the government.)

Persons: —, Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira, Rajiv, Sonia, Modi, ” Organizations: Congress, Party, Amnesty, World Press Locations: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Russia

☆ Families Ripped Apart as Pakistan Expels Tens of Thousands of Afghans
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Zia Ur-Rehman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He and his son were arrested on Sept. 12 in the Pakistani city of Karachi during a raid on Afghan migrants. Mr. Gul, 30, was born and raised in Karachi and married his wife there. His wife, Ram Bibi, 29, also an Afghan citizen, sold valuables to hire a lawyer who could argue that Mr. Gul was a legal resident of Pakistan. But he was deported to Afghanistan on Nov. 13, after Pakistan set a deadline for all 1.7 million illegal migrants to leave, most of them Afghans. Mr. Gul is now stranded in a country he does not know, leaving his pregnant wife and his children at the mercy of impoverished relatives to survive.

Persons: Baz Gul’s, Gul, Ram Bibi Locations: Pakistani, Karachi, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Afghan

☆ 'This is Israel's 9/11': Why Israelis say Hamas' unprecedented assault will change their country forever
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Some are likening Saturday's attack on Israel by Hamas to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US. The timing of the attack on Saturday morning "was a shock," Aisenberg told Insider on Sunday night from her home. Up and down the country, Israelis were angered by the lapses that enabled Hamas to evade the eyes of Jerusalem's military and intelligence services, Quinn added, calling the failures "incomprehensible." AdvertisementAdvertisementThere, close to the Gaza border, Aisenberg's mother- and father-in-law spent much of Saturday afternoon hiding in their home as Hamas fighters infiltrated their small town and wreaked havoc. 'We cannot afford to be divided'As the fighting continues, Aisenberg said Israelis are determined to prevail against Hamas and Hezbollah.

Persons: —, Aisenberg, they'd, — Aisenberg, I'm, Ian Bremmer, Jessica Cohen, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Iron, Netanyahu, Kenneth Quinn, who's, Quinn, Be'er Sheva, he'd, Quinn's, Cohen, Gilad Peretz, Mark, she'll Organizations: Service, Eurasia Group, Israel, West Bank, Street, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Palestinian Health Ministry, Soroka Hospital, Audi Locations: Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel's, United States, Gaza, Sderot, Pearl, Hawaii, Long Island , New York, Al, Aqsa, Jerusalem, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, Iran, Afghanistan — Israel, New York, Be'er, Nova, revel, Lebanon

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Pakistan’s interim prime minister said he expects parliamentary elections to take place in the new year, dismissing the possibility that the country’s powerful military would manipulate the results to ensure that jailed former premier Imran Khan’s party doesn’t win. Kakar resigned as a senator last month after outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raza Riaz chose him as caretaker prime minister to oversee the elections and run the day-to-day affairs until a new government is elected. “The most important player in this dispute is the Kashmir people," Kakar said. “It is neither India or Pakistan,” but the Kashmiri people who "have to decide about their identity" and their future. It’s just a divine blessing.”By law, he can’t contest the elections when he’s interim prime minister, but Kakar said in the future he hopes “to play a constructive political role in my society.”

Persons: —, Imran Khan’s, Haq Kakar, Khan, Kakar, Shehbaz Sharif, Raza Riaz, ”, ” Kakar, Imran Khan, I’m, that’s, — Kakar, Karar, “ Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, Associated Press, United Nations, NATO, Taliban, Islamic Locations: Pakistan, Kashmir, India, “, Ukraine, Europe, North America, Afghanistan, Islamic State, Kabul, Pakistan's

☆ State Department review of 2021 Afghanistan evacuation critical of Biden, Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Jonathan Landay | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Victor Mancilla/Handout via... Read moreWASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. State Department report on Friay criticized the handling of the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan, saying decisions by President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw troops had "serious consequences for the viability" and security of the former U.S.-backed government. The review, and a similar Pentagon study, contributed to a report released by the White House in April. But the State Department review's critical findings were not reflected in the White House report.cWhite House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended Biden's handling of the Afghan pullout. "I can't speak to that internal coordination piece and how the administration settled on the core conclusions that it presented" in April, a senior State Department official said. The review said State Department planning for the evacuation "was hindered" because it was "unclear" which senior official "had the lead."

Persons: Victor Mancilla, Read, Friay, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Antony Blinken, Karine Jean, Pierre, Biden's, Steven Cheung, Afghanistan — Joe Biden, Trump, Biden, Jonathan Landay, Steve Holland, Grant McCool, Alistair Bell Organizations: U.S, Marines, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Evacuation Control Center, Hamid, Airport, . Marine Corps, Staff, U.S . State Department, State, White House, State Department, United, Trump, American, Department, Thomson Locations: Kabul, Afghanistan, WASHINGTON, U.S, United States, State

☆ 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.

☆ I left Miami for a remote village in Pakistan. I have no running hot water and limited electricity — but my quality of life here is infinitely better.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Samantha Shea | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

She moved to Hunza Valley in Northern Pakistan in 2021, where she's lived ever since. I live in Hunza Valley, 8,500 feet above sea level on the border with Western China, where I work as a digital nomad. A drone shot of Hunza Valley in early May. A Hunza Valley local drying apricots. Though my solo journey to Pakistan started as a trip, Hunza Valley is now my home.

☆ Inspector General Says U.S. Aid May Be Flowing to the Taliban
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Karoun Demirjian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“We used to brief on a regular basis,” Mr. Sopko said of his prior engagements with the State Department, U.S.A.I.D. and the Pentagon, as he lamented a lack of access of records on what he said was over $8 billion in U.S. aid that had been provided to Afghanistan since the evacuation. “Since SIGAR’s inception, U.S.A.I.D. “We are frequently and regularly working with SIGAR on their requests.”A State Department spokesman said that U.S. reconstruction activities in Afghanistan — the centerpiece of Mr. Sopko’s jurisdiction — ceased after the Taliban took over the government in August 2021. The hearing had been billed as a venue to scrutinize the Biden administration’s actions during the withdrawal, a focus that the panel’s top Democrat, Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, criticized as “absurdly narrow.”

Life has become solitary confinement.” Some women went into hiding, fearing retribution after the Taliban seized power. When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, women were among the most profoundly affected. A Wrenching Change Afifa, 47, wishes more Afghan men would fight for women’s rights KABUL, Afghanistan — Walk around the capital, Kabul, and it often feels as if women have been airbrushed out of the city. When the Taliban seized power, girls’ schools remained open in a kind of limbo — neither officially sanctioned nor forbidden — for months. Zubaida, 20, teaches high school girls in secret “Regimes come and go all the time in Afghanistan.

QADIS, Afghanistan — When the temperatures plunged far below freezing in Niaz Mohammad’s village last month, the father of three struggled to keep his family warm. One particularly cold night, he piled every stick and every shrub he had collected into their small wood stove. He scavenged for trash that might burn, covered the windows with plastic tarps and held his 2-month-old son close to his chest. Ice crept across the room: It covered the windows, then the walls, then the thick red blanket wrapped around Mr. Mohammad’s wailing son. “The cold took him,” Mr. Mohammad, 30, told visiting journalists for The New York Times, describing the details of that horrible night.

☆ Former Afghan female lawmaker and guard are shot dead at home, police say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, Afghanistan — A former Afghan female lawmaker and her bodyguard have been shot dead by unknown assailants at her home in the capital, Kabul, police said Sunday. Mursal Nabizada was among the few female parliamentarians who stayed in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Local police chief Molvi Hamidullah Khalid said Nabizada and her guard were shot dead around 3 a.m. Saturday in the same room. He said her brother and a second security guard were injured. A third security guard fled the scene with money and jewelry.

☆ What is the US getting in Ukraine for $100 billion?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Daniel L. Davis | Defense Priorities | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In December, President Joe Biden signed a bill with another $47 billion in aid for Ukraine. The question: does adding this Patriot battery represent a game-changer for Ukraine? A Patriot battery ordinarily operates as part of an integrated defense system which may include numerous US and NATO systems. As exposed in 2019 when the Saudi-operated Patriot system failed to stop a complex aerial attack from Iran, the system is not fool-proof even when operational. Air Force via APIncluding this most recent aid package, the US has spent over $100 billion on the war in Ukraine, which is $16 billion more than the entire Russian military budget for 2023.

☆ Major aid groups suspend work in Afghanistan AS Taliban bar women
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

KABUL, Afghanistan — Four major international aid groups on Sunday suspended their operations in Afghanistan following a decision by the country’s Taliban rulers to ban women from working at non-governmental organizations. Excluding women from schools and NGO work in Afghanistan “can and will lead to catastrophic humanitarian consequences in the short to long term,” the International Committee of the Red Cross warned. Half of Afghanistan’s population, or 24 million people, are in need of humanitarian aid, according to the group. The International Rescue Committee said it was dismayed by the Taliban decision, adding that more than 3,000 of its staff in Afghanistan are women. The Economy Ministry’s order comes days after the Taliban banned female students from attending universities across the country, triggering backlash overseas and demonstrations in major Afghan cities.

☆ Women banned from universities in Afghanistan by the Taliban
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, Afghanistan — Women are banned from private and public universities in Afghanistan with immediate effect and until further notice, a Taliban government spokesman said Tuesday, the latest edict cracking down on their rights and freedoms. Despite initially promising a more moderate rule and women’s and minority rights, the Taliban have widely implemented their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. They have banned girls from middle school and high school, restricted women from most employment and ordered them to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. Women are also banned from parks and gyms. The university ban comes weeks after Afghan girls took their high school graduation exams, even though they have been banned from classrooms since the Taliban took over the country last year.

☆ Exclusive: Afghan government officials helped smugglers sneak almost $1 billion in cash and gold out of Afghanistan as the US-backed government neared collapse, documents show
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | Edris Lutfi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The office of Ashraf Ghani, the US-backed Afghan president, had been informed about the problem, insiders say. The smuggling flouted Afghan laws requiring travelers to declare cash or gold worth $10,000 or more and a strict ban on exporting $20,000 or more. The documents identify the two men as being part of the 2021 smuggling ring; they do not allege who was behind the $824 million smuggled in 2019 and 2020. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani meets with President Joe Biden in June 2021. The UAE is also the home of Ghani and Noor, the former provincial governor with alleged ties to the Hairatan smuggling ring.

☆ Deadly blast hits religious school in northern Afghanistan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

KABUL, Afghanistan — A blast tore through a religious school during prayer time in the northern Afghan province of Samangan on Wednesday, killing 15 people, a provincial spokesperson said. At least 20 people were also wounded in the explosion in the provincial capital of Aybak, Emdadullah Muhajir, spokesperson for Samangan’s provincial government, added. “A blast took place around 12:45 p.m. inside Jahdia Madrassa in the center of city. Interior ministry spokesperson Abdul Nafi Takor confirmed the blast but put the death toll so far at 10 with more injured. But several attacks, including at mosques, have taken place in recent months, some of which have been claimed by the Islamic State.

☆ 19 people lashed in northeastern Afghanistan, official says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Afghanistan — Nineteen people in northeastern Afghanistan were lashed for adultery, theft and running away from home, a Supreme Court official said Sunday. It appeared to be the first official confirmation that lashings and floggings are being meted out in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. After they overran Afghanistan last year, the Taliban initially promised to be more moderate and allow for women’s and minority rights. A Supreme Court official, Abdul Rahim Rashid, said 10 men and nine women were lashed 39 times each in Taloqan city in northeastern Takhar province, on Nov. 11. He said their cases were assessed by two courts before they were convicted, confirming information in a Supreme Court statement.

☆ Afghan Taliban say group will stick to strict Islamic law
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban will stick to their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, a spokesman said Thursday, underscoring the group’s intention to continue hard-line policies implemented since they took over Afghanistan more than a year ago. During their previous years in power in the late 1990s, the Taliban carried out public executions, floggings and stoning of those convicted of crimes in Taliban courts. According to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhunzada, met with Taliban judges a few days ago and instructed them to implement Sharia law in their rulings. Mujahid said this instruction prompted perceptions that Islamic law had been abandoned in the Islamic emirate, as the Taliban call their administration. “It doesn’t mean that the Islamic emirate didn’t implement the limits of Allah Almighty since it came to power,” he said.

☆ A failed war helped bring down the Soviet Union. Now Putin's failing war in Ukraine might set Russia up for a bleak future.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Joy Neumeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan and Russia's current war in Ukraine have obvious similarities in their disastrous planning and execution. In the 1990s, Afghanistan veterans' sense of aggrievement fused with that of veterans returning from Boris Yeltsin's war in Chechnya. Putin's war, Russia's futurePutin meets soldiers at a military training center outside the town of Ryazan in October. While glasnost-era revelations about the Soviet war shocked the country into supporting withdrawal, these days there is little left to expose. Public self-criticism surrounding the Soviet war in Afghanistan, however brief and contested, shows that reassessment of imperial ambitions is possible.

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