For the first time in four years, Egypt is no longer under a state of emergency. The government of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi made the decision following years of criticism from human rights advocates.President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi announced his decision in a Facebook post. He said the move came because “Egypt has become an oasis of security and stability in the region.”Related: Activists look to Congress after Biden requests military aid for Egypt without human rights conditionsEgypt has been under a continuous state of emergency since the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981, with the exception of a few years following the 2011 revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak. The state of emergency was reinstated in 2017 after two Coptic churches in the country were bombed by an ISIS affiliate.Related: Powerful countries break their silence on Egypt's human rights abusesThe state of emergency allowed for arrests without warrants, the swift prosecution of suspects and the establishment of special courts.Whether this move will help imprisoned writers, lawyers and activists is still unclear.Professor Samer Shehata, an associate professor in Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma, joined The World's host Marco Werman from Washington to break down what this decision may mean for people inside Egypt. Marco Werman: Samer, can you tell us why the state of emergency was put in place to begin with?Samer Shehata: Well, the most recent state of emergency was put in place in 2017 after a series of bombings by an ISIS affiliate against churches in Egypt that left a number of people dead. But in reality, Egyptians have been living under a state of emergency for about 50 years really, since 1967.For the state of emergency imposed by President Sisi, who did it impact primarily?Well, it probably impacts the majority of people who are in prison for protesting. But it's also been used against, of course, Muslim Brotherhood leaders and supporters, liberals and people who supported the 2011 revolution, youth activists, journalists, you name it, anyone who's been willing to criticize the government. So, practically, what does it mean for the thousands of political detainees, that the state of emergency has been lifted?Well, it's not perfectly clear yet what it will mean for those who are already in jail, right? Because many of the high-profile people, we believe, who've gotten the most attention are still going to be subject to their detention, and so on, and the court system that they have been subject to. It will, hopefully, end the special emergency state security courts that the emergency law allows. And it will, hopefully, if it is to mean anything other than just this declaration, will allow a little bit of greater political space in Egypt, but that's certainly yet to be determined. What do you think the lifting of the state of emergency now signals more generally about the Egyptian government? I mean, is this them rolling out a welcome mat for free expression or simply confidence that they're firmly in control of the country?Well, they're firmly in control of the country, but I think what it is in response to is increasing criticism and some action by the international community about the human rights record and the abysmal state of political freedom in Egypt. There's been intense criticism of the human rights record. And then, of course, very recently, the Biden administration withheld some $130 million of aid to the government. And the government has been, in response, trying to change its image, trying to kind of produce a makeover and to say that it's more interested in civil society groups, human rights and so on. And, Samer, those critics have been pretty relentless. Earlier this year, five leading human rights organizations in Egypt laid out some basic steps that should be taken to stop the erosion of human rights there. The lifting of the state of emergency — that was the first step. What are the next steps, and do you think the Egyptian government will continue the process?Sure, they asked for a number of very concrete things, I mean, freeing political prisoners, for example. There are thousands of political prisoners. Stopping the detentions that kind of go on forever, staying all executions, political and criminal cases and so on, all kinds of other things. So, those would really be much more...concrete actions. And therefore, I think, and many others, are a little bit skeptical about what this really means in practice. So, if I'm a protester or a journalist right now in Egypt and I see this policy change, put us in the mind of that person, what am I thinking? Can I go out and kind of express myself freely now?Not necessarily. I think it's certainly understood as a signal to the international community, more so than a signal to Egyptians. But it also could mean that there is only slightly more room for political maneuver in Egypt. Not a great amount, but a little bit more.This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report. 

Today in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, calls for civil disobedience came blaring from a loudspeaker attached to a mosque. One voice urged citizens not to go to work to punish the military for betraying the revolution.Related: Protests erupt across Sudan against military coup Yesterday, top generals seized power in Sudan. The military has cut most phone and internet services. Protesters have created blockades of burning tires, and soldiers are pursuing them — reportedly going door to door. Troops fired on crowds a day earlier, killing four protesters, according to doctors.Sudan’s ruling general said Tuesday that deposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdock was being held for his own safety and would likely be released soon. But he warned that other members of the dissolved government could face trial as protests against the putsch continued in the streets.Related: Sudan's troubled attempt at education reformThe takeover came after weeks of mounting tensions between military and civilian leaders over the course and the pace of Sudan’s transition to democracy. It threatened to derail that process, which has progressed in fits and starts since the overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising two years ago.Related: After the revolution, a secular Sudan?Dalia Abdel-Moneim, a Khartoum resident, joined The World's host Carol Hills to discuss the situation in the nation's capital, where she says the city is tense after all businesses and shops closed, except a few local bodegas. "It's literally a major strike." Daliah Abdel-Moneim, protester, Khartoum, Sudan"It's literally a major strike," Abdel-Moneim said. "Anyone who's out on the street is either going to try and get supplies or just trying to get to family or something. But the city is pretty much dead, and that's, I think, the case throughout the whole country." Carol Hills: There were reports of protests in some places. Soldiers on the streets using live ammunition reportedly have killed at least 10 people — 140 wounded. Do you think the Sudanese army will back down in the face of this kind of violence?Dalia Abdel-Moneim: Absolutely not. If anything, when we went out in 2018 and we stood up strong against [former dictator] Omar al-Bashir and his army, it proved to us that, you know, nothing scares us and we've reached the point of no return. We really can't go back and accept this attempted coup by the military. We'll just keep pushing forward, we'll keep protesting, we'll keep going out in numbers and that the day we're 40 million, there's only so many bullets that the army can have. And even if they shoot at us, they can't kill us all. I mean, honestly, personally, for me, I've just reached that point where I'm like: Do it. Nothing's going to stop us. We really are not going to take it lying down, so to speak.You sound defiant. How broad is popular resistance to this coup? Does it extend beyond major cities? I mean, I'm getting videos of protests in Port Sudan. You know, we're getting calls from all other cities in the country. It's not just Khartoum. We've all been burned by the military in the past. I mean, we have history with the military. It's not good history, and there's no way we will allow history to repeat itself, so to speak. So honestly, I don't think anyone will accept this attempted coup. We're going to stand up to ... we will do whatever we can within our means, and within our limited means, to make sure that what we, the people, want comes to fruition. We want a civilian government. We fought long and hard to have a civilian government, and we're determined to get it. I can't fathom the idea that I can go back to being ruled by the military again. I just can't.Sudan's top General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said today that Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is at his home and he was in good health and will return home when the crisis is over. He didn't use the word under "arrest." What do you make of that?OK, why wasn't he sitting next to him? If he's fine, if he's not under arrest, why not bring him out? Let him speak to the people. Why did you arrest the other ministers? Why are you firing at the protesters? If you're really trying to save him, be the savior of the revolution. Why cut the internet? Why switch off our phones? The transitional government was a partnership between the military and the civilians, and yet he's putting all the blame on the civilians. If you are a part of the revolution and you do want to save the revolution, you do not go about it by arresting ministers, beating them up, taking them to unknown locations and then coming up today and saying, "Oh yes, the prime minister is with me." Where is he? We want proof. Why isn't the prime minister speaking to us?It's always been a kind of fragile thing — the civilian-military government. Were you worried something like this would happen?Oh, please. I mean, all revolutions are messy. You know, you don't slice it and it comes out in perfect shape. There will always be mistakes made. There will always be problems arising. And we are talking about the destruction of a country for over 30 years. So you're not going to rebuild it in a day or even a year or two, it's going to take time. But we also have to look at the successes that the government has achieved in that short period of time. We were removed from the terrorist-supporting list. We got the sanctions lifted from Sudan. Our debt was relieved. You know, we're getting loans. We're getting help, financial, economic help and development help. You know, we've been welcomed back into the international arena, when for 30 years, we were treated as a pariah state. We were taking the steps in the right direction. And then for the military to come in and then announce that they've overthrown the government. No, you haven't overthrown the government because we, the people, choose the government that we want to govern us.Then, what is behind this power grab? I mean, did military leaders fear prosecution or just a loss of access to lucrative contracts? Why now? I think it's a number of reasons. I think the whole ICC [International Criminal Court] ​​issue coming up was a problem. They weren't enjoying the power that they used to before. I think there's also these fractions within the military itself. I mean, I'm not denying it. There were problems between the civilian and the military side, and there are problems in the country that weren't being addressed properly by the government, but at the end of the day, I don't think the military was willing to step aside and let the civilians take control, with the exception of Sadiq al-Mahdi's rule. The military has always been in power, always — ever since we gained independence. So I don't think it was easy for them to be shunted to the side, so to speak.The Biden administration yesterday suspended $700 million in financial aid to Sudan. Does that matter to the coup plotters? I mean, do they have other financial lifelines?Honestly, I don't think it would make an iota of a difference, because I think they have allies with much deeper pockets, and they will be more than happy to foot the bill, so to speak. Can you imagine military and civilian officials in Sudan sharing power again? Can that idea be revived or is it kind of all or nothing at this point?Honestly, that's the best solution that we could have, because the military is a strong presence. It is a strong entity. We can't ignore it. Can we do it without them? Realpolitik says no. But what we do need is we need two parties who will put the best interests of this country and its people at the forefront. It's not about my political party or your military leanings or my allies and your allies. It's about what's best for this country and its people. And if we can find leaders who are willing to do that, then I think we would be on the right track. But will we find leaders like that? On paper, yes. But in reality, things always change.Dalia, do you intend to keep protesting and to continue to fight back?We're all adamant. You know, we've come too far to go back now. I went out not expecting the numbers to be so large last Thursday, and I was shocked at how many people came out and just proved to me that we are all in the same boat. We all want the same thing. Doesn't matter what age, gender, race, class or where you're from. At the end of the day, we're all Sudanese and we want what's best for our country. And that gave me hope that we're more aware, we know what's happening. They can't fool us anymore, and we will protest until the very bitter end, if need be. But I honestly believe that just like they reached a compromise on June 30, 2019, they will reach a compromise again because our numbers are too big to be ignored.This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report. 

Across Sudan, people have taken to the streets to protest a military coup that threatens their hopes for a democratic future.For two years, the country has been run by a tense and volatile power-sharing agreement between civilian and military leaders that was established after former dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted from power.Tensions came to a critical point on Monday when armed forces detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, Cabinet Affairs Minister Khalid Omer Yousif and other top civilian leaders.Related: After the revolution, a secular Sudan?“We still don’t know any news about the whereabouts of the prime minister, his wife, five of the ministers and a number of political leaders who were arrested in the early hours of this morning,” said Yousif’s adviser, Abdelmoniem el-Jack, over the phone from Khartoum.Jack, who is currently in hiding, said the military takeover was driven by three contested issues with the civilian leaders: unification of armed forces, reclaiming of economic resources controlled by the military, and justice for victims of violence during the 2019 revolution and the genocide in Darfur.Related: Sudan's troubled attempt at education reformIn a national TV address on Monday, Gen. Abdul-Fattah al-Burhan, who chaired the Sovereign Council, announced they were dissolving the government and declared a state of emergency.“Usually, when a coup happens in Sudanese history, they always come like this. ... They say given the economic situation, [the] political insecurity that’s happening, we’ve decided to take over the reins of power.”"Jihad Mashamoun, Sudanese political analyst, United Kingdom“Usually, when a coup happens in Sudanese history, they always come like this,” observed Jihad Mashamoun, a Sudanese political analyst based in the United Kingdom. “They say given the economic situation, [the] political insecurity that’s happening, we’ve decided to take over the reins of power.”Indeed, Sudan has been in a near-constant political and economic crisis since the 2019 revolution.  The civilian-led government has been largely unable to address the high prices of basic goods, high unemployment and ongoing political instability in parts of the country. Related: After the revolution, Sudanese women ask what's next? “This has all been rather carefully constructed by the military who have sought to portray the government as unable to do the job of responding to the needs of the Sudanese population and have used that as a pretext now to take control of Sudan’s fragile transition."Jonas Horner, senior Sudan analyst, International Crisis Group“This has all been rather carefully constructed by the military who have sought to portray the government as unable to do the job of responding to the needs of the Sudanese population and have used that as a pretext now to take control of Sudan’s fragile transition,” said Jonas Horner, senior Sudan analyst at the International Crisis Group.But the military appears to have made a major miscalculation about how the people would respond to them taking over power.“They did not anticipate that people would go out and protest,” Mashamoun said. “They anticipated that the people would just be calm because they got tired of the economic crisis.”Instead, the opposite has been true. The resounding support for civilian leadership has been on display on the streets of Khartoum as peaceful protesters marched outside the army headquarters.“All the streets were blocked by stones and people refusing this thing from the military and refusing to be governed by the military people."Aymen Sayeed, protester, Khartoum, Sudan“All the streets were blocked by stones and people refusing this thing from the military and refusing to be governed by the military people,” said demonstrator Aymen Sayeed over the phone from Khartoum. “Give the power back to the people,” he added via text message to The World after the phone connection disconnected.While the internet and telecommunication services have largely been cut off, trickles of information have come through on social media, shedding light on the scale of civilian mobilization but also the deadly response by armed forces.In a social media post, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said at least three people had died and more than 80 people had been injured.Jack, the government adviser, says the international community must act against the leaders of the military coup.“There is a need for whole isolation from the international and regional community against General Burhan, General Hemeti, and all those who are involved in this coup."Abdel-moniem El-Jack, adviser to Cabinet Affairs Minister Khalid Omer Yousif“There is a need for whole isolation from the international and regional community against Gen. Burhan, Gen. [Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo] Hemeti, and all those who are involved in this coup,” said Jack, who called on the United Nations Security Council to sanction the leaders and for the African Union to suspend Sudan’s membership.In light of the coup, the United States said it was pausing $700 million in emergency economic support for Sudan that was meant to support the country’s democratic transition.

A court in Saudi Arabia upheld a 20-year prison term imposed on a Saudi aid worker who had criticized the government on Twitter, drawing a rare public rebuke from the US in another sign of tension between the Biden administration and the kingdom.The ruling, confirmed late Wednesday, also upheld a 20-year travel ban on Abdulrahman al-Sadhan after his release. The case against him may have roots in an elaborate ploy that began in Silicon Valley and sparked a federal case against two Twitter employees accused of spying for Saudi Arabia. The men allegedly accessed the user data of over 6,000 Twitter accounts, including nearly three dozen usernames the kingdom had wanted disclosed.Abdulrahman al-Sadhan's family has said his identity appears to have been among those leaked to Saudi authorities as the person behind an anonymous Arabic Twitter account that had amassed a large following and was critical of the government. His case is the latest example of the continued crackdown against those who criticize the Saudi government and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It also shows the lengths to which the authorities have gone to silence them.Abdulrahman al-Sadhan's case stands out because of the severity of the sentence and its possible links with an FBI investigation and federal case in California against the two men accused of spying on behalf of the kingdom while working at Twitter with an alleged third accomplice. The Saudi appellate judges handed down their ruling Tuesday. Saudi authorities have not commented on the legal proceedings, including the most recent ruling. The court did not make the decision public.Abdulrahman al-Sadhan's sister Areej al-Sadhan, a dual Saudi-US citizen, talked to The World's host Marco Werman about the situation. Marco Werman: Areej al-Sadhan, what exactly was a crime Saudi authorities charged your brother with?Areej al-Sadhan: Basically for expressing his opinions on Twitter. It was a list of vague charges that don't make any sense, and it's all basically under the umbrella of what the Saudi call "fighting terrorism." And if you look closely at what the Saudi government considers terrorism: it's criticizing the Saudi rulers will be considered terrorism.And you were saying the two of you have been out of touch for the entire time he's been in prison thus far?For me, here in the States, even for my mom, who is also an American, we couldn't get to speak to him or see him at all. He's completely barred from any calls or visits. And even during the hearings, he was limited from contacting his lawyer. Abdulrahman's sentence of 20 years has now been augmented with a 20-year travel ban, which means your brother will be well into his 70s before he can leave the kingdom. How are you and your family taking this news?It's just crazy. It's inhumane. Unbelievable. Why would they do that for criticism, for tweets, you know, over tweets? It's just crazy. And of course, we're very upset. It's very painful. My mom has been suffering a lot as a result of this. She hasn't spoken to her son, and my brother was very close to my mom. He always checks on her. He's very loving and caring to all of us, but especially to our mother. This is very hard to be deprived from, you know, speaking to her son or seeing him. And on top of that, hearing all the details of torture and forced disappearance and mistreatment, it is just terrible and nobody should accept that.The US State Department says it is concerned about the mistreatment your brother was subjected to and that his fair trial guarantees were not respected. How has your family been dealing with the lack of transparency in Abdulrahman's case? How do you get accurate information? Luckily, there are different witnesses from the earliest of days, like when Khashoggi got assassinated in the Saudi consulate — Jamal Khashoggi. During that time, there was a lot of fear going on. There was a lot of news getting leaked of prisoners being tortured and being mistreated. During that time, my brother was disappeared for six months already, and the news I was receiving that my brother was being brutally tortured, that he might die from torture. And their brutality had reached to the point that they broke his hand and smashed his fingers, saying, "This is the hand you tweet with," or "This is the hand you write with." How did you find out about his injuries?There are several witnesses, and also it's confirmed by several human rights organizations that he was really abused in prison, and he was brutally tortured. So you yourself took to Twitter, the same platform your brother used, to express your outrage about the whole situation. What was the response there?Oh, I get threats all the time. I get threats of murder. I get threats of retaliation. As we're speaking right now, I've been receiving a lot of attacks and threats from Saudi-backed Twitter accounts, and some of them are, clearly, they are linked to the government.  You've been getting these as we've been speaking just now.Yes. What about the possibility of your traveling to Saudi Arabia to see your brother in prison? I mean, is that even on your mind? Unfortunately, I cannot travel to Saudi Arabia while MBS (Mohammed bin Salman) is actually in power. You can all imagine what would happen to me. They are already calling me a terrorist. They are calling me a traitor. They're calling me a spy and all sorts of crazy stuff. Just because I'm speaking up against the abuses to my brother and to many others in Saudi Arabia. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Twenty years ago today, less than a month after 9/11, then-President George W. Bush addressed the nation to announce the US-led invasion of Afghanistan."Good afternoon. On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al-Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan," Bush said.Related: 'Why don’t you have mercy?': Afghanistan’s Hazara people increasingly face eviction, violence under Taliban ruleFast forward two decades, and this year in August, Afghanistan fell to the Taliban again, followed by an address to the nation by President Joe Biden announcing the end of the war."Our mission in Afghanistan has taking many missteps, made many missteps, over the past two decades," said Biden. "I'm now the fourth American president to preside over war in Afghanistan. Two Democrats and two Republicans. I will not pass this responsibility onto a fifth president."Related: The Afghan government and the US lost popular support over corruption in Afghanistan, investigator general saysNow, Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, herself a veteran, has called for a commission to study the past 20 years of US involvement in Afghanistan. She joined The World's host Marco Werman from Washington to explain what it entails.Marco Werman: You've called your proposal, senator, the Afghanistan War Study Commission. What do you hope it will achieve?Sen. Tammy Duckworth: Well, I hope that it will achieve a comprehensive look at the various errors that have been made by all the different folks involved and gives us the lessons learned so that we don't enter into another quagmire like the one we've been in for 20 years in Afghanistan. We know that the United States will be involved in future conflicts. We need to make sure that we don't get ourselves into a situation where we spend 20 years at war in a country, only to come away and have the people who were in charge when we got there put back in charge when we leave.There have already been a series of lessons learned, reports on the Afghanistan war. How will your committee and investigation be different?Well, the key thing is that I want it to be completely nonpartisan, not bipartisan, but nonpartisan. I've served on bipartisan commissions before. I served on the Benghazi Commission, for example. That was bipartisan, but it was highly political. I want this to be a real, cold-hard facts look. I don't want anybody on a commission that was in any position of decision making or authority during those 20 years. So, not a past secretary of defense who was in charge at the time, not a previous president, not a member of Congress. This needs to be someone who can lead this commission, much like the 9/11 Commission, and bring us the lessons learned, whether it is the legislative branch failing to reauthorize a new authorization for use of military force or presidents choosing to do a troop surge or the corruption, trying to do nation building with the military as opposed to nation building with the State Department. All of the things that led us to where we are today. What we really need to do is make sure that we do this in a systematic way. I think the 9/11 Commission is a great example of the kind of work that can be done. And it must produce actionable recommendations. Like what? What would you see as an actionable recommendation?Well, I think, if you look at contracting, a significant portion of what happened is corruption within the Afghanistan government, within their national security forces. We know about the ghost soldiers in that we paid for the salaries of many, many thousands of so-called Afghan national security forces who never existed, and in fact, were on the books only, and their commanders collected that money. That corruption piece is really important. We certainly need to do an actionable recommendation for Congress [that] would be any type of authorization for use of military force must sunset after three years or must sunset after five years. You must have a new look at a new debate, instead of keeping an old one that lasts 20 years. So, there are things that can be done. You were on the committee that investigated the disaster at the US embassy in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. That turned out to be a deeply politicized committee. What did you learn from that?Not to make it bipartisan. Make it nonpartisan. Don't let the politicians get involved. And if you watch the Benghazi Commission and watch my questioning, you'll see that I tried really hard to keep my questions and my focus solely on, what are the lessons learned that we never have an ambassador get killed in that way, so that we never have an embassy that's not listening to the intelligence community or is overriding what military leaders are saying, "hey, we should be doing this." It was my experience on the Benghazi Committee that led me to say, "Hey, what this needs is complete independence." I don't want it to be bipartisan, I want it to be nonpartisan, and I don't want anybody that had any skin in the game in terms of they were part of the decision-making process to be part of this of this analysis. It needs to be a cold, hard, independent look, with real actionable recommendations coming out of it. That's how we can best serve the American people with this commission. Senator, when do you think the committee would present its findings? And are you worried that if it takes a few years, a report on what went wrong from 2001 to 2021 might not be must-read material anymore?Well, I think it will be must-read materials. I mean, I'm still looking at lessons learned from the Civil War. You know, when I was an ROTC cadet, they took us to Gettysburg and we reenacted all of the battles and talked about the lessons learned from Gettysburg. In a 21st century army, we were learning about Gettysburg. I think lessons learned here will be relevant for many, many more decades into our nation's future. But what I do want to come out of it is, in addition to the long-term results, I think there will be many-short term findings that we can find out right away. For example, one of the things that we're hearing is that, I've known this, but it's the State Department that calls for the evacuation of civilians on the ground. what's called the noncombatant evacuation operations. The decision to start that is not the DOD [Department of Defense]. It's actually the State Department. So, there are some things that are more short-term lessons learned that we can get the results of in the next months or the first six months, the first 12 months of this commission. Some things are going to take many years for us to get the results for. But I think we're going to see findings and results coming out all along the way, even as the commission continues to work.Finally, you've been a senator since 2017. Prior to that, we must remember you were deployed to Iraq. That was 2004. And then later that year, your Blackhawk helicopter came under attack from an insurgent rocket, a horrific attack that left you a double amputee. How much did your own experience energize a desire to not leave any stones unturned from the last 20 years of war in Afghanistan?My personal experience is the core of who I am. I should have died on that day in Iraq, and my buddies didn't give up on me. And those same buddies later on returned and did more deployments. And that was really at the heart of why I wanted this commission, because our troops, over the last 20 years, many of them have had three, four, five, six, seven, I've heard of 10, 12 deployments. And every time we asked our troops to go overseas and they stand up and they salute, and they say, "Yes, sir," and they packed their rucksacks and they go. And I feel like we, who are here at home, just haven't lived up to the dedication and the sacrifices that these troops made. And one of the things that we can do is to make sure we don't make the same mistakes ever again if there are lessons can be learned. And so, yeah, my experience as a soldier does drive me now, because I feel that I owe my life to the men who saved me. And that means that now that I am in this position as a United States senator, that I'm not going to shirk that duty, so that, you know, my buddies have sons and daughters who are serving. And maybe someday one of my two girls will serve. And I want to make sure that we do right by them. And one of the things we can do is to have a cold, hard look when we make mistakes, learn those lessons and let's not make them again. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. 

The Taliban raided an ISIS-affiliated hideout in the Afghan capital Kabul killing several insurgents, hours after a deadly bombing outside the Eid Gah mosque on Sunday that left at least five people dead. No one has taken responsibility for the blast, but the rival ISIS group has ramped up attacks against the Taliban, including the Aug. 26 bombing that killed more than 169 Afghans and 13 US military personnel outside Kabul airport.Related: Former adviser Sarah Chayes: The US failed to understand how Afghans wage warThough many people dread the harsh elements of Taliban rule, the group does not bring with it a reputation of being corrupt — a stark contrast to the government it ousted — which was notoriously rife with bribery, embezzlement and graft.Related: The Taliban want international recognition. Countries are debating.The US has invested some $2 trillion in Afghanistan. Corruption and mismanagement plagued the efforts from the start.One US government agency charged with overseeing money used to rebuild Afghanistan is called SIGAR, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.John Sopko, who has led SIGAR since 2012, joined The World's host Marco Werman from Washington to discuss the years of mismanagement in the country.Marco Werman: Inspector general, your job is to sound the alarm when funds are being misused. Tell us in brief what your agency actually does.John Sopko: We're one of the independent inspectors general created by Congress. And we have audit and criminal investigative authority. And our job, as you rightfully noted, was to ferret out waste, fraud, abuse in the money spent in Afghanistan, as well as to give advice to Congress on any administration on the problems we found and how to fix them.So, knowing what you knew over the years in Afghanistan, tell me about your reaction when you saw the Taliban take over the country in August.I have to be honest, although we had predicted problems and major problems for the 10 years I'd been there with the Afghan military and the government, I think we were surprised, just like everybody else, at the speed to which the government and the military collapsed. And not only surprise, but also shock and sadness, because we knew what it meant for a lot of Afghans we had worked with over those years.In the report, SIGAR talks extensively about corruption. Can you highlight what was going on and could the US have done more to prevent it?I think the US, and we highlighted the US could have done a lot more, and actually the US contributed a lot to the corruption in Afghanistan, because we spent too much money, too fast in too small a country, with too little oversight. So, the corruption was really endemic, and we're not talking about corruption like you may see in the United States or Europe or elsewhere. We're talking about corruption that's actually baked into the system there. Money was being stolen from us and from all the other allies who contributed for years from the top, all the way down to the bottom. So, what was the attitude of the Afghan government to this kind of thing that would inevitably lead to dysfunction?The Afghan government did not take an active response to our criticism on corruption. And I think, in part, because the corruption was so endemic. They were very good at checking the box. They would create an organization, hold a conference, rename something. We were really upset, and repeatedly talked about this in our reports, with not only the [Ashraf] Ghani government, but the [Hamid] Karzai government before that. Now, this doesn't mean there weren't some honest cops — Afghan cops and prosecutors and parliamentarians and judges who tried to do something — but overall, it was a pretty pathetic response to fight corruption in that country.And what impact did that have on the government's ability to repel the Taliban ultimately?Well, ultimately it contributed to the Taliban's success, because what happened is, the Afghan people saw how corrupt and incompetent their government was, and they saw it wasn't improving. So, they lost respect for the government and support for the government. They also saw that our government was giving that money to those corrupt officials and those corrupt contractors and those corrupt warlords. So, we lost support. I imagine, John Sopko, calling this stuff out over the past decade has not made you the most popular man in Washington. How have administration officials and members of Congress responded to your reports?A lot of members of Congress responded positively and have been very supportive of us and have actually recognized, over the years, what we were doing and the warnings we were giving. Some people in the administration have done that and been very responsive. But once you start a war, it's hard to stop, and once you're in there for 20 years, then it's like changing a ship in the water, trying to slowly move it. We had some successes, but obviously, a lot of things were not taken to heart by some of the administration people. And there there was a groundswell of opposition to some of the ideas we came up with. When we first highlighted the problem of ghost soldiers and ghost police, there were a lot of nameless, faceless bureaucrats who whispered to congressmen and senators and staffers that, "Oh, SIGAR was exaggerating." Well, turned out, we weren't. And it turned out, even the Afghans admitted, for example, right before the collapse, that over 50% of the police in Helmand and other provinces never existed. So, the first US mission in Afghanistan was to get rid of al-Qaeda, then came the nation building, then came the surge and a strong desire to leave, but nothing happened until this year. How much do you think that constant pivoting led to a lack of mission focus and more corruption?I mean, the report we came out with, we've been working on summarizing all of our work in what happened over the last 20 years. We've been working on it for a year and it came out, ironically, just a day or two after the collapse of Kabul. That highlighted a number of lessons. We didn't really have a clear, articulated strategy and goal. And so, a lot of things collapsed as a result. So, instead of fighting a 20-year war, doing 20 years of reconstruction, we did it one year at a time. We really never focused our resources on the target. And that also contributed, although I think it's an equal problem, was just a lack of understanding of the political and cultural context of Afghanistan. I mean, we basically empowered the warlords who the Taliban had successfully beaten with the support of the people when we came in. And again, not understanding the context, not understanding the corrupting influence, not understanding how the Afghans hated these people, we empowered them. And, lo and behold, when you go to sleep with dogs, you wake up with fleas. And what we did here is, we made our bed with some very evil, corrupt, powerful individuals in Afghanistan who were hated by the people. So, John, Congress has called for a review of the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and its military. How do you think Congress will react to its own findings? Will officials be more likely to listen this time around?Well, I hope they will. I mean, Congress has asked us to answer a number of critical questions to do these. I mean, they've asked us to explain, "Why did the Afghan military collapse so quickly? Why did the Afghan government collapse so quickly? What happened to all the money that we were shipping over there? Particularly, when did we shut off the spigots of money flowing to Afghanistan? What happened to all the weapons? What is happening to all of the women and girls who we supported and all those programs?" I think they're reaching out to us because we have a track record of speaking truth to power. We have a track record of being non-partisan. We've criticized Democrats, we've criticize Republican administrations. We just state the facts. I think a lot of people in Congress actually think we may be the best organization out there to answer those type of questions. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report.

A logistical success, but a strategic failure.That's how top US generals described the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, in the second day of hearings on Wednesday on Capitol Hill, this time before the House Armed Services Committee.A lot of the most intense questioning dealt with intelligence failures and how the US could have missed signs pointing to the rapid collapse of the Afghan government. Related: Gen. David Petraeus: The US has a 'moral obligation' to help those left behind in AfghanistanUS Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tried to answer for these failures in his opening statement: "We need to consider some uncomfortable truths; that we did not fully comprehend the depth of corruption and poor leadership in their senior ranks; that we did not grasp the damaging effect of frequent and unexplained rotations by President [Ashraf] Ghani of his commanders; that we did not anticipate the snowball effect caused by the deals that the Taliban commanders struck with local leaders in the wake of the Doha agreement." Related: Afghan UN employees worry about their safetyAuthor Sarah Chayes, who served as a special adviser to the US military in Afghanistan and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after a decade on the ground in Kandahar, has been watching the hearings closely. Her most recent book is called "On Corruption in America and What is at Stake." Chayes joined The World's host Marco Werman to share her reaction to these military testimonies and to fill in the blanks on who else may need to testify on US failures in Afghanistan. Marco Werman: What do you make of that explanation for the lack of military intelligence?Sarah Chayes: It's just stunning to me, but in a way, not surprising. So much US intelligence was focused on who we should kill instead of being focused on the degree of corruption, not just in the ranks of the Afghan military, but throughout the government, and the effect that that would have on the willingness of Afghan citizens to take mortal risks for their own government, you know? I mean, that information was being hammered on successive US administrations for years. I was one of the hammerers and not at all alone. And so, I find that very distressing. And then — this snowball effect of the local deals. I think this is another really significant failing on the intelligence and military side — is misunderstanding how Afghans wage war. Afghans rarely fight as units to the death. Fighting is much more a kind of psychological exercise. That's why it's often quite violent. So, you have the combination of the Taliban, who were making battlefield victories, a Doha agreement that essentially conferred sovereignty on them, and then they went to work on the ground, as you said. How could the United States government have missed that context?Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley tried to provide an answer for how the US failed to predict the Afghan government's collapse: "We can count the trucks and the guns and the units and all that. We can watch that from different techniques, but we can't measure a human heart from a machine. You've got to be there to do that. And I think that was probably one of the most significant contributing factors to missing the deterioration in the morale of the Afghan army." What do you make of Gen. Milley's comments? We were there for 20 years. We were on the ground for 20 years, and we still missed that type of psychological and social intelligence. We never got close enough to ordinary people.Related: How the Taliban might finance their new Afghan government Well, you spoke earlier about the lack of understanding of how Afghans wage war. I mean, Gen. Milley at one point questioned why the US had tried to build an Afghan army in our own image. What was he getting at? He put his finger on what you really can hang around the military's neck, is why would you create, in an environment of very difficult terrain, where wars are constantly being won by ill-armed, ill-equipped insurgents, why would you create a conventional army that looks like ours, that requires highly technical equipment that people need to maintain, that seems to require air support (although the Taliban never seem to need air support). And that, again, was going on for 20 years. And I think we really have to ask ourselves as a country, why? What was the incentive structure behind building that type of top-heavy, equipment-heavy military? And were economic interests not involved here? I mean, is this not the type of equipment and contractor support that is delivered by very high-end military contractors whose executives have been building fancy mansions around Washington, DC, for the last decade?So, the starting point for the hearings this week seems to be that the problems with the US project in Afghanistan were fundamentally military. And that's why generals were brought before lawmakers today and called to task. But weren't a lot of the fundamental problems also civilian?Well, exactly. Thank you, Marco. And I hope that civilian officials will be called soon. And first and foremost, for me, it would be Zal Khalilzad, [special envoy for Afghanistan], who is responsible for the actual terms of the Doha agreement. ... He's an Afghan American who conducted these negotiations at President [Donald] Trump's behest in Doha. Those negotiations, as far as I know, were conducted in Pashto without any member of the US government who spoke the language present — other than the ambassador — and they essentially conferred sovereignty on the Taliban. How would we expect an Afghan government not to be demoralized under those conditions?This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

There were hugs, smiles and a tight embrace at Toronto airport earlier this month as a 3-year-old Afghan boy reunited with his father.The boy, who was not named because he is a minor, was separated from his family on Aug. 26, when there was a suicide attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.He was put on a plane out of the country and spent two weeks at an orphanage in Qatar, according to Qatari and Canadian media reports. Officials with the UN as well as the Qatari government helped reach his family in Canada, and he was able to reunite with them.Related: 'We are still here': Afghan UN employees worry about their safetyBut this boy is lucky.In the chaos of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the mass evacuation from Kabul, a number of unaccompanied minors ended up on flights out of the country. Now comes the difficult task of reuniting them with their families or, for those who don’t have any relatives, helping them find new homes.Right now, there are at least 300 Afghan children who were separated from their families during the evacuation, according to Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, an organization that provides support for unaccompanied minors.“We know of children whose parents were killed in the process, and we know of children who were separated and placed on a different flight than their parent or their guardian and the child is in one country and the parents in another.” Wendy Young, Kids in Need of Defense, president“We know of children whose parents were killed in the process, and we know of children who were separated and placed on a different flight than their parent or their guardian and the child is in one country and the parents in another,” she said.Related: Minerals, drugs and China: How the Taliban might finance their new Afghan governmentYoung said that has spurred a global effort to help reunite Afghan children separated from their parents and also find housing for unaccompanied minors — children who evacuated with a friend or relative and also some who are orphans. The US State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services didn’t respond to questions from The World about which countries unaccompanied Afghan minors have been relocated to, but earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited some of them at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.Some unaccompanied Afghan minors have started arriving in the US. This week, about 75 unaccompanied minors arrived in Chicago, according to city and federal officials, the Chicago Sun Times reported.Others are staying at the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas, where Barbara Ammirati, deputy director for child protection in emergencies with Save the Children, has been part of the team offering support.Ammirati said that when the children arrive and it is determined they are unaccompanied, they are immediately separated from the general population at the base and placed in shelters.“It’s a very temporary accommodation,” she said. “It’s a small home — one room — and we’ve set it up. ... it looks like a bedroom with a welcoming living space.”No more than two minors, she said, stay in these facilities at a time and most of the minors she has worked with are between 15 and 17.Ammirati said these Afghan kids have been through a traumatic experience, but they are ready to start their new lives in the US.Related: Afghan women sidelined under new Taliban rule: ‘This country places no value on me as a woman’“They are happy to be in the United States. The first questions are, ‘Can I go to school, if I go here, will I go to school?’ A university student is desperate to get back to classes,” she said.Need for a more permanent statusYoung, from Kids in Need of Defense, said she is concerned about the children’s immigration status because Afghan children fall into a unique category.“They’ve been evacuated but they haven’t been processed and vetted as the rigorous and, frankly, bureaucratic and lengthy process that normally happens through refugee resettlement,” she said. “They haven’t spontaneously arrived here, so this is why they’re in parole status.” (An individual who is ineligible to enter the US as a refugee, immigrant or nonimmigrant may be "paroled" into the US by the Secretary of Homeland Security.)Related: The Taliban want international recognition. Countries are debating.That means they face a lot of uncertainty. Earlier this month, Young’s organization published a set of guidelines to protect Afghan children arriving in the US.Meanwhile, people from Afghan communities in the US have been springing into action. For example, the Afghan American Foundation recently hosted a Zoom session to explain what becoming a foster parent entails.Nadia Hashimi, a pediatrician and writer, started off the conversation.“For these children, this may be an event in their lives that stays very fresh. I think trauma does that. Trauma has a very deep footprint on the soul and so the easier, and the more comforted we can have these children feel in this moment and this process, the better it is.”Nadia Hashimi, pediatrician and writer“For these children, this may be an event in their lives that stays very fresh,” she said. “I think trauma does that. Trauma has a very deep footprint on the soul and so the easier, and the more comforted we can have these children feel in this moment and this process, the better it is.”About 800 people across the country were on the call, Hashimi said.Unaccompanied children arriving in the US is nothing new.Young said in recent years, the official US response has been more about law enforcement than child protection. In the case of these Afghan children, she said, the approach is still a work in progress.“What I hope happens is that we’ll look back at it and figure out what lessons learned there are because what we see whether you’re looking at the Central American situation or the Afghan situation is that these kids need our help,” she said. “And we owe it to them to have a system in place that kicks in rapidly and ensures that they get everything that they need including family reunification where appropriate.”

This week, as world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, concerns are growing about the safety of UN employees thousands of miles away in Afghanistan.An estimated 3,000 Afghans work for the UN in the country. Most remain there, and many fear being targeted by the Taliban for their work.“We are hoping, we are wishing to be evacuated, too.”Mohammed, Afghan UN employee“We are hoping, we are wishing to be evacuated, too,” said Mohammed, an Afghan UN employee who, along with some of his Afghan colleagues asked to not be fully identified because they fear risking their jobs or chances at evacuation.“Maybe the United Nations cannot help us,” he added. In August, as the Taliban took hold of Afghanistan, many UN international staff evacuated, adding to those who had already left the country to work remotely during the pandemic. All told, there are reportedly about 700 international UN staff with the Afghan mission.Some international staff, although it is unclear how many, are returning to Afghanistan although many international employees continue to work remotely from their home countries or from Almaty, Kazakhstan, according to a UN spokesman.Related: Afghan women sidelined under new Taliban rule: ‘This country places no value on me as a woman’This week, several members of US Congress, led by Texas Democrat Rep. Joaquin Castro, sent a letter to President Joe Biden stating: “While we support the United Nations maintaining a presence in Afghanistan to the extent possible, as well as delivering humanitarian assistance, this should not come at the expense of Afghan nationals who signed up to work under vastly different circumstances and now face grave threats to their security because of their previous work and other factors.”“We've got to advocate for them,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat, told The World. “We have a moral obligation, both the United Nations and the United States and its allies, to protect those brave Afghanis [sic] who over the last 20 years work by our side.”The reality that UN officials have not planned evacuations for its local staff has left people like Mohammed at an extremely difficult crossroads.This summer, he relocated with his family to Kabul from a province as the Taliban made rapid gains in the country. Mohammed said that he cannot imagine moving back with his family to his previous field office.Some UN offices have been the target of attacks.On July 30, the UN reported that the Taliban attacked its compound in the western city of Herat. A security guard was killed.Mohammad is most worried about his family now.“When I think about my future with my family, especially for my wife, my daughter, life is so restricted for them; even for me, it is restricted.” Mohammed, Afghan UN employee“When I think about my future with my family, especially for my wife, my daughter, life is so restricted for them; even for me, it is restricted,” he said.According to some UN officials who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive information, plans are moving forward to resume field operations.Related: Minerals, drugs and China: How the Taliban might finance their new Afghan governmentMohammed is expecting an order from UN managers to return to fieldwork any day now. He said that he has considered resigning from his job because he does not want to leave his wife and young children alone in Kabul.But he is also the family’s sole breadwinner, he said, and finding another job in a country where the economy is spiraling is not a viable option for him.Dangers to womenMany of Mohammed’s Afghan colleagues face the same dilemma, particularly his female co-workers. The Taliban are enforcing rules that sideline women in Afghanistan.Some female UN workers told The World that they fear retaliation for their UN work involving social justice issues such as women’s rights, which may clash from the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic religious law.The women said that they barely leave their homes and conceal any items that could reveal they are affiliated with the UN. They know of friends who have been detained and tortured by the Taliban in recent months.“They just severely beat journalists who were covering a protest.” Female UN worker“They just severely beat journalists who were covering a protest,” one woman UN worker said, referring to a Sept. 7 protest by women, when Taliban security forces detained and beat two Afghan journalists with cables.“If the Taliban come and search my home and find my laptop, it will be difficult for me,” one female UN employee said.She said that she has asked to work remotely from a nearby country, but has not received permission to do that yet. She has considered finding another way to leave the country but “leaving by land is too risky for me. The borders are closed,” she said.Related: The Taliban want international recognition. Countries are debating.One female UN employee said she feels abandoned, especially after she received an email in late August informing the UN’s Afghan mission staff that the head of the UN mission, Deborah Lyons, would be on vacation from Aug. 30 to Sept. 9 — leaving just as the US exited Afghanistan after a 20-year war and days after suicide bombers attacked the Kabul airport. ‘Absent at such a critical time’Former UN officials were also troubled by that absence of leadership.Peter Galbraith once served as a high-ranking UN official in Afghanistan.“You can be evacuated but your job all the time has to be looking after your people, never mind looking after the situation,” Galbraith said. “I just can’t imagine being absent at such a critical time.”While the UN’s international staff was being evacuated in August, its local staff received a series of safety advisories seen by The World. They were told that if armed Taliban fighters search your home, “avoid making any sudden movements” and that “if you feel the situation is becoming aggravated, ask them politely, if it is possible to call the UN, explaining that the UN is in liaison with Taliban commanders, and it can assist in clarifying the situation.”Also, it said that employees should “get rid of any sensitive documents by putting them into a bucket with soap, water and whatever strong cleaning solution you have.”After soaking, the advisory said to put documents in the sewers, a well or down an elevator shaft.Related: For journalists working under Taliban rule, there are 'no guarantees,' Afghan media network head saysOn Aug. 23, UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke by video to Afghan staff.“The safety of all United Nations personnel in Afghanistan is our top priority,” he said. “We are doing everything in our power, namely through the permanent engagement with all relevant actors and will continue to do so to ensure your safety and well-being.”Liam McDowell, a UN spokesperson, said that since the Taliban seized power of Kabul on Aug. 15, two UN staff have reported being injured by members reportedly with the group. Nobody has been killed. “The safety of female staff members is of especial importance, and the UN has been very clear with all interlocutors that their rights must be protected. No female staff member have been harmed.”Liam McDowell, UN spokespersonRegarding female staff, McDowell wrote: “The safety of female staff members is of especial importance, and the UN has been very clear with all interlocutors that their rights must be protected. No female staff member have been harmed.”Several current UN officials privately criticize that the measure of safety for the UN’s Afghan staff “shouldn’t be that the Taliban haven’t decided to kill any of them yet.” Publicly, UN staff unions and associations have circulated a petition asking for the UN secretary-general to ensure local staff safety. The petition has 6,832 signatures so far.Galbraith, the former UN official, agrees that more should be done to protect local UN staff.“That is the dilemma that the UN faces,” Galbraith said. “If it's to continue to be present, it's going to need its Afghan employees.”Galbraith acknowledged the need to continue the UN’s life-saving humanitarian work, such as delivering food and medicine. That work is not without risk, Galbraith said, but the Taliban may want that work to continue.“There are some activities that the UN has done for decades, like the work of UNICEF, UNHCR and the World Food Program,” he said. “You can negotiate agreements with the Taliban for them to continue their work. In fact, the Taliban are desperate for them to continue their work.”Galbraith said that he is especially concerned about UN Afghan staff who work on longer-term efforts to promote women's rights, press freedom and electoral rights — goals that can directly clash with the Taliban.The local UN workers’ concerns came up in a vivid way during a virtual UN staff meeting in August.In a recording of that call, which was shared with The World, local staff asked top UN managers why they were not being evacuated despite warning UN leaders repeatedly for months about getting out of the country.At one point during the call, a woman was asking a question and gunfire could be heard from outside her window.“What can I say? I fully understand the difficult situation you find yourself in, and that it must be terrifying to have these people coming to your homes, coming to your neighborhoods and it’s certainly something that concerns us a lot.”Mette Knudsen, deputy special representative for the UN Assistance Mission in AfghanistanMette Knudsen, a deputy special representative for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, responded during the meeting: “What can I say? I fully understand the difficult situation you find yourself in, and that it must be terrifying to have these people coming to your homes, coming to your neighborhoods and it’s certainly something that concerns us a lot.”Knudsen explained that the UN needs help from other countries to issue visas in order to evacuate people.The United Nations did not grant an interview, but spokesman McDowell said that the UN has requested assistance from more than 30 countries now.Mohammad, in Kabul, said that he is encouraged that more people are paying attention to his safety, but it remains unclear whether the UN is actively working with countries like the US to evacuate local employees who feel vulnerable.“We are still here,” he said. “Still, we are waiting. I don't know what happened.”Mohammad said that he once felt part of a greater global mission to support Afghanistan and safeguard human rights. But now, he said, he is rethinking that because not enough is being done to safeguard his own life.

Mohammed Ammar, 23, works at a lively cell phone repair shop on a bustling street in a largely Syrian district of Istanbul. Quieter than his coworkers and dressed more formally, Mohammed Ammar takes his job seriously, because he knows how hard it is to find one. In the past three months, five of his friends got so desperate for work, they decided to return to Syria, a country they fled years ago.“The pandemic affected [my friends'] decision [to leave Turkey.]  ... When they left, they had no money to live.”Mohammed Ammar, 23, Syrian who works at a cell phone shop in Istanbul, Turkey“The pandemic affected their decision,” said Mohammed Ammar, who asked not to use his last name because he is living with a temporary protection residency in Turkey. “When they left, they had no money to live.”Related: Drought in Iraq and Syria could collapse food system for millionsThese are the tough choices that millions of Syrians are wrestling with around the world.After 10 years of civil war, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remains in power, controlling vast swaths of the country with an iron fist. Other parts of the country are controlled by largely Kurdish militias and opposition fighters backed by Turkish forces.In Turkey, the COVID-19 pandemic was hard on Syrians, Mohammed Ammar said.Many find informal work for less than minimum wage, or in the service sector, and some lost their jobs when Turkey went under lockdown. While many Turkish citizens had some measures of protection from the government or financial aid, many Syrians did not.Related: She survived a chemical attack in Syria A worker pours a cup of strong coffee at a Syrian sweet shop in Istanbul. Unemployment rates in Turkey are high, and the pandemic affected Syrian workers particularly severely.  Credit: Durrie Bouscaren/The World  His five friends returned to different parts of the country, but all found themselves in increasingly dire circumstances with food and fuel shortages and few job opportunities. Now, finding themselves in a country with rising food prices that outpace any potential earnings, they regret their decision to go back.He worries about them.“Now they regret their decision,” Mohammed Ammar said. “They can’t make it there. Life is so difficult, and they want to come back to Turkey again.”Related: A decade of war has devastated Syria's health care system  Workers help a customer at a Syrian dessert shop in Istanbul.  Credit: Durrie Bouscaren/The World  'Voluntary returns'Despite these challenges, several foreign governments are actively encouraging  — and sometimes forcing — Syrian refugees who live within their borders to return to the war-torn nation.In Lebanon, raids on refugee camps and mass arrests make life so unbearable that “voluntary” returns can hardly be classified that way, human rights groups warn. In Denmark, the government has revoked residence permits from some Syrians, because it believes the Syrian capital Damascus is safe. The Turkish government has also been accused of deporting Syrians to northern Syria since 2019.Refugee returns are a popular rallying cry among nationalist voters in Turkey, where 3.7 million Syrians are registered as refugees.Related: Displaced Syrians in Turkey say Syria's elections are a sham The Turkish government claims that 450,000 Syrian refugees have already returned to Syria from Turkey — a number that does not include the high numbers of people who return again to Turkey after staying in Syria. (The UNHCR puts the number of voluntary refugee returns to Syria from all countries at approximately 282,000.)Polls show that Turkish voters do want Syrian refugees to return — and politicians are capitalizing on these sentiments.Turkey’s main opposition leader, Kemal Kılıçkaroğlu, has pledged to facilitate the return of refugees to Syria within two years if his party comes into power.“I am not a racist. I am not angry at the people who came here, but at the people who made them come here,” Kılıçdaroğlu said on Sept 2. “Everyone should go to their country and live there in peace. They can receive humanitarian assistance there.”Related: Fighting in Syria has subsided. But refugees in Lebanon still hesitate to return home. The grounds of the Fatih Mosque, first built in the 15th century, serve as a popular community space for the Syrian community  Credit: Durrie Bouscaren/The World  A dangerous prospectAid groups, however, warn that returning to Syria is a dangerous prospect.“There has been a tendency to think that the war is over, that some parts of Syria are safe to return, and that refugees can return and go home. But that’s premature.”Marie Forestier, refugee and migrant rights researcher, Amnesty International“There has been a tendency to think that the war is over, that some parts of Syria are safe to return, and that refugees can return and go home,” said Marie Forestier, a refugee and migrant rights researcher for Amnesty International. “But that’s premature.”In a new report titled, “You’re Going to Your Death,” Forestier followed the cases of 66 Syrians who returned to Syria over the past four years. These returnees, she explained, were detained at border checkpoints, interrogated and accused of being terrorists. In one particularly horrific case, a woman and her 5-year-old daughter were raped by intelligence officials.“We believe these are not isolated and exceptional cases,” Forestier said. “People have returned to different areas, going through different border crossings and they have been abused in different intelligence centers.”These risks don’t stop at the border, added Haya Atassi of the Syrian Association for Citizens' Dignity in Beirut. Young men who return can be pressed into military service. The regime is known to detain people it suspects of dissent — and also their family members. Even routine government services can put you at risk, because all returnees are seen by the Syrian government as traitors to the state.“You cannot rebuild your house [in Syria] unless you get a security clearance from Syrian intelligence. And when you go and apply for this clearance, they would most probably know that you’re a returnee. So, they would detain you.”Haya Atassi, Syrian Association for Citizens' Dignity, Beirut, Lebanon“You cannot rebuild your house unless you get a security clearance from Syrian intelligence. And when you go and apply for this clearance, they would most probably know that you’re a returnee,” Atassi said. “So they would detain you.”Even in areas not controlled by the Syrian regime, rampant inflation and an economy in tatters has left many unable to afford food and basic necessities, amid an ever-present threat of violence. A Turkish coffee shop in a largely Syrian neighborhood of Istanbul.  Credit: Durrie Bouscaren/The World  Carving out a lifeMeanwhile, millions of Syrians continue to carve out a life for themselves abroad. In Istanbul, a small Syrian grocery shop is stacked to the ceiling with canned goods. Jars of jam, made from kiwi, apricot and cactus fruit frame a display of marinating olives. A deli counter offers a selection of hummus, labneh and other familiar spreads.Behind the counter, an employee named Hasan said he came to Turkey four years ago. Life here is expensive, and he’s never really been able to earn enough to settle down —  keeping him in a state of constant transition. But Hasan, who asked not to use his last name for security reasons, said he’ll never go back.“There are Iranian militias, Hezbollah, the Russians [in Syria]… it’s like you’re going into the middle of a military base. You can’t go there.”Hasan, Syrian customer in a Turkish grocery shop“There are Iranian militias, Hezbollah, the Russians… it’s like you’re going into the middle of a military base,” he said. “You can’t go there.”When asked how he feels when Turkish politicians suggest that refugees return to Syria, a customer interrupted.“It’s OK. Why are you being silent? Tell them it’s racism,” said Adil, a tour guide operator from Aleppo. He also asked not to use his full name, because he’s worried about repercussions from the Turkish government.Adil said that he is actively preparing to move back to Syria. He misses those days when he brought tourists to the citadels, the old souks and the columns of ancient Palmyra. He speaks Turkish and owns a business here, but he’s a grandfather now. He wants to be somewhere that feels like home.“I want to die with dignity, in my own land,” he said. “[Assad] is still in power, but he doesn’t live in my house.”Translations from Arabic provided by Yusuf Al-Mousa.

Think back to 2008. Things were humming along with the global economy and then bang! The bottom fell out of the housing market in the United States. People couldn't pay their loans. And you know what happened next.There's growing fear something like that could play out again, this time starting in China. One of China's largest real estate developers, China Evergrande, is on the brink of insolvency.Related: Aukus security pact sparks Chinese and French ireEvergrande, whose struggle to avoid defaulting on billions of dollars of debt has rattled global markets, says it will pay interest due Thursday to bondholders in China, but gave no sign of plans to pay on a separate bond abroad.The Chinese government, meanwhile, added to investor anxiety Wednesday by staying silent about whether it might intervene to restructure Evergrande Group's $310 billion debt.Related: Chinese suppliers face ambiguous global supply chain Economists say Beijing can prevent a Chinese credit crunch but that it wants to avoid appearing to arrange a bailout while it tries to force other companies to reduce reliance on debt.Jeremy Goldkorn, editor-in-chief of SupChina, has spent two decades in China as an editor and entrepreneur. Goldkorn joined The World's host Marco Werman to discuss the latest. Marco Werman: The company is now $310 billion in debt. What happened? Jeremy Goldkorn: Well, it's an enormous, sprawling empire. It started in 1996 when Chinese real estate, commercial real estate, was in its infancy. And over the last decade, Evergrande has gone into all kinds of businesses. So, it has what was a health division but now is supposed to make electric cars. And it's released six models, although it hasn't actually sold any of them. It has financial products. It has all kinds of investment products that target both its employees and its customers as well as outside investors. It owns a soccer club. So, it's an enormous company, and it's very difficult to understand exactly what it owns and perhaps more importantly, what it owes. But first and foremost, it's a real estate giant, residential and commercial, right?That's correct. That's how it made its money and that's still its biggest and real business.Will China Evergrande be able to meet the bond payments do this week? The news today was that they have negotiated some kind of settlement with one of the bond payments that was due this week. So, it looks like an immediate disaster has been forestalled. I would also say that much of the sort of financial chattering classes seem to have regained their confidence about the Chinese government's ability to handle this. And I think there's a little bit too much eagerness perhaps in the media. We are partly to blame to try and put this Evergrande crisis onto a global financial crisis template, onto the American subprime crisis, to look at it through the same lens. And it's a whole different situation, a very different government, a very different market, a very different social situation.How important is Evergrande to the Chinese economy as a whole? It's important. It is, if not the biggest, one of the biggest companies. It has got its fingers in all kinds of industries. All kinds of entities are involved from state-owned banks to, you know, the person on the street who owns an apartment and has put their lifetime savings into wealth management products offered by Evergrande. So, it is important to the Chinese economy, but it is not essential. China can very much get by without an Evergrande. So, the government probably has various ways to ease the pain of what looks like is going to be either a quick or slow collapse. Back in 2008, we were introduced to the phrase "too big to fail," referring to American banks that were bailed out by Washington. Is Evergrande too big to fail? And would Beijing help it out the next time it's in a serious bind like this?I think it might be too big to fail, but I think that the Chinese government is probably going to use this as a signal, particularly to the private sector, that there are not going to be any more bailouts and that everybody responsible is going to pay one way or another for this crisis. I read that Evergrande has over 1 1/2 million unfinished apartments in China. Is there a chance that they'll never be finished and would the buyers lose their money?There is the chance that they will never be finished. Just recently, there were images circulating on the Chinese internet of an enormous development in Kunming, Yunnan province, in the south that was never finished because the developers ran out of money and they had to implode all the buildings and destroy it. A lot of people must have lost money. So, if the government thinks that there are enough people that it could cause some kind of social crisis, they might step in and bail out the little guy. But on the other hand, they're likely to be customers and retail investors who are very angry by the end of this saga.Are Evergrande's problems a signal of something larger in China, a certain fragility, maybe?Yes, they are. And the signals have been going for quite some time. Evergrande is in the news, and everybody's talking about it this week. But there have been signals of some kind of disease in the corporate body for many years, ranging from the soccer club to the electric car company with six models that have never been produced. So, there's been a lot of signs for many years that Evergrande has troubles and that all is not as good as it sometimes seems.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report. 

A massive security flaw was discovered in Apple's iPhone this week — and it's a biggie. The phones could be broken into without the user doing anything to trigger the hack. Without even a click, your information could be at risk.That news left iPhone users scrambling to update their devices. It was security researchers at the The Citizen Lab at University of Toronto who realized that spyware from an Israeli cybersurveillance company known as NSO Group was behind it.Related: Security flaw exposed in Germany, followed by criminal investigationApple quickly released a critical software patch to fix a security vulnerability that researchers said could allow hackers to directly infect iPhones and other Apple devices without any user action.Citizen Lab researchers said the security issue was exploited to plant spyware on a Saudi activist's iPhone. The previously unknown vulnerability affected all major Apple devices — iPhones, Macs and Apple Watches, the researchers said. NSO Group responded with a one-sentence statement saying it will continue providing tools for fighting “terror and crime.”Related: Biden and Putin both place a 'high priority' on cybersecurityIt was the first time a so-called “zero-click” exploit — one that doesn't require users to click on suspect links or open infected files — has been caught and analyzed, the researchers said. They found the malicious code on Sept. 7, and immediately alerted Apple. The targeted activist asked to remain anonymous, they said.John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher with The Citizen Lab in Canada who discovered the breach with his colleagues, joined The World's host Carol Hills to talk about the international spyware marketplace that fosters these kinds of exploits. Related: US agencies hacked in monthslong global cyberspying campaignCarol Hills: John, how exactly did you and Citizen Lab discover the vulnerability in the iPhone software? John Scott-Railton: So, we were looking at the telephone of a Saudi activist and that phone was infected with a sophisticated piece of spyware. The spyware was made by an Israeli cybersecurity firm and mercenary hacking company called NSO Group. And NSO Group claims that it sells spyware to governments so they can track criminals. However, for the past five years, their spyware keeps showing up in cases where activists, journalists and human rights defenders are being hacked.Were you able to figure out who had used that spyware? Had a government, bought it, like the Saudi government? So at this time, we're not attributing the spyware to a particular NSO customer. What happened last week is that we were examining a backup that we had collected back in March of this activist's phone. We discovered some suspicious files and it turned out that those files, although they appeared to be GIFs, were actually malware and exploit payload. And what they would do is turn that phone into a spy in the activist's pocket. As soon as we spotted those files, we had a sense that we knew what we were looking at. We then shared them with Apple. And in less than a week, Apple moved to quickly figure out the vulnerability and push out an update to all Apple devices.Will you eventually be able to figure out who was behind putting that in the Saudi activist phone?One of the things that's important to realize here is that this is a spyware and an industry that is built around concealing itself from attribution and as a result, hiding from accountability. And it's cases like this that highlight both how seriously companies like Apple take the threat to their bottom line, but also the extent to which the industry needs to be exposed and needs to be called out and needs to be responded to. Now, some people have said, well, should I be concerned? I'm not a dissident. I've never criticized an autocrat. And the truth is, with respect to exploits, they may be used by a small number of people in the first year. But after that, who knows? Exploits have a bad habit of being used by an ever-widening circle of bad actors until they're being used by cybercriminal groups to target people just like you or me.Now, has Apple's response been effective? Will what they issued for people to fix this really work?Apple has moved quickly to close the specific exploit that NSO was using in this case. But the spyware industry is built around always having some exploits in reserve. And so, while this particular technique for gaining access to people's phones is gone, NSO itself remains a serious threat to phone users.Will NSO Group suffer any penalties? NSO is certainly forging ahead to make more spyware. They are doing their best to hire former administration officials in the US, and otherwise slosh their money around in an effort to keep their business going and growing. It's pretty clear that the tech sector is fed up with NSO Group at this point, and I think a lot of people are now looking to the government for some kind of help. And it's an interesting coincidence that yesterday, in an indictment the Department of Justice released against three Americans, former intelligence community members, helping the UAE government build hacking capabilities, the Department of Justice explicitly called out the international spyware marketplace and pointed out that that unregulated marketplace is causing global harm. That's an interesting case about these three former intelligence and military officials. How did that case move to a point where they could be charged? Well, this is a really interesting case. So a couple of years ago, Reuters reported on the existence of something called Project Raven, which, in a nutshell, was a group of former US intelligence and military officials who had gone to the United Arab Emirates and were helping them stand up a hacking capability. At the time, it was a scandal, but it pointed to something deeper, which is, there is a marketplace for former intelligence operatives to go and sell the contents of their brains to other regimes and to help those regimes leapfrog into the ability to hack at a nation-state level. This was obviously a really concerning case and if you read the charge documents, it seems pretty clear that what was going on is these people were giving the UAE things that they had learned and things which the US government alleges were protected by export regulations. What's interesting about that case is that it is a tip of the iceberg in terms of the marketplace of former officials turning around and monetizing the knowledge that they gained protecting the US. The harm that those people are causing is very concrete. In the case of Project Raven, the targets included activists and dissidents, but also US citizens.And my final question has to be, you know, there's about a billion-plus people with iPhones. Should all of us go and find the update? Everyone should update. And you should update for a couple of reasons. First, there is no way to protect yourself against this kind of spyware, short of doing your updates. But secondarily, we really have to send a message to players like NSO Group: "It's not OK to find this kind of thing and turn it into a tool to be used to target dissidents and truth-tellers," even though you may not think of yourself as the kind of person that an autocrat is going to be interested in. Think about what you're doing as increasing our group immunity against shady companies like NSO Group. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report. 

Images from Kabul this weekend showed women in black marching in pro-Taliban demonstrations. The women wore long, dark outfits, and their faces were nearly fully veiled.Recently, the Taliban issued a decree calling for female university students to wear clothing that covers their bodies and most of their faces. Taliban leaders say it's a return to Afghan tradition in the predominantly Muslim country. Related: 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan' is based on specific ideologyBahar Jalali, a former history professor at the American University in Afghanistan, disagrees. Over the weekend, she launched an online campaign called #DoNotTouchMyClothes to publicize what she considers to be traditional Afghan dress. Related: Afghanistan: Two decades of war and daily life in photosIt all started on Saturday when Jalali saw those images from the pro-Taliban protests by women."I was just really shocked to see that something that is completely and utterly foreign to Afghan culture was being presented as authentic Afghan attire. ... Even in the most remote conservative villages of Afghanistan, you will not see that kind of attire."Bahar Jalali, former history professor, American University in Afghanistan Women wave Taliban flags as they sit inside an auditorium at Kabul University's education center during a demonstration in support of the Taliban government in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. Credit: Felipe Dana/AP "I was just really shocked to see that something that is completely and utterly foreign to Afghan culture was being presented as authentic Afghan attire," Jalali told The World. "Even in the most remote conservative villages of Afghanistan, you will not see that kind of attire."That day, Jalali uploaded a picture of herself in a traditional Afghan dress onto Twitter.Related: 'We are afraid': An Afghan women's rights activist is left behindWhen Jalali woke up the next day, it had gone viral. This is Afghan culture. I am wearing a traditional Afghan dress. #AfghanistanCulture pic.twitter.com/DrRzgyXPvm— Dr. Bahar Jalali (@RoxanaBahar1) September 12, 2021Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi, head of Afghan Service at Deutche Welle, also tweeted: Me wearing traditional Afghan attire in Kabul. This is Afghan culture and this is how Afghan women dress. @RoxanaBahar1 pic.twitter.com/fUZSqy4rRK— Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi (@WasHasNaz) September 12, 2021Mohammed Agha Ibrahimkhail also tweeted an image of rural Afghan women wearing colorful, lively dresses.  These are the rural women of Afghanistan. In Bamyan. The women of Afghanistan are colorful and alive. Those in Neqab are the Taliban women. pic.twitter.com/INaPIdziK2— Mohammad Agha Ibrahimkhail (@M_Ibrahimkhail) September 13, 2021And Malalai Habibi tweeted in support that she and her partner's attire in the photo reflects Afghanistan's "colorful and diverse culture."  My partner, @matin_rahem and I wearing traditional Afghan attire at #Nawrouz, our new year. This is part of the Afghan colorful and diverse culture. #RealAfghanistan https://t.co/CElQQDneRL pic.twitter.com/jv6GWJkRg7— Malalai Habibi | ملالی حبیبی (@MalalaiHabibi) September 13, 2021Jalali explained how traditional dress for women in Afghanistan includes colorful dresses with a lot of embellishments and embroidery reflecting different styles from various regions."And of course, a lot of these dresses are meant for women to dance in them, you know, to be alive and to be animated. It's really the polar opposite of what we saw at the pro-Taliban women's event, where you see women completely invisible. It's like they're not there."Bahar Jalali, former history professor, American University in Afghanistan"And of course, a lot of these dresses are meant for women to dance in them, you know, to be alive and to be animated. It's really the polar opposite of what we saw at the pro-Taliban women's event, where you see women completely invisible. It's like they're not there. It just looked very strange to me, very contrived," she said.Before the Taliban came to power, most Afghan women wore different headscarf styles ranging from loose to tight around the head and body. Now, she said, all women are expected to wear a tight veil with enveloping cloaks."That looks more like what a judge in the United States wears, something that's very completely shapeless. And you really no longer can have this diversity of headscarves. It has to be a really tight headscarf that covers a complete head — no hair showing — before you could show hair, it was not a big deal." Jalali said women now fear the consequences of veering from Taliban dress codes. Under Taliban rule in the 1990s, women were sometimes beaten or even executed for even minor dress-code violations. Dress is a powerful symbol of national identity, Jalali said. The viral campaign is Jalali's attempt to showcase the true face of Afghanistan — colorful, vibrant and alive. She said the dress code imposed on Afghans by the Taliban "seeks to erase women from society and seeks to erase Afghan culture." She added: "We are facing an assault on our identity, our sovereignty, our culture, our heritage."

Nuclear talks between the US and Iran remain stalled, but a new agreement between Iran and the United Nations is providing some hope that those nuclear talks could relaunch.Iran agreed Sunday to allow international inspectors to install new memory cards into surveillance cameras at its sensitive nuclear sites and to continue filming there. Related: US launches airstrikes targeting Iran-backed militiasThe agreement still leaves the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency in the same position it faced since February, however. Tehran holds all recordings at its sites as negotiations over the US and Iran returning to the 2015 nuclear deal remain stalled in Vienna. Meanwhile, Iran is now enriching small amounts of uranium to its closest-ever levels to weapons-grade purity as its stockpile continues to grow. This violates limits stipulated under the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, which promises Iran economic incentives in exchange for limits on its nuclear program, and is meant to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb.The US unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, but Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia have tried to preserve the accord.The recent Iran-UN announcement could buy time for Iran ahead of an IAEA board meeting this week in which Western powers had been arguing for Tehran to be censured over its lack of cooperation with international inspectors. Related: Iranian journalist targeted in alleged Iran kidnap plot says operation ‘must be condemned’Naysan Rafati, senior Iran analyst with the International Crisis Group, a think tank based in Washington, has been following these developments closely. Carol Hills: First of all, what does it mean to reset monitoring devices at Iranian nuclear sites? Naysan Rafati: Well, it means that the International Atomic Energy Agency has surveillance cameras as part of its mandate for monitoring and verification. There are inspectors that go to sites. It does reporting on the state of Iran's nuclear program, but it also has cameras in place. And these memory cards are sealed and they're on the Iranian side. But what they allow the agency to do is to basically see what Iran has been up to while its nuclear program continues to advance. So, it's one of those issues where it strengthens the one side of the international nuclear agreement with Iran, which is monitoring and verification authorities. Should we read it also as a nod toward maybe Iran being interested in restarting talks with the US?Well, I think that that's really the key issue in the sense that it sounds like a very technical discussion and it is, in a sense, a very technical discussion, when we're talking about resetting cameras. Really what I think the US, the three European parties, everyone that's interested in reviving the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] we're looking to was, will Tehran, would they make any kind of nod toward cooperative relations with the IAEA? And that could in turn, lead to a resumption of negotiations, or would they drag this out, risk a censure resolution and see the crisis kind of continue to escalate?You mentioned Iran's new, more conservative government. Does this news signal that maybe it's willing to engage with the international community on this nuclear program more than the previous government?Well, I'm not sure I'd say more than the previous governments. I would say that any Iranian administration, presidential administration, is a player in Iran's nuclear posture, but it is one of several different centers of power. But we know for a fact that under the Rouhani administration, which left office in August, they were the ones that originally signed the agreement in 2015 with the US and the other world powers. And so, they had a vested legacy, interest, in a sense, to make sure that it didn't collapse entirely. Raisi and some of the conservatives and the hard-liners that now control all of the centers of power in Iran have been much more skeptical about the JCPOA to begin with. So right now, I think that this weekend's trip was kind of the first major test of whether or not the Raisi government was serious and the Iranian administration now was serious about, if not necessarily reengaging in the talks, then at least trying to stem a burgeoning crisis — especially if they faced a censure resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors. So, there's still quite a bit that has to fall into place to be able to say that negotiations are back on track. But I think you could also say that they are less derailed than they might have been otherwise. When you heard about this and read about it, do you think, "Hmm, this is a good sign. Good." Or do you think, "Eh, same old. Same old." I don't think it's same old, same old. When the news came this weekend that [IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi] had indeed come to some sort of agreement, I think it's very, very tempered optimism, optimism in the sense that a potential crisis this week at the IAEA Board of Governors has been seemingly averted for the moment, but tempered by the realization that there is still a great deal that needs to fall into place, including, centrally, the US and Iran resuming their indirect negotiations in Vienna before we can get to a point where we can say that Iran's nuclear program is on the road to being more restricted and better verified than it is right now. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report. 

When al-Qaeda attacked the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, it launched a new, so-called “war on terror” across the world.  But 20 years later, the threat of terrorism lives on, and in Africa, the problem has gotten worse.Related: How will the Taliban interact with other terrorist groups in Afghanistan?“Unfortunately, while in much of the world, 9/11 is viewed as in the past, in Africa, the legacy of those attacks lives on."Murithi Mutiga, project director forHorn of Africa, International Crisis Group“Unfortunately, while in much of the world 9/11 is viewed as in the past, in Africa, the legacy of those attacks lives on,” said Murithi Mutiga, project director for the Horn of Africa at the International Crisis Group.“Today, there are more jihadis operating on the continent than there were 20 years ago,” he continued.Indeed, in recent decades, terrorism has become a shared burden between African countries and the United States. Related: ISIS-linked port seizure signals growing terrorism threat in MozambiqueIn 1998, when al-Qaeda attacked two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, then-President Bill Clinton ordered airstrikes on properties in both Afghanistan and Sudan, countries that were both harboring terrorists. Two years ago, the al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab attacked a hotel complex in Nairobi, killing dozens of people, including an American.Related: The group behind Nairobi’s recent terror attack recruits young people from many faiths. Officials can’t stop it. “Al-Qaeda's had a long presence within the region; it may not have always been called al-Qaeda, but a form of jihadist call has existed within the region for decades,” Mutiga said.  The group has since inspired the formation of Islamist militant groups across the continent that continue to wage deadly attacks.For some, the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan signaled the end of its “war on terror,” but it also brought fresh concerns about the fate of terrorism in Africa.“Africa is the new frontline of global militancy,” wrote Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari in an op-ed last month, calling for more support for African countries to address these problems.“Africa’s fight against terror is the world’s fight. We will defeat them one highway, one rail link — and one job — at a time.”But many experts warn against a globalist approach — noting how local ambitions remain at the roots of most insurgencies — Islamist or not.“I don’t think the international approach in terms of fighting global terrorism can be relevant in this context or anywhere else."Niagale Bagayoko, Africa Security Sector Network“I don’t think the international approach in terms of fighting global terrorism can be relevant in this context or anywhere else,” said Niagalé Bagayoko, of the Africa Security Sector Network.In the Sahel, for example, persistent insecurity is driven not only by Islamist militant groups but also by community clashes and armed militias, all of which are products of persistent local issues that governments have been unable to address.“It’s very important not to only read the current situation in the Sahel through the lens of jihadism and terrorism,” Bagayoko said. While a number of local groups, from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to the growing insurgency in Mozambique, continue to attach themselves to global insurgencies — most experts agree that those links are tenuous.Related: Hundreds remain missing after Cabo Delgado attack Twenty years after 9/11, experts in Africa say one thing is clear: The approach to counterterrorism needs to change. 

When Abdul Saboor steps off the train in Calaís, France, the 28-year-old Afghan gets to work immediately. A group of eight Afghan boys approaches him, asking for advice about getting to the United Kingdom. Some are as young as 13 years old.“There’s no good advice. … I don’t know what to say,” Saboor admitted. Saboor volunteers his time directing migrants to what’s known as the new “Calaís jungle,” a field converted into an outdoor shelter and food distribution point for hundreds of migrants living in or near the northern city of Calaís.Related: Afghan migrants remain stranded at Poland-Belarus border“I know their story. I know why they're here and I know how difficult it is to be an immigrant and have to leave your family."Abdul Saboor, Afghan photographer and volunteer, Calaís, France“I know their story. I know why they're here and I know how difficult it is to be an immigrant and have to leave your family,” Saboor said. Seven years ago, Saboor took a similar journey. While working as a translator for NATO in Kabul, he started getting threats from the Taliban, forcing him to flee his country and begin an arduous journey toward Europe, with the help of smugglers. “It took two years and a lot of time. … We had to go through the forest … mountains,” Saboor recalled. Related: EU's top migration official calls for global response to help Afghans A turning point came for him while living in a refugee camp in Serbia when a volunteer gave Saboor an old, digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera after learning he was interested in photography. From there, Saboor started documenting life in the camps and later documented the rest of his journey to France, where he received asylum in 2018. Related: Roma flee Romania for US-Mexico border to escape persecutionToday, Saboor is an award-winning professional photographer who has traveled across Europe capturing the struggles that migrants endure along the way — from police violence to homelessness and other kinds of mistreatment. View this post on Instagram A post shared by abdul saboor (@abdul_saboor079) “It's very important to document to show to the world it's not fair or it's not OK and how we've been treated,” Saboor said. “I think many people [were] not knowing, like, what's happening.”Now, he splits his time between photography and volunteering in Calaís. Related: Turkey's Lake Van: A dangerous crossroads on the migrant trailHe starts his afternoon at an old warehouse where several local, nongovernmental organizations have set up shop. The groups work with migrants to provide meals, clothes, blankets and other kinds of support. View this post on Instagram A post shared by abdul saboor (@abdul_saboor079) Pierre Roques, a coordinator with the local NGO l’Auberge des Migrants, said Saboor’s empathy and shared experience has proved invaluable when it comes to working with migrants in the field.“They feel confident when they talk to [Abdul]. It makes things easier for everyone.”Pierre Roques, coordinator, l'Auberge des Migrants, Calaís, France“They feel confident when they talk to him,” Roques said. “It makes things easier for everyone.”In the afternoon, Saboor headed to the Calaís jungle to check on the boys he met in the morning. He found them tucked away in the woods on a leafy patch of grass they planned to call home for the next few days. They were making TikTok videos, showing off their new digs, but later they confided to Saboor that they didn’t have any blankets or tents.So he puts in some calls. It’s very personal to him.“My brother is the same age and my niece and nephew ... they’re all trying to flee Afghanistan too,” he said. “I know why these boys are here. I wish I could do something more for them. I can never do enough, but I’m trying to do the best I can.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by abdul saboor (@abdul_saboor079) By the end of the day, Saboor said he was exhausted. But it wasn't over yet.He saw another group of teens engrossed in a soccer match and whipped out his camera to document it. View this post on Instagram A post shared by abdul saboor (@abdul_saboor079) He wants to capture little moments of respite like these in his photography.“It's a very powerful and strong ... short way to explain the situation,” Saboor said in between camera clicks. To show there’s still some hope amid all the chaos and sadness. 

This week, the world got a first glimpse into what a Taliban government in Afghanistan might look like.The group named an interim government made up of 33 men, mostly from one ethnic group — the Pashtuns. Two appointees are Tajik, and one is Uzbek. No one from the Hazara community or any other ethnic group were included.Related: Taliban names all-male 33-member interim government in AfghanistanEven before the Taliban takeover this August, Afghanistan was an Islamic country. The official name of Afghanistan included "Islamic Republic."But the Taliban follow a specific interpretation of Sunni Islam which, from now on, will be implemented across the country.Related: Afghan journalist breaks down sociological makeup of today's TalibanThe World spoke to several clerics and scholars in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban’s takeover to get their takes on the version of Islam the group plans to bring to the country. The Taliban’s IslamTaliban ideology is based on a specific version of Islam called the Deobandi school.The Taliban's interpretation of Islam is different from the Islam that existed in Afghanistan in the past, according to Omar Sadr, who teaches political science at the American University of Afghanistan.“The traditional Islam practiced in Afghanistan was quite different. It is an Islam as a faith for the majority of the people and that is different from Islam being as an ideology.”Omar Sadr teaches political science at the American University of Afghanistan“The traditional Islam practiced in Afghanistan was quite different. It is an Islam as a faith for the majority of the people and that is different from Islam being as an ideology.”Sadr, who is also the author of a book on cultural diversity in Afghanistan, added that the earlier version of Islam in Afghanistan was influenced by Sufi schools or tariqa.“Sufi tariqas were quite moderate, they were tolerant, they were accepting, they established a kind of order which was cosmopolitan and wherein it accepted diversity of the society and mutual coexistence.” Related: 'We are afraid': An Afghan women's rights activist is left behindDeobandi Islam was founded in northern India, not Afghanistan. Islamic scholars say it came about as a response to British colonial rule.One man who helped shape the movement was a scholar called Shah Waliullah Dehlawi, Sadr said.“He was so much upset about how Muslims have been integrated within the Hindu community here and so he constantly wrote against all this and he preached that how we need to go back to Arabian model of Islam.”After the partition of 1947, followers of Deobandi Islam began teaching it in Pakistan.With the support of the government, Sadr said, schools began teaching it to students along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Some of those students went on to fight in Afghanistan.Today, the Taliban call Afghanistan an Islamic Emirate. That means a religious leader or an emir will be the top authority and governance will be based on the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam — the Deobandi and Hanafi schools.That will impact all sorts of things in daily life from banking, to how people should dress, to segregation of men and women in public spaces.Friday prayerOne Friday in August, before the Taliban takeover, the atmosphere was already tense at one of Kabul’s main mosques. During Friday prayers, men, young and old, kicked off their shoes, rushed inside, rolled up their sleeves and got ready for the weekly sermon. Sheikh Abdullah Noor Ebad sat up front on a raised chair, holding a microphone that helps project his voice across the mosque as he prepared to preach. The men sat on the floor in rows. Off to the side, women gathered in a small room tucked away in a corner. During his sermon, Sheikh Noor Ebad was cautious with his words. He doesn’t mention the Taliban or the tumult that his country is facing.Afterward, he agreed to answer a few questions from The World as long as they were read by a male. (Some conservative Muslim men prefer not to address women who are not related to them directly).“This war in Afghanistan doesn’t have an Islamic justification. ... Fighting between Muslims is not justified. True believers don’t kill each other. They work on bringing peace.”Sheikh Abdullah Noor Ebad, Kabul, Afghanistan“This war in Afghanistan doesn’t have an Islamic justification,” Noor Ebad said. “Fighting between Muslims is not justified. True believers don’t kill each other. They work on bringing peace.”Related: Afghanistan: Two decades of war and daily life in photosNoor Ebad said he was a Talib himself at one time. He knows the teachings and went to the same type of Islamic schools as some Taliban fighters.“But it seems like these men took away something entirely different,” he said.Foreign interferenceMasoudeh Jami, with the Jamiat-e-Eslah of Afghanistan, a movement that promotes Islamic thought and culture, told The World in an interview that the Islam she teaches to her students centers on peace and coexistence.“In Islam, there is great emphasis on cleansing your heart of hatred against everyone,” she said, “but especially the faithful. So, it’s puzzling when the Taliban target and kill fellow Afghans.”But for Jami, foreign interference in Afghanistan is what has made things worse.“Extremism in Afghanistan was supported and funded by foreigners,” she said, “and that’s unfortunate because now some people say they want nothing to do with Islam.”The US once supported Afghanistan’s Mujahideen in the 1980s. Pakistan has also shown support for the Taliban. Jami added that the role of religious leaders in Afghanistan is important moving forward. They should make sure people don’t lose sight of moderate Islam.Related: Women's shelters in Afghanistan face an uncertain future“After two decades of American presence, Afghanistan is a divided, heartbroken nation. ... It’s time foreigners leave so we can focus on healing.”Masoudeh Jami, Jamiat-e-Eslah of Afghanistan“After two decades of American presence, Afghanistan is a divided, heartbroken nation,” she said. “It’s time foreigners leave so we can focus on healing.” In the first few weeks of Taliban governance, however, Afghans have faced clampdowns on anti-Taliban protesters and restrictions on press freedom. Women have been told to stay home until the Taliban can determine how they can participate in public life.Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Deobandi Islam in Pakistan. It has been corrected.

For Ben Rhodes, like for so many others, 9/11 was a life-changing event. At the time, Rhodes was a graduate student in New York, studying creative writing, but soon after, he went down to Washington and became a speechwriter and deputy national security adviser for strategic communications in the Obama White House.His new book is called "After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made." Related: NYU chaplain calls for a 'true pursuit of empathy' to heal after 9/11Rhodes joined The World's host Marco Werman to talk about the last 20 years since 9/11, and about his perspective on the end of the US mission in Afghanistan.Marco Werman: Ben, let's start 20 years ago. Where were you on Sept. 11?Ben Rhodes: I was 24 years old. I was working on a city council campaign in New York City, while I was a graduate student. I was at a polling site on the Brooklyn waterfront because that was Election Day. And so, I ended up having a kind of unobstructed view across the river of the attacks. I didn't see the first plane hit, but we all started staring up at the World Trade Center and watching this billowing black smoke come out of it, not knowing what was going on. And while we're staring at it, I see the second plane curve around and plow into the tower. And for me, that was the moment when everything I was doing in my life changed. And I just had a feeling that everything I was going to do after that was going to be somehow connected to the response to these events.Just one month after 9/11, President George W. Bush, of course, started the war in Afghanistan. Can you briefly take us through the arc of that war, its purpose in the beginning and its end in the last days?Yeah, so it was interesting to me to reflect on this after 20 years, because as a 24-year-old New Yorker, when we went into Afghanistan, my presumption was, we were going there to get the people who did 9/11. And when I look back at the arc, you know, what happens is, we go into Afghanistan, we topple the Taliban, we put al-Qaeda on the run. We don't finish them off. Bin Laden escapes into Pakistan. And around that time, the US government kind of shifts its attention in Afghanistan to nation-building, and the Taliban begins to regenerate and begins to turn into an insurgency. And by the time we came into government in 2009, in the Obama administration, you had a situation where the Taliban was showing itself to be resilient. And so, in 2009, you have a surge of forces. I do think between the years of 2009 and 2011, you see the kind of biggest successes in degrading al-Qaeda, but largely in Pakistan. And that culminates in the operation to take out Osama bin Laden in 2011. And then there's a period of time in which the United States is beginning to draw down its forces in Afghanistan, and try to transition to Afghan security forces. For several years, the Afghan security forces are in the fight, and they lost 70,000 troops in the fight against the Taliban. But over that time, they're steadily losing ground. And then Donald Trump initially surges a bit before kind of taking a sharp turn in the other direction, cutting a deal with the Taliban in 2020, in which he essentially agrees to withdraw US forces in exchange for a promise from the Taliban to not shoot at us. But they continue, obviously, to fight the Afghan government and security forces. And Joe Biden comes into office and decides that he's going to complete the withdrawal by the Sept. 11 anniversary this year. And when he does that, you have a collapse of the Afghan government security forces and a more resilient Taliban adversary obviously rolls into Kabul. And here we are.That was a very thorough arc. Let's go back and talk about the surge. When your boss, Barack Obama, was president, there was an internal debate over what we know now is a surge. Then-Vice President Biden was against the surge. What can you tell us about these internal debates and the thinking at the time?At the time, the military, essentially, is kind of turning its attention from Iraq to Afghanistan. They basically recommend to Obama that he pursue a counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, along the lines of what they had done in the surge in Iraq. Obama was skeptical of this. He saw an enormous expenditure of resources that would go along with it, obviously huge risks to American troops, and a kind of unsolvable problem of a resilient Taliban that also had some safe-haven in Pakistan. But Joe Biden at the table, he was the one person who said that he was against this, just dead-set against it, that frankly, we couldn't nation-build in Afghanistan, it wouldn't succeed and that we should only think of Afghanistan in terms of finishing the counterterrorism mission against al-Qaeda. And that put him sharply at odds with the military. And there were some tense meetings there.Related: Afghanistan: Two decades of war and daily life in photos As you say, the debates around that surge were sharp. What did that debate represent, though, in a larger sense — America's role in the Middle East, and in the world?Well, I think that the assumption undergirding the military's recommendation was that it was possible for the United States to essentially defeat the Taliban and stabilize Afghanistan, and construct an Afghan government and security force. And so, I think what this whole debate is about is, can the United States remake other countries with our military? And look, I think that part of what we have to recognize is the degree to which a lot of the assumptions that we embrace as a country at the very beginning, right, in 2001, 2002, that we could build governments in Iraq and Afghanistan — that's what the US government set out to do. And it's a very hard thing to turn that machinery around.Related: Taliban names all-male 33-member interim government in Afghanistan With the benefit of hindsight, what decisions did the Obama administration make in Afghanistan that you would redo?Well, I think that the principle one is to have a smaller surge. The scale of that escalation in 2009, measured against, obviously, what it ended up achieving, doesn't seem necessary. Because the counterterrorism successes did not require, I believe, in retrospect, 100,000 troops. That's the first one. And then I think there's just the question of whether or not there was a better deal with the Taliban that could have been accomplished at some point than what Trump ended up doing, because Trump's deal was essentially like, we're getting out, and Trump cut the Afghan government out of that deal. And that, to me, was the fundamental flaw, is to say the US is negotiating its withdrawal — not with the Afghan government — but with the Taliban. And so, I think the great unknown is whether or not, at a different point, there could have been a better deal that led to a more orderly withdrawal, and perhaps some kind of government that brought in the Taliban, but also integrated elements of of the Afghan government, as it was. All of this does lead us to some bigger questions, especially on the anniversary of 9/11. You often talk about being part of the 9/11 generation. What defines your generation, like, its worldview?I think the worldview is that it's a generation that came of age politically, largely after the Cold War. So, we didn't have that organizing framework for how to think about America's role in the world. And when you have this massive event where you realize that history is not over, globalization is not inevitable, there was a generation of people that wanted to be a part of that post-9/11 response. I think part of what's so complicated is the period of time from 9/11 to the invasion of Iraq, that's when a lot of these decisions were made, to nation-build in Afghanistan, to invade Iraq, the Patriot Act, the establishment of Guantanamo, all these things that we've basically been responding to since. And I think the 9/11 generation is a generation of people that, because we dealt with the aftermath of those policies, came to understand the limits of what America could accomplish in the post-9/11 period, particularly militarily. America does have a really important role to play in the world and a lot of people around the world look to the United States for various things in various ways. But we have to balance the necessity of America, I think, playing a significant role in the world, against America not being overextended in ways that undermine our capacity to deal with the next generation of challenges: climate change, technology, the recession of democracy around the world. We cannot deal with those things if we're fighting forever-wars in multiple countries. And I think that's where the 9/11 generation is headed.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

This Saturday marks two decades since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, on the United States that left nearly 3,000 people dead in New York, Washington DC, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.Related: Teens, born after 9/11, have a different perspective than those who lived through itThe events of 9/11 touched the lives of just about everyone in the US — but especially for American Muslims, from discrimination to extra surveillance.Related: Why a hate crime survivor tried to save the life of his would-be killerTwenty years ago, Khalid Latif was a sophomore at New York University. He's now the executive director and chaplain for the Islamic Center at NYU. He joined The World's host Marco Werman from New York City to discuss his experiences and the work he's done to bring communities together.Marco Werman: Khalid Latif, you and other NYU students saw the second plane go into the tower. Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001? And what are your strongest memories from that day?Khalid Latif: You know, I was actually on my way to a class that starts pretty early in the morning. As I walked into the building, a security guard came to the doorway saying, "We have to evacuate the building. A plane has flown into the World Trade Center." Moments before, I was cutting through Washington Square Park, which is at the center of NYU's campus, and it was pretty much empty. And now, I walked into a gathering of about 10 or 12,000 of my fellow NYU students, and we were all standing, looking downtown as the second plane flew into the towers. I returned back to my dorm and I overheard people who lived on the floor with me saying things to the effect of, "We should get all of the Muslims together and send them out of this country so that things like this don't happen."So, people were saying that already on Sept. 11?Yeah. We had media from all over the world that was engaging us, wanting to know, "What do Muslims think?" And we now became representative of all Muslims from all backgrounds around the world. And there were just a lot of precautions that we had to take as students at that time. We created a buddy system so that no one would have to walk around on their own who was a Muslim student. As a Muslim American, though, as you said, you began feeling the blowback immediately and you've worked basically since that time building bridges between Muslim Americans and other groups. How did your experiences post-9/11 inspire that work?You know, I've had a lot of different experiences attached to the tragedies of 9/11, I think, that made it very evident that even this construct of a Muslim American was something now that was coming to the surface that I think exists within this kind of good-bad-type framework, good Muslim, bad Muslim, moderate, extremist. There are very few people who are able to just call themselves American without a hyphen of some kind or a dash that prequalifies their American-ness. And now there became a deep dive into Muslims having to identify just how American they actually were. It became something that was evident, especially within immigrant Muslim communities. I've had many members of my community who are from all walks of life tell me that federal law enforcement visits them and their office, has come to their house, they don't know how to respond. Members of our community who dealt with their homes being raided and family members being tied up for really no reason given to them. These are realities that have been visited upon you, Khalid. When you were just 24, you became the chaplain for the New York Police Department. I know you shared a lot of stories about being surveilled and profiled as a Muslim man, some of them painful, some kind of absurd. But you have a particular account of being profiled while in uniform. Can you tell us about that?Yeah. So, on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, it was in 2010, as a chaplain for the police department and participating in the 9/11 memorial service, we would start out the day by having breakfast with family members who lost loved ones on that day. And we'd then take a bus down to the Ground Zero site. And I'm in my police uniform and inspector's uniform, but I still have a beard, I have my head covered. Three men approached me wearing suits saying that, "Secret Service has spotted you from the top of a building. They want us to check your credentials just in case." And I said, "Just in case what?" And they said, "We're sorry that we're doing this to you." And I said, "Then why are you doing it?" And you know, to understand what they're questioning in that moment is not just my physical presence at this location, but the entire validity of my emotion attached to this space, right? Where, I was a student at New York University on Sept. 11 in 2001. I did watch the second plane fly into the towers. I stood at funerals for people of my faith and other walks of life who died on that day. And in that moment, these men are questioning the validity of all of it. When the feds pulled you aside, did you get any support from your fellow NYPD colleagues?Well, who I got support from was a mother who had lost her son on Sept. 11. She intervened and said to these men that, "What you are doing right now is more dishonorable to the memory of our loved ones that we lost on that day than anything else. That here this young man is standing with us in our moment of need and you're making it seem as if he's doing something wrong just because he's Muslim." And as easily as they had taken the validation away, she brought it right back.So, that was the ninth anniversary of 9/11 when you were a chaplain with the NYPD. The country then saw a rise in anti-Muslim, really, extremism before and during the Trump presidency. How would you characterize things today, generally, for Muslim American communities?I think the Muslim community in the United States is a multifaceted community, and the direct engagement that we have with most forms of government tend to put us in a security box or an immigration box, and those boxes alone. I do think that they are still, on an individual level, realities that people face. I think there's definitely a lot more that can be done to ensure that civil rights, basic human rights, of Muslims in the United States are not things that get curtailed anymore. And not in a place for myself, personally, where I'm worried, for example, that anyone's going to take my 6-year-old son or my 8-year-old daughter away from me. But I walk out of my house with an understanding that, on any given day, someone might take me away from my family. Khalid, what, for you, feels different about this 20th anniversary of 9/11, if anything?You know, we're coming out of a pandemic, global realities that are geopolitical or things that the world is more aware of now because of social media. There's opportunity for us to see just how deeply connected and linked we are. And that interdependence is going to be a key factor in us being able to overcome any challenge. But it's going to take a lot of people being willing to just listen to the lived experiences of those who are different from them, and in a true pursuit of empathy. And I think there are more people who are getting to that place.This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Ethiopian officials have accused Tigrayan forces of killing more than 120 people in the neighboring Amhara region.It’s the latest sign of how the 10-month conflict has extended far beyond Tigray, with deadly consequences.Related: Tigrayan forces take Ethiopian town known for its ancient churches“In the case of atrocities against civilians, it has been happening in Tigray since the beginning of the conflict in November last year."Saviano Abreu, spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs“In the case of atrocities against civilians, it has been happening in Tigray since the beginning of the conflict in November last year,” said Saviano Abreu, a spokesperson with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “We condemn any type of atrocities,” he said.This latest atrocity, according to Reuters, took place in the village of Chenna Kebele, near Gondar city in the Amhara region.Related: A 'sick joke': Tigrayan forces reject ceasefire in EthiopiaIn a statement, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said a large number of bodies had been discovered in the area. Residents and local authorities told the commission the victims were killed during a two-day period last week, by retreating Tigrayan forces.The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has denied what they called a “fabricated allegation" by the Amhara regional government, and rejected claims that Tigrayan forces had killed civilians.Over the course of the conflict, gruesome human rights violations have been recorded by all parties. But repeated offers and attempts at mediation have so-far failed.Related: Tigrayans say food is being used as a 'weapon of war' “The Ethiopian government has not responded positively to proposals for negotiations. Instead, it has publicly called for the mobilization of militia."Richard Mills, US Deputy Representative to the United Nations“The Ethiopian government has not responded positively to proposals for negotiations. Instead, it has publicly called for the mobilization of militia,” said Richard Mills, US Deputy Representative to the United Nations, during a UN security council meeting last month.“The TPLF, meanwhile, has expanded its own military campaign into the Afar and Amhara regions,” he added.In recent months, the ongoing fighting between Ethiopian federal defense troops, TPLF, and armed ethnic militias has displaced hundreds of people in Afar and Amhara.Related: Rising anger as youth get caught up in Tigray war “The number of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance in these two regions, in addition to Tigray, is rising daily,” Abreu said.  The World Food Program has warned that more than 1.7 million people in Afar and Amhara are at risk of hunger. “This has just come to compound an already bad situation, so already, people are food-insecure, but this makes things completely worse,” said Christine Hakonze, head of WFP’s Semera sub-office, in a video posted on social media this week from inside the Afar region.On top of that, the UN continues to warn of a looming hunger crisis inside the northern Tigray region, which has been mostly cut off from the rest of the country for nearly a year.Over the weekend, a humanitarian convoy of 150 trucks was able to enter Tigray. Now there are concerns about how the expansion of violence will further limit access to Tigray, as overland humanitarian access to the region is currently limited to a single ground route through the Afar region.“The spillover of the conflict is also complicating our operations inside Tigray, humanitarian access into Tigray,” Abreu said. 

Muhammed Fouad, a cattle rancher, was just two years into a venture to bring affordable milk to his hometown in Iraq’s Anbar province, when — seemingly overnight — the cows started dying. “We brought in veterinarians from Erbil, because [the cows] were OK and suddenly dying the next day."Muhammed Fouad, cattle rancher, Iraq“We brought in veterinarians from Erbil, because they were OK and suddenly dying the next day,” Fouad said in a phone call, through a translator.The initiative left him with $350,000 in damages. Fouad had to lay off his employees and sell his home to pay his debts to the project’s investors. He now works in construction in the city of Hit. Related: 'Drought has severely impacted livestock keepers' in Afghanistan Unprecedented drought — driven by climate change and exacerbated by upstream irrigation — is wreaking havoc on some of the world’s oldest river-fed farmlands in Iraq and Syria.A dry winter has pushed water levels on the Tigris and Euphrates to record lows, disrupting hydroelectric power facilities and concentrating pollution in the river to undrinkable levels. Aid groups estimate that 12 million people are affected, in a crisis they warn could tip the balance of the food system and livelihoods for the entire region.Related: Climate change is driving the worst drought Madagascar has seen in 4 decades Al-guran village, Baaj, Iraq, August 2021. More than 12 million people in Syria and Iraq are losing access to water, food and electricity and urgent action is needed to combat a severe water crisis. Credit: Courtesy of Fared Baram/Norwegian Refugee Council  Devastation downstreamIn Syria, the drought is the worst in 70 years — a crisis even more severe than the 2006-2009 drought that occurred in the years before the Syrian Civil War, a coalition of aid groups warned in August.In Iraq, they said this summer was the second-driest season in 40 years.Samah Hadid, the head of Middle East advocacy for the Norwegian Refugee Council, temporarily moved her office near to the heart of the drought, in the Iraqi city of Erbil, where she spends her days interviewing farmers and families affected by the lack of water.Related: Iran's 'system is essentially water bankrupt,' says environmental expert“You know, we hear stories, people are desperate. ... They’re spending so much money on drinking water and now they just plan to leave these areas and desert these areas because they just can’t live on these lands anymore.”Samah Hadid, head of Middle East advocacy, Norwegian Refugee Council“You know, we hear stories, people are desperate,” Hadid said. “They’re spending so much money on drinking water and now they just plan to leave these areas and desert these areas because they just can’t live on these lands anymore.” Families in Iraq regularly spend up to $80 a month to purchase potable drinking water, the NRC discovered in its field research. Two hydroelectric dams in northern Syria are facing closure due to low river levels, and outbreaks of water-borne illnesses are hitting camps for internally displaced people.Related: Climate change is intensifying food shocks Haji Hassa at his farm, showing how the drought is impacting the farm and plants, Kuri Jami village, Sinjar, August 2021. Credit: Courtesy of Fared Baram/Norwegian Refugee Council  Water as a weapon The blame has quickly shifted upstream to Turkey, which maintains a series of dams on the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers before they flow back to Syria and Iraq.“Turkey itself is being hit by the climate crisis, and low rainfall. But it really is necessary that Turkey releases more water into those rivers because millions of [people] rely on those rivers."Samah Hadid, head of Middle East advocacy, Norwegian Refugee Council“Turkey itself is being hit by the climate crisis, and low rainfall. But it really is necessary that Turkey releases more water into those rivers because millions of [people] rely on those rivers,” Hadid said.  From Anbar, Iraq, an aerial view of the Euphrates river, August 2021. Credit: Courtesy of Fared Baram/Norwegian Refugee Council  In the Sinjar district of Iraq, Qassim Ali Aizdo said it’s become impossible to grow water-intense vegetables like eggplant, because there’s no humidity to help the seedlings grow. Even olive trees, a hardy, drought-tolerant crop, are shriveled and dry in the heat. “The melon crops, they were ruined, even the roses, they had insects. And there were insects on the beans I’ve never seen in my life."Qassim Ali Aizdo, farmer, Sinjar, Iraq“The melon crops, they were ruined, even the roses, they had insects. And there were insects on the beans I’ve never seen in my life,” he said. Related: This start-up turns locust swarms in Kenya into animal feed  Dry olive trees in Kuri Jami village, Sinjar, August 2021.   Credit: Courtesy of Fared Baram/Norwegian Refugee Council Turkish officials insist they are abiding by existing water-sharing agreements that require the country to release from its dams a minimum of 500 cubic meters of water per second. The country has built more than 500 dams in the past two decades which, to the Turkish government, is a mark of prosperity and development in the arid southeast. The largest dam on the Tigris river is the Ilisu Dam, whose reservoir covers the ancient Turkish town of Hasankeyf. In 2019, when Turkey began filling the Ilisu, downstream levels on the Tigris were significantly curbed, contributing to a crisis of water-related illnesses in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Map of rivers shared by Turkey, Syria and Iraq.  Credit: Courtesy of European Rivers Network  This year, delegations from Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources visited Turkey to press officials to release more water from upstream dams. Turkish officials returned the visit and formed a working group to improve Iraq’s water infrastructure.But some Kurdish authorities in Syria and Iraq are accusing Turkey of using water as a weapon within the larger context of ongoing regional conflict. “Turkey is not using water as a weapon,” said Dursun Yildiz, president of the Ankara-based Hydropolitics Association. He said most of Turkey’s large dams are hydroelectric ones that do impact the environment — but don’t necessarily consume a lot of water. Water is lost through evaporation in dammed reservoirs more rapidly than in non-dammed rivers, however.To Yildiz, the bigger issue is that there are few clear agreements between the countries about how the water is shared, and few efforts to make water systems more efficient. Years ago, while working as a director for Turkey’s State Hydraulics Works, he said, he saw firsthand how efforts to establish clearer, more cohesive water-sharing rules between Turkey, Iraq and Syria were unsuccessful in the past. This region has always had water shortages, Yildiz said. And things are likely to get worse with rapid climate change.Related: Climate change is driving extreme weather events around the world“I’m not saying these things to blame the neighboring countries. What I’m saying right now, is we have no time to lose."Dursun Yildiz, president, Hydropolitics Association, of the Ankara, Turkey“I’m not saying these things to blame the neighboring countries. What I’m saying right now, is we have no time to lose,” Yildiz said. Haji Hassa, a Yazidi farmer from Kuri Jami village in Sinjar, August 2021. Credit: Courtesy of Fared Baram/Norwegian Refugee Council Damage is done Even increased water flow or a new water-sharing agreement may come too late for many of Iraq’s farmers.In Nineveh, Mohammed Ibrahim Hassan said whole swaths of his wheat and barley crops have failed. To adapt, he digs deeper wells, tapping into groundwater that likely won’t replenish itself for generations to come.In the past, he said, the water levels below ground would drop about 3 feet a year. But now, it will drop 15 or 20 feet. Still, they keep digging — an investment few farmers can afford.“I wish you could come and see it,” he said in a phone call. “Otherwise, you might think that I’m exaggerating.”Editor's note: Saif Al-Aani provided translations from Arabic.

At a factory in Ningbo, China, forklifts unload raw materials from a shipping container. The factory makes all kinds of plastic items — storage containers, toys, Christmas lights and decorations — and sends them in other shipping containers to dollar stores across the United States.Last year, the factory owner, Duan Li, presented the process to The World: huge bags of plastic pellets that he imports from Malaysia, molding machines pumping out products 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and workers packing boxes on the factory floor.Related: ‘Where’s my stuff?’ Here’s why global supply chains are out of whack due to pandemic“I’ve got at least 200 shipping containers worth of plastic storage boxes just sitting in a warehouse, but I can’t get the shipping containers to put them in. The prices used to be low, but now a shipping container costs me $20,000. And the wait for a container is two or three months.”Duan Li, factory owner, China“I’ve got at least 200 shipping containers worth of plastic storage boxes just sitting in a warehouse,” he said, “but I can’t get the shipping containers to put them in. The prices used to be low, but now a shipping container costs me $20,000. And the wait for a container is two or three months.”Related: Backlash from bubble-tea fans after China bans plastic straws in restaurantsEvery year around this time, factories in China are finishing up orders and sending them across the world to arrive in time for the holiday shopping season. But this year, Duan said, there might not be enough time.  “Every day, I bid on a shipping container. I’ll just have to pay more for the containers so I can get them on the ships,” Duan said. “It’s only going to get more expensive as we get closer to Christmas. And the American shoppers are going to have to pay higher prices.”Duan is not the only one facing shipping problems in China — especially when a single COVID-19 case can shut down a terminal for weeks.Related: Taliban takeover may lead to security challenges for Chinese projectsChina’s zero-tolerance policy is one reason that the country has managed to keep its COVID-19 numbers relatively low compared to many other countries. Travel into the country is restricted and authorities isolate COVID-19 cases through contact-tracing and quarantines. The policy also includes shutting down shipping and airport terminals for weeks at a time.In August, China shut down Meishan Island International Container Terminal at Ningbo-Zhoushan port — the third-largest and busiest port in the world — because of a single COVID-19 case. Then they shut down a terminal in Shanghai’s Pudong airport because of five COVID-19 cases.“That kind of ambiguity enters the supply chain, you know, it just reverberates back through the network, like a bullwhip. ... What that does is [it] just creates a lot of uncertainty and, at the end of day, higher cost.”Jarrod Ward, chief business development officer, Yusen Logistics, East Asia office, ChinaJarrod Ward, chief business development officer at Yusen Logistics’ East Asia office, helps clients develop a plan for when things go wrong.“That kind of ambiguity enters the supply chain, you know, it just reverberates back through the network, like a bullwhip,” he said. “What that does is [it] just creates a lot of uncertainty and, at the end of day, higher cost.”Related: How to solve the plastic waste problem: Build a better plasticThe irony, said Ward and others, is that business is booming; it’s just getting harder and harder to get stuff to the people who order them. Ward said companies need to have back-up plans and be ready to move fast.   “First thing is, make sure that you're aware of what those options are, and then be prepared to make very fast decisions based on fluid, ambiguous information,” he says. “And that takes a lot of guts.”Terminal closures have become one of the biggest headaches.Sal Mercagliano, a history professor and a former merchant mariner, has a whole YouTube channel devoted to global supply chain issues. Every day, he checks a marine traffic app to see what’s happening at different ports around the world. He said when the Ningbo port was partially shut down last month, some shipping companies diverted ships to other ports.“Instead of getting it next month, it may be getting it in January, which, if you’re loaded with Christmas goods, you’re in trouble.”Sal Mercagliano, history professor and former merchant mariner“Which means if you were expecting your load of containers coming out of Ningbo, it might not be there,” he said. “Instead of getting it next month, it may be getting it in January, which, if you’re loaded with Christmas goods, you’re in trouble.”“Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas — there will be empty shelves. They just can’t get there in time.”Michael Crotty, home textiles trader, Shanghai, ChinaMichael Crotty runs a home textiles trading company in Shanghai. “They’re still trying to work through that bottleneck,” he said. “Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas — there will be empty shelves. They just can’t get there in time.”Crotty said he’s short 25 to 30 containers because of the backup. But he says no matter what pressure other countries put on Beijing, the government is not likely to back down on its strict COVID-19 policies.“China’s zero-[tolerance] policy is not going away, no matter whether the world likes it or not,” he said. “They managed to control the pandemic since the early stages. And no matter what kind of pressure is applied from the West, their decision will be whatever they think is best for their population.”Even if terminal closures are gumming up supply chains and hurting business owners, many people in China think it’s the right thing to do.That includes Kurt Huang, who runs a fruit import business.“The past year has shown that the government is taking the right approach and they’ll continue this policy. It’s what has made it possible for us to lead normal lives and for our economy to continue."Kurt Huang, fruit importer, China“The past year has shown that the government is taking the right approach,” he said, “and they’ll continue this policy. It’s what has made it possible for us to lead normal lives and for our economy to continue,” he said.So, with no foreseeable end in sight, professor Sal Martigliano said American shoppers should be prepared.“Do your Christmas shopping now,” he said. “Me and my wife have been doing it for our son. We're trying to grab stuff now. I think you're going to need to really be that flexible in what you want to get.”Let the holiday shopping season begin!

Every day, for the past two weeks, Paulina Bownik has driven a 45-mile round trip from her home in Białystok, in northeastern Poland, to the border with Belarus. Bownik, a general practitioner, carries boxes of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories that she hopes to give to 32 Afghans stranded at the border.The group has been there for almost a month, unable to move, as soldiers and border police from both countries stand guard. The camp is located at the edge of a forest near the Polish village of Usnarz Gorny, but Poland says it’s on Belarusian territory. Belarus, on the other hand, says the migrants are on Polish soil.Related: EU's top migration official calls for global response to help Afghans in order to avoid migrant crisis in EuropeOfficials from both countries have told the migrants they should apply for asylum in the opposite nation.On the first day Bownik drove to the camp, Polish border guards stopped her.“I asked the soldiers if I could give them the medicines and they told me that this is not possible. They told me I have to be, like, 15 meters from this camp."Paulina Bownik, doctor, Bialystok, Poland“I asked the soldiers if I could give them the medicines and they told me that this is not possible. They told me I have to be, like, 15 meters from this camp,” she said. Bownik said it’s the same routine every day. Polish security forces surround migrants stuck along with border with Belarus in Usnarz Gorny, Poland, on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021.  Credit: Czarek Sokolowski/AP Human rights activists, journalists and doctors like her come to the camp, but a wall of soldiers keeps them from reaching the Afghans.Sometimes the activists communicate using loudspeakers and the migrants shout back, but Bownik said the guards usually start to sound sirens or turn on engines to drown out the conversation.Related: EU ministers meet to discuss Afghanistan, refugees Photo of Paulina Bownik. Credit: Courtesy of Paulina Bownik Bownik is worried about the migrants’ health. A woman collapsed this week, and the group was unable to revive her for over 40 minutes, she said. When campaigners called an ambulance to assist another migrant, police stopped the vehicle from gaining access.Conditions at the camp are harsh.Marta Górczyńska, a Polish human rights lawyer, said it's the most difficult situation she has witnessed in 10 years of working with refugees.  “It has never happened to me to feel such helplessness, being so close to people that need immediate assistance and not being able to help just because the government is saying that nobody's allowed to access the place where they're camping."Marta Górczyńska, human rights lawyer, Poland“It has never happened to me to feel such helplessness, being so close to people that need immediate assistance and not being able to help just because the government is saying that nobody's allowed to access the place where they're camping,” Górczyńska said. Continuous rain and near-freezing temperatures at night also exacerbate the situation. The migrants say they are struggling to survive. In a video message recorded by one of the Afghans on his mobile phone, and sent to a local human rights group, he said they have barely any food or water.Related: 'We are afraid': An Afghan women's rights activist is left behindA couple weeks ago, the European Court of Human Rights called on Poland to intervene and help the migrants on its borders. The court requested "that the Polish authorities provide all the applicants with food, water, clothing, adequate medical care and, if possible, temporary shelter.”Górczyńska said Poland has refused to agree to the request, saying the migrants are on Belarusian soil, and therefore not its responsibility. A few Belarusian guards have given them some food, she says, but it’s not enough. Migrants stuck along the Poland-Belarus border carry plastic water bottles as they are surrounded by Polish forces in Usnarz Gorny, Poland, on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021.  Credit: Czarek Sokolowski/AP The dispute is not just between Poland and Belarus.Migrants, mainly from Iraq and Afghanistan, are also camped on the Belarusian border with Latvia and Lithuania.The EU has accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of trying to destabilize the European Union by facilitating illegal immigration into the three countries.EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said Lukashenko’s actions were in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the EU on Belarus in June after the brutal crackdown on opposition protesters in the streets. Lukashenko also faced international condemnation following the forced landing of an Athens-Vilnius flight in Minsk in May, and the arrest of an opposition activist on board.In late August, Poland announced plans to build a fence along its entire border with Belarus and double the number of troops stationed there. The country’s Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz said Poland would not let the 32 Afghans stationed near the village of Usnarz Gorny apply for asylum in Poland.Related: Afghan families are being rapidly resettled in the US. But adjusting will take years. "These are not refugees, they are economic migrants brought in by the Belarusian government," he said. Renata Mieńkowska-Norkiene, associate professor at the faculty of political science and international studies, University of Warsaw, said Poland is playing the stand-off to its advantage. The Polish government is using the situation to highlight the EU’s failings on migration, while also appearing to be critical of Russia, she said.It also allows the ruling Law and Justice party to play its anti-immigrant card. The ruling party regularly stokes up nationalistic sentiment to gain voter support, particularly in the lead up to elections. Ahead of the 2015 parliamentary election, party leader Jarosław Kaczyński talked about migrants bringing over “very dangerous diseases” long absent from Europe.The crisis puts opposition parties in Poland in a bind. Donald Tusk, leader of the opposition Civic Platform party and a former prime minister, said the migrants deserve humanitarian assistance but “Polish borders must be tight and well protected.”Mieńkowska-Norkiene said opposition politicians who express support for the migrants, or condemn the Polish government’s intransigence, are in danger of being seen as unpatriotic or pro-Russia.Related: As Afghans flee Taliban rule, some find a temporary new home in Uganda “If the opposition says, look this is a humanitarian problem, we need to help these people, then immediately it's accused of being anti-Polish, or of acting on Putin's side."Renata Mieńkowska-Norkiene, associate professor, political science and international studies, University of Warsaw, Poland  Photo of Renata Mieńkowska-Norkiene. Credit: Courtesy of Renata Mieńkowska-Norkiene “If the opposition says, look this is a humanitarian problem, we need to help these people, then immediately it's accused of being anti-Polish, or of acting on Putin's side,” Mieńkowska-Norkiene said. On Thursday, Polish President Andrzej Duda declared a state of emergency in two provinces near its border with Belarus. It’s the first time the country has made such a declaration since communist times. Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said the action was supported by the local authorities in the region and it was "in the interests of the safety of our citizens, especially the inhabitants of border towns.”Human rights lawyer Górczyńska fears the effect the ruling will have for activists trying to record what’s happening to migrants camped along the border.“We may not be able to enter some of the border zones where other people are being pushed back and then will have no chance to document what's happening there,” Górczyńska said.Doctor Bownik worries how the ruling will affect the mental health of the 32 Afghans camped near Usnarz Górny. “I think we bring them hope,” she said. “They thank us every day for being there.”Bownik said she fears what will happen when there is no one there to keep an eye on the camp and monitor the police.“If we’re not there, I think that Polish police and police soldiers will do whatever they want to those people.”On Thursday night, journalists and activists were told to leave the border area or face a fine and possible arrest.

The UN refugee agency is warning that half a million Afghans could leave their country by the end of the year. But where will people from Afghanistan flee? In Europe, several countries are sending a clear message: Don't come here. Many in Europe don't want a repeat of 2015, when more than a million asylum-seekers, mostly Syrians, arrived on the continent.Related: Women’s shelters in Afghanistan face an uncertain futureEuropean Comissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, Europe's top migration official, is calling for a global response to support Afghans in Afghanistan, in order to avoid a migration crisis in Europe.Usually based in Brussels, Johansson is currently in Washington, DC, where she's been meeting with US officials. She joined The World's host Marco Werman to discuss the EU's plans to avoid another migration crisis like the one in 2015. Related: 'We are so afraid': An Afghan women's rights activist is left behind in AfghanistanMarco Werman: Madam Commissioner, what is the plan EU ministers have come to this week for managing Afghan migration? Ylva Johannson: The most important to avoid a migration crisis is to avoid a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. So we should not wait until a lot of people already have fled the country and may be coming to the European borders. We need to help people, Afghans in Afghanistan. We need to continue with humanitarian aid. The European Commission has decided to quadruple the humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. We need also to put pressure on the new regime of the Taliban to respect at least a core of women's rights and fundamental rights. And it's important also to say that, of course, there are people that are under immediate threat right now in Afghanistan. Many of them have been evacuated by the Western countries, but there are still people that have been fighting for women's rights, women's rights defenders, humanitarian right defenders. This is important that we give international protection to these people through resettlement, and that needs to be a global response. So I spoke a few days ago to Secretary for Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, about this. The US will do resettlement, Canada will do resettlement, UK will do resettlement, and the European Union will do resettlement. And we have to work jointly on this.So, to that first part, what does it look like to provide humanitarian assistance inside Afghanistan right now to prevent that outward migration? The United Nations is still on the ground working there, helping people, for example, the internally displaced people in Afghanistan to go back to their homes. And I think this is important and I think we should make sure that they can continue their work. And also, the European Commission has decided to freeze the development aid to Afghanistan, and to put pressure on the new regime. And we know that the Taliban are saying that they will act differently from the previous time, but we also know what they are capable of. So the important thing is how they will act. Humanitarian assistance on the ground won't be like it was over the past 10 years, I would think.We don't really know yet, but probably it would not be as it has been, of course. But things are changing more or less hour by hour or day by day now. So we need, of course, to prepare for different kinds of scenarios. But my point is that we should not focus on what to do if we have a huge migration crisis. We should try to avoid the migration crisis. That would be the first step. But then, of course, we need to prepare for different scenarios. So, if there is that migration crisis, talk to us next about the plan in the EU to support Afghanistan's neighbors, to take in refugees: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan, specifically. That, of course, needs to be developed together with those countries. And I don't think that is one-size-fits-all. So, it has to be tailored for each country. If there is a huge inflow of migrants coming to their country, then we need to be prepared to help. What about details in this plan? How much would it cost? What are EU leaders ready to offer? And specifically, which of Afghanistan's neighbors could be receiving that money? We are not at that point yet. We have not come up with that. I read that there was a proposed budget of some $600 million. That's not correct. I can't confirm that. It's not correct.So, it is a contingency plan, but it is one being considered by the EU. I mean, hypothetically, we've heard Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan mentioned. If that does turn out to be the case after negotiating with them, do you think countries like those can shoulder the responsibility for hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees?Let's hope that we will not have a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. And of course, nobody wants a situation where a lot of people need to flee their country. So that's why we should not wait until that happens.There are several EU countries, including Greece, Croatia and Hungary, which have been accused time and again of illegally pushing back asylum-seekers trying to make it to the EU. Are you concerned about this happening to Afghans fleeing Taliban control?Well, of course, when I hear reports on illegal pushbacks, violent pushbacks, of course, I'm concerned about that. And I'm convinced that member states, of course, they need to protect and are obliged to protect their external borders. But of course, they are also obliged to comply with fundamental rights in the Geneva Convention.What about Afghans who are already in Europe? I mean, there are thousands of people who are waiting on their asylum applications as we speak. Will their cases be reviewed any differently now, given the situation in Afghanistan?That could be. It's the responsibility for member states. And one issue that I raised is that member states actually differ a lot when it comes to the recognition rate of Afghans applying for asylum. And I call for a more Europeanized assessment of the asylum applications, in general. But now, of course, for the Afghans.From your position in the EU, is it your belief, Ms. Johansson, that the at-risk Afghans in a war that the US started should first and foremost be an American responsibility? I think the US has a responsibility here. And this is what I've been discussing with Alejandro Mayorkas and [the] US is ready to take part of this responsibility. But I think this is also why we call for a global response here, so we have to work together. It's important to have the right combination of giving protection to people in need of international protection to really try to avoid a humanitarian crisis, but also, of course, to manage migration in an orderly way so that we will not repeat the situation from 2015. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

With the Taliban now in power in Afghanistan, many are now wondering how they'll govern and whether the country will once again become a safe haven for terrorist groups like ISIS-K and al-Qaeda.On Thursday, US Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, even said that it's “possible” the US could seek to coordinate with the Taliban on counterterrorism strikes against ISIS and other militants.Related: Chaos in Afghanistan creates power vacuum for ISIS, al-Qaeda to reorganize, counterterrorism expert saysAnd President Joe Biden vowed to continue airstrikes against ISIS after it conducted a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport last week, killing scores of Afghans and 13 American service members.Related: Afghans mourn the loss of young lives in ISIS attacksFor a look at how the different groups are likely to interact in the new Afghanistan, The World's host Marco Werman spoke with Ibraheem Bahiss, a consultant with the International Crisis Group's Asia program, where he focuses on Afghanistan.Marco Werman: Ibraheem, let's start with a question that we all seem to be asking. How different is the Taliban that's taken control in Afghanistan now from the one that ruled Afghanistan from the mid-'90s until they were pushed out of power following the 9/11 attacks?Ibraheem Bahiss: Well, like most political movements, it has learned, adapted and changed over the years. Part of that lesson-learning was that some of the restrictive policies in the 1990s turned them into a pariah state where other countries were unwilling to recognize it or provided with any type of aid. Now, the Taliban is very cognizant of the fact that they need international recognition, as well, as at least investment, if not aid. So, what could all this mean for how the Taliban interact with terror groups operating in Afghanistan? Let's start with ISIS-K, the group that took responsibility for the bombings near the airport that killed the US service members and many Afghans. Who are ISIS-K? What is their goal?ISIS-K, or ISIS Khorasan Province, is the local branch of ISIS. And the moment they emerged, they declared the Taliban to be apostates and foreign spies that were working for the Pakistani intelligence agency. And a brutal war started between the two groups from the get-go. Over the years, due to being pressured, not only by the Taliban, but also by the Afghan government and the US forces and NATO forces that were present in the country, ISIS-K has lost all the little territory it did control at one point in time. But now it still retains significant numbers of sleeper cells in various urban centers, including Kabul, and they are able to activate them to take actions such as they did [at] Kabul airport last week.Right, and the Taliban have said they will not accept this kind of violence. I mean, how will the Taliban's rise to power affect how ISIS-K operates now?Well, even in 2015, when the group first emerged, the Taliban's deputy at the time sent a letter to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was the supposed caliph of ISIS, warning them that, "Look, Afghanistan's a no-go zone. You guys need to stay out of it." So, I expect the Taliban will continue with that approach. Even recently, when the Taliban broke prisons, they released all their own prisoners — they also released common criminals — but they actually killed the former head of ISIS-K in Afghanistan, Abu Omar Khorasani, who was in one of the main prisons in Afghanistan. So, I assume they will continue the same kind of repressive approach when it comes to ISIS-K.How about al-Qaeda? I mean, they did have support from the Taliban. Do al-Qaeda still have a presence in Afghanistan?The relationship between al-Qaeda and [the] Taliban was, I would argue, quite by accident, because the Taliban were a rural movement and al-Qaeda was a Salafist movement. Al-Qaeda harbored global ambitions and the Taliban had always been more confined to national borders. But in the 1990s, as the international community shunned them and they imposed sanctions on them, the Taliban became more and more dependent on some of these militant groups, including al-Qaeda. Right now, they seem to want to do things differently. But again, a lot will depend on how the international community interacts with the new Taliban.The big concern, of course, is that Afghanistan once again becomes a safe haven for these groups to operate, but also to recruit people from outside the country and train them in Afghanistan. Based on what you know today, how likely is that?I would venture a guess and say that the prospects of such a scenario are unlikely for a number of reasons. First of all, al-Qaeda, which is the biggest, rather globally focused organization, has decentralized to a large extent over the last 20 years. They are no longer that group which had a big presence in Afghanistan. Now, their leaders are all over the world. Their number two is presently in Iran. Some of their strongest branches are present in Yemen, for example, in northern Africa. And these are the top leaders of the organization. So the organization is a lot more decentralized and it has had to adopt that posture because of the global "war on terror" and the pressure that the US military has put on the organization. I see it unlikely that they would have incentive to refocus and rebuild in Afghanistan. Even if they did, I would say that the Taliban would be unlikely to welcome such a move. The Taliban have paid quite a heavy cost for their support for al-Qaeda in the 1990s, and I don't think they will be willing to take such a decision very likely this time around.This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is in Washington today for a White House meeting with US President Joe Biden. It's a meeting at least two years in the making.Zelenskiy had plans to sit down with former President Donald Trump, but the meeting was derailed by Trump's impeachment scandal — tied precisely to a phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy.In the infamous call, Trump asked Zelenskiy to investigate Joe Biden.Now, with Biden in office, officials in both countries are looking for a relationship reset.Related: Alexander Vindman: Accountability is key to building back American unityWilliam Taylor, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, joined The World's host Marco Werman to talk about the significance of today's meeting between Ukraine and the United States. Related: US will go 'beyond mere statements' to support Ukraine sovereignty Taylor now serves as vice president of strategic stability and security at the United States Institute of Peace.Marco Werman: Ambassador, you were a key witness in President Trump's impeachment trial. What does a reset look like after an incredibly strange four years in the Ukraine-US relationship?William Taylor: You're right. It was a strange four years, but I wouldn't use the word "reset" for all kinds of reasons. And I say that because the relationship between the United States and Ukraine over the past 20 years has been solid, has been consistent. So, it's not really a reset. It's a reassurance that the support for Ukraine continues.So, going back to a pre-2016 state of affairs, what will Zelenskiy be looking then to get out of this meeting?He'll want to make the case that Ukraine is standing on its own and is a democracy. It's a proud democracy. It's an independent country. It's proud of its independence. It now, of course, has to defend its independence from the Russians, who have invaded and occupied parts of Ukraine. So, President Zelenskiy wants to demonstrate that Ukraine is standing on its own and is a worthy partner.One of the main points of tension in this meeting between Biden and Zelenskiy will certainly be Nord Stream 2, the pipeline project between Russia and Germany, which circumvents Ukraine by way of the Baltic Sea. Where does the US stand on Nord Stream 2?Where the United States stands is in several places. That is, the Congress has been very clear. Congress adamantly opposes Nord Stream 2, for all the reasons that you just said. It is a challenge to Ukrainian security, it's a challenge to European energy security, and therefore it's a challenge to us. So, the Congress is united against Nord Stream. There was a debate within the administration, I understand, and the administration's policy now is to waive the sanctions that Congress said should be imposed on the people, the companies who are building Nord Stream. The Nord Stream benefits go, not really to Germany, I mean, it was Germany that was probably uppermost on the administration's mind when they made that decision, but the real benefits go to Russia. And again, if our worry is a challenge that Russia poses, then Nord Stream helps Russians and doesn't help us.I mean, since it is a challenge to Ukrainian security, this pipeline, why would Ukraine now see the US as a reliable partner, since the US did not step in on Nord Stream 2? There are many aspects, of course, to any relationship between any two countries and allies and strategic partners, in this case, can certainly disagree on things. And Ukraine and the Biden administration disagree on Nord Stream.Yeah, but disagree on something as existential as national energy supplies?I would not put "existential" in that sentence. Nord Stream's important. There's no doubt. That's not existential. It's a couple of billion [dollars] a year in revenues for Ukraine. But it is also, as you point out, it does give the Russians longer-term leverage over Europe and over Ukraine. But existential is too strong. It's important, but existential is the Russian challenge to Ukraine.So, let's go there. The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on since Russia annexed Crimea. That was 2014. What concrete steps do you think Biden and Zelenskiy can take coming out of this meeting to help end that conflict? Or does Russia hold all the cards here, at the end of the day?Russia does not hold all the cards at the end of the day. And there are steps that I am sure that President Zelenskiy and President Biden will talk about. One of the questions that President Zelenskiy is going to ask President Biden this afternoon is, "Will you get involved? Will you help us negotiate the Russians out of our country, out of Ukraine?" And I hope that President Biden will say yes and will engage and bring the weight of the United States' diplomatic efforts to those negotiations — to try to negotiate an end to that conflict on Ukrainian terms.One of the big things, of course, that Russia is suspicious of is Ukraine's desire to join NATO. Should Ukraine be fast-tracked into NATO?Ukraine should not necessarily be fast-tracked into NATO, and I think the Ukrainians know — they're not looking for a shortcut by any means. What they are looking for is a reaffirmation of the promise made to Ukraine — and Georgia, by the way, in 2008, at a NATO summit. They said that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of NATO. That was a promise made in 2008. And so, I think Ukrainians today want to hear some reassurance that that promise is still there and some expectation of how to realize that promise. So, this is an important goal.If Ukraine were fast-tracked into NATO, what do you think the optics of that would do to Russia? How would they react?I guess it's an interesting question. It's not really a relevant question, however. The Russians don't have a veto here. The Russians don't get to choose, don't get to decide, don't get a say in whether a country joins NATO or not. They'll not be happy. They probably weren't happy when Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined NATO. Those are right on their borders, as well. But that's not decisive by any means.Ambassador, listeners will remember you as one of the key people testifying in former President Trump's first impeachment trial because you were, at the time, ambassador to Ukraine. It was a moment where Ukraine felt that it could not necessarily rely on the US because, at the end of the day, the US is focused on itself. What do you think the US has done to change this perception?So, the visit this week of President Zelenskiy goes a long way to demonstrating to Ukraine the closeness of this relationship. When you look at all of the agreements across the government for cooperation and collaboration, this demonstrates that the United States is a strong supporter of Ukraine. It demonstrates that there is a commitment on the part of the United States to a successful Ukraine — economically, politically, democratically and from a security standpoint. So, I think this meeting, which, as you say, is a long-time coming, is more than just a sit down for an hour in the Oval Office. It is a demonstration of a strong connection, support and partnership going both ways. I want to emphasize the both-ways part, because Ukraine brings a lot to the table, but the strong partnership between the United States and Ukraine.This interview was edited and condensed for clarity. 

“We regret to inform you that international military evacuations from Kabul airport have ended.” That’s the grim message many Afghans received via text from US officials this weekend.The news was a gut punch for thousands of Afghan activists, civil society workers and those who assisted the US military and other foreign powers. Many rushed to flee the country when the Taliban took over several weeks ago but remain stranded. Related: Afghan families are being rapidly resettled in the US. But adjusting to their new lives will take years.  Although the Taliban has promised rights for women and those who have opposed them, the hard-handed Taliban rule of the '90s still haunts many Afghans today, making them skeptical of whether those pledges will be fulfilled.Related: 'They're depending on us': Afghan interpreter scrambles to help evacuate colleagues in AfghanistanOne women's rights activist who wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons joined The World's host Marco Werman to talk about what life is like in Kabul, now that the US military has completely withdrawn and the Taliban is in full control.She currently directs an internationally funded women’s project focused on rural development, but she says she's unsure what the future holds for her and her family. Related: Women’s shelters in Afghanistan face an uncertain futureMarco Werman: As you well know, many Afghans, including those who have worked on women’s empowerment projects, did not manage to get on evacuation flight. What’s that experience been like for you — hoping to get out — but not finding a lifeline?Afghan women's rights activist: There was different outreach to us: "Please prepare this form and that form and send this document and that document..." but at the end of the day, no result. I applied for many country's visas. I worked for [the] Canadians, I work for [the] French, and I work for USAID's main office and the US Embassy. But no one [got] back to me [about a] flight. I know many women who are women's right activists. They're still in the country and they are struggling for a situation that may happen to them in the coming weeks and coming days.And you submitted the documents to those embassies in order for evacuation, but you did not hear back from any of them?Yeah, all these countries, they announced internationally that they are supporting women's rights activists. And while I am now currently leading a big [women's] economic empowerment rural development program, that's a $100 million-funded World Bank project they implemented [in the] government of Afghanistan through the Ministry of Women at first.What are you and your family's options now, if any, for getting out of Afghanistan?I think, to go to a third country, preferably a neighboring country. I keep trying and I'm still thinking [positively] for this option. This is like Plan B for me.I'm wondering what sort of future women who have been vocal and upfront about women's issues, what kind of future do you face if you can't get those visas? Oh, this is so sad. When I'm thinking about the future. I couldn't think about my kids, my son, my daughter. I think my country will go back 50 years when women were not allowed to go to work, when girls were not allowed to continue their education, we were not allowed to go out of the home. So, what remains for us? We're human beings and we like freedom, for myself and for my daughter and for my son ... because they have big, big dreams for their future. I have big dreams for their future.Your daughter is entering 12th grade. What is she telling you? Today she was crying. Actually, today it was her birthday. I totally forgot, but my son went and brought a small cake for her and we celebrated so quietly, like, no one was happy. No one joked and it was so, so sad. But I told her, "You will have a chance to continue education."What about your son? I gather he's at Kabul University. Will he continue his education?Yeah, my son is so clever. He is an A+ student at the university. He went to university one day, but the university system all collapsed because the university lecturer left Afghanistan.Well, I hear that a mullah has been appointed the education minister under the Taliban. Are there signs already of a worsening situation for women in education?They put a mullah as a minister of higher education. I was listening to his speech and he was talking about separating girl students from boy students and male-female separate classes at the university. My question is, how could this guy pretend that he can make this situation, because he has not allowed woman lecturers to come to the university? So, what the hell is this? This totally will eliminate women and girl students from the university and, obviously, this is their policy to take aside the women and girl students from the university. This is totally frustrating. What do you see when you turn on the television in Afghanistan these days?This is all dialogue with the Taliban. They talk about their policies. "The people should not be afraid of us, we are human, we are your brothers," and blah, blah, blah. But as long as all people know they did lots of wild actions against the Afghan army, against many families that were under their coverage area ... also, the past 20 years, their attitude toward women, toward the young generation, this is life history. Many people were alive that time and now they are seeing these people back onboard. People cannot forget their attitude against women. And we are so afraid of them.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report.

It starts with the noise. Harsh mechanical sounds like loud screeching. Then, an uncomfortable pressure, a loss of balance like being hit with a beam of energy.All of that can be followed by months — even years — of headaches, nausea, hearing and memory loss.Since 2016, more than 200 US government officials have described feeling some or all of these symptoms and others. It's widely known as "Havana syndrome," since the first cases were detected in the Cuban capital.The number of reported cases of possible attack is sharply growing and lawmakers from both parties, as well as those believed to be affected, are demanding answers. But scientists and government officials aren’t yet certain about who might have been behind any attacks, if the symptoms could have been caused inadvertently by surveillance equipment — or if the incidents were actually attacks.Cuba and other countries where these types of attacks have been reported deny any involvement. Related: More details but no answers in brain trauma cases of US diplomats Retired CIA senior intelligence officer Marc Polymeropoulos has been quite outspoken about Havana syndrome, having experienced many of the symptoms himself. Polymeropoulos, author of "Clarity and Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the CIA," joins The World's host Marco Werman to tell us about his experience with Havana syndrome and what he thinks the US should do about it.Marco Werman: Marc, what happened to you in Moscow in 2017? Marc Polymeropoulos: I made a trip, a routine trip to Moscow in early December 2017. I was a senior official in CIA's clandestine services. And so I made a trip to Moscow, first of all, to see the Embassy and to see our ambassador. And also I wanted to get what we call "area familiarization," which is just the idea of seeing Russia for the first time. I had responsibility over Russia as well as other parts of Europe and Eurasia. So a routine trip, but something that certainly changed my life.Related: US Embassy closure in Iraq would hand Tehran a 'strategic victory' After that incident in Moscow, were you detecting anything in real time? And how soon did you feel symptoms? Do you still feel them today?So, yeah. So it started a really awful and rather remarkable journey. So, it was on the night of Dec. 5, I woke up to a start. I had vertigo. I had a terrible headache, tinnitus, which is ringing in my ears — something really, really traumatic had happened to me. I had been in Afghanistan, and Iraq, and other places. I served over three years after 9/11 in war zones. I've been shot at. I put myself in harm's way. But this was the scariest moment of my life. And so I knew something terrible had happened. I made it through about 10 days with the symptoms on and off. I came back to the United States and then the symptoms got particularly awful. And about March, April of 2018, to the point where I couldn't work anymore. And after really seeing numerous doctors and undergoing just this incredible journey of trying to find out what happened, I, you know, I couldn't drive for a while, I lost my long-distance vision. And so, ultimately, I had to retire from the CIA in July of 2019.Now, I did make it, after quite a public battle to obtain health care, I did make it to Walter Reed's National Intrepid Center of Excellence, which is the US military's premiere facility to treat traumatic brain injury. And so I went there between January, February of this year of 2021. And I do feel remarkably better now to a point where I really can function — and I'm still battling the headaches. I've had a headache for almost four years, but things are much better. Walter Reed gave me tools on how to deal with the TBI that I had and also hope. And so I'm very grateful to the doctors and all the men and women there.Related: Why moving the US embassy to Jerusalem is so controversial Were you able to get the treatment you wanted to receive? I did, but I had to go public with this. It caused a bit of a stink, I must say, with the CIA. But I was basically begging and pleading for health care because I just was not getting that. Ultimately, the agency did not believe that anything had happened to me. But after kind of this public outcry, I did end up — they acquiesced —and I did go to Walter Reed. And it was amazing because Walter Reed diagnosed me officially with a traumatic brain injury [TBI]. There is a new term that the US government is using. It's called an "anomalous health incident" — AHI. And ... they're trying to put something together that doesn't just talk about what happened in Havana, since it's happening now, reportedly, all over the world.Right. Well, since your case in 2017, there have been reported cases in China, Germany, Austria. There was a reported case in Washington, DC, on the White House lawn just last week. Vice President [Kamala] Harris' trip to Vietnam was delayed as a result of another case there. How do you explain all this? I mean, what is your theory about what's causing this anomalous health incident we call Havana syndrome? ...I'm not privy to US government information any longer. And if I was, I probably couldn't talk about it, but to me, it's quite obvious there's an adversary doing this. I think the leading candidate are the Russians because they've had such weapons in our arsenal in the past. But ultimately, this is a weapon designed to terrorize. It's an act of war, in my view. It's a terrible word to use. ... I'm going to say now it's rather brilliant because it's very hard ... to find attribution on who's doing this. It's designed to incapacitate, so it certainly didn't kill me or others, but it takes us off the playing field. I think that we're going to find out what has occurred. CIA Director Bill Burns has put together, as you've seen from the press, a task force made up of some individuals who actually were involved in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. I think the CIA and intelligence community is going to get to the bottom of it. It might take some time, but this is something that has to be done. It's an act of war. It's putting our people overseas in peril and we have to have it stop. Well, I was going to ask you, if we end up with incontrovertible proof that there is a government using a weapon that caused this, where does that leave the US in terms of responding? Well, it's an act of war. It's based on operating [in] what we call now in the national security sphere "the gray zone." So these are activities, it's below ... obviously, a shooting war, but something pretty serious, pretty severe. And we're going to have to respond in a very smart manner, because this is something that is much more than influence operations. It's something that's much more than harassment. This is actually injuring our personnel. And so whatever administration finds out who's behind this is going to have some hard decisions to make. It can't just be sanctions. In my view, it's got to be seen as these are actual attacks — which they are — on US officials, and for the safety of the men and women serving overseas, our response has to be pretty dramatic. Has CIA Director William Burns reached out to you directly or anyone from the Biden administration? I know Bill Burns very well. I have talked to him many times. He has taken a personal interest in my case in terms of my health care and has assured me and he's assured others that we're going to get to the bottom of this. I think he's the right person for this job. I admire him greatly. I think is an excellent leader. And I think, most importantly, he cares for his people. So he understands that we have to get to the bottom of this. So as long as he's there, in that role, I feel pretty good that we're going to make progress.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report. 

As the Taliban take control of Afghanistan, Kurdish allies in northern Iraq — where the US is also planning to draw down its combat forces — are watching with concern.In July, President Joe Biden announced that the US is ending its combat mission in Iraq.The withdrawal will leave Kurds — arguably Washington’s most devoted ally — physically and politically vulnerable. Some Kurds say their lives will be endangered when US troops leave. Related: Kurdish authorities are controlling religious messaging“Yes, we are watching what’s happening in Afghanistan, but we are hoping that the situation in the two countries are different."Falah Mustafa Bakir, senior foreign policy adviser to Nechirvan Barzani, president of Kurdistan region of Iraq“Yes, we are watching what’s happening in Afghanistan, but we are hoping that the situation in the two countries are different,” said Falah Mustafa Bakir, a senior foreign policy adviser to Nechirvan Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.Although the two countries are different, Iraq and Afghanistan share a few similarities — the US invaded both countries after 9/11. In both countries, the US installed a theoretically democratic government and spent billions of dollars training and equipping their armies.But when ISIS made its rampage across Iraq in 2014, thousands of Iraqi troops fled, tossing their uniforms and leaving their US weapons to ISIS.Related: The Kurdish press in Turkey walk a fine lineBakir doesn’t think the US will abandon the Kurds of Iraq. However, he predicts a struggle for influence among regional powers.“And this is not in the interest of Iraq,” Bakir said.Hiwa Osman, a Kurdish analyst and former adviser to Iraq’s president, said that with the US withdrawal from Iraq, better relations with Iran are now crucial.“America — one day it’s in, one day out, one day it's [a] fighting force, the other it’s advisers and trainers. Nobody knows. So if you were an Iraqi, who would you want to be an ally?”Hiwa Osman, Kurdish analyst and former adviser to Iraqi president“America — one day it’s in, one day out, one day it's [a] fighting force, the other it’s advisers and trainers. Nobody knows. So if you were an Iraqi, who would you want to be an ally?” Osman said. Related: Chaos in Afghanistan creates power vacuum for ISIS, al-Qaeda Last month, Kurdish President Barzani traveled to Iran for the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi. The two met and talked about increasing trade and security cooperation. Baranzi even praised Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian general killed by the US in Iraq last year. He also emphasized that the Kurds are part of Iran, and the Islamic revolution, according to a statement from Iran’s president.‘This is not forever’ At a TexMex restaurant inside the gated American Village on the outskirts of Erbil, the Kurds’ defacto capital, waiter Mabast Zaman shares his confusion about the United States.His views seem to mirror wider Kurdish political consciousness.He’s quick to sing America’s praises and dismissed the idea that another ally could take the United States’ place. But Zaman said he was disappointed when the US didn’t support the Kurds' sovereignty bid in 2017.“The reality is they got an advantage from the Kurds, but the Kurds haven't got any advantage from them..."Mabast Zaman, waiter, Senorita TexMex restaurant, Erbil, Iraq Mabast Zaman is a waiter at Senorita TexMex restaurant, Erbil, Iraq.  Credit: Rebecca Collard/The World  “The reality is they got an advantage from the Kurds, but the Kurds haven't got any advantage from them. They are here because their interest is here … and this is not forever. … and everybody knows that. But I still love them.”

The family’s new apartment is on the second floor of a mazelike, lower-income complex in a suburb of Sacramento, California.It’s barely furnished, but bit by bit, it’s becoming home. A vacuum cleaner stands next to two donated mattresses, leaning against a wall.“We haven’t gotten the beds yet. No worries. For now, we are managing.”Afghan father in Sacramento, California“We haven’t gotten the beds yet,” the father said. “No worries. For now, we are managing.” Donated mattress and a tricycle are among the items slowly arriving at a newly arrived Afghan family’s apartment in Sacramento, California.  Credit: Monica Campbell/The World  Just days before Kabul fell to the Taliban, the family in Sacramento — mom and dad and their 2-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son — managed to fly out of Afghanistan after the father received a Special Immigrant Visa based on his work for the US military.Related: How to help Afghans right now Because of ongoing threats by the Taliban against the family, they asked not to use their names.Many of the newcomers helped the United States’ military and have applied for or received a Special Immigrant Visa (SIVs). The SIV program was created by Congress to allow local allies in Iraq and Afghanistan, who are threatened by groups like the Taliban, to resettle in the US.Other arriving Afghans are part of a broader at-risk group — ranging from extended family members of SIV recipients to human rights activists — who can reportedly request humanitarian parole, a rapid way to temporarily enter the US with permission, an option used to evacuate people at the end of the Vietnam War.Among the groups spearheading efforts to support Afghan refugees once they land in the US are refugee resettlement agencies and Afghan American groups.Related: Chaos in Afghanistan creates power vacuum for ISIS, al-Qaeda to reorganize, counterterrorism expert says“Our mission is to get you somewhere to live, get you enrolled in a jobs program, and get your first couple of months' rent and utilities paid,” said Vanassa Hamra, with World Relief Sacramento, part of a larger refugee resettlement agency.That is often the path for many refugees resettled in the US: They receive federal help with housing, enrolling kids in school and finding work. Those benefits can run out, however, within a year, so having affordable rent is critical once refugees are on their own. Boxes arrive at the door of a World Relief Sacramento employee. Donations are arriving quickly to the refugee resettlement agency. The boxes are filled with everything from kitchen supplies to bedding, items needed to help furnish newly arrived Afghan refugees’ homes.   Credit: Courtesy of World Relief Sacramento It is also unclear how many Afghans the US will ultimately receive. Tens of thousands are en route or have just landed at US military bases. Many helped America’s military, but the US is also now evacuating a much larger group of at-risk Afghans. Traditionally, resettlement groups have had far more time to prepare for newcomers. But not now.Related: Taliban have acquired an 'overwhelming amount of potential weaponry,' global security expert saysChances to help those hoping to join the evacuation are fading fast. More European allies and other nations were ending their airlifts Friday, in part to give the US time to wrap up its own operations and get 5,000 of its troops out by the Aug. 31 deadline.In an emotional speech Thursday night, US President Joe Biden vowed to complete the evacuation and hunt down the ISIS militants responsible for the suicide attack on Thursday that killed well over 100 Afghans and 13 US service members. The group’s Afghanistan affiliate is far more radical than the Taliban fighters who seized power less than two weeks ago in a lightning blitz across the country.The US warned more attacks could come ahead of Biden's fast-approaching deadline to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan by Tuesday.The Taliban have said they will allow Afghans to leave via commercial flights after the US withdrawal, but it remains unclear which airlines would return to an airport controlled by the militants.Many others will try to escape over land borders. The UN refugee agency said a half-million people or more could flee in a worst-case scenario in the coming months.Related: How the Kabul airport went from calm to chaosUntold numbers of Afghans, especially ones who had worked with the US and other Western countries, are now in hiding, fearing retaliation despite the group’s offer of full amnesty.‘They were knocking’Like many other Afghans, the father in Sacramento waited several years for the visa. Already, the father said the Taliban have gone to their home in Kabul, perhaps looking for him.“They came to our gate,” the father said. “They were knocking.”He said his mom told the armed group there were no men inside and they went away.Threats like that are keeping the couple awake at night in California. The mom, 27, is also worried about how life is changing for the women she knows back home.“My sisters and friends can’t leave the house. They can’t go and walk to the bazaars.”Afghan mother in Sacramento, California“My sisters and friends can’t leave the house,” she said, speaking Pashto. “They can’t go and walk to the bazaars.”And she can’t reach out to her friends to see how they are doing because only a few people know she’s left Afghanistan.“Only our immediate family knows that we are here,” she said, looking down and touching the Persian rug she’s sitting on. It’s deep red and elegant. A newly arrived Afghan family, now in Sacramento, California, is slowly furnishing their apartment. A family friend, also from Afghanistan and now living in Sacramento, too, gave them a Persian rug.   Credit: Monica Campbell/The World It reminds her of home, she said. A family friend who also left Afghanistan a few years back and now lives in Sacramento bought them the rug and a TV.One new prized possession: a slightly worn, steel pressure cooker. It’s tinier than the one the family had back in Afghanistan.“In our culture, in our tradition, families are not three or six members. My family has 17 members,” the father said.Back in Kabul, they all lived next to each other and ate communally.Adjusting to family separations that may last years are among the many changes facing thousands of Afghans arriving in the US. Many will head to parts of the country with Afghan American communities, the largest in California, followed by Virginia, Texas, New York, Washington and Maryland, according to census figures.Resettlement agencies across the country say that they must ramp up fast to meet refugees’ needs.To hear more about The World's report on Aug. 27 about resettlement in the US, click the audio player below.  “This effort is very much building the plane as we're flying it,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, who leads Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a resettlement agency based in Baltimore, Maryland.Vignarajah said it is unclear how many Afghans will ultimately arrive in the US in the coming months.“Honestly, at this point, what we're going to be relying on are private donations, in-kind contributions, people who are willing to open up their homes to these individuals,” Vignarajah said.Big donors and volunteers are key because refugee resettlement agencies are just barely recovering from the hits during the Trump administration, when the number of refugees allowed into the US was cut to historic lows.Afghan American organizations are also taking the lead.“We can speak the language. We understand some of the cultural nuances, just the openness of just being Afghan and understanding those aspects.”Aisha Wahab, city council member and interim mayor, Hayward, California“We can speak the language. We understand some of the cultural nuances, just the openness of just being Afghan and understanding those aspects,” said Aisha Wahab, a city council member and interim mayor of Hayward, a city east of San Francisco and a major Afghan American hub.Wahab is also among the first Afghan Americans elected to office in the US.“Afghans have come to this country as refugees for nearly half a century,” Wahab said. “There's not a single Afghan generation that has been alive today that has not been affected by war directly or indirectly.”She has been flooded with Afghan Americans offering to help, including people ready to make big commitments, such as Nurges Gheyaszada, a licensed mental health therapist who lives in the Bay Area.She has taken a leave of absence from her job to help newly arriving Afghan refugees. Her family left Afghanistan in the late 1980s, when Gheyaszada was just an infant. She hopes to meet families soon after they arrive and offer her services, “kind of treading lightly and not pushing it.”She said that she wants to recognize the trauma people are experiencing and to know that “we are here to listen to you.”Gheyaszada does worry that support for refugees will fade once Afghanistan is no longer the top news story.“That's when the real fight starts, where we need to continue this momentum as Afghan Americans,” she said.Hopes for the future  In Sacramento, the local Afghan community — those who have resettled here over the years and know how difficult these first days can be — has advice for the newly arrived family. A newly arrived Afghan woman is now safe in the United States, after fleeing Afghanistan. Only her immediate relatives know she has left. Her husband worked with US military forces and she fears Taliban reprisals.   Credit: Monica Campbell/The World  Local Afghans tell him: “Don’t be sad. You will be good in the future,” the father recalled. “You will have your own house. And all the things will be great.”While the couple spoke, their two kids played. Their son pedaled a donated red tricycle down the short hallway. He will start kindergarten soon. His little sister watched an Afghan music video on her dad’s phone. That phone also has messages from her father’s former co-workers — who are now scrambling to leave Afghanistan themselves — trying to enter the Kabul airport.The father thinks the US could have withdrawn from Afghanistan in a better way: “The US government could prevent this situation that is happening right now. It could be managed better.”He also adds feeling guilty being in the US.“I’m very lucky that I am here, safe. But sometimes, I think that I made a big mistake.”Afghan father in Sacramento, California“I’m very lucky that I am here, safe,” he said. “But sometimes, I think that I made a big mistake.”It was his job in Afghanistan that has put his family in danger, he said. And now he is in the US and his family remains at risk in Afghanistan.“It would be better to be by their side, whatever happens.”Then, he remembers how his life felt increasingly under threat as the Taliban gained power. He started switching up his route to work — to avoid being followed. He stopped seeing friends as much and quit exercising outdoors.Here in California, they feel freer. In the evenings, the family goes for walks in a nearby park, also frequented by Afghan American families. The children run around, something they no longer felt safe doing back home.“The life we were living, that was not life.” 

China has announced that the political ideology of its president, Xi Jinping, will now be taught in schools from elementary through the university level. The Ministry of Education said the goal is to cultivate the builders and successors of socialism with an all-around moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic grounding. What's known as "Xi Jinping Thought" has actually been enshrined in China's constitution since 2018.Related:  Taliban takeover could mean more security challenges for Chinese projects in PakistanIt includes caution against China's enemies. The move comes amid global tensions with Beijing, economically and politically. US Vice President Kamala Harris criticized China during her recent Southeast Asia tour, stemming from both countries' territorial ambitions in the South China Sea.Related: Southeast Asia allies express concern over US commitment amid Afghanistan crisisFrançois Godement is the author of "Les Mots de Xi Jinping" or "The Words of Xi Jinping." He's also a senior adviser for Asia at the Institut Montaigne in Paris. He spoke with The World's host Marco Werman about the new curricula. Marco Werman: François, is there a way to summarize what Xi Jinping Thought is?François Godement: Well, not easily, because it's a mixture of sometimes very personal aphorisms. But at the other extreme, it's literally a handbook on governance. Xi Jinping is a micromanager who touches just about every subject. There are already six volumes of his so-called works and speeches since he's come to power. At other times, it's very combative. As you said, it's very moral. And there's a mixture of Marxist communist ideology — sometimes bordering on a return to Maoism — but also conservative morals, which is much more akin to traditional China. And, of course, Xi Jinping's talent is to mix both in a kind of educative group that he has already imposed on the rest of the population.So, when Xi Jinping introduced this in 2017, it was a 3 1/2-hour speech at a party congress. It was called "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era." What was the message for you that came through at the time?At the time, it wasn't as distinctive as it is now, because he has really branched out, and we now have also collections of his speeches at various places and various times. It's become more and more militant. It's obsessed with struggle. It's both class struggle, but struggle also with China's external enemies. I think in 2017, it was still a kind of cultural ideology that was quite compatible with what his predecessors have said.Were you surprised then by today's news that Xi Jinping Thought will now be part of the Chinese school curriculum?Not at all, because it has already spread through society. For example, there are several apps that broadcast Xi Jinping's thoughts and allow people also to literally train in memorizing and repeating them and using them. And these apps are downloaded hundreds of millions of times. They are Xi Jinping Thought centers in just about every university and institute. There is a Xi Jinping Thought center, for example, at the institute affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So, extending it to kids, who, in any case, are of course submitted to propaganda in their history and ideological courses, is not a surprise. Xi Jinping is really now taking a frontrow seat on just about every ground in preparation for the party congress of 2022, which would extend most likely his reign beyond two terms.So, what kinds of things will pupils and students be actually taught? Like, give us a sample of the ideas that Xi Jinping believes in.He believes in morals and anti-corruption. He believes in the power of will. It's an ideology that's focused on volunteerism. In that sense, it distinguishes itself from what you could call traditional Marxism and materialism. It's much closer to Mao Zedong, in fact. It makes a definite distinction between friends and enemies, it's absolutely central.And how does Xi distinguish from friends and enemies?I think the criteria is socialism and Chinese nationalism. So, even though he has an undertone sometimes about criticism, criticism is correct, for example, if it unmasks enemies. But you've got to watch out with criticism, so anybody who has a free mind is likely to be targeted. And one aspect of Xi Jinping is that he's very versatile. For example, during his ascent to power, he actually courted private entrepreneurs, and even foreign enterprises, because it suited him. It was the language of the time. And also, as a provincial leader, he needed these guys to have a better economic record. Now he's leading an onslaught against them, starting with the Chinese entrepreneurs and probably going on to foreign enterprises as well, slowly diminishing their role. And that is very close to Mao as well, who can, as you say, turn around on a dime.So, you've made the Mao comparison a few times. Xi Jinping Thought as an actual volume. It feels so much like Mao's "Little Red Book." But is that a fair comparison, or is Xi Jinping Thought more like a throwback to Chinese emperors laying down the law in a Draconian way?I think it's a bit of both. Ubiquity reminds one of the Cultural Revolution from when the "Little Red Book" was printed with hundreds of millions of copies and people waved it. But again, it's also a compendium for governance. And in that he emulates traditional emperors. A real characteristic of Xi Jinping is that he really fills all available space.Do you think the Chinese take Xi Jinping Thought seriously or are they just going through the motions?You know, it's always very difficult to guess people's minds and obviously there are no reliable opinion polls, and nobody is going to freely tell you what they think. The more you get to have contact with the people we know, who tend to be public intellectuals or experts, not the common people whom we seldom meet, the more you can see there is skepticism and there's probably hatred of Xi Jinping by the people who have suffered, if only because of the fight against corruption or because of the fights inside the party and the total dominance that he's established. For the common people, I would suggest they are very fatalistic about political power. Xi Jinping is very distant to them. They appreciate probably the order that is being kept. Order is very important in China and levels of income that would keep rising — it's his insurance policy.This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report.

After a week of anticipation — and some confusion — 51 evacuees from Afghanistan arrived in Uganda on Wednesday morning.It’s the first group of an expected 2,000 people who could be hosted by the East African country in the coming months.In the capital, Kampala, the arrival of Afghans has become the talk of the town.Related: After Museveni wins presidency, Ugandans gradually return to preelection normal“I heard a lot on social media that there will be refugees from Afghanistan. For all this time, we’ve been waiting,” said Peter Anyole, who works in logistics.Many Ugandans were surprised when the government announced last week that they would be hosting Afghans. After all, the two countries have little connection to one another.“We received a request about whether we can temporarily accommodate these Afghan brothers and sisters as they get documented and prepared to be eventually taken to the US for settlement there."Chris Baryomunsi, Ugandan Minister of Information“We received a request about whether we can temporarily accommodate these Afghan brothers and sisters as they get documented and prepared to be eventually taken to the US for settlement there,” explained Uganda’s Minister of Information, Chris Baryomunsi, during a press conference on Tuesday.Related: How the Kabul airport went from calm to chaosUganda is one of several countries that had agreed to assist the United States in a rushed and chaotic effort to evacuate Afghans, after their country was taken over by the Taliban.Those arriving in Uganda include at-risk Afghans and foreign nationals who are temporarily staying in hotels.Nongovernmental organizations including International Rescue Committee and Mercy Corps will be assisting with food, health care, and other services.“For those of you who are not Ugandans, it is Ugandan culture that, once you are at home, and someone comes running for safety, usually we open our doors,” Baryomunsi said. Indeed, Uganda hosts the largest number of refugees in Africa, mostly from neighboring South Sudan. It’s also the fourth-largest refugee-hosting country in the world, according to the United Nations refugee agency.Related: International flights resume in East AfricaMany Ugandans who The World interviewed agreed it was important to welcome those fleeing conflict.“We have to help them, because the conditions in their country are not good."Shamim Nangendo, university student“We have to help them, because the conditions in their country are not good. So, we have to help them,” university student Shamim Nangendo said. Others wanted more information about the arrangement and what it could mean for Ugandans.“It’s not bad to welcome someone as refugees. But Uganda, as a country, they have to look for a specific place for where they can keep those people,” construction worker Stephen Awekonimungu said. Related: This Afghan interpreter helped the US Army Special Forces. He’s desperate to get out of Afghanistan.“And they should not forget [to take] care of Ugandan people,” he said, noting how many Ugandans continue to struggle with poverty.Some of his colleagues expressed some concerns over how the security situation with the Taliban could impact Ugandans.Under the previous Taliban regime, Afghanistan became a safe haven for groups like al-Qaeda, which staged deadly attacks in East Africa.Still, they said if the government takes care of security concerns, they are happy to welcome Afghans.“They are most welcome to come to Uganda, because you never know, tomorrow it might be us.”Dennish Erem, construction worker“Because they are also human beings like us,” said another construction worker named Dennish Erem. “They are most welcome to come to Uganda, because you never know, tomorrow it might be us.”

As the US continues to execute its exit from Afghanistan while trying to secure the Kabul airport, counterterrorism experts are warning that the threat of terrorism is rising.United States President Joe Biden mentioned ISIS-K, or ISIS-Khorasan Province, an affiliate group that operates in Afghanistan, in his remarks on Tuesday. "Every day we're on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport, and attack both US and allied forces, and innocent civilians," Biden said. Related: In the wake of ISIS, Kurdish authorities are controlling religious messaging Will Afghanistan become a safe haven for terrorist groups, like ISIS?Matthew Levitt, director of counterterrorism and intelligence at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, joined The World's host Marco Werman to discuss potential threats. Marco Werman: The situation is changing on the ground in Afghanistan very quickly. But given what you have been seeing and reading, do you believe that Afghanistan will become a safe haven for terrorist groups?Matthew Levitt: The possibility is very strong given that we're going to have both a weak government and a government that has close ties to elements of al-Qaeda. Add to that the fact that there is an element of ISIS, ISIS Khorasan, that is there. The Taliban don't like them. But as we're seeing with the effort to evacuate people through Kabul airport and the threats of ISIS suicide bombers coming into Kabul, the fact that the Taliban doesn't and probably won't for a very, very long time, if ever, have control over all of the city, let alone all of the country, there will be an element of a safe haven — even for groups that the Taliban doesn't like, to use Afghanistan as a base from which to operate and carry out terrorist attacks there or abroad.  Al-Qaeda is still alive. ISIS, as well. You mentioned ISIS-K, the branch of ISIS that President Biden mentioned in his comments on Tuesday, ISIS-Khorasan. Who are they and how are they different from ISIS in Syria and ISIS in Iraq? ISIS has branches or provinces in different places. The two most relevant for Afghanistan are ISIS Khorasan and elements of al-Qaeda, in particular, in South Asia. ISIS Khorasan has not been particularly capable. It's off in Afghanistan. It was operating in a place that was denied space, both because you had US and coalition forces there and the Taliban were against them. But now the coalition is no longer there. The Taliban is not as strong and is distracted by many other things it needs to do. And so that's going to give an opportunity for even a group like ISIS-K to reorganize itself, and all it needs is some successful attack, like a suicide bombing at the gates of the airport where there's chaos and havoc, to put itself back on the map.Related: Afghans mourn the loss of young lives in ISIS attacks  Doesn't the Taliban, in order to run their new government with legitimacy, don't they need to stamp out these groups? They do. And I think they understand that. And there are reports the Taliban is trying to prevent ISIS from being able to carry out attacks. That doesn't mean that they will be capable. So on the one side of the ledger, we have groups that even the Taliban doesn't like, but that will be able to use the relative vacuum that we're seeing in Afghanistan now to their advantage. And then even more so those groups that the Taliban does have long-standing relationships with, like al-Qaeda, which exist across many different provinces in Afghanistan, according to the latest UN report; that is a concern, that al-Qaeda, which has been comparatively quiet compared to ISIS over the past few years, could find an opportunity to rebuild not only in Afghanistan, but by virtue of the perceived success of jihad in Afghanistan, getting a boost elsewhere around the world, as well.Related: Taliban have acquired an 'overwhelming amount of potential weaponry,' global security expert says I mean, I have to take a little sidebar here, and just ask you, I mean, you've just illustrated the presence of these militant groups, these terrorists. Do you agree with the decision to leave Afghanistan fully? I think that we need a shift in how we understand what we're using our forces around the world for. And we need to shift away from a Cold War mentality — that it's about victory and defeat — and move toward an understanding that's more about something short of war, something short of peace. In certain places, we're going to need a small number of forces to keep bad things at bay. And I think that with 2,500 US forces and an equal number of NATO forces, we could have stayed with minimal risk, and we could have kept things stable. That doesn't mean making Afghanistan a stable country or a Jeffersonian democracy, but we could have kept bad actors from taking over a country. I think that we would have been better off not withdrawing as we did, and I think that we would have been much better off not carrying out the decision the way it was carried out. The havoc at the airport is a crisis of our own making.With this reality on the ground in Afghanistan and with the US exit, what intelligence will the US actually have on these groups? How will Washington monitor them? With difficulty. You've heard the phrase "over the horizon" counterterrorism capabilities and such capabilities do exist, but they are not what you really want to be doing. When you have to fly drones from Qatar, that takes a while for that drone to get there, it's using up a lot of gas, it can't fly over the air of Afghanistan for as long. You won't have that kind of coverage that you once had. You're not going to be able to run the human sources that you did if you're not on the ground in any way, the same way. Puts tremendous pressure on groups like the NSA, which are doing signals intelligence and against a target that isn't using high-tech signals intelligence as much as some others. So, we're not going to totally go dark, but the lights are going to dim in a very, very significant way. And I can tell you from my own conversations with US counterterrorism officials, there's a tremendous concern that not today or tomorrow or next week, but at some point in the not-too-distant-future, someone could be planning something — even against the homeland — and we won't be in a position to know about it because we've become accustomed to being able to rely on the type of collection in Afghanistan that we no longer have. You've worked on counterterrorism efforts for years in various roles since 9/11. What have the last couple of weeks meant to you?They've been painful. I worked on 9/11 at the FBI. This feeling that 20 years have gone by and trillions of dollars and most importantly, lives lost. And we're back to a situation where the Taliban are going to control the country and where terrorist groups of different stripes are going to have relative safe haven is painful. It's also true that today is not 20 years ago, and the other counterterrorism initiatives that we've put in place over 20 years are significant. We are not as at risk of a spectacular attack like Sept. 11 today, the way we were back then. But I'm concerned about the implications of this withdrawal and the hastiness of this withdrawal and the optics of what it means for jihadist groups and other terrorist groups, right-wing extremists, as well, around the world, who are looking at this and saying, "Well, maybe America is a little bit more of a paper tiger than we thought."This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

China is ratcheting up aggression toward Taiwan by buzzing the island with fighter jets and bombers every single week.As Beijing sees it, Taiwan is a lost province that must eventually come under its control. Yet, Taiwan has its own elected government, military and alliances, most notably with the US, which supplies the island with billions in weapons.Whether the United States would go to war to defend Taiwan is an open question.Related: Southeast Asia allies express concern over US commitment amid Afghanistan crisisLast week, President Joe Biden suggested it would. His office scrambled to say he had misspoken. There is no getting around it: Any genuine invasion of Taiwan would have severe implications upon the island’s 23 million population as well as the future of the American empire.The World’s Patrick Winn spoke with Kolas Yotaka, a former Taiwanese legislator who is now a spokeswoman for the Taiwan presidential office, about the situation.Patrick Winn: Chinese state media is pointing to Afghanistan and saying, "Hey, look, Taiwan, the US can’t protect you. You could end up like Afghan leaders, flying away on helicopters." What do you make of that?Kolas Yotaka: I think they are completely different situations. A lazy comparison between Taiwan and Afghanistan ignores the reality in both countries. And shows little regard for the immense human suffering facing many in Afghanistan today.Related: Harris' Asia trip carries new urgency after Afghan collapseWell, here are some recent headlines: The New York Times has “Is Taiwan Next?” The Washington Post says, “Risk of War With Taiwan Is Growing.” Forbes says, “The Invasion Will Defy Human Comprehension.” I mean, to read this stuff, you would think war is coming next week. Is that how it feels to your government?  The threats have been there for decades. So actually, we have experienced similar threats many times. So for us, none of this is new. The point is: We are prepared. We have self-defense. That’s the most important thing.Related: Taliban takeover could mean more security challenges for Chinese projects in PakistanBut on a day-to-day basis, is your government sitting around all day talking about war?No, no. We are not saying it’s not happening. Actually, we are pretty aware of this. I mean, Taiwanese people want peace. But we know the risk of conflict is always there.You are not anti-China?We are not anti-China at all. We want equal dialogue and peaceful interaction with China. Without any precondition. We want to get along with everyone, to cooperate on many issues: health, climate change, technology. Actually, we have a strong commercial and cultural exchange with China, people to people. No one wants to see the relationship get worse for political reasons. But this is Beijing’s decision to make. Beijing has said Taiwan that formally calling itself an independent country would be grounds for war. Is Taiwan an independent country?Of course. We are a sovereign and independent country already. Because we have elections, a president, a military, a judiciary. Obviously, Taiwan’s independence is a fact.We are not afraid of using the word “independent.” OK. But changing the constitution to say that — to say Taiwan is independent — that would be a big deal, right? Yeah, but it’s a decision for people to make. Only Taiwanese can decide. On Twitter, you said China is like a noisy neighbor. They are pretty noisy! Actually, they threaten their neighbors. But that’s the neighbor we are living with. Taiwan is becoming one of the freer places in Asia, with more rights for media, more LGBTQ rights. What is your role as an island in a region that’s becoming more authoritarian? Taiwan is very different from China. Culturally, historically. So, we want to be ourselves. I think that’s how the majority of Taiwanese people feel. I do hope other countries can see this part of Taiwan. People may even notice your name, Kolas, is not a Han Chinese name. Some people think just about everyone in Taiwan is ethnically Chinese, people fleeing Communist victory on the mainland in the late 1940s. But you are from an Indigenous group called Amis, is that correct?  In Taiwan, we call ourselves Pangcah. Known as Amis. And Austronesian Indigenous peoples make up 2.4% of Taiwan’s population, more than half a million. Like what you just said, we are not Han Chinese. We have been living here for thousands of years.There are 16 different recognized Indigenous peoples [in Taiwan] speaking 16 different languages, which have relations to other Pacific cultures in places like the Philippines, New Zealand, Hawaii. We have different cultures. For example, my people, Pangcah, are matriarchal, whereas Chinese culture is very patriarchal.This often gets erased when people say Taiwan is culturally Chinese. Actually, we are very mixed. I want to ask about the US. What does your government ultimately want from the US?The US has been supportive of Taiwan. We are grateful. We’d love to see the US continue to support Taiwan’s participation in international bodies. Like the WHO [World Health Organization] and other UN [United Nations] agencies … cooperation between Taiwan and the US has been growing. Taiwan can contribute more than people realize.The US has helped us enhance our capabilities. But ultimately, we know it is up to us to defend our country. But does Taiwan need the US to remain independent?Yeah, yeah. I think we need US support. We need to make progress. And we have to get better. And we can be better together.This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The United States is slated to get a new military base — this time in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Last month, during high-level talks in Honolulu, the US Indo-Pacific Command and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) agreed to build a new base in the island nation, an archipelago of more than 600 islands strewn across the Western Pacific, some 3,700 miles from Hawaii. The move is seen as another component of the Biden administration’s continued effort to increase its footprint in Oceania. However, details about the base, so far, are scarce, causing anxiety for some FSM citizens who are worried about disruptions to their way of life, and wary about the idea of American military expansion in the region.Related: The pandemic wiped out tourism on Pacific island nationsSam Illesugam, 41, has lots of questions about the new military base: How big? What kind of base?“All of those questions are still very much up in the air for us,” Illesugam told The World. Illesugam, who now lives and works in the US territory of Guam, still has siblings and other family back in Yap, one of the Federated States of Micronesia’s four states.“Any time there is a sudden change to the land, you affect our identity as Native islanders..."Sam Illesugam, from Yap, Micronesia, currently living in Guam“Any time there is a sudden change to the land, you affect our identity as Native islanders,” he said. “This will alter the social landscape of our islands. Our islands are very, very small. Any type of changes to our lifestyle will greatly affect us.”Illesugam is also uneasy with the idea of an increased US military presence in the Pacific. Ongoing land disputes on Guam and heightened tensions with locals over the heavy US military presence on Okinawa have put him and others “on alert.”‘Part of the homeland’The US military’s record in the Pacific is as checkered as it is long.From colonization of the Philippines to nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, Washington has given locals plenty of reasons for pause.Today, US Indo-Pacific Command already has some 375,000 military and civilian personnel working across the Asian Pacific.The Federated States of Micronesia did not respond to The World’s questions about how, or if, they plan to incorporate the public. But President David W. Panuelo clearly stated that the agreement he made to build the new military base was in the interest of his people.In particular, their security interests, which are guaranteed by a very special relationship with Washington.“The Freely Associated States are squarely part of the homeland, and so, we’re being protected by the United States,” Panuelo told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation after his meetings in Hawaii.The Compacts of Free Association are special, bi-lateral agreements FSM, Palau and The Marshall Islands have each struck with Washington.Established in the 1980s, these agreements are renegotiated every few years, and through them, the three nations have received hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.Related: Western nations bulk up their Pacific presence to counter ChinaSatu Limaye, vice president of the East-West Center, said there's also a crucial military component to the agreements, which allows citizens to join the US military.“The most recent version of the Compact of Free Association requires the United States to defend the FSM and gives it the right to use facilities, bases, sites."Satu Limaye, vice president, East-Wester Center“The most recent version of the Compact of Free Association requires the United States to defend the FSM and gives it the right to use facilities, bases, sites,” he said.Limaye said that being legally obligated to the US military as a sole defender puts these states in a very unique position.“FSM, like other countries in the region, is straddling or managing its relations both with China and the United States, as China is increasingly active there,” he said.Preparing for China’s military capabilities Beijing has had diplomatic relations with the Federated States of Micronesia for more than 30 years. So far, there’s been no real reaction about their forthcoming base. The two nations engage in millions of dollars in trade annually, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.President Panuelo told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that in managing his relationships with the US and China, FSM interests come first. “And so, the posturing of the United States and our country is not looking for confrontation, but rather looking at deterrence and making sure peace exists in our vast Pacific Ocean,” he said. Related: Philippine president reverses threat to void defense deal with the USStill, Washington is increasingly concerned about armed conflict with China, according to Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst with the RAND Corporation.“They [China] have a growing range to deploy these capabilities against US interests in the Pacific. ... That’s ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, bombers, surface fleets, as well as submarine assets.”Derek Grossman, senior defense analyst, RAND Corporation“They have a growing range to deploy these capabilities against US interests in the Pacific,” Grossman said. “That’s ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, bombers, surface fleets, as well as submarine assets.”Over the last decade or so, China has made significant inroads into the Pacific by scaling up, not just economic involvement, but also its aid, and diplomatic and commercial activity in the region.The Compact of Free Association States have not been immune to Beijing’s growing influence, according to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.By establishing new military sites in the Pacific, the US gains access to new locations from which to potentially engage in future armed conflict with Beijing. But the downside is that these places are much further away from the US, Grossman said.The Federated States of Micronesia, for example, is nearly 3,700 miles from Hawaii. And this, Grossman said, will likely make it more difficult for the US to project its influence on the people in the region.Freelance writer Alex J. Rhowuniong is an FSM-born US military veteran living in Guam. The Chuuk State, Micronesia native says he would like to see a military base built in FSM.He can understand the hesitation, but for a military mind, “a no-active-military-presence zone is not a safe zone at all,” he wrote in an email to The World.Rhowuniong noted that a military base in FSM would be both good for the local economy, as well as for the thousands of veterans scattered throughout the nation.“If the US military does not establish a presence on FSM now, the enemy just might during military conflict,” he said.

As the Taliban advanced on Kabul last weekend, the Afghan military retreated. They left behind weapons — combat aircraft, armored vehicles, machine guns and ammunition.Much of it had been provided by the US.Related: How the Kabul airport went from calm to chaos On Monday, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the US does not want to see any US-made weapons fall into the hands of what he called "people that would use them to harm our interests." Related: This Afghan interpreter helped the US Army Special Forces. He's desperate to leave Afghanistan."I don't have an exact inventory of what equipment that the Afghans had at their disposal that now might be at risk," Kirby said. Jodi Vittori, a former US Air Force officer who served in Afghanistan, has a unique perspective on what this could mean for Afghanistan.Vittori now co-chairs the global politics and security program at Georgetown University and she joined The World's Carol Hills to talk about how the Taliban might use weaponry left behind by Afghan Security Forces. Related: US biometric devices are in the hands of the Taliban. They could be used against Afghans who helped coalition forces. Carol Hills: How significant is this weaponry?Jodi Vittori: We're not 100% certain how much equipment the Taliban have acquired because we haven't always taken terrific accountability of what equipment went where, at what times, particularly when it came to small arms. We have a better idea with aircraft. And what is the situation with the aircraft that was left over? A number of American aircraft flew to Uzbekistan and so did, of course, the pilots and the aircrew associated with them. But the Taliban have captured some American-made and other aircraft. We know that because they've shown pictures of them. Some of those aircraft were not operational at the time, however. And we do have reports that the Taliban are looking for aircraft pilots and aircraft maintainers that might be able to get that back into the air.Is there a possible scenario where the Taliban could coerce US-trained pilots still in Afghanistan to fly the remaining aircraft? Absolutely. I could see plenty of possibilities of being able to coerce pilots, unfortunately, not only threatening pilots with their own lives, but the lives of their families. We see continuing reports of the Taliban, for example, the blacklist, saying that if certain people don't turn themselves in to the Taliban, they will punish the families. So, they are certainly more than willing to do that. I can imagine they would be willing to do similar with pilots, as well. And, you know, if you're the pilot and your family members are being threatened, that's ... a hard thing to turn down. But bottom line, as somebody who served in the Air Force, is your sense that the Taliban don't instantly have an air force of their own. They need either other people or parts to make it work?Yes. They're going to need support of those former helicopter pilots and so forth that were serving with the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. But also, do remember, the Taliban took over Afghanistan without an air force. Air force is a nice-to-have for them, but it's not the need-to-have it was for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. Do you know why Afghanistan's aircraft were not destroyed when the Taliban took control of the capital?I presume just because it happened so incredibly quickly? There just wasn't time to destroy all of those aircraft. It does take time to do that with explosives and so forth. Hopefully there weren't any deals made that involve those aircraft. We don't really know what completely went on at this point with the various Afghan senior leadership, individual generals acting on their own initiative when it came to negotiating with the Taliban.What about other hardware that the Taliban may now have? Howitzer artillery, machine guns and rifles, night-vision goggles? How easy will it be for the Taliban to get these into the field and operational?They should be relatively easy to get into the field and operational. [We've] seen lots of pictures of [Taliban] with US small arms, for example, M4s and M16s already, fighting. They've had long experience of using captured US Western gear, so they should be capable of putting those in to fight fairly quickly.It's interesting, there have already been protests in Afghanistan and the Taliban have been using violence to quell them. Over the weekend, the Taliban said hundreds of its fighters were heading to the Panjshir Valley, where there's strong resistance. Do you think that all these captured weapons will change the Taliban's approach to stifling dissent? I don't think it will change the Taliban's approach to stifling dissent because the Taliban have often been very willing to use violence to stifle dissent their entire reign, since they first came into being and since 1994. What it does do is it gives them additional capabilities, just an overwhelming amount of potential weaponry that they can use to stifle that dissent, whether it's in individual small villages, whether it's in cities or whether it's taking small arms and larger artillery pieces and so forth as much as they can given road networks and so forth up to places like the Panjshir Valley.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

Tanya, a naturalized Canadian citizen who lives in Ottawa, has been trying to get her entire family to Canada, or the US, for years.More recently, she has prioritized getting her father — whom she said worked as a subcontractor repairing equipment for the Canadian and American militaries — onto an evacuation flight to escape Taliban retaliation.Tanya, who asked The World not to use her last name to avoid endangering her family members, said that when her father didn't answer her call on Friday, she panicked.“I called my brother and said, ‘Is everything OK? Are you guys OK?’ And he said, ‘Yes, we were attacked yesterday.’ And that just shattered me, basically.”Armed men had come to the house, he told her — and her family members escaped by climbing over a wall and have now gone into hiding.Tanya sent her family’s documents to the Canadian government three weeks ago, after the government announced that Afghans looking to be evacuated should submit their information via email, but said she is still waiting to hear back. Unfortunately, that story is all too familiar for Afghans in Canada looking to get their loved ones out of Afghanistan. The Canadian government is now defending itself against criticism that it has been slow to evacuate Canadian citizens and Afghans who worked for the Canadian government. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that if the Taliban continues to restrict access, this will limit the number of Afghans Canada can evacuate.Related: This Afghan interpreter helped the US Army Special Forces. He's desperate to get out of Afghanistan.“We will get some, certainly, but to get many people out, as many as we'd want, is going to be almost impossible in the coming weeks."Justin Trudeau, prime minister, Canada“We will get some, certainly, but to get many people out, as many as we'd want, is going to be almost impossible in the coming weeks,” Trudeau said, delivering updates on the Afghan evacuation from the campaign trail after calling a snap parliamentary election that began the same day Taliban troops entered Kabul. Canada deployed troops in Afghanistan as part of joint NATO forces until 2014. They were supported by thousands of Afghan interpreters and other staff. Late last week, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said Canada would accelerate evacuations. He said the collection of biometric data was being moved to a third country and that Canada would waive requirements like COVID-19 tests and passports to board evacuation flights. The day the Taliban entered Kabul, form emails were still encouraging Afghans to apply for passports.Related: 'If journalists leave a scene, it becomes a black hole,' VOA journalist says Mendicino tweeted Monday that Canada had flown more than 1,500 Afghans to safety. Some passengers who ended up on Canadian flights have reportedly been bound for other allied countries. And many Canada evacuees have been unable to reach the airport at all to board flights.“The situation on the ground is volatile. It’s precarious. We’re staying in constant contact with all the people we’re trying to help,” Mendocino said on a Canadian TV program Sunday. Officials have said they want to evacuate about 6,000 Afghans with ties to Canada.A spokesperson for Mendicino’s division, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Rémi Larivière, said in an email that he could not disclose operational details but wrote: “We recognize the urgency of the situation, and we will continue to work as quickly as possible.”Larivière noted that Canada is also working to expedite the processing of family sponsorship applications for Afghans. Canada’s family reunification program does not allow Canadians like Tanya to sponsor her adult siblings. Loose networks of individuals have also mobilized to help bring Afghans who worked with the Canadian military to safety. Andrew Rusk’s sister-in-law was the first Canadian military woman to be killed in combat in Afghanistan. In July, he co-founded a group called Not Left Behind, which is working with dozens of Canadian veterans. “I don't doubt for a minute that everybody is trying incredibly hard at this moment to do the right thing. ... But we needed to do the right thing three months ago, four months ago."Andrew Rusk, Not Left Behind, Canada“I don't doubt for a minute that everybody is trying incredibly hard at this moment to do the right thing,” Rusk said, responding to recent statements by Canadian politicians. “But we needed to do the right thing three months ago, four months ago. “Because of our delays, because of the paperwork, because of the bureaucracy, instead of getting people on planes, we've had Afghans that supported us hiding for their lives as they've been hunted by the Taliban,” Rusk said. Related: US biometric devices are in the hands of the TalibanThose approved for flights receive messages from the Canadian government to make their way to the airport in Kabul, which, for many, means crossing through Taliban checkpoints and crowds outside the gates.For some, help will almost certainly come too late, Rusk said. “Last weekend, I received news from one of the veterans working on this that three cooks that worked with him in Kandahar were killed. A couple of weeks before, we heard that the wife of an interpreter was killed.”Canada has committed to welcoming 20,000 Afghans, including those being evacuated now. The rest will likely be people who have gotten out of Afghanistan to a third country on their own. Related: An Afghan American describes his fear-filled flight from KabulMaureen Silcoff, a past president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, said immigration officials should use flexible options at their disposal, including temporary residence permits, to get as many people on evacuation flights as possible.She said Canada could also waive some paperwork requirements to expedite the arrival of Afghans from other countries, as the government did during a past effort to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees.“Hopefully, the situation with Afghan refugee resettlement will take those practices into account and we can see efficient measures put in place to really help people come to Canada and start new lives here,” Silcoff said. Canada’s private sponsorship program lets groups of Canadians support individual refugees’ resettlement and exceptionally high participation helped Canada eventually admit 39,000 Syrians in just under a year. Silcoff said she’s encouraged to see lots of public interest in sponsoring Afghan refugees and that she hopes the number of Afghans admitted to Canada will also be expanded. 

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Reyaz Arian was the top commander in charge of security at the Hamid Karzai International Airport — one of the most important locations in the country — before the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban, a position he held for six months.Before that, 45-year-old Arian served in the presidential protection service for Afghan presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani.Related: This Afghan interpreter helped the US Army Special Forces. He’s desperate to get out of Afghanistan.Arian, wearing his military uniform and sitting in front of a portrait of Ghani and a flag of Afghanistan projected confidence during an interview with The World at the airport in late July.“You know, the security situation in our country, when you work in security, many things keep you awake at night. We are working to have tight security inside the airport.”Maj. Gen. Mohammad Reyaz Arian, previously the top commander in charge of security at Hamid Karzai International Airport  When asked if he was worried about airport security after US troops are fully withdrawn by the Aug. 31 deadline, he responded calmly, “You know the security situation in our country when you work in security, many things keep you awake at night. We are working to have tight security inside the airport.”He added, “I don’t have any big concerns. Everything is under control.” Maj. Gen. Mohammad Reyaz Arian was the top commander in charge of security at the Hamid Karzai International Airport until the Taliban takeover of Kabul. Credit: Zahra Khodadadi/The World But within a matter of days, his confidence went by the wayside.On Aug. 15, Taliban fighters poured into Kabul, leading to scenes of chaos and panic on the streets. President Ghani fled the country along with a few other top government officials. The airport was surrounded.Related: US biometric devices are in the hands of the Taliban. They could be used to target Afghans who helped coalition forces.For many, Hamid Karzai International Airport became the only way to leave Afghanistan. Since then, the US and other countries have been working to evacuate people.Those who’ve been able to land elsewhere say they are among the lucky ones — but they are concerned for those still in Afghanistan. The US military reported its biggest day of evacuation flights out of Afghanistan by far on Monday, but deadly, persistent violence has blocked many desperate evacuees from entering Kabul's airport, and the Taliban signaled they might soon seek to shut down the evacuation. US Air Force aircrew assist evacuees boarding an Air Force C-17 aircraft at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 21, 2021. Credit: Senior Airman Taylor Crul/US Air Force via AP Twenty-eight US military flights ferried about 10,400 people to safety out of Taliban-held Afghanistan over the 24 hours that ended early Monday morning, a White House official said. The chief Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, said the faster pace of evacuation was due, in part, to coordination with Taliban commanders on getting evacuees into the airport.“Thus far, and going forward, it does require constant coordination and deconfliction with the Taliban,” Kirby said. “What we've seen is, this deconfliction has worked well in terms of allowing access and flow as well as reducing the overall size of the crowds just outside the airport.”Since Aug. 14, the US has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of about 37,000 people. The US military says it has the capacity to fly between 5,000 and 9,000 people out per day. Kabul airport: A scene of chaos and tragedyThe US left all of its military bases in Afghanistan, including Bagram Airfield, its biggest in the country by early July.As the Taliban swept through the country at lightning speed, other airports became difficult to access. Taliban fighters took major land border crossings and roads and highways between major cities became too dangerous to navigate.Related: 'If journalists leave a scene, it becomes a black hole,' VOA journalist in Kabul saysArian later told The World in a phone call that he and his staff stayed at the airport until 11 p.m. that night of Aug. 15. He then moved to a safe location within the city instead of going home because it was unsafe. But by the next day, he decided it was too dangerous for him to remain in the country. So, he left.“One of my American friends at the airport helped me a lot,” he said from a location outside of Afghanistan. (The World is withholding his location for his safety).“[I feel] not good. How can I feel good when everything became this bad?”Maj. Gen. Mohammad Reyaz Arian, previously the top commander in charge of security at Hamid Karzai International Airport  When asked how he is feeling right now, he said, “Not good. How can I feel good when everything became this bad?”Shortly after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban, scores of people rushed to the airport to leave.Photos and videos shared on social media showed crowds scattered at the runway, dangerously close to planes taking off and landing.One video showed a group of men clinging to a US military plane’s landing gear. The plane took off and the two men fell to their deaths. One of them was a young soccer player.In another video, posted online Wednesday, a group of girls sang a beloved Afghan song about their homeland.Related: An Afghan American scholar describes his fear-filled journey from the chaos at Kabul airport to a plane bound for home in the US“Now, that I’ve lost you, my dear country,” they sang, “I’m forever burdened with sadness.”The girls can’t be seen in the footage — only their long shadows, cast on the runway at Kabul’s only international airport.‘I felt like I was going to die here’Ramin Rahman, a 27-year-old photographer, made it out of the country last week. Rahman has worked for German news organizations for the past three years and said he has no doubt that he would have been a Taliban target had he stayed.“I [have been] working with a lot of media, my face is there, I’ve written a lot of articles about a lot of things which made me feel that my life is in danger.”Ramin Rahman, a 27-year-old photographer who fled Afghanistan last week“I [have been] working with a lot of media, my face is there, I’ve written a lot of articles about a lot of things which made me feel that my life is in danger,” he said.On Monday morning, he got a call from one of his friends in Germany who told him to get to the airport immediately. His friend had put Rahman’s name on the list for an evacuation flight for German Embassy staff in Kabul. Rahman said he could only grab two things, his cellphone and laptop, before rushing to the airport. There, he saw utter chaos.“A lot of people were panicking, they were running here and there, no police was there, no military, nothing,” he said. Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 19, 2021. Credit: Rahmat Gul/AP Even worse, once he finally made it inside, there was no German flight.Hours later, he got a call saying that the Germans would not start their evacuation until the next day. Rahman decided to sit tight at the airport. It was too risky to leave. The Taliban were on the streets outside and there were clashes at the entrance to the airport. Besides, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to get back in if he left.Hours passed. At around 11 p.m., he said, a US military plane landed. People rushed to get on board.“It was such a difficult time for anyone. So many people were on the plane and so many people got wounded, got injured, people stepped on each other, a lot of women were crying, kids were crying, it was a horrible moment, I don’t want to remember it. Never,” he said.At first, the Americans said the plane couldn’t take off. There were too many people on board. Some had to get off. Rahman started to make his way out but suddenly, the sound of gunfire came closer. The Americans told him to stay inside the plane. Rahman couldn’t see outside of the plane because the passenger side of the plane didn’t have any windows — but he could hear the gunfire.“Then I feel hopeless. [I thought] OK, I’m going to die here now,” he said.An hour and 20 minutes later, the plane started moving. He finally felt a sense of relief. His fellow passengers were ecstatic.“They were cheering, they were clapping, they were happy that the plane just took off,” he recalled.Rahman is now staying at a military base in the Gulf country of Qatar where thousands have been evacuated from Afghanistan. He said he is glad he made it out alive, but his parents and five siblings are still in Afghanistan — and he hopes to get them out soon.The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

For Jalil, a 37-year-old father of three, the urgency to leave Afghanistan has been there ever since he began receiving death threats from the Taliban for his work with the US Special Forces.And, he has known other Afghans who have been murdered by the Taliban for the same work he once did.Jalil, who asked to use his first name only, for security purposes, was an interpreter with the US Army Special Forces for nearly a decade.Related: US biometric devices are in the hands of the Taliban. They could be used to target Afghans who helped coalition forces.Ever since the US entered Afghanistan, it has hired thousands of Afghan interpreters. The Taliban have called them traitors who must be punished. And many have. Since 2014, at least 300 Afghan interpreters or their relatives have been killed. Now, as the Taliban have taken over the country, many of these Afghans fear being left behind.The long wait for a visaFor nearly two years, Jalil has been waiting for a visa, known as a Special Immigrant Visa, or SIV, for himself, his wife and his children. The SIV program was created by Congress to allow local allies in Iraq and Afghanistan, who are threatened by groups like the Taliban, to resettle in the US.Just recently, Jalil’s visa was approved and US officials told him to head to the Kabul airport for an Aug. 17 flight. But then, last weekend, with the Taliban’s quick takeover of Kabul, and the exit of Afghanistan’s now-former president, Ashraf Ghani (he is currently in the United Arab Emirates), chaos ensued at the airport with thousands trying to leave the country.Jalil said that a US official informed him that the seat on his flight had been canceled.“They said they’ll plan another flight for me,” Jalil said.Later, he said that he received a message from the US State Department saying that he would be allowed into the airport.Related: 'If journalists leave a scene, it becomes a black hole,' VOA journalist in Kabul saysWith despair setting in, Jalil and his family left their home together at predawn on Wednesday for the Kabul airport, joining thousands of other Afghans hoping to board an evacuation flight. The family spent hours with crowds near the airport, a scene that grew chaotic and led US troops to fire tear gas. But they couldn't make it through.  Jalil and his family have had their bags packed for weeks now, ready to board an evacuation flight from Kabul, Afghanistan.   Credit: Courtesy of Jalil Eventually, Jalil and his family decided to return home but were intersected along the way by Taliban fighters. Jalil said he was beaten with a cable wire while holding his youngest son. He now awaits a chance to make another try for the airport, his gateway to safety.'I'll do anything for him'Afghans like Jalil had fallen down the priority list, behind US citizens and legal permanent residents.Meanwhile, stories are circulating of the Taliban raiding the homes of people who had supported the US, and of beating suspected traitors.That's why, when Jalil saw that Taliban control in Kabul was imminent, he immediately went into hiding.“I had to leave my house and send my wife and kids to my in-law’s house to be safe there,” he said.He traveled to another relative’s house and kept watch on her rooftop. Jalil is an expert lookout.On the rare occasion Jalil goes outside, he ditches his usual clothes.“I normally wear cargo pants, jeans, with T-shirts,” he said.Now, he dons more traditional Afghan clothing — loose pants, a vest and sandals — to blend in.Related: Taliban takeover could mean more security challenges for Chinese projects in PakistanDave Smyth, a former US Army Special Forces major who lives in Pinehurst, North Carolina, deployed multiple times to Afghanistan and worked alongside Jalil.He said he is well aware of the dangers that Jalil faces and has stepped up his efforts to make sure he won’t be left behind.“I’ll do anything for him,” Smyth said. “He gave up so much and was so brave fighting side by side with me and my team. He’s a teammate.”Dave Smyth, a former Special Forces Major who lives in Pinehurst, North Carolina“He gave up so much and was so brave fighting side by side with me and my team. He’s a teammate.”Smyth is trying to remain optimistic, hoping that the US-led mass evacuation plan will continue. But he is also angry and disappointed that the US has ignored warnings for years that the slow processing of SIVs could risk lives.“It’s sad that we weren’t able to do this faster. It’s sad that we gave up so many bases that we could have launched from,” he said.US officials say they are doing their best to evacuate as many people from Afghanistan as they can, including US citizens and Afghan allies. In recent weeks, about 2,000 Afghan SIV applicants have been flown out of the country, a sharp increase from previous months.But the relatively recent stepped-up effort has only accounted for a slice of the estimated 85,000 visa applicants and their families hoping to leave.Related: An Afghan American scholar describes his fear-filled journey from the chaos at Kabul airport to a plane bound for home in the US“It is our intention to bring to the United States as many SIV applicants as we possibly can,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters this week. ‘In desperate need of security and protection’That Jalil waited nearly two years for his visa is not unusual — despite the fact that the State Department, which oversees the SIV program, is required to complete the visa process within nine months. In practice, it can take far longer than that, spanning years. There are several reasons why, ranging from staff shortages and a lack of coordination among government agencies to a complex, 14-step process.Groups like the New York-based International Refugee Assistance Project have sued the US government over the waits, arguing that the visa system is failing to serve people in Afghanistan who served with US forces and face real danger.Some SIV applicants have managed to get on planes this week. Yet, many worry that the window to get out will close, especially if the Taliban decide to block Afghans from leaving.Julie Kornfeld is a senior staff attorney at the International Refugee Assistance Project, which helps Afghans seeking visas. She is concerned about Afghans at risk in Kabul and in remote provinces, where the Taliban can rule away from the media spotlight. Getting to the capital, where evacuations are underway, requires traveling long stretches of highway controlled by Taliban checkpoints.“There are hundreds of thousands of Afghans that live outside of Kabul and that are in desperate need of protection and security,” Kornfeld said.One of the Afghan SIV clients she worked with, she said, did figure out a way to Kabul. He rented a taxi ambulance, betting that might thwart a diligent search by the Taliban if they were stopped. They also had good cover.“His wife is currently 35 weeks pregnant, and they hid all the documents in his wife's clothes.”Julie Kornfeld, senior staff attorney, International Refugee Assistance Project“His wife is currently 35 weeks pregnant, and they hid all the documents in his wife's clothes,” Kornfeld said.In Kabul, Jalil is desperate for good news. But he is also a dad and has been trying to keep his little kids calm, playing hide-and-seek while continuing to seek out an exit plan.The family is also running out of cash. Just before the Taliban takeover, Jalil was a security guard at the Finnish Embassy. Now, the Embassy has closed and its staff has evacuated.He is seeing Taliban fighters in pick-ups outside his window, “patrolling everywhere, on the rangers, motorcycles, carrying weapons.”Taliban leaders say people like Jalil won’t face reprisals. They promise protection. Jalil does not believe it.“We cannot trust anybody,” he said.  

During the first impeachment trial of former United States President Donald Trump, National Security Council member Alexander Vindman was a central witness. He listened in on that now-infamous phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy — the one where Trump pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. Vindman reported his concerns up the chain of command. Then, he found himself testifying before Congress and addressing his father in his opening remarks.Related: Calling Vindman a 'double agent' ahead of testimony is 'reprehensible'"Dad," Vindman began, "I'm sitting here today in the US Capitol, talking to our elected professionals. Talking to our elected professionals is proof that you made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the Soviet Union, come here to the United States of America, in search of a better life for our family. Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth," he said. Related: Trump's hypocrisy on corruption is just what Putin wantsRetired Army Lt. Col. Vindman's new book is titled: “Here, Right Matters: An American Story."He recently spoke with The World's host Marco Werman about what it's been like since he testified and the profound role that family has played in his professional career choices. Marco Werman: You write in your book that your father did not want you to testify. In fact, it was kind of a point of tension between you two. Why did he not want you to testify and why, ultimately, did you? Alexander Vindman: My family dynamic involves points of tension with our dad, kind of disagreeing with him on politics and certain things of that nature — a common thread between immigrants from failed communist regimes where the pendulum swings them to an unhealthy brand of conservatism. But when he spoke to me about the dangers involved in challenging the president, it was from his decades of experience and a deep understanding of power and how power works and harkening back to his time in the Soviet Union, where the consequences would be much more severe.Family is central to you and your story. So, let's back up to the beginning. You were born in Ukraine in 1975. Your father took you, your two brothers and your grandmother in 1979 to the US. At a certain point, your older brother, Len, joins the US military, as did your brother, Eugene. You also decided to take that path. What drew you to the military?I think, for us, our older brother set the template. We were highly energetic kids, kind of running around with more energy than we knew what to do with. And by watching our older brother starting ROTC and then enlist, we tried to kind of emulate him. And when he was going for runs or climbing ropes and all that kind of stuff, we did the same thing and very quickly settled on going into university and ROTC, some service to repay this country. And, you know, it sounds kind of a little bit hokey, but we did actually think about it in those terms.Fast-forward to 2019. Fiona Hill, Trump's Russia specialist, hires you to serve on the NSC. So, now you're working for the White House. Then, on July 25, 2019, the so-called perfect phone call between Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the former TV comedian who'd just become president of Ukraine. Tell us where you were in the White House at the time and the part you played in that call? It was the White House Situation Room. We were focused on an intercom, listening to a phone call that I was extremely apprehensive about. And as soon as the president came online, not only was it not going to advance US national security interests, but when the president went into his quid pro quo, when he said, "I'd like you to do us a favor, though," he was attacking both US national security and putting us in a position where Ukraine would be more vulnerable, easier for Russia to draw into its orbit, and therefore, Russia would pose a much more potent adversary to the US with Ukraine, and at the same time attacking the US domestically by undermining free and fair elections — the very foundation of how our system works.Taking that lesson from your deployment to Iraq, in 2004, "Be alert to both the absence of normal as well as the presence of the abnormal," did you sense either of those prior to that phone call? How much of that call was a surprise to you? I had a very good idea of what was happening behind the scenes. I was stubborn in thinking that these were maybe folks looking to ingratiate themselves with the president, people looking to do the president's bidding, but without the president's knowledge and forethought. I thought that might have been the case. And of course, once the president had vocalized this, it became abundantly clear to me something that I couldn't kind have just set aside, based on the fact I'm an Army officer, and the commander-in-chief was the one that was failing to live up to his oath to the Constitution and threatening our democracy. I couldn't deny that anymore. And I didn't think the president was above the law. This is a country of laws. And I did what I thought was right, which is reporting him. After you testified in the impeachment hearing, many Trump supporters and certain corners of the media started a smear campaign against you. You were called a traitor. You were even accused of being a Ukrainian spy. How personal did it get it? I mean, for them, there was no kind of limit. What's interesting is that it was the president's press office that generated those attack points. And then, of course, those have been reverberating for the years since. But their personal attacks don't have an impact on me, frankly, I have, in fact, felt a lot of support from my colleagues and peers, Americans that reached out and passed letters of support or emails. And then you have these kind of anonymous tweets or something of that nature that are attacking me. It's easy to kind of separate what really matters — putting it into perspective — the rest of it is background noise.Well, those forces that smeared you after your testimony are still very much alive in the US. And many feel the undermining of American democracy continues after the Trump years. You're in the academic sphere these days. Thinking about all of this, what occurs to you about the way forward to preserving the values that this country represented, like to your father, when he brought you and the rest of your family here back in 1979?You know, it's interesting. There have been probably brief moments where my confidence has wavered, but largely it's remained unshaken. And that's probably because of perspective on where my family has come from. But at the same time, we're missing something that could help bring us together — and that's accountability. That's accountability of public officials that failed to live up to their responsibilities and that's accountability of media personalities that see profit in attacking the United States. Accountability is one of the passages we need to pass through in order to get back to unity and keep this country strong.This interview was edited and condensed for clarity. 

Protesters took to the streets in Afghanistan for the second straight day to rally against Taliban rule. Today, protests reached the capital, Kabul. As many as 200 people gathered before armed Taliban fighters violently disperse the crowd. In the eastern city of Asadabad, several people were killed in protests on Thursday, either by stampedes or gunfire. The Taliban fired on people waving the Afghan flag to mark the nation's annual Independence Day. Related: Taliban violently quashes small protest in JalalabadThe Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is now the official name of the country. Meanwhile, the evacuation of Afghans continued at an accelerated pace on Thursday. Nations such as Spain, Germany and Australia flew out their citizens along with scores of Afghans. US officials say they are processing about 500 people each hour at the airport. Related: An Afghan American describes his fear-filled flight from KabulOutside the airport, there was more violence and chaos. The Taliban continue to patrol the roads leading to the terminal, blocking entrances and beating back crowds.Ayesha Tanzeem, the Afghanistan and Pakistan bureau chief for Voice of America, the US government-owned broadcaster, was at the airport on Thursday waiting for a flight out. She caught up with The World's host Marco Werman to describe what she was witnessing there — and the future of journalism under Taliban rule. Related: Can the Taliban make the ledgers work to govern? Tanzeem said that the evacuation flights are going very quickly but that the stories she's hearing from stranded Afghans attempting to leave are heart-wrenching as many were separated from their families. She told The World that one young teenager lost contact with the rest of his family and neither side had a phone to communicate. Many others who are camping outside the airport are losing hope."Gates of the airport are surrounded by people who want to get in. You hear constant gunfire. And I saw it with my own eyes, mostly Taliban firing into the air as a method of crowd control. And I also met people who managed to get inside without complete documents. And once inside, they were told, you cannot go anywhere from here because you don't have a passport," Tanzeem told The World. One man who had served with the US military as security entered the airport with his family, carrying his badge. But none of them had passports so they couldn't continue into the airport. "And his family was sitting inside the airport on the on the floor saying, 'We're afraid we're going to be sent outside and the Taliban will find us. And if they find out about us, they will kill us,'" Tanzeem said. Related: Afghanistan is under Taliban control. Women are worried.Marco Werman: The Taliban spokesman — and they are all men — they say they'll be more accommodating toward journalists than they were in their previous era in power in the '90s. What do you think?Ayesha Tanzeem: We have to wait and see in the first few days, they have been more accommodating to journalists. So, on Day One and Day Two, they did not stop journalists. But Day Three, they stopped some journalists and interrogated them, asked who they were and whose permission they had and all of that. They told local journalists to register with their media commission. At the same time, I talked to the head of news at one of Afghanistan's biggest TV channels, and they said that their teams, including women, were going out to report and sometimes they were stopped by Taliban, sometimes they were not stopped by Taliban. But so far they were not stopped from reporting. The channel was on the air. However, a lot of people, including local journalists, said that they thought that this was temporary, that the Taliban were now busy with other things. They were busy because they were negotiating with local Afghan leaders. They were going around the city disarming security guards and whatever police and security forces they could find. So they were busy in other things. That's why they were allowing the media to work and the women to go out. But a lot of local journalists thought that once the Taliban solidified their hold on power, things would change. These are still early days and we have to wait and watch and see, once the Taliban settle in and they actually are in the government. They have not announced their government yet. They continue to repeat that they want to form an inclusive government. They have not yet announced what form that government would take, whether the leader of the inclusive government would be a president or khalifa [successor] or a prime minister, nobody knows. But because they have a history, 40 years of war, the '90s era that people still remember, they've heard stories from their parents. I talked to people who remembered. One person said his mother told him how she was beaten by the Taliban for not wearing the abaya the right way. So, people have those stories in their minds.On top of what journalists generally are facing, we have to talk about what it's like being a woman and a journalist. What has that been like these past few days for you? Well, I did what all the other Afghan female journalists did and all the international female journalists did, which is I changed my dress. So, I used to go out in Kabul with jeans, a long tunic and a headscarf. But as soon as the Taliban entered the city, I started wearing a long abaya, started covering my entire head. And the people that I tried to talk to over the phone, the political analysts, the activists that we used to routinely talk to said, "We are not doing media these days. We are not talking to anyone these days." So, I also became cautious, not because the Taliban told me, but because I don't know what the Taliban redline is and because every one of them is carrying an AK-47. I don't want to annoy a Talib on the streets who could get offended by my dress code. So, the Taliban have told people that they want to implement Sharia law. They haven't really told people what does that mean. A lot of women are asking them on Twitter, what do you mean by Sharia law? Does that mean I can go to work? Does that mean I can walk around the streets without a male accompanying me? Does that mean that I can choose whatever profession I want to choose? Because Afghan women, over the last 20 years, have become artists and filmmakers and actors and singers, along with doctors and teachers and journalists and anchors and field reporters. They're working in offices, they're in government. You know, at one time, the mayor of Kabul was a woman. So, there is no clear answer yet. Taliban have been very vague with it. Even though you're at the airport now, are you still dressing more conservatively? No, no, no. At the airport, it's very safe. The perimeter is now secured by international forces. The US is in negotiation with the Taliban to make sure the evacuation is safe. So far, the Taliban seem to be sticking to whatever negotiation they had with the US.Three days in the waiting area at Kabul International Airport. In the eyes of many Afghans, you'll be seen as a lucky one. When do you think you'll be able to fly out, though?I am hoping to catch a flight out tomorrow. That would be Friday. Let's see.Can you imagine returning to Kabul in the near future?I hope so. I hope so. I mean, if the situation stabilizes and I feel like as a journalist, I can continue to work here without being harmed, I would like to return and report on the story. This is ... this is history in the making. This is the big story. But more importantly, I feel like if journalists leave a scene, it becomes a black hole, then the world doesn't find out what's happening. And when the world doesn't know what's happening, human sympathy also evaporates. That's why conflict reporting is so important because it is only when the world can see the misery of people that there's then pressure on governments and the international community to do something about it.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

Taliban fighters in Afghanistan who strode into Kabul's presidential palace last weekend were not some ragtag militia.The insurgents are backed by huge profits from many sources, from drugs to wealthy foreign donors. Money helps.But can the Taliban make the ledgers work to govern?Related: Ryan Crocker calls Biden's comments on Afghan forces appallingBrookings scholar Vanda Felbab-Brown has spent years studying the Taliban's finances. She joined The World's host Marco Werman to discuss the Taliban's current financial status and challenges. Related: Women are worried about what Taliban control means for them In this Monday, Jan. 12, 2015 file photo, An Afghan money changer, right, counts a pile of currency at the Money and Exchange Market in Kabul.  Credit: Massoud Hossaini/AP/File  Marco Werman: What sort of financial resources does the Taliban come to government with? How much are they worth?Vanda Felbab-Brown: Well, the Taliban has been taxing any kind of legal and illegal economy in Afghanistan in areas where they had influence. So, drugs were a very important source of money. They would tax NATO trucks supplying NATO troops at the peak of the US and NATO military presence. Those profits probably surpassed even the profits from drugs, tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars, but it would tax anything — like sheep. Obviously, you get much more money from drugs than sheep. And they also taxed international and Afghan government aid programs to communities. But the international element of assistance on which the Afghan government is so dependent is going to shrink dramatically. And there is simply no way that the Taliban can offset those losses very easily, even if it manages to persuade countries like China to continue economically engaging with Afghanistan.Related: Former warlord discusses his militia against the Taliban And what about Russia and Pakistan? Are they also a source of cash for the Taliban?Those flows are minor. They might make a difference to some extent for running insurgencies. They are nowhere adequate to be running a country. Pakistan's own financial resources are constantly in trouble, with the Pakistani economy struggling. Russia has never been very generous with terms of large international aid in Afghanistan. In other parts of the world, Iran, which also has significantly improved its relations with the Taliban, is bankrupt. So, outside of the Western donors, the principal sources of economic aid for a Taliban government would be the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, potentially Qatar and potentially China. And Western aid is likely going to diminish rapidly, which will have massive, multifaceted repercussions for stability of the country, of the government and social and economic conditions in the country.Although the Taliban are in charge in Kabul right now, they don't really hold the purse strings to Afghan's central bank. Its president has fled the country. So, if the Taliban really wants to jump-start the country, whatever that means, in their eyes, it looks like they can't spend as they might want. What are their options?Well, there are stories emerging that Taliban officials have been looking for the money in the central bank, but it's quite revealing of the stories, in fact, accurate, of the limited financial-economic sophistication that they have. A lot of the central bank's money are not piles of cash held in a place. They are financial accounts that exist in electronic form, and they might be reserves that are parked abroad. For years now, Afghanistan would every so often receive a plane full of hard cash as part of the delivery of a portion of its central bank's reserve. Last week, the plane didn't arrive because of the instability. So, there is limited liquidity, limited spending capacity in terms of cash in Afghanistan, currently, and of course, operating international banking accounts, understanding international finance, understanding how to convert assets such as bonds into any kind of liquidity is not something that the Taliban has any kind of experience with. It would have to be able to persuade technocrats, allow Afghan technocrats to continue working for its Ministry of Finance. Without financing, you can't really run a government. So, what political scenarios could this potentially long period of government inaction portend, do you think? We're very likely going to see significant economic decline. That's obviously going to have grave repercussions for Afghan people. The Taliban is effective in delivering order. It can be a brutal order, but it has knowledge and capacity to stop crime. But, for delivering school, it will need to rely on teachers who will need to be able to be paid by someone. And much of this financial capability will go radically down. Most significantly, the United States is likely not going to be paying for $2 billion for the Afghan security forces, as it has been before the Taliban takeover. So, that means that some number of soldiers, say 100,000 soldiers will now be unemployed and unpaid. The Taliban will need to be paying its own fighters. So, clearly, how the Taliban negotiates with international actors will be critical, whether it can sustain the economy as it existed or whether the economy will rapidly go bankrupt and banditry, frustration, protests will start emerging.It'll be interesting to see what happens then. Again, more challenges for the Taliban on accessing money. Afghanistan's previous government, we have to say it was never flush, but it did regularly receive planeloads of cash from the US government and it was used to pay salaries of officials and keep the wheels of government just turning. There were bulk shipments of dollars expected as late as last Sunday, but it never arrived. How important is hard currency? Will the end of that infusion of cash be a big shock for Afghanistan's economy?At the end of the day, liquid cash is crucial. And if that money is not delivered, if it stops coming, one of the quite rapid economic effects will be that poor people will find it hard to buy food, even just basic survival on a day-to-day basis. It's important to mention, though, that the Taliban leadership has very minimal understanding of how to interact with donors, they're, in many ways, enormously naive. They have little technical capacity. They are not people with financial degrees, but they also are politically naive in terms of constraints and conditionality issues. And so, that will be really a hard learning curve for them with an impact on the lives of Afghan people.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

It took security researcher Lilith Wittmann only a few hours to crack open the app of Germany's ruling political party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).In May, party campaigners were using the app CDU Connect to gauge public opinion in the lead-up to September's federal election.Some chatter online made Wittmann, 25, take notice."I was a bit like, ‘Wow, they are collecting, like, super personal data about people,’ … where they are living and what is their political opinion," Wittmann told The World in an interview at a Berlin park.Related: US and allies accuse China of hacking campaign Lilith Wittmann is a security researcher in Berlin.  Credit: Jennie Russell/The World  When she downloaded the app, she quickly discovered that it lacked common security practices and its programming interface was surprisingly easy to penetrate.The fallout from what Wittmann says was a well-intentioned hack to improve the app's security highlights a long-standing concern for security researchers and ethical hackers in Germany, whose law does not differentiate between ethical and malicious hacking.Wittman discovered that she could access a massive amount of data on the app that was supposed to be protected: the confidential, personal information of nearly 20,000 CDU members — and the political opinions of more than half a million people the party had door-knocked.Campaigners' canvassing visits, recorded in the app, were tied to voters' locations and sometimes included notes with house addresses and names."They just didn't have any kind of serious security measures."Lilith Wittmann, security researcher, Berlin, Germany"They just didn't have any kind of serious security measures," Wittmann said."When you collect lots of this data, based on house coordinates, basically, then you can do a lot of bad stuff," she said. "And you never want to have that out in the open."Wittmann reported her findings to German technology authorities and the CDU, adhering to the industry principle of "responsible disclosure" that security researchers and ethical hackers often use when they find vulnerabilities. She also posted about her findings online.But this discovery — one of the biggest security findings of the young researcher's career — may come at a personal cost.'It said that I am a suspect'Shortly after her report, Wittmann received a phone call from the CDU's federal managing director, Stefan Hennewig. She said he offered her a half-hearted thank you, a job offer she turned down, and then a warning that the party might file a criminal complaint against her.A few weeks ago, she received an email from the Berlin police."[Police] said that I am a suspect in this investigation about the CDU Connect app and that they want to know my address."Lilith Wittmann, security researcher, Berlin, Germany"It said that I am a suspect in this investigation about the CDU Connect app and that they want to know my address," Wittmann said.There is no dispute about what triggered the police investigation. The CDU, which yanked the app offline in May after admitting Wittmann found a security flaw, also admitted to filing a criminal complaint about the data breach and specifically mentioned Wittmann.The party, pressured to backtrack after ensuing public backlash on social media, now says it has withdrawn its complaint, which Hennewig maintains was supposed to be about another alleged data breach — not Wittmann's hack.Wittman, however, said police have confirmed they are still investigating her."It is super absurd," she said of the CDU's complaint. "I really hoped that this wouldn’t happen when you report something to them." Related: Germany's anti-immigrant AfD party looks to make inroadsChange to hacking lawWittman’s experience calls attention to gaps in Germany’s hacking laws, according to lawyer David Albrecht, whose Berlin firm represents both hackers and organizations that have been hacked. "The German law doesn’t really differentiate between so-called ethical hacking and hacking that is with a bad intention."David Albrecht, lawyer, Berlin, Germany"The German law doesn’t really differentiate between so-called ethical hacking and hacking that is with a bad intention," Albrecht said.  David Albrecht is a lawyer representing hackers and organizations who have been hacked, in Berlin. Credit: Jennie Russell/The World  Previously, he said, Germany's criminal code stipulated a person had to obtain secure data to have committed a crime.Then in 2007, a CDU-led parliament broadened the law in response to rising cybercrime and to comply with EU legislation. The amended law clearly prohibits any form of hacking — regardless of intention."From that point on, it was sufficient that the offender only gains access to the data," he said.Albrecht said he hopes Wittmann's case will prompt more discussion of a legal framework he called "not really adequate to handle cases of ethical hacking."Related: Six Russian intelligence hackers indicted'We really should take care of this data'Michael Prinzinger runs a security consulting firm and co-founded one of Berlin's largest meetups of researchers and ethical hackers.He said strong reactions like the CDU's have become increasingly rare. "The backlash on organizations that persecuted people [who] report vulnerabilities was, and — as we can also see in this case — is huge."Michael Prinzinger, security consultant, Berlin, Germany"The backlash on organizations that persecuted people [who] report vulnerabilities was, and — as we can also see in this case — is huge," he said.Prinzinger hopes Wittmann's experience doesn't have a chilling effect on others doing work he says is vital."The message might be that people will feel like a criminal when they actually do the right thing and report a vulnerability that can lead to others suffering from privacy loss or data about them being leaked," he said.Berlin's data protection authority is investigating CDU Connect and could level sanctions against the CDU if it finds the party did not adequately safeguard users' data.The CDU did not respond to several interview requests.Related: Biden and Putin both place a 'high priority' on cybersecurityWittmann, meanwhile, has hired a lawyer. She is steadfast in her belief she acted responsibly.She said she realized what was at stake if the app's data was left so vulnerable — even if it is politically damaging for the CDU to admit."There is half a million data points about public opinion in there," she said."And so we really should take care of this data, or maybe it shouldn’t even exist."

The final living member of the Khmer Rouge regime took the stand Monday in an attempt to overturn charges of genocide and war crimes he’d been previously convicted of in 2018. In what is believed to be the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s final hearing, the legal team of 90-year-old Khieu Samphan, former Khmer Rouge head of state, argued in a Phnom Penh courtroom that their client did not have adequate time to prepare an initial defense, among other things. “It [the verdict] should be null and void, and so I am requesting the Supreme Court chamber to … reverse the judgment,” attorney Kong Sam On told the judges, according to the AP. Experts say the original conviction is unlikely to be overturned, though a ruling isn’t expected until next year. Samphan is one of just a handful of former leaders of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, whose members are commonly known as the Khmer Rouge, that the tribunal has managed to try and convict since it started prosecuting some 15 years ago. Some have lauded the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, also known as the Khmer Rouge tribunal, but it may actually end up with a mixed legacy.Related: Cambodian refugees saved from deportation through pardons‘The tribunal was the answer’ The Cambodian government established the tribunal in 1997, in conjunction with the United Nations, with the goal of putting Khmer Rouge leaders on trial for allegedly committing crimes against humanity and other heinous acts during the region’s rule between 1975 and 1979.At the time, the lofty project had overwhelming support from the Cambodian people, said Youk Chhang, executive director of the Phnom Penh-based Documentation Center of Cambodia, which possesses the largest archive on the Khmer Rouge period. “I think people also wanted to give justice a chance. ... They want people to recognize the suffering that people have been through. So, the tribunal was the answer.”Youk Chhang, executive director, Documentation Center of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia“I think people also wanted to give justice a chance,” he said. “They want people to recognize the suffering that people have been through. So, the tribunal was the answer.”Chhang, 60, was a teenager living in Phnom Penh when the Khmer Rouge took power following the Cambodian Civil war. He said he remembers the locking down of cities and forced evictions of people into the countryside. Related: Cambodians reflect on Khmer Rouge: 'It was chaos.'His family ended up feeling the country — but not without heavy costs. Chhang lost his father, some sisters, uncles and cousins.“It’s been broke, you know, it’s a broken family. Not just our family, but for the entire Cambodia,” Chhang said.Some 2 million Cambodians died during the totalitarian rule of the Khmer Rouge, about 25% of the country. Many of the victims were suspected political opponents, while others perished during a failed agricultural reform that led to widespread famine. Early surveys, including this one from the University of California Berkeley School of Law, showed that the tribunal, which consisted of both Cambodian and international judges, had overwhelming support. Public participation was key to that success, Chhang said. Since the public can file complaints, seek reparations and testify during hearings, “there’s a sense of ownership of history.”Yet, while the tribunal brought some closure and a lot of awareness to atrocities committed by the regime, that level of participation also spurred frustration, he said. These frustrations range from constant financial troubles to alleged meddling by the Cambodian government ruled by Prime Minister Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander who has openly voiced disapproval of the tribunal.These frustrations, experts say, have eroded the perception of the body over time — even though a recent survey from the Documentation Center of Cambodia shows the Cambodian people overwhelmingly still want Khmer Rouge leaders brought to justice.“It feels to be political — not a proper tribunal in a sense — but because there’s too much compromise. ...But I think for the first conviction and the second conviction there was some sense of justice being done.”Virak Ou, human rights activist, Phnom Penh, Cambodia“It feels to be political — not a proper tribunal in a sense — but because there’s too much compromise,” said Virak Ou, a human rights activist based in Phnom Penh, who lost his father during the Khmer Rouge. “But I think for the first conviction and the second conviction there was some sense of justice being done.”Still, it took a while to get there — highlighting another frustration with the tribunal: its glacial pace at getting anything done.Not only did it take 10 years just to set up the body itself, by the time hearings began in the late 2000s, Ou said, to the Cambodian eye, the defendants looked like regular grandparents. “So, it was very difficult to connect the level of brutality of the alleged crime to the people who are supposed to stand trial,” he said. Waning influence The tribunal’s first conviction didn’t come until 2010 when Keng Guek Eav, commonly known as Commander Duch, was sentenced to life in prison on a slew of charges, including crimes against humanity, murder and torture. He is most known for his role in overseeing the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21, where thousands were interrogated, tortured and eventually executed. The prison is now a museum and memorial to its victims. Longtime journalist May Titthara recalls going to Duch’s village to cover reactions to the verdict. There, May said, Duch was known as a teacher and a good man. “But when they saw him in front of the TV they were so surprised. They say, ‘Oh, my friend! I cannot believe that you are the chief of police of S-21!’” Titthara said.Other defendants have been of similar ages — or even older. Some, like Duch, have died while serving out their sentences. Other Khmer Rouge senior leaders, including the infamous military commander Pol Pot, died before they could be tried. May said that while the tribunal may have once been very important to an older generation, many Cambodians now have other things on their mind — like widespread poverty and the pandemic.“Right now, Cambodian people, they care about their daily living. They think about their food, how can they survive when they’re locked down. So they don’t care about the hearing anymore."May Titthara, journalist, Cambodia“Right now, Cambodian people, they care about their daily living. They think about their food, how can they survive when they’re locked down. So, they don’t care about the hearing anymore,” May said. Virak Ou agrees with that sentiment. He said while the Cambodian people may be happy in 20-30 years that the perpetrators of the killing fields were at least put on trial, ultimately, the tribunal cannot fix many of the country’s current problems. “Because of that, I don’t think many of the Cambodian population, or Cambodian people, have the privilege to focus on closure and justice and a process that could be dragging on for months, if not years,” Ou said.Wider implications The tribunal’s end could potentially have wider geopolitical implications — especially when it comes to China. China was a crucial backer of Khmer Rouge and was never supportive of the tribunal, said Josh Kurtlantzick, senior fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Affairs. Each hearing served as a reminder of how Beijing supported the regime. Although China is Cambodia’s largest investor today, he also noted that Beijing is acutely aware of rising anti-Chinese sentiment in the region.“So, they don’t want stories widely circulating of China backing one of the — probably after the Nazis — one of the most brutal regimes in world history,” Kurtlantzick said.

The Taliban arrived in 24-year-old Ghazal’s neighborhood last week, showing up on motorbikes, in cars and on foot.Ghazal, who, like many Afghans, goes only by one name, didn’t want to say where she lives because she is worried about her safety.“There were so many of them [Taliban fighters], I couldn’t believe my eyes. They had guns and the look in their eyes was terrifying.”Ghazal, 24, Afghanistan“There were so many of them [Taliban fighters], I couldn’t believe my eyes,” she said, speaking to The World on Monday, adding, “They had guns and the look in their eyes was terrifying.”As of this past Sunday, the country is under Taliban control. The Taliban was able to take over most of Afghanistan in a matter of days. In some areas, the group faced intense fighting from Afghan security forces. In others, no shots were fired.Related: 20 years of progress for Afghan women could disappear under Taliban ruleWhat the Taliban envisions for the country’s future and its people is still unclear. Women are especially concerned about what Taliban rule means for them.The Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed a day after deadly chaos gripped the main airport as desperate crowds tried to flee their rule.Older generations remember the Taliban’s extremist Islamist views, which included severe restrictions on women and girls, as well as public stonings and amputations before they were ousted by the US-led invasion following the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Today, Afghanistan has a young population — roughly half is between 5 and 64 — and many Afghans are now experiencing life under the Taliban for the first time. For them, the Taliban’s rule represents regression for women’s rights and other hard-won freedoms.Related: Afghans in a city under siege by the Taliban: ‘The insecurity has upended our lives’Ghazal was too young to remember when the Taliban was in power in the 1990s. But already, the Taliban has upended her life, she said.Until last week, Ghazal worked for a nongovernmental organization as a human resources specialist. In school, she studied accounting and was planning to apply for a master’s degree. Now, she is hunkered down at home, terrified to go outside.Schools and universities are closed, she told The World over WhatsApp. The Taliban, who are in charge of her city now, say that only men can attend classes.“We are just sitting at home, waiting to see how these men will determine our future.” Ghazal, 24, Afghanistan“We are just sitting at home, waiting to see how these men will determine our future,” she said.Afghans are 'still in shock’Other women are also fearful of life under the Taliban. Many of them have heard the stories from their parents and others.Parvin, a 24-year-old dentistry student in the western city of Herat, never imagined that she would see the Taliban in power in Afghanistan.The Taliban’s takeover in her city was accompanied by the sound of intense gunfire, she said.“People were running to get home so they wouldn't get caught in the fighting. I’m still in shock. I don’t know what this new life under the Taliban is going to be like.”Parvin, 24, Afghanistan“People were running to get home so they wouldn't get caught in the fighting. I’m still in shock,” she said. “I don’t know what this new life under the Taliban is going to be like.”In addition to the trauma of the Taliban taking control, by force, many women wonder how they will be able to make ends meet under new restrictions.Related: This Afghan man who helped US Army Special Forces pleads for help to escape the Taliban: ‘They will kill us’Like Somayeh, 21, who owns a fitness center in the city of Herat: “If they don’t let me continue my work, I have no idea what I’ll do. I know nothing else. I studied physical education and invested money in this business. What other options do I have?” she said.Somayeh too hasn’t left home for the past week. But she said the men in her family have been going outside and are allowed to go about their business without any harassment.That is the signature Taliban policy, according to 24-year-old women’s rights activist Ameneh. Men are given freedoms that women can only dream of. And she’s already seeing this play out in Taliban-controlled Herat.“One of the first things they did is that they announced through mosque loudspeakers that people can go about their daily lives. But with one big exception: Women should not leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. They should also be completely covered and accompanied by a male relative.”On the issue of covering, Ameneh keeps asking herself, what type of hijab is it that the Taliban want?“Because here, no woman leaves home without covering,” she said.She thinks soon, they will force women to wear a full burqa, like they did when they were in power 20 years ago.“I won’t accept that,” she said.Ameneh was 3 years old when the group took power in the 1990s. She doesn’t remember much, except one terrible scene is seared into her memory.“One day, the Taliban came to our home and they took away my father. As they were taking him away, I ran after them, and begged them to let him go. I kept screaming until night fell.”Ameneh, 24, women's rights activist, Afghanistan“One day,” she said, “the Taliban came to our home and they took away my father. As they were taking him away, I ran after them, and begged them to let him go. I kept screaming until night fell.”Her family is Hazara, an ethnic group in Afghanistan that has been persecuted by the Taliban.Related: Former warlord Ismail Khan led a militia against the Taliban. He spoke to The World days before Afghans lost the fight.“I was a kid and didn’t understand why my mother, sister and I were not allowed to leave the house,” she said. “I looked through the window and asked, ‘Why can’t I go play outside?’”Ameneh’s father was released after the US and coalition forces brought down the Taliban in 2001.Today, Taliban leaders claim that women in Afghanistan will be allowed to work and study. But only as far as sharia law permits.The question on the minds of many Afghan women right now is how exactly will the Taliban interpret these laws in the year 2021?

Editor's note: The situation in Afghanistan is changing rapidly. Our reporter, Shirin Jaafari, was in Herat recently and this is her story about people in Herat from Aug. 9. The city fell to the Taliban this week. Stay tuned to The World for more updates on the developments in Afghanistan — including this interview with one woman who is trying to get her family out of the country. Fifty-year-old Salimeh is walking home against strong winds, and the summer heat in Herat, in western Afghanistan.She is carrying a bundle of firewood in one hand and holding her chador or head covering, in place with the other. Salimeh has been hosting displaced families at her mud house in the outskirts of Herat in western Afghanistan since the fighting began in the north of the country two months ago. Her own family has barely anything to eat given that the insecurity has left many jobless and farmers haven't been able to harvest crops. Afghanistan is also facing a drought. Credit: Shirin Jaafari/The World  Related: As the Taliban advances, life in Afghanistan becomes increasingly precariousOn this day in early August, Salimeh — who, like many Afghans, only has one name — had to gather extra wood for the fire because she has guests — women and children from three families who fled fighting north of the city.She was exhausted, and in pain, by the time she got to the mud house where she lives on the outskirts of Herat. But she is full of compassion for those who have arrived at her home. Many of her neighbors are also taking people in.“The government hasn’t provided any support for the displaced families and those whose incomes have been impacted by the insecurity,” said Salimeh, who’s been sewing bedding and curtains but now has fewer clients because of the fighting. “The insecurity has upended our lives, and no one cares about us here.”This month, the Taliban took hold of areas surrounding Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city and an important economic hub, and have gained control of six provincial capitals.To hear more from The World's Shirin Jaafari in Herat recently, click on the audio player below: Since US President Joe Biden announced a full and unconditional withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan last April, a process that is now nearly complete, fighting has intensified across the country. The Taliban has been pushing to take over more territory from Afghan security forces in an attempt to rule Afghanistan by force.Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency estimates that more than 270,000 Afghans have been displaced inside the country since January 2021.Related: Rocket fire in Kabul signals deepening insecurity as US troops withdraw from Afghanistan“Because of the ongoing violence, there has been an increased number of displaced populations in Afghanistan,” said Ram Kishan, deputy regional director for Asia for Mercy Corps.“A total of about 3.5 million [as of December 2020] are uprooted from their homes and living in district towns and out of their homes. And they are in dire need of food, shelter, water and sanitation support.”Fleeing the Taliban, fighting hungerThirty-seven-year-old Sima Fakhruddin and her neighbors left the town of Qala-e-Naw as the sun began to set. They walked for hours to reach a place where they could hire a car to bring them to Salimeh’s house.“We had to run for our lives. We were caught in the crossfire between the Taliban, Afghan security forces and the local militias.”Sima Fakhruddin, Afghan who fled the Taliban“We had to run for our lives,” Fakhruddin said. “We were caught in the crossfire between the Taliban, Afghan security forces and the local militias.”“We didn’t have time to collect our belongings, and we had to leave behind the older and disabled people.”Fakhruddin said the Taliban came out of nowhere and they unleashed a sense of fear in the community.“They are cruel, cruel,” she said.Related: ‘This is the first time I am holding a gun’: Afghans take up arms to fight the TalibanThey invaded people’s homes and demanded that the women cook meals for them, she added.They ordered poor families to slaughter sheep. And they told the women to dress modestly, threatening to pour boiling water on them if they refused.The World has not independently verified these claims but similar reports have emerged from other parts of the country where the Taliban has taken control.For 18-year-old Negineh, the escape was even more challenging. She had to carry her 7-month-old baby, Ibrahim, who wouldn’t stop crying. Negineh and her 7-month-old son Ibrahim fled their home in Badghis in northwestern Afghanistan. Her husband works in Iran and hasn't seen their son since he was born. Now, Negineh and Ibrahim are in Herat, in relative safety but they both face hunger. Credit: Shirin Jaafari/The World  Negineh’s husband is one of the thousands of Afghans who cross the border to Iran in search of jobs every year. He works at a chicken farm, and travels home when possible, she said — but he hasn’t seen Ibrahim yet.Many of the others staying with Salimeh also have husbands and fathers who’ve gone to Iraq to support their families.Negineh said she feels somewhat safer in Herat for now but now she and her baby face hunger. She said she doesn’t have enough milk for Ibrahim and he subsides on biscuits.Related: As US withdraws troops from Afghanistan, it will remain ‘fully focused’ on peace, says negotiator Zalmay KhalilzadFood is scarce, and this year has been especially tough as many families in this area are farmers, Salimeh said. Afghanistan is facing a drought. On top of that, the fighting has disrupted the harvest, so people are struggling, she said.With everything happening, “How am I supposed to feed my children and help these families?” Salimeh said. No safe placeAt a makeshift checkpoint in Herat in early August, Ghand Agha, a 23-year-old soldier with the Afghan security forces, inspected cars before they entered the city.He has been stationed here for the past month, taking shifts along with his fellow soldiers. Ghand Agha, a member of the Afghan security forces has been manning a checkpoint at the entrance of Herat city for a month. Credit: Shirin Jaafari/The World  Ghand Agha, covering his face with a black-and-white scarf, and a pair of Oakley-style sunglasses, said the Taliban was not far from the area. So, he and his men were getting ready for a fight while an excavator dug trenches into the earth behind him.Checkpoints like these are buffers between the Taliban and the big urban areas like Herat. The militants have been taking territory surrounding major cities in Afghanistan. But they have mostly stopped short of attacking city centers. That’s in accordance with the agreement the Taliban signed with the US two years ago.But this is now changing.Related: Afghan amb to the US on the Taliban: ‘They are not interested in peace but power’Only a few hours after The World spoke with Ghand Agha earlier this month, the checkpoint came under fire. Taliban fighters launched an offensive against Herat city. They attacked a bridge that connects the city to the airport.All flights were canceled.Herat suddenly felt like a city under siege.An uncertain future — especially for women and girls. The city continues to resist the Taliban, but the situation is worrisome to many residents, especially women, who say they have so much to lose if the militants take over. Fatimeh, 45, had to flee her home in Ghaleh-Now in western Afghanistan because the Taliban entered her city. Her home ended up being on the front lines, she said, and she had to leave with only the clothes on her back. Credit: Shirin Jaafari/The World  Parvin, a dentistry student, said she has nightmares about the Taliban.“I’ve heard they force single women to marry their fighters.”Parvin, dentistry student, Afghanistan“I’ve heard they force single women to marry their fighters,” she said.The US Embassy in Kabul tweeted about the Taliban’s forcing women into marriage in cities where they’re gaining control. “Concerning reports the Taliban entice ANDSF [Afghan National Security Forces] units to surrender with the promise they will be unharmed, and then those soldiers disappear in the night and their widows are forced to marry Taliban fighters. If true, these could constitute war crimes,” the Embassy tweeted.Somaya Farooqi, 19, the captain of the renowned Afghan Girls Robotics Team, also known as The Afghan Dreamers, based in Herat, said the unstable situation reinforces to the Western world that the country is just about “wars, bombs and guns.”“But we want to show that this country is also about science and technology,” she added.The robotics team, made up of a group of girls ages 14 to 18, recently built a mechanized, hand-operated ventilator for patients with the coronavirus.When the team made it to Washington, DC, to compete in a robotics competition, 2017, Farooqi was struck by how they could walk around freely without worrying about security. Some members of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team in Herat, Afghanistan. Credit: Shirin Jaafari/The World  Now, she worries about what the future holds for the team if the Taliban takes over.“We don’t support any group over another but for us what’s important is that we be able to continue our work. Women in Afghanistan have made a lot of progress over the past two decades and this progress must be respected.”Somaya Farooqi, 19, captain of the Afghan Girls Robotics Team, also known as The Afghan Dreamers“We don’t support any group over another but for us what’s important is that we be able to continue our work,” Farooqui said. “Women in Afghanistan have made a lot of progress over the past two decades and this progress must be respected.”She and other members of the team are too young to know what life was like under the Taliban. The militants ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s. But the young women say they have heard plenty of stories from their mothers.“My mom has bitter memories from the Taliban years,” said 17-year-old Elham Mansouri. “She always wanted to be a teacher but she was banned from going to school. Now, she insists that I study hard.”And if the Taliban stops Mansouri and her friends from going to school?“I don’t know what we would do,” said 16-year-old Diana Wahabzada, who has been with the robotics team for three years.“We’ll fight back,” Mansouri said. “We will open underground schools if we have to. It’s our right to study and to work. We’ll fight for these things no matter what.”

In Russia, the crackdown on journalism continues. Independent outlets are deemed undesirable or foreign agents. Individual journalists are targeted and harassed, with arrests and raids of their homes.That's what happened on Wednesday with Roman Dobrokhotov, the editor-in-chief of the Russian news publication, The Insider.Police in Russia raided Dobrokhotov's home in the latest move by authorities to raise the pressure on independent media before the country's September parliamentary election.Related: Russian-based hacking group REvil disappears from the internetA lawyer from legal aid group Pravozashchita Otkrytki said police seized cellphones, laptops and tablets during the raid, as well as Dobrokhotov's international passport.And Sergei Yezhov, a journalist with The Insider, said Dobrokhotov was supposed to travel outside of Russia on Wednesday.Other targeted outlets include VTimes and Meduza. VTimes subsequently shut down, citing the loss of advertisers, and Meduza launched a crowd-funding campaign after encountering the same problem.Related: 'Fighting corruption in Russia is now being called extremism,' says Navalny adviser The Insider was the latest addition to the list. The news outlet, registered in Latvia, has worked with the investigative group Bellingcat to investigate high-profile cases, such as the nerve agent poisonings of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.Dobrahotov joined The World's host Marco Werman to discuss the circumstances around his arrest and what this signals for investigative journalism in Russia. Related: Navalny's health warrants 'justified, grave concern,' says adviserMarco Werman: Can you describe how events unfolded on Wednesday for you, Roman? How were you arrested and how long were you detained for? Roman Dobrokhotov: It was early in the morning. I was sleeping, actually, and suddenly, I heard some noise. I didn't understand what's going on. And suddenly, someone started knocking at the door very loudly and, immediately, I understand that it's only one thing that they can be. I just had, like, one minute to put my clothes on and they started already to knock the door off. So, they even didn't give me, I don't know, one minute to put my clothes on. So, it looked like they also wanted to harass journalists to make it scary ... I don't say that this was very unexpected because a lot of my colleagues already faced such kind of searches and their laptops and phones — always, they take it. The same happened with me. It's not like, a super new story, but you are always unprepared when it happens with you.So, just before you were arrested, you tweeted, "Looks like I'm going to be searched. The police are knocking." Then you posted your address and you wrote: "A lawyer wouldn't hurt." What were you thinking? Yes, it was in the first seconds when I heard that they are knocking at the door. I understood what's going on and I understood that if I want to transfer some message, I need to do it immediately because they will take my phone. So, I tweeted that this is my address. I need a lawyer, and indeed, in one hour, I think, a lawyer came. So, it is very good self-organization in this community when it's happening very often and there are lots of lawyers who are helping journalists.OK, so you got hit with a charge of libel. For you, then what do you see as the real motivation behind your arrest?I think that the real motivation was they wanted to get access to my computers and telephones and know more about our investigations. And the second reason is they just wanted to put some pressure. Of course, for me, it changed nothing. But for a young journalist, they can really be afraid that something like this can happen to them. And for some, it is a hard choice whether they are ready to face such kind of reaction of the government.You get asked about this all the time, but things seem especially fraught for you right now. Have you been thinking about leaving Russia, working to change things outside of the country?Well, right now I don't have a choice, actually, because they took my passport. Of course, I'm not going to stop the investigations. But yes, you are right that many, many journalists are now living in Russia. I think that actually this is not a bad choice because if you are an investigative journalist, it doesn't matter where you're working from. We, in The Insider, have, I think, like, half of our staff already working from Europe. And you can't even tell by reading The Insider which article was written by the journalist who was writing from Russia and which was written somewhere, I don't know, in Montenegro.It's interesting, you and I met in Moscow two years ago. We spoke about your bold investigation into the perpetrators of the Novichok poisoning of Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom. And at the time, you expressed to me your determination to investigate the Kremlin as deeply as you felt you needed to. I'm just wondering, you and I are speaking again, just a day after your apartment was searched and you were arrested. One might have thought you'd want to keep a lower profile today anyway. Why did you decide to speak? Well, I think it's obvious that the best strategy to be safe is to be in the middle of attention. So if you say out loud everything that you want, sometimes it is more safe than to keep a low profile, because if something happens with you, immediately, everybody starts to speak about this. That's what we saw yesterday when, after my arrest, all the Russian independent media started to write about this and a lot of people really paid attention.What's next for you? How worried are you about how the Kremlin might try and restrict your work further?Well, I don't know, because you never know when they'll just try to harass you and make you feel afraid or demotivated or when they're seriously ready to eliminate and arrest you. So, I'm trying just not to think about this and just keep doing my job. This interview was edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report. 

In Russia, there's a green light for a new vaccine trial.The idea is to combine a first dose of the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V, with a second dose of the British AstraZeneca shot. The country’s registry of approved clinical trials shows the small study was scheduled to start July 26 and will enroll 150 volunteers. Related: Immunized but banned: EU says not all COVID vaccines equalRussia still has a lot of jabs left to give. Only about 20% of Russians have been vaccinated with a high prevalence of vaccine hesitancy across Russia. Judy Twigg, a global public health expert at Virginia Commonwealth University, joins The World's Marco Werman to discuss the science behind this trial.Related: Vaccine mandates aren't new. But do they work?Twigg, who specializes in public health in Russia and Eurasia, also shares her views on the current state of the pandemic in Russia. Marco Werman: Generally, what is the current state of the pandemic in Russia? Judy Twigg: They've been hit pretty hard with the delta variant, so caseloads and deaths from COVID-19 have increased significantly over the last month to six weeks. Vaccine rates are incredibly low. Opinion polls show somewhere between 50% to 60% of the population says they will not get vaccinated under any circumstances. When this new wave of the delta variant hit about six weeks ago, the government started to take some more proactive measures in trying to get people vaccinated. And yet, they still seem to be roughly around a ceiling of about a quarter of people with at least one shot and only about 16% of people that have had both doses.So, that's the background for this trial that will start with a first dose of Sputnik, followed by a second dose of AstraZeneca. What are health experts in Russia hoping to learn? Obviously, they're hoping to learn some science. The AstraZeneca vaccine and the Sputnik vaccine are based on the same adenoviral platform. So, it's an interesting piece of science to see how these two vaccines that are tweaks basically of a very similar vaccine work together. It's a relatively small trial, but it's significant in that it's the first Western vaccine that will be at least legally administered on Russian soil.To me, what's significant about this trial is that it is an effort to increase the legitimacy of the Sputnik vaccine. The Sputnik vaccine was the first one in the world to be approved by any national regulatory authority. Back in August of last year, the Russians rolled it out a little too quickly, made a lot of premature claims about its safety and efficacy. And they've been playing catch-up ever since then, trying to convince people that this is a safe and effective vaccine, which it looks like it is. But they, I think, gain an extra aura of credibility when they're working together with a respected Western vaccine like AstraZeneca.So, you mentioned the adenovirus platform. That's what both these vaccines are based on. Neither of them use the mRNA technology. So, how might mixing these two vaccines improve efficacy and help people? Even though they're both based on an adenoviral platform, they're still coming at the virus in slightly different ways. They're using slightly different techniques to teach the immune system how to fight off the virus. And so, we're hoping to learn more about how that works by combining these two vaccines together.So, you mentioned earlier that authorities in Russia have tried requiring vaccinations for public service sector workers at some restaurants and cafés, insisting on vaccine proof. What else can be done? Because this is not just a problem in Russia. The US is right behind Russia in terms of global vaccine hesitancy.There are many different tactics, I think, that need to be put into place because the vaccine-hesitant population in the United States, in Russia, anywhere, isn't monolithic. There are many different reasons that different groups of people have for being hesitant to take the vaccines. Some of them will sound familiar to anyone following vaccine hesitancy in the United States and Western Europe and other places in the world. There is a distrust of authority. There are plenty of conspiracy theories about the vaccine.I think in Russia, a large part of it will be just standard tools that we've had in place for decades to try to overcome vaccine hesitancy, finding out who the influencers are at the community level. And here we're getting down into individual communities, churches, mosques, neighborhoods, workplaces, social media nodes, and finding out who the people are that have the capacity to influence large numbers of the folks in their networks and making sure that the right kind of scientifically grounded messages get out through those influencers.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. AP contributed to this report. 

Iranians have had enough of their long drought — specifically in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province, where people are protesting the severe water shortage.They say their hardships are about poor water management.Related: Planting dense urban forests could save Karachi from extreme heatFor the past week, crowds of demonstrators have been met with a violent response from security forces. At least three people have died.Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that people could not be blamed for protesting, and called on officials to deal with the crisis.Kaveh Madani, a senior fellow at Yale University and the former deputy head of Iran's Department of Environment, joins The World's host Marco Werman to discuss Iran's challenges with water shortages.Marco Werman: Kaveh, what is the extent of the water shortage in Khuzestan right now? Kaveh Madani: The system is essentially water bankrupt. Water demand is far more than the available water. Iran has been using its water resources unsustainably. Khuzestan is just one of these places where the explosion eventually has appeared. People are saying that we have had enough and the environment is actually saying that it has had enough. Well, just over two years ago, the same region of Iran was under water — extreme flooding. How does a region exhaust surface and groundwater in such a short period of time?It's a very good question. That part of Iran, and all parts of Iran, have floods and droughts. Now, this place was flooded for two years. They had lots of damage, but the reservoirs got full. But people forgot that they have to conserve and use less water. And when I say people, it's not really people, the government who allocates water to different uses — agriculture, domestic sector, industrial sector — and then they drain the reservoir. And now, there is no rain and no water is available for the farmers to irrigate their farms and cities are even suffering.So what is the one big management mistake that should have been avoided to have prevented this current shortage?Essentially, Iran is a semi-arid area. Khuzestan province is an exception. It's very wet. It has mountains in the north and the south. It has the Persian Gulf. But then you start putting reservoirs everywhere. You use the water for agriculture, don't supply enough water to your wetlands, don't supply enough water to the environment and the ecosystem. So, essentially, you are developing unsustainably.Related: US launches airstrikes targeting Iran-backed militias How do you see climate change affecting and making the situation even worse?Climate change [is] everywhere, heat wave[s] and wildfires in California, floods in Germany or drought in Iran. Climate change has a multiplier effect. Climate change increases the intensity and frequency of extreme events like heat waves, floods and droughts. So, it catalyzes the problem, exacerbates the problem. You cannot blame it as the main cause. And if you do that, essentially, you justify what is happening. This means that managers and governments don't have any liability, but managers and governments are there to forecast and predict these situations and get the system prepared and make it resilient. We have not had enough action by the governments to get us prepared for what is happening at the global scale and [it] is making the problems worse. You worked in the public sector, in environmental management in Iran. What kind of reforms or reframing needs to happen for a more sustainable water situation in the country?This economic model, which only thinks about production and doesn't think about the environment, is dysfunctional. This has been proven to us around the world. Iran must change its development model, must invest in the industrial and service sector and decrease the pressure on its natural environment if it wants to survive. This means diversifying the economy and making big reforms to the agricultural sector. And these are very, very painful surgeries that you can't do, essentially, in systems where people are mad at you or have lost trust and faith in the government.And it's not just Iran, as you alluded earlier. I mean, the next big crisis in the globe, we are told, and that is already here, is around water shortages that are leading to monetization of water and making it less accessible to a lot of people. What does the situation in Khuzestan tell us about the future of water everywhere?You know, we are water bankrupt in many places. The system that we have is not sustainable right now. What we are seeing in Iran is a political crisis. It's a social crisis. You cannot just take the environmental sector out and prescribe solutions for the environmental sector, disregarding all other governance and social issues.Well, to that point, before I let you go, I wanted to ask you about Khuzestan, which is home to an Arab ethnic minority that has historically faced discrimination from the Iranian government. To what extent do you think are the environmental outcomes there are due to a pattern of certain groups being de-prioritized by the government?This is a very hard question to answer. You know, if this is intentional or this is a systematic failure, it's like, you know, the problem we have with the African American communities or Black communities in the United States, that you see that there is a pattern there, that inequality exists in the system and in every sector. We have the same situations with ethnic communities, the environmental injustice implications of the development projects in Iran are significant. But before I let you go, let me tell you this: Khuzestan is a very rich region in terms of oil and gas. The benefits of Khuzestan were not limited to Iraq. You in the United States have also benefited from the oil that this region has produced. What we didn't think about was the environmental justice implications of our aggressive economic development that was dependent on fossil energy. And now those people are left with pollution. And we are here in the United States with a much better quality of life. And I think this is something for us to to consider, how our lifestyle, how what we do in Europe or in North America is affecting people in the Global South.This interview was edited and condensed for clarity. 

Last week, LGBTQ student groups in China woke up to find their social media accounts abruptly shut down. It came after several feminist activists had similar shutdowns back in April.When Chinese activist Li Maizi saw another feminist being attacked online by nationalist trolls, she felt that she had to respond. After posting, she found her Weibo account shut down.Li is used to these attempts to silencer her. Six years ago, she and four other women were detained for more than a month for planning a protest against sexual harassment. They became known around the world as the “Feminist Five.”“What I can do is just watch a lot of people say you are trying to incite the state or trying to divide our country, which is really absurd,” she said. “So, I could still see what other people [posted insulting] me, but I couldn't make any comments.”Related: Reflections on the 100-year anniversary of China’s Communist PartyFeminist activist Liang Xiaowen is based in the US. After internet trolls complained to Weibo about her account, the company shut it down and accused her of posting "discriminatory" content. “They just outright decided that what I was doing was illegal. I didn't even have an opportunity to speak for myself."Liang Xiaowen, Chinese feminist activist“They just outright decided that what I was doing was illegal,” she said. “I didn't even have an opportunity to speak for myself. It's not fair at all because I don't understand at all what [I posted] that is illegal. That is discriminatory.” Liang is a lawyer, so she reacted as any lawyer might — she sued Weibo, China's second-largest social media platform. She said that under China’s new civil code, the courts should have seven business days to accept her case, but it’s now been three months and she hasn’t heard anything. “I can accept if I lose a case or if I win a case,” she said. “But I don't think it's fair, that the court is not even dealing with my case.”Related: TV show turns parents' anxiety over college exams in China into entertainment Gender equality was seen as important in the early days of China, author Leta Hong Fincher said. Her book “Betraying Big Brother” documents the feminist movement in the country.“The history of the Communist Party in China is actually very feminist,” she said. "So the People's Republic of China was founded on the principle of gender equality, which is enshrined in the constitution.” Hong Fincher said that these days, the feminist and LGBTQ rights movements have broad appeal among young people in China for a different reason.“It's fundamentally about young people's desire to live the kind of life they want to lead,” she said. "For most people, it's not about politics. It's about individual freedom. And so, that's a lot trickier for the Chinese government to handle.” Young people want to choose their own relationships and whether or not to have children. Just last month, the government changed the birth policy to allow couples to have three children.  But Chinese women’s response was less than lukewarm.  Related: Many couples say they can't afford China's new three children policy“Feminism is perceived as such a threat by the Chinese government, because it's not just an ideology, it actually is affecting their birth rates."Leta Hong Fincher, author, "Betraying Big Brother"“Feminism is perceived as such a threat by the Chinese government,” she said, “because it's not just an ideology, it actually is affecting their birth rates. The government sees it as contributing to the larger problem of the aging of the population, and the shrinking of the workforce.” Hong Fincher said the recent attacks on feminist and LGBTQ activist social media accounts are tied in with a fear of foreign influence. Li Maizi and the rest of the Feminist Five were accused of being controlled by “hostile foreign forces” in 2015. Last month, Li Maizi said she attended a feminist cartooning workshop, but police interrogated the owner of the shop where it was held. “Once we finished the workshop,” she said, “we destroyed all the posters and meeting materials. So, we tear them up and we drop them into different dustbins. That is a fact, if you want to do something [like this] it’s very risky. And you don’t know if the police will take those as evidence to try to convict someone.” As for the LGBTQ student groups whose accounts have just been deleted, they are still figuring out what to do next. A woman who used to run activities for her university’s LGBTQ group text-messaged The World about their reaction. She asked not to use her name or her voice for fear of getting in trouble with her school: “It’s a real shame, we don’t know if there’s any legal action we can take. We didn’t expect this to happen, so we didn’t have a backup of all our content. The most important thing we need to do right now is recover past articles and then post [them] on a new account."LGBTQ student group leader, anonymous“It’s a real shame, we don’t know if there’s any legal action we can take. We didn’t expect this to happen, so we didn’t have a backup of all our content. The most important thing we need to do right now is recover past articles and then post [them] on a new account," she wrote.  She said they will apply to their school administration to start their club again in the fall, but she worries it will be banned. All student clubs at public universities must be approved by the school administration and must get approval each year. Related: A new film explores the stories of 6 men from China who survived the Titanic sinking Prominent feminist and founder of Feminist Voices Lu Pin says the situation is grim, but that activists are not giving up. “As long as they are not treated equally by society,” she said, “feminists will help its followers who will never give up that determination, not because we ourselves are strong but because we have a very broad community.”And she says she believes that will withstand the crackdown. 

Rep. Jerry Nadler has been an outspoken critic of NSA surveillance. He was part of the effort to reform the Patriot Act that culminated in the USA Freedom Act, but says there's more work to do. The post USA Freedom Act co-sponsor calls the bill a good step — but says more must be done appeared first on The World from PRX.

A young girl from Afghanistan escaped being forced into marrying a man when she was 14 years old — by writing a rap song about it. The young rapper is now living and going to school in the US, and she’s still making music about social justice in Afghanistan. The post Afghan rapper escaped teen marriage by singing about it appeared first on The World from PRX.

After a year in a Syrian jail being tortured by the regime's police, activist Karam Al Hamad finally escaped to Turkey. He says he'll only feel safe once he gets to escape the region and come to the US for a fellowship, but the road is proving even harder than he expected. The post After a year of torture in Syrian jail, an activist finally makes it to the US appeared first on The World from PRX.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambled big on national security in Israel's upcoming election, saying only he and his party could keep Israel safe from Iran and terrorist groups. But the gamble seems to have backfired as Israeli voters look more concerned about economic matters. The post As Netanyahu campaigns on Iran, Israelis prepare to vote on their rent appeared first on The World from PRX.

"Today, ISIS is running probably the most effective propaganda machine out there," says one analyst. But while ISIS may have the tools of activism down pat, it's far different from real activist movement in important ways. The post How ISIS uses the tools of activism for its own violent goals appeared first on The World from PRX.

Gezi Park. Tahrir Square. Hong Kong. Ferguson. What form is youth activism taking and how is it different from what came before? The World brings you a multimedia experience from South by Southwest in Austin as part of our #SafeMode series. The post The World explores youth activism at SXSW appeared first on The World from PRX.

The "Anti-Maidan" rally in Moscow marked one year since a pro-Western uprising in Kiev's Maidan Square toppled Ukraine's president. But the attendees have a far different view of everything that's happened since then, and they're not afraid to say it. The post Demonstrators in Moscow seem to be living in a ‘parallel universe’ appeared first on The World from PRX.

Experts are realizing there's no way to capture or kill our way out of the problem of Westerners joining radical groups in places like Iraq or Syria. Luckily, there is an increasing number of programs aimed at bringing these mostly young men back into the fold. The post Pakistan is an unexpected leader in rehabilitating former jihadis appeared first on The World from PRX.

After the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists were murdered for their irreverent drawings of the Prophet Mohammed, some in France have accused Muslims of lacking a sense of humor. As it turns out, many of France’s most successful comedians are Muslims. The post A Muslim and a Jew walk into a comedy club in Paris — and hilarity ensues appeared first on The World from PRX.

The shooting in Paris has created waves around the world. We asked our SafeMode community what repercussions Wednesday's attack has already had for free speech, international security, radicalization and activism. The post After Charlie Hebdo, what next? Readers weigh in on the long-term effects of the attack appeared first on The World from PRX.