kathygannonstories

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New COVID wave batters Afghanistan's crumbling health care

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Only five hospitals in Afghanistan still offer COVID-19 treatment, with 33 others having been forced to close in recent months for lack of doctors, medicines and even heat. This comes as the economically devastated nation is hit by a steep rise in the number of reported coronavirus cases.…READ MORE

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Taliban raised on war bring a heavy hand to security role

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — As they headed home at night from a wedding, everyone in the car went quiet when they approached the checkpoint in Kabul manned by two Taliban with automatic rifles.…READ MORE

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From Kabul, pregnant reporter fights NZ govt to come home

ISLAMABAD (AP) — She reported on the difficult conditions mothers and babies face just to survive in desperate Afghanistan. Now, a pregnant New Zealand reporter has chosen Kabul as a temporary base for her uphill fight to return home because of her country’s strict COVID-19 entry rules.…READ MORE

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In freezing Afghanistan, aid workers rush to save millions

PUL-E-ALAM, Afghanistan (AP) — A flickering flame of paper, rags and random twigs is the only heat Gulnaz has to keep her 18-month-old son warm, barely visible beneath his icy blanket as she begs on a bitterly cold highway on the road to Kabul.…READ MORE

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Taliban storm Kabul apartment, arrest activist, her sisters

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban stormed an apartment in Kabul, smashing the door in and arresting a woman rights activist and her three sisters, an eyewitness said Thursday. A Taliban statement appeared to blame the incident on a recent women’s protest, saying insulting Afghan values will no longer be tolerated.…READ MORE

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Taliban economy conference in Kabul stresses need for funds

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Five months into their rule of Afghanistan, the Taliban have increased revenue, cracked down on corruption and collected a surprising $1 billion in exports, the U.N. representative for the country said Wednesday.…READ MORE

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Before pullout, watchdog warned of Afghan air force collapse

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Months before President Joe Biden announced the U.S.’s complete withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Washington’s watchdog warned that the Afghan air force would collapse without critical American aid, training and maintenance. The report was declassified Tuesday.…READ MORE

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The AP Interview: Taliban pledge all girls in schools soon

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers say they hope to be able to open all schools for girls across the country after late March, their spokesman told The Associated Press on Saturday, offering the first timeline for addressing a key demand of the international community.…READ MORE

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Afghan Taliban turn blind eye to Pakistani militants

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Each year on Jan. 17, Shahana bakes a cake and invites friends to her home in the Pakistani city of Peshawar. They sing happy birthday for her son, even light a candle. But it’s a birthday without the birthday boy.…READ MORE

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Ex-Afghan president says had no choice but to flee Kabul

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan’s former president said he had no choice but to abruptly leave Kabul as the Taliban closed in and denied an agreement was in the works for a peaceful takeover, disputing the accounts of former Afghan and U.S. officials.…READ MORE

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2021 Notebook: US withdrawal and Afghanistan’s next chapter

THE BACKGROUND: For Afghanistan, 2021 was punctuated by the chaos of a U.S. withdrawal and an uncertain next chapter. The Taliban, who were unseated as the country’s rulers by a U.S.-led coalition after the 9/11 attacks 20 years ago, could not be stopped by a collapsing Afghan military and Western-backed government that fled. They quickly took power back in mid-August — asked, The Associated Press has revealed, by former President Hamid Karzai to help keep Kabul from falling into chaos and deadly violence.…READ MORE

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Islamic world unites to aid desperately poor Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The economic collapse of Afghanistan, already teetering dangerously on the edge, would have a “horrendous” impact on the region and the world, successive speakers warned Sunday at the start of a one-day summit of foreign ministers from dozens of Islamic countries.…READ MORE

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Pakistan to rally Muslim countries to help Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan is rallying Muslim countries to help Afghanistan stave off an economic and humanitarian disaster while also cajoling the neighboring country’s new Taliban rulers to soften their image abroad.…READ MORE

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The AP Interview: Karzai ‘invited’ Taliban to stop chaos

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban didn’t take the Afghan capital — they were invited, says the man who issued the invitation.…READ MORE

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Afghan victims saddened US drone strike to go unpunished

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Afghan survivors of an errant U.S. drone strike that killed 10 members of their family in August said Tuesday they are frustrated and saddened that U.S. troops involved in the attack will not face disciplinary action.…READ MORE

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The AP Interview: Taliban seek ties with US, other ex-foes

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers are committed in principle to education and jobs for girls and women, a marked departure from their previous time in power, and seek the world’s “mercy and compassion” to help millions of Afghans in desperate need, a top Taliban leader said in a rare interview.…READ MORE

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Radicalization’s path: In case studies, finding similarities

In the months before he was charged with storming the Capitol, Doug Jensen was sharing conspiracy theories he’d consumed online. But it hadn’t always been that way, says his brother, who recalls how he once posted the sort of family and vacation photos familiar to nearly all social media users.…READ MORE