Seeking Security

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 lea

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

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 concer

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 Chambe

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 concer

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: Shir

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 e

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 case

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 unsustainab

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