News Rundown

The BBC is reporting that women staging a protest in Afghanistan were met with pepper spray by the authorities. They were demanding the right to work.  Taliban leaders have said that women will not be given senior roles in the new government (BBC 9/4/1).

Fighting is still going on in the Panjshir Valley (BBC, 9/4/21).

The new caretaker government has been announced in Afghanistan including a new Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior (wanted by the FBI).  There were no women or outsiders appointed (BBC, 9/8/21).

Protests of Pakistan’s support of the Taliban.  Taliban fired in the air in response to the protests (BBC, 9/8/21). 

The UN says that basic services are collapsing in Afghanistan (CNN, Podcast, 9/8/21)

9/11 planner, Shalid Sheikh Mohammed, is still awaiting trial.  Lawyers for Mohammed are still awaiting documents.  They argue that the government is trying to hide evidence of torture before Mohammed was moved to Guantanamo.  Had he been tried in a normal court; this would have been over a decade ago.  It is possible that there will never be a trial (Apple News, 9/8/21). 

ABC News Article: Shalid Sheikh Mohammed https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trial-911-mastermind-khalid-sheikh-mohammed-resumes-hits/story?id=79876586

While there is a narrative that police officers are leaving in droves in response to a lack of confidence in police, the figures don’t bear this out (The Marshall Plan).

If you are interested in the history of the war against terrorism since 9/11, this is a really good book by spencer Ackerman.