Dispatch
The view from the ground.
-
Smoke rises after an air strike on Islamic State (IS) militants positions during an ongoing operation against the group in the Achin district of Afghanistan's Nangarhar province on April 14, 2017, a day after the US military struck the district with its largest non-nuclear bomb. The US military's largest non-nuclear bomb killed dozens of Islamic State militants as it smashed their mountain hideouts, Afghan officials said April 14, ruling out any civilian casualties despite the weapon's destructive capacity. The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb -- dubbed the "Mother Of All Bombs" -- hit IS positions in Achin district in eastern Nangarhar province on April 13. / AFP PHOTO / NOORULLAH SHIRZADA (Photo credit should read NOORULLAH SHIRZADA/AFP/Getty Images) Afghans Want More ‘Mothers of All Bombs’
Afghan leaders are keen to see more U.S. power on display in the battle against ISIS forces.
-
Refugees from Myanmar rest at a refugee camp near the China-Myanmar border in Wanding, in China's southwest Yunnan province on November 30, 2016. Thousands of refugees have fled into China in November due to fighting in northern Myanmar, and are being housed in temporary shelters along the border. Locals near the Chinese border in Myanmar's northern state of Shan said they were fleeing heavy fighting between the army and four armed ethnic groups, including the powerful Kachin Independence Army. / AFP / STR / China OUT (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images) China Is Playing Peacemaker in Myanmar, but with an Ulterior Motive
Beijing is trying to end the long-running conflicts along its border with Myanmar — but only because it can't exploit the region's resources at will anymore.
-
hayir How Kurds Could Tilt Turkey’s Referendum
As Turkey considers granting Recep Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers, the crucial swing voters may be the country's long-oppressed ethnic minority.
-
GettyImages-667531298crop Rex Tillerson’s Kinda-Sorta Detente in Moscow
After a week of trading barbs, the Trump administration and the Kremlin agreed on one thing Wednesday: not to let things get any worse.
-
TOPSHOT - A Democratic Alliance (DA) party's supporters holds a placard reading "Jacob Zuma must go" during a march against South African president Jacob Zuma on April 7, 2017 in Johannesburg. Thousands of protesters marched through South African cities on April 7, 2017 demanding President Jacob Zuma's resignation, as a second ratings agency downgraded the country's debt to junk status. Zuma's sacking of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan last week has fanned public anger, divisions within the ruling ANC party and a sharp decline in investor confidence in the country. / AFP PHOTO / JOHN WESSELS (Photo credit should read JOHN WESSELS/AFP/Getty Images) South Africa’s Zimbabwe Moment
President Jacob Zuma is toying with land expropriation policies that threaten the country's economy — and his own leadership.
-
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JEAN-MARC MOJON A Somali, part armed militia, part pirate, carries his high-caliber weapon on a beach in the central Somali town of Hobyo on August 20, 2010. Hobyo has no schools, no clinics and bad drinking water sources. Fighting a losing battle against the sand that has already completely covered the old Italian port, Hobyo's scattering of rundown houses and shacks looks anything but the nerve centre of an activity threatening global shipping. AFP PHOTO / ROBERTO SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images) Somalia’s Pirates Are Back in Business
Lawlessness onshore is fueling a resurgence of crime on the high seas.
-
GettyImages-633539584 (1)crop 59 Ways to Kill a Russian Reset
All it takes is a few dozen Tomahawk missiles and a lecture on human rights.
-
BRASILIA, BRAZIL - JUNE 27: Members of group Educafro protest in silence in front of the Presidential Palace on favor of the racial quota policies on June 27, 2012 in Brasilia, Brazil. (Photo by Peter Francia/News Free/LatinContent/Getty Images) Brazil’s New Problem With Blackness
As the proudly mixed-race country grapples with its legacy of slavery, affirmative-action race tribunals are measuring skull shape and nose width to determine who counts as disadvantaged.
-
Felix Tshisekedi, the son of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) late opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi takes part in a funeral wake for her late husband, in Brussels on February 5, 2017. A three-day funeral wake in memory of Tshisekedi started on February 3, 2017 after the main DRC opposition leader died in Brussels aged 84 on February 1, 2017. / AFP / EMMANUEL DUNAND (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images) The Man Who Would Be King of Congo
Can the scion of Congo’s second-most famous political dynasty shepherd the country to its first peaceful transition of power?
-
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (C) greets female supporters at the Malacanang Palace during the "Digong's Day for Women" event on March 31, 2017. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on March 30 described two major media outlets as "sons of whores" and warned them of karmic repercussions for their critical coverage of his deadly drug war. / AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS (Photo credit should read NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images) How to Cover a President Who’s Literally Willing to Go to War With the Media
Lessons for the D.C. press corps from the front lines of Duterte's reign of terror.
-
Iraqi families who were displaced by the ongoing operation by Iraqi forces against jihadists of the Islamic State group to retake the city of Mosul, are seen near Qayyarah, south of Mosul, on October 29, 2016. Iraqi paramilitary forces launched an operation to cut the Islamic State group's supply lines between its Mosul bastion and neighbouring Syria, opening a new front in the nearly two-week-old offensive. / AFP / BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images) Bombed in Their Homes, Civilians in Mosul Blame Reckless Coalition Forces
As the war to retake the city from the Islamic State intensifies, a terrified population fears the worst.
-
TOPSHOT - A policeman walks in front of a graffiti against US President Donald Trump in Mexico City during his inauguration on January 20, 2017. Billionaire outsider Donald Trump was sworn in on Friday as the 45th president of the United States and announced that he will shield the country's borders against immigrants and protect it from the "ravages" of free trade. / AFP / RONALDO SCHEMIDT (Photo credit should read RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP/Getty Images) Mexico Can Handle Trump Just Fine
The country’s greatest obstacles are close to home, not north of the border.
-
Yana, an outreach worker with Svitanok, visiting an HIV positive patient who died later that day. People with HIV are particularly susceptible to diseases such as tuberculosis, which is currently making a comeback in Ukraine's war zones. Donetsk 2011 Ukraine’s Underground AIDS-Treatment Railroad
For HIV-positive eastern Ukrainians, the struggle against Russian-backed separatists isn't just about dignity — it's about their right to stay alive.
-
GettyImages-656816460 Brazen Murder in Kiev Chills Russia’s Dissidents in Ukraine
The assassination of Putin critic Denis Voronenkov has Russian exiles wondering who's next on the Kremlin’s hit list.
-
COLOGNE, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 23: The central mosque of DITIB, the Turkish Islamic union that runs Turkish mosques across Germany, stands at twilight on February 23, 2017 in Cologne, Germany. German authorities have launched investigations into the activities of DITIB imams and other employees over allegations of spying against Turks in Germany whom the Turkish state suspects of having ties to the Gulen movement. DITIB is the religious arm of the Turkish state. Its imams are schooled in Turkey and their salaries paid by the Turkish government. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a massive attack against the movement of his rival Fethullah Gulen, arresting thousands of people Erdogan accuses of supporting Gulen and playing a role in the 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey. Gulen has a strong following among Turks in Germany and the movement runs a network of schools and other institutions. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images) Erdogan’s International Network of Muslim Cleric Spies
The hidden backstory to the latest diplomatic blowup between Turkey and Europe.
