This week began with chaos at Kabul airport as crowds of Afghans and foreign nationals sought to flee the country. It ends with bloodshed at the same location.
Yesterday, a gun and suicide bomb attack targeted desperate people who had gathered outside the airport gate in the hopes of catching a flight out. As of this morning, at least 95 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops are known to have been killed. Within hours of the assault, ISIS-K, a group affiliated with the Islamic State group, claimed responsibility.
The attack is the highest profile operation conducted by ISIS-K, but the group is not a new terrorist organization. Terrorism experts Amira Jadoon and Andrew Mines have been tracking ISIS-K for years and answered our questions about who ISIS-K is, what it wants and how big a threat it now poses in a destabilized Afghanistan.
Also today:
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Matt Williams
Breaking News Editor
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ISIS-K, an affiliate of the Islamic State group, has claimed responsibility for the Kabul terrorist attack.
Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images
Amira Jadoon, United States Military Academy West Point; Andrew Mines, George Washington University
An attack on the Kabul airport has left scores dead and many more injured. Two terrorism scholars explain who the group thought responsible is, and how big of a threat is it.
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Health
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Maureen Ferran, Rochester Institute of Technology
It has been six months since the Johnson & Johnson vaccine received emergency use authorization. What does six months of data show about its efficacy, side effects and protection from variants?
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Andrew Read, Penn State
A 2015 paper on chicken virus evolution is being taken out of context and used to fuel fears about COVID-19 vaccines. Its lead author aims to clarify the science in hopes of saving lives.
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Debra Furr-Holden, Michigan State University; Brooke W. McKeever, University of South Carolina; David R. Buys, Mississippi State University; Omolola Adeoye-Olatunde, Purdue University
Achieving widespread immunity to COVID-19 through vaccination requires as many people as possible to get their shots, including those who object or haven’t bothered.
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Economy + Business
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Paul Wachtel, New York University
Central bankers are expected to discuss the racial income and wealth gaps during the virtual Jackson Hole retreat. But an economist argues that the Fed is not suited for addressing these issues.
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Politics + Society
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Jean Eddy Saint Paul, Brooklyn College
Local power struggles and strong US interests have long shaped political leadership – and presidential assassinations – in Haiti, limiting nation-building projects on the Caribbean island.
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Environment + Energy
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Kristine Grayson, University of Richmond
Biological control strategies curb pests using other species that attack the invader. A biologist explains why it can take more than a decade to develop an effective biological control program.
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Science + Technology
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Arthur Samia, University of Florida; Marjorie Montanez-Wiscovich, University of Florida
Two dermatologists explain the itchy and unpleasant allergic reaction this plant can cause in up to 90% of people who encounter it.
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Arts + Culture
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Kathryn Cunningham, University of Tennessee
There’s plenty to critique about sorority culture. But going after Southern accents is punching down.
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Podcast 🎙️
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Gemma Ware, The Conversation; Daniel Merino, The Conversation
Two Afghan researchers explain what led to the emergence of the Taliban in the 1990s and why that history is crucial to understand what’s happening now. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
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From our International Editions
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Greg De Temmerman, Mines ParisTech
A US laboratory has announced an exciting new leap forward in nuclear fusion, but it may be several decades before we see this form of energy come to fruition.
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Evan Easton-Calabria, University of Oxford
Uganda is making an effort in a neighbourhood where few other countries have the same enthusiasm.
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Christopher Brown, University of Hertfordshire
The Paralympics are the stage for a battle between the exclusivity of elite sport and the inclusivity the movement aims to nurture. Can the event effect true social change?
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