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As the Taliban continues to tighten its grip on Afghanistan, the desperate evacuation of foreign nationals and those locals who worked for western forces over the past two decades intensifies.
But meanwhile, a small province in the north east of the country remains defiant. The Panjshir Valley, where the local terrain provides strong natural protection against attack, held out against Soviet invasion during the 1980s, and in the civil war and the decades of Taliban insurgency that followed.
Now, led by Ahmad Massoud – the son of the “Lion of Panjshir”, Ahmad Shah Massoud – the National Resistance Front is digging in for a fight. Afghan scholar Kaweh Kerami examines the options open to both the resistance and the Taliban leaders.
We also report on new research that examines why symptoms of long COVID are less common in children than in adults, and consider why some ordinary people are persuaded to become spies.
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Jonathan Este
Associate Editor, International Affairs Editor
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Unconquered: the people of the Panjshir Valley have successfully fought off invaders since the Soviet Union in the early 1980s.
EPA-EFE/Hedayatullah Amid
Kaweh Kerami, SOAS, University of London
One province is holding out against Taliban rule.
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Halfpoint/Shutterstock
Robert Hughes, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Emma Duncan, King's College London; Michael Absoud, King's College London; Sunil Bhopal, Newcastle University
Fewer than 2% of children with COVID-19 still had symptoms after eight weeks.
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Benedict Cumberbatch plays British businessman Greville Wynne who gets caught up in espionage during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Liam Daniel
Chris Smith, Coventry University
American intelligence has recognised there are four reasons why a ‘normal’ person might be convinced to spy.
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Politics + Society
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Lucia Nalbandian, Ryerson University
The U.S. military collected biometric data on Afghan civilians. The information may have fallen into the hands of the Taliban, highlighting why collecting the data is too risky in the first place.
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Eugene Lang, Queen's University, Ontario
The Vietnam War was the defining issue for Joe Biden’s generation. His botched withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan could be the defining act of his presidency.
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Stephen L. Esquith, Michigan State University
Whatever its flaws, it doesn’t mean the government action plan should be ignored or opposed. Rather, more needs to be done to achieve its goals.
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Business + Economy
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Tim Hill, University of Bath; Giana M. Eckhardt, King's College London; Robin Canniford, The University of Melbourne
A great ambience requires cooperation and planning according to new research.
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Dinusha Mendis, Bournemouth University
There’s a difference between owning property and owning the copyright in that property.
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Health
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Thomas Littlejohns, University of Oxford
Poor hearing was associated with almost double the risk of dementia.
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Tokyo 2020
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Iain Dutia, The University of Queensland; Sean Tweedy, The University of Queensland
The 2024 Paris Paralympics are cutting four swimming events. Those who will be affected are athletes with the most severe impairments.
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Katy Griggs, Nottingham Trent University
As the Summer Games warm up, more research is needed on how heat acclimation can help Paralympians in particular prepare for extreme conditions
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Environment + Energy
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Karen D. Holl, University of California, Santa Cruz
Planting a massive number of trees can help slow climate change, but it is only part of the solution.
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Featured events
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