Advanced Search Close Search
Death toll from Afghan earthquake jumps to more than 2,200 as aid agencies plead for funds
World

Death toll from Afghan earthquake jumps to more than 2,200 as aid agencies plead for funds

  • The Associated Press

A Taliban government spokesman says the death toll from a major earthquake in Afghanistan has risen to 2,205. The shallow, magnitude-6.0 quake struck the mountainous and remote eastern part of the country late Sunday, leveling villages and trapping people under rubble. Most of the casualties have been in Kunar province, where people typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep river valleys separated by high mountains.. Rescue efforts are ongoing, but rough terrain and funding cuts are hindering relief. Afghanistan has already been facing drought, a weak economy, and the recent return of some 2 million refugees.

This Day in History
Lifestyle

This Day in History

On Aug. 30, 1916, on his fourth attempt, explorer Ernest Shackelton successfully returned to Elephant Island in Antarctica to rescue 22 of his stranded crew members, who had survived on the barren island for four and a half months after the sinking of their ship, the Endurance.

US restores urgent food aid but not in Afghanistan and Yemen, where millions of people need it
National

US restores urgent food aid but not in Afghanistan and Yemen, where millions of people need it

  • By SAMY MAGDY, RIAZAT BUTT and ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has reversed cuts in emergency food aid to several nations but maintained them in Afghanistan and Yemen, two of the world's poorest countries. It marks the latest round of abrupt cancellations of foreign aid contracts run through the U.S. Agency for International Development and equally sudden reversals. The U.S. initially cut funding for projects in more than a dozen countries. The State Department confirmed Wednesday it reversed the cuts for emergency food programs in Somalia, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Ecuador. The status of funding for six other countries is unclear. The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says she wants to see funding restored.

Taliban frees an American man who was abducted while traveling in Afghanistan more than 2 years ago
National

Taliban frees an American man who was abducted while traveling in Afghanistan more than 2 years ago

  • By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is praising Qatar for helping the U.S. secure the release of an American held by the Taliban for more than two years. Rubio said Thursday George Glezmann will be reunited with his wife. The airline mechanic from Atlanta is the third American detainee to be released by the Taliban since January. Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry confirms the release on "humanitarian grounds." Glezmann is being accompanied back to the U.S. by Adam Boehler, who's been handling hostage issues for President Donald Trump's administration. Glezmann was abducted while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist. Glezmann was seized by the Taliban's intelligence services in December 2022 and was designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained.

This Day in History
Lifestyle

This Day in History

  • Updated

Today in history: On Nov. 13, 2015, Islamic State militants carried out a set of coordinated attacks in Paris at the national stadium, in a crowded concert hall, in restaurants and on streets, killing 130 people in the worst attack on French soil since World War II.

This Day in History
Lifestyle

This Day in History

  • Updated

Today in history: On Sept. 27, 1996, in Afghanistan, the Taliban, a band of former seminary students, drove the government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani out of Kabul, captured the capital and executed former leader Najibullah.