Most viewed Wikipedia articles on August 17 , 2021
The Taliban or Taleban, who refer to themselves as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), are a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist political movement and military organisation in Afghanistan currently waging war within that country. Since 2016, the Taliban's leader is Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. Afghanistan is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south; Iran to the west; Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north; and China to the northeast. Occupying 652,000 square kilometers (252,000 sq mi), it is a mountainous country with plains in the north and southwest. Kabul is the capital and largest city. The population is around 32 million, composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was an Islamic state established in September 1996, when the Taliban began their governance of Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul. At its peak, the Taliban government controlled approximately 90% of the country, whereas remaining regions in the northeast were held by the Northern Alliance, which maintained broad international recognition as a continuation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan. After the September 11 attacks and subsequent declaration of a "War on Terror" by the United States, international opposition to the regime drastically increased, with diplomatic recognition from the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan being rescinded. The Islamic Emirate ceased to exist on 17 December 2001 after being overthrown by the Northern Alliance, which had been bolstered by the ISAF coalition established after a U.S.-led invasion of the country two months prior. The Taliban has continued to refer to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in official communications.
Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan, fell to Taliban forces on 15 August 2021 in the culmination of a military offensive that began in May 2021 against the Afghan government. The capture took place hours after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and abandoned the city's presidential palace. Most of the provincial capitals of Afghanistan had fallen one after the other in the midst of a U.S. troop withdrawal that was to be completed by the end of August.
Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who is serving as President of Afghanistan. He was first elected on 20 September 2014 and was re-elected in the 28 September 2019 presidential election. He was announced the winner after a protracted process in February 2020 and was sworn in for a second term on 9 March 2020. An anthropologist by education, he previously served as Minister of Finance and the Chancellor of Kabul University.
Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada is a hardline religious scholar and the leader of the Taliban, an armed militant group that was the former government of Afghanistan.
The 2021 Taliban offensive is an ongoing military offensive by the Taliban and allied militant groups, including al-Qaeda, against the government of Afghanistan and its allies that began on 1 May 2021, simultaneous with the withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Afghanistan. As of 15 July 2021, over a third of Afghanistan's 421 districts were controlled by the Taliban, and by 21 July, half of Afghanistan was under Taliban control.
The War in Afghanistan is an ongoing war following the United States invasion of Afghanistan that began when the United States of America and its allies successfully drove the Taliban from power in order to deny Al-Qaeda a safe base of operations in Afghanistan. Since the initial objectives were completed, a coalition of over 40 countries formed a security mission in the country called International Security Assistance Force, of which certain members were involved in military combat allied with Afghanistan's government. The war has afterwards mostly consisted of Taliban insurgents fighting against the Afghan Armed Forces and allied forces; the majority of ISAF/RS soldiers and personnel are American. The war is code named by the U.S. as Operation Enduring Freedom (2001–14) and Operation Freedom's Sentinel (2015–present); it is the longest war in U.S. history.
Captain Vikram Batra, PVC was an officer of the Indian Army, awarded with the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest and most prestigious award for valour, for his actions during the 1999 Kargil War.
Mullah Mohammed Omar, widely known as Mullah Omar, was an Afghan mujahideen commander who led the Taliban, and founded the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 1996.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, also called Mullah Baradar Akhund or Mullah Brother, is a co-founder of the Taliban in Afghanistan. He was the deputy of Mullah Mohammed Omar. Baradar was captured in Pakistan by a team of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers in February 2010 and was released on 24 October 2018 at the request of the United States.
The national flag of Afghanistan consists of a vertical tricolor with the classical National Emblem in the center. The current flag was adopted on August 19, 2013, but many similar designs had been in use throughout most of the 20th century.
Sharia, Islamic law, or redundantly Sharia law, is a religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the hadith. In Arabic, the term sharīʿah refers to God's immutable divine law and is contrasted with fiqh, which refers to its human scholarly interpretations. The manner of its application in modern times has been a subject of dispute between Muslim fundamentalists and modernists.
The Bible is a collection of religious texts or scriptures sacred to Christians, Jews, Samaritans, Rastafari and others. It appears in the form of an anthology, a compilation of texts of a variety of forms that are all linked by the belief that they are collectively revelations of God. These texts include theologically-focused historical accounts, hymns, prayers, proverbs, parables, didactic letters, erotica, poetry, and prophecies. Believers also generally consider the Bible to be a product of divine inspiration.
Al-Qaeda is a militant Sunni Islamist multi-national organization founded in 1988 by Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Azzam, and several other Arab volunteers during the Soviet–Afghan War.
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, also rendered Usama bin Ladin, was a founder of the pan-Islamic militant organization al-Qaeda, designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, and various countries.
Anandha Kannan was an Indian film actor and television host, popularly known for his shows broadcast on channels Sun Network. He passed away on August 16 2021.
The White Lotus is an American satire comedy television miniseries created, written and directed by Mike White that premiered on HBO on July 11, 2021.
Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. As a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the second to last Hellenistic state and the age that had lasted since the reign of Alexander. Her native language was Koine Greek, and she was the only Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language.
The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was an Islamic republic that governed most of Afghanistan between 2004 and 2021 during the War in Afghanistan. It was established after the United States invasion of Afghanistan toppled the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 2001.
The following deaths of notable individuals occurred in 2021. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order by surname or pseudonym. A typical entry reports information in the following sequence:
- Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent nationality, what subject was noted for, cause of death, and reference.
Hamid Karzai is an Afghan politician who was the president of Afghanistan from 22 December 2001 to 29 September 2014. He is also the leader of the Popalzai Durrani tribe of Pashtuns.
The Soviet–Afghan War was a conflict wherein insurgent groups, as well as smaller Maoist groups, fought a nine-year guerrilla war against the Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government throughout the 1980s, mostly in the Afghan countryside. The Mujahideen were variously backed primarily by the United States, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, and the United Kingdom; the conflict was a Cold War-era proxy war. Between 562,000 and 2,000,000 civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country as refugees, mostly to Pakistan and Iran. The war caused grave destruction in Afghanistan and contributed to the Soviet collapse, in hindsight leaving a mixed legacy to people in both territories.
The Suicide Squad is an upcoming American superhero film based on the DC Comics team of the same name. Produced by DC Films, Atlas Entertainment, and The Safran Company, and set for distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is intended to be a standalone sequel to Suicide Squad (2016) and the tenth film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Written and directed by James Gunn, the film stars an ensemble cast including Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Peter Capaldi, Sylvester Stallone, and Viola Davis. In the film, a task force of imprisoned convicts are sent to destroy a Nazi-era prison and laboratory.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Shang-Chi. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is intended to be the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton from a screenplay by David Callaham and stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, alongside Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Fala Chen, Meng'er Zhang, Florian Munteanu, Ronny Chieng, and Michelle Yeoh. In the film, Shang-Chi is forced to confront his past after he is drawn into the Ten Rings organization.
Free Guy is an upcoming American science fiction action comedy film directed by Shawn Levy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn and a story by Lieberman. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Taika Waititi.
The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon, was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong on 30 April 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period to the formal reunification of Vietnam into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Beckett is a 2021 thriller film directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino. The film stars John David Washington as an American tourist vacationing in Greece who becomes the target of a manhunt after an accident, and must reach the embassy to clear his name; Boyd Holbrook, Vicky Krieps, and Alicia Vikander also star.
Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, located in the eastern section of the country. It is also a municipality, forming part of the greater Kabul Province, and divided into 22 districts. According to estimates in 2020, the population of Kabul is 4.222 million, which includes all the major ethnic groups of Afghanistan. Afghanistan's only city with a population of over 1 million, Kabul serves as its political, cultural and economical center. Rapid urbanization has made Kabul the world's 75th largest city.
Ahmad Shah Massoud was an Afghan politician and military commander. He was a powerful guerrilla commander during the resistance against the Soviet occupation between 1979 and 1989. In the 1990s, he led the government's military wing against rival militias and, after the Taliban takeover, was the leading opposition commander against their regime until his assassination in 2001.
Shershaah is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language biographical war action film directed by Vishnuvardhan and co-produced by Karan Johar. Tracing the life journey of Param Vir Chakra awardee and army captain Vikram Batra, it stars Sidharth Malhotra in a double role, as Batra and his identical twin brother Vishal; Kiara Advani plays the role of Dimple Cheema. The official announcement for film was made in May 2019; principal photography commenced in the same month and wrapped up in January 2020. Initially scheduled to be released on 3 July 2020, the film was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This also marks Vishnuvardhan's directorial debut in Bollywood and Hindi film. The film is scheduled to release on 12 August 2021 on Amazon Prime Video.
Malala Yousafzai, often referred to mononymously as Malala, is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. She is known for human rights advocacy, especially the education of women and children in her native Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northwest Pakistan, where the local Pakistani Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become "the most prominent citizen" of the country.
The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previous piston-engined military cargo aircraft, the Douglas C-74 Globemaster and the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II. The C-17 commonly performs tactical and strategic airlift missions, transporting troops and cargo throughout the world; additional roles include medical evacuation and airdrop duties. It was designed to replace the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, and also fulfill some of the duties of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, freeing the C-5 fleet for outsize cargo.
YouTube is an American online video-sharing platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. The service, created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees—Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim—was bought by Google in November 2006 for US$1.65 billion and now operates as one of the company's subsidiaries. YouTube is the second most-visited website in the world after Google Search, according to Alexa Internet rankings.
Amrullah Saleh is an Afghan politician who is serving as the 1st Vice President of Afghanistan. He served as the Minister of Interior Affairs of Afghanistan until January 19, 2019, and as head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) from 2004 until his resignation in 2010.
The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest of any kind. It broadcasts radio news, speech and discussions in more than 40 languages to many parts of the world on analogue and digital shortwave platforms, internet streaming, podcasting, satellite, DAB, FM and MW relays. In 2015, The World Service reached an average of 210 million people a week. In November 2016, the BBC announced that it would start broadcasting in additional languages including Amharic and Igbo, in its biggest expansion since the 1940s.
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, author and visual artist. Widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture for more than 50 years. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and anti-war movements. His lyrics during this period incorporated a range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defied pop music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture.
SummerSlam is an upcoming professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It is scheduled to take place on August 21, 2021, at Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. It will be the 34th event under the SummerSlam chronology and the first to take place on a Saturday since the 1992 event, although it will be the first to air live on a Saturday.
The Afghan Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, was a united military front that came to formation in late 1996 after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban) took over Kabul. The United Front was assembled by key leaders of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, particularly president Burhanuddin Rabbani and former Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud. Initially it included mostly Tajiks but by 2000, leaders of other ethnic groups had joined the Northern Alliance. This included Karim Khalili, Abdul Rashid Dostum, Abdullah Abdullah, Mohammad Mohaqiq, Abdul Qadir, Asif Mohseni and others.
The September 11 attacks, often referred to as 9/11, were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Wahhabi terrorist group Al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks resulted in 2,977 fatalities, over 25,000 injuries, and substantial long-term health consequences, in addition to at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. It is the deadliest terrorist attack in human history and the single deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in the history of the United States, with 343 and 72 killed, respectively.
The history of Afghanistan as a state began in 1880 with its establishment following the end of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Afghanistan was a part of various Persian Empires. Its history is tied to neighboring countries like Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.The written recorded history of the land presently constituting Afghanistan can be traced back to around 500 BCE when the area was under the Achaemenid Empire, although evidence indicates that an advanced degree of urbanized culture has existed in the land since between 3000 and 2000 BCE. Bactria dates back to 2500 BC. The Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up to large parts of Afghanistan in the north. Alexander the Great and his Macedonian army arrived at what is now Afghanistan in 330 BCE after the fall of the Achaemenid Empire during the Battle of Gaugamela. Since then, many empires have risen from Afghanistan, including the Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Hephthalites, Saffarids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khaljis, Timurids, Mughals, Hotakis and Durranis.
Deobandi is an Islamic revivalist movement within Sunni Islam that formed around the Darul Uloom Islamic seminary in the town of Deoband, India, where the name derives from, during the late 19th century. The seminary was founded by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, Rashid Ahmad Gangohi, and several other figures in 1866, eight years after the Indian Rebellion of 1857-58; the Deobandi movement's political wing, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, was founded in 1919 and played a major role in the Indian independence movement through its propagation of the doctrine of composite nationalism.
Ulysses Lee "Junior" Bridgeman is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. In late 2020, he became the owner of Ebony Magazine.
The United States Armed Forces are scheduled to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by 31 August 2021, concluding Operation Freedom's Sentinel and NATO's Resolute Support Mission. The U.S. and allied forces invaded and occupied the country in 2001 following the 11 September attacks, with the resulting war becoming the U.S.'s longest military engagement.
Rita Sahatçiu Ora is a British singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut studio album, Ora, released in August 2012, debuted at number one in the United Kingdom. The album contained the UK number-one singles, "R.I.P." and "How We Do (Party)". Ora was the artist with the most number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart in 2012, with three singles reaching the top position.
Skathi, or Saturn XXVII, is a natural satellite of Saturn. It was discovered by Brett Gladman, Kavelaars and colleagues in 2000, and given the temporary designation S/2000 S 8. Skathi is about 8 kilometres in diameter and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 15.576 Gm in 725.784 days, at an inclination of 149° to the ecliptic, in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.246. Its rotation period is 11.1±0.02 hours.
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the second-most populous country, the seventh-largest country by land area, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
The United States invasion of Afghanistan occurred after the September 11 attacks in late 2001 and was supported by close US allies which had officially begun the War on Terror. The conflict is also known as the US war in Afghanistan or the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. Its public aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda and deny it a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban from power. The United Kingdom was a key ally of the United States, offering support for military action from the start of preparations for the invasion. It followed the Afghan Civil War's 1996–2001 phase between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance groups, although the Taliban controlled 90% of the country by 2001. The US invasion of Afghanistan became the first phase of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present).
The fifth season of the animated television series Rick and Morty is currently in development at Adult Swim. It will consist of 10 episodes. 50 more episodes have been confirmed as part of a deal at Adult Swim that renewed the series for 70 additional episodes in May 2018. The series stars Justin Roiland as both titular characters. It will begin airing on June 20, 2021.
While in power in Afghanistan, the Taliban became notorious internationally for their sexism and violence against women. Their stated motive was to create a "secure environment where the chastity and dignity of women may once again be sacrosanct", reportedly based on Pashtunwali beliefs about living in purdah.
Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was the leader of the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan, from 29 July 2015 to 21 May 2016, when Mansour was killed in a drone strike by the United States in Pakistan.
The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is the head of state and head of government of Afghanistan and Commander-in-Chief of Afghan Armed Forces. Following the 2021 Taliban offensive and the near seizure of the capital, incumbent President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan to Tajikistan on 15 August 2021. Thus, the office of President has effectively become vacant. After Ghani fled the country, the Taliban occupied the Presidential Palace.
The murder of Sir William de Cantilupe, who was born around 1345, by members of his household, took place in Scotton, Lincolnshire, in March 1375. The de Cantilupe family was a long-established and influential one in the county, traditionally providing royal officials to the crown both in the central government and at the local level. Among William de Cantilupe's ancestors were royal councillors, bodyguards and, distantly, Saint Thomas de Cantilupe.
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country with a population exceeding 212.2 million. It has the world's second-largest Muslim population. It is the 33rd-largest country by area, spanning 881,913 square kilometres. Pakistan has a 1,046-kilometre (650-mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest, and China to the northeast. It is separated narrowly from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor in the northwest, and also shares a maritime border with Oman.
Clarissa Ward is an American television journalist who is currently chief international correspondent for CNN. She was formerly with CBS News, based in London. Before her CBS News position, Ward was a Moscow-based news correspondent for ABC News programs.
When an HTTP client requests a URL that points to a directory structure instead of an actual web page within the directory, the web server will generally serve a default page, which is often referred to as a main or "index" page.
Kevin Oghenetega Tamaraebi Bakumo-Abraham, known as Tammy Abraham, is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Chelsea and the England national team.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American politician serving as the 46th and current president of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under Barack Obama and represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States, or America, is a country primarily located in North America, consisting of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, it is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area. With a population of more than 328 million people, it is the third most populous country in the world. The national capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City.
Microsoft Office, or simply Office, is a family of client software, server software, and services developed by Microsoft. It was first announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at COMDEX in Las Vegas. Initially a marketing term for an office suite, the first version of Office contained Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. Over the years, Office applications have grown substantially closer with shared features such as a common spell checker, OLE data integration and Visual Basic for Applications scripting language. Microsoft also positions Office as a development platform for line-of-business software under the Office Business Applications brand. On July 10, 2012, Softpedia reported that Office was being used by over a billion people worldwide.
The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, and in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America or simply the American War, was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist allies; South Vietnam was supported by the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand, and other anti-communist allies. The war, considered a Cold War-era proxy war by some, lasted 19 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973, and included the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.
Joseph Lawrence Mignogna Jr. is an American actor, musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and game show host. He got his start as a child star in the early 1980s and is best known for his role as Joey Russo in Blossom and Joe Longo in Melissa & Joey. Lawrence also starred in the series Brotherly Love with his real-life brothers Matthew and Andrew.
XXX is an American action film series created by Rich Wilkes. It consists of three full-length feature films: XXX (2002), XXX: State of the Union (2005) and XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), and a short film: The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage. The series has grossed $694 million worldwide.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, officially known as the Islamic State (IS) and also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh, is a militant Islamist group and a former unrecognized proto-state that follows a fundamentalist, Salafi jihadist doctrine of Sunni Islam. ISIL was founded in 1999 by Jordanian Salafi jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi under the name Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad and gained global prominence in early 2014 when it drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in its Western Iraq offensive, followed by its capture of Mosul and the Sinjar massacre.
Pashtuns, historically known as Afghans, are an Iranian ethnic group native to Central and South Asia.
Timothy Richard Tebow is an American professional baseball player in the New York Mets organization, former professional football quarterback, and broadcaster. He played college football for the University of Florida, winning the Heisman Trophy in 2007 and appearing on BCS National Championship-winning teams during the 2006 and 2008 seasons. In the National Football League, Tebow played for the Denver Broncos and the New York Jets. He is a minor league outfielder in the New York Mets organization. Tebow is known for his outspoken Christian faith as well as his athletic prowess; his practice of genuflecting in prayer on the football field has become known as "Tebowing".
The Ilyushin Il-112 is a high-wing light military transport aircraft being developed by Ilyushin Aviation Complex for air landing and airdrop of military air cargoes, equipment and personnel. The aircraft is being manufactured by Voronezh Aircraft Production Association in Voronezh.
Melanie Ann Sykes is an English television and radio presenter, and model. She is best known for co-hosting Today with Des and Mel with Des O'Connor and Let's Do Lunch with Gino D'Acampo. She also co-hosted Going Out with Alan Carr on BBC Radio 2 with Alan Carr from May 2010 until it ended in March 2012.
F5, Inc. is an American company that specializes in application services and application delivery networking (ADN). F5 is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with additional development, manufacturing, and administrative offices worldwide.
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai, commonly known as Najibullah or Dr. Najib, was an Afghan politician who served as the leader of Afghanistan from 1986 to 1992 and as well as the President of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after which the mujahideen took over Kabul. After a failed attempt to flee to India, Najibullah remained in Kabul living in the United Nations headquarters until his death at the hands of the Taliban after their capture of the city.
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Juventus and captains the Portugal national team. Often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or awards and four European Golden Shoes, both of which are records for a European player. He has won 31 major trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA European Championship, and one UEFA Nations League title. Ronaldo holds the records for the most goals (134) and assists (41) in the history of the UEFA Champions League. He is one of the few recorded players to have made over 1,000 professional career appearances and has scored over 750 senior career goals for club and country. He is also the second male to score 100 international goals, and the first European man to achieve the feat.
Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan is an American senior government official who serves as the National Security Advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden. He was previously senior policy advisor to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential election campaign and Deputy Chief of Staff at the Department of State. Sullivan was also a senior advisor to the U.S. government for the Iran nuclear negotiations and a visiting professor at Yale Law School.
What If...? is an upcoming American animated anthology series created by A.C. Bradley for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name. It explores what would happen if major moments from the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) occurred differently. The series is produced by Marvel Studios, their first animated series since becoming their own production company. Bradley serves as head writer of the series, with Bryan Andrews directing.
Operation Cyclone was the code name for the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) program to arm and finance the mujahideen in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, prior to and during the military intervention by the USSR in support of its client, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. The mujahideen were also supported by Britain's MI6, who conducted separate covert actions. The program leaned heavily towards supporting militant Islamic groups, including groups with jihadist ties, that were favored by the regime of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in neighboring Pakistan, rather than other, less ideological Afghan resistance groups that had also been fighting the Soviet-oriented Democratic Republic of Afghanistan regime since before the Soviet intervention.
John Felix Anthony Cena Jr. is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television presenter. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is currently signed to the WWE on a part-time deal, and has starred in various films.
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! (1984) and Real Genius (1985), as well as the military action film Top Gun (1986) and the fantasy film Willow (1988).
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins is an upcoming American superhero film and spin-off of the G.I. Joe film series directed by Robert Schwentke. Henry Golding portrays the title character, replacing Ray Park who portrayed him in the previous films, while Andrew Koji, Haruka Abe, Samara Weaving, Úrsula Corberó, Peter Mensah, and Iko Uwais also star.
Gmail is a free email service developed by Google. Users can access Gmail on the web and using third-party programs that synchronize email content through POP or IMAP protocols. Gmail started as a limited beta release on April 1, 2004 and ended its testing phase on July 7, 2009. By October 2019, Gmail had 1.5 billion active users worldwide.
The Panjshir Valley is a valley in north-central Afghanistan, 150 kilometres (93 mi) north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range. It is divided by the Panjshir River. The valley is home to more than 100,000 people, including Afghanistan's largest concentration of ethnic Tajiks. In April 2004, it became the heart of the new Panjshir Province, having previously been part of Parwan Province.
Google LLC is an American multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products, which include online advertising technologies, a search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware. It is considered one of the Big Five technology companies in the U.S. information technology industry, alongside Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft.
XXX is a 2002 American action film directed by Rob Cohen, produced by Neal H. Moritz and written by Rich Wilkes. The first installment in the XXX film series, the film stars Vin Diesel as Xander Cage, a thrill-seeking extreme sports enthusiast, stuntman and rebellious athlete-turned reluctant spy for the National Security Agency. Cage is sent on a dangerous mission to infiltrate a group of potential Russian terrorists in Central Europe. The film also stars Asia Argento, Marton Csokas and Samuel L. Jackson. Cohen, Moritz and Diesel had previously worked on The Fast and the Furious (2001) as director, producer and cast member respectively.
The Panjshir resistance is an alliance of former Northern Alliance members and other anti-Taliban figures, created amidst the 2021 Taliban offensive, under the leadership of the Afghan politician and military leader Ahmad Massoud and the de jure Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, operating in the remaining area still under the control of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Following the loss of Kabul, the Panjshir-based alliance constitutes the primary organized resistance to the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Hope Amelia Solo is an American former soccer goalkeeper. She was a goalkeeper for the United States women's national soccer team from 2000 to 2016, and is a World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. After playing at the collegiate level for the University of Washington, she played professionally for the Philadelphia Charge in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). When the WUSA folded after her first season, she traveled to Europe to play for the top division leagues in Sweden and France. From 2009 to 2011, she played in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) for Saint Louis Athletica, Atlanta Beat and magicJack. After the WPS ceased operations in early 2012, she played for the Seattle Sounders in the W-League. She most recently played for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States.
The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th-century monumental statues of Gautama Buddha carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley of central Afghanistan, 130 kilometres (81 mi) northwest of Kabul at an elevation of 2,500 metres (8,200 ft). Carbon dating of the structural components of the Buddhas has determined that the smaller 38 m (125 ft) "Eastern Buddha" was built around 570 AD, and the larger 55 m (180 ft) "Western Buddha" was built around 618 AD.
The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and file sharing.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), renamed the Republic of Afghanistan in 1987, existed from 1978 to 1992, during which time the socialist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) ruled Afghanistan.
Mujahideen or mujahidin is the plural form of mujahid, an Arabic term that broadly refers to Islamic guerrillas who engage in jihad, the fight on behalf of Islam/Allah or the Islamic community (ummah). The English term jihadists grammatically corresponds to it.
Lionel Andrés Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both the Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered as the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record six Ballon d'Or awards and a record six European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won a club-record 33 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and six Copas del Rey. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (455), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (8), and most assists in La Liga (185), a La Liga and European league season (21) and the Copa América (12). He has scored over 700 senior career goals for club and country.
Penny, Lady Stewart, is an English model, photographer, TV personality and special constable. She is married to rock singer Sir Rod Stewart. In 2014, she joined the ITV lunchtime show Loose Women.
Bacha bāzī is a slang term in some parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan for a custom involving child sexual abuse between older men and young adolescent males or boys, who are called dancing boys. The custom is connected to sexual slavery and child prostitution. In the 21st century, Bacha bazi is reportedly practiced in various parts of Afghanistan and Northwestern Pakistan. Force and coercion are common, and security officials state they are unable to end such practices because many of the men involved in bacha bazi-related activities are powerful and well-armed warlords.
Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob or Mullah Yaqoob is the eldest son of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Afghan mujahideen commander, founder of the Taliban and the former Emir of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Ahmad Massoud is an Afghan politician, the son of anti-Soviet military leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. He was appointed as the Massoud Foundation's CEO in November 2016. On September 5, 2019, he was declared his father's successor at his mausoleum in the Panjshir Valley.
The Afghan National Army is the land warfare branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of Defense in Kabul and is largely trained by US-led NATO forces. The ANA is divided into seven corps, with the 201st in Kabul followed by the 203rd in Gardez, 205th in Kandahar, 207th in Herat, 209th in Mazar-i-Sharif, the 215th in Lashkar Gah, and the 217th in the north. The current Chief of General Staff of the ANA is Lieutenant General Hibatullah Alizai.
Panjshir is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. The province is divided into seven districts and contains 512 villages. As of 2012, the population of Panjshir province was about 346,100. Bazarak serves as the provincial capital. It is estimated that more than 700,000 people from Panjshir province, live in other provinces in Afghanistan, particularly in the city of Kabul.
Hamid Karzai International Airport is located 5 km from the city centre of Kabul in Afghanistan. It serves as one of the nation's main international airports and as one of the largest military bases, capable of housing over one hundred aircraft. It was previously named Kabul International Airport and locally as Khwaja Rawash Airport, though it continues to be officially known by some airlines by the latter name. The airport was given its new name in 2014 in honor of former President Hamid Karzai. The decision was made by the National Assembly of Afghanistan and the Cabinet of President Ashraf Ghani.
Romelu Menama Lukaku Bolingoli is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Inter Milan and the Belgium national team.
Alexandra Anna Daddario is an American actress, who had her breakthrough for starring as Annabeth Chase in the Percy Jackson film series (2010–2013). She has since starred as Paige in Hall Pass(2011), Heather Miller in Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013), Blake Gaines in San Andreas (2015), Summer Quinn in Baywatch (2017), and Alexis Butler in We Summon the Darkness (2019). She has also guest starred in television series such as White Collar, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, True Detective, New Girl, and American Horror Story: Hotel.
Elon Reeve Musk is a business magnate, industrial designer and engineer. He is the founder, CEO, CTO and chief designer of SpaceX; early investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and ranked 25th on the Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People, and was ranked joint-first on the Forbes list of the Most Innovative Leaders of 2019. A centi-billionaire, Musk became the richest person in the world in January 2021, surpassing Jeff Bezos.
A chief executive officer (CEO), chief administrator, or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives in charge of managing an organization – especially an independent legal entity such as a company or nonprofit institution. CEOs find roles in a range of organizations, including public and private corporations, non-profit organizations and even some government organizations. The CEO of a corporation or company typically reports to the board of directors and is charged with maximizing the value of the business, which may include maximizing the share price, market share, revenues or another element. In the non-profit and government sector, CEOs typically aim at achieving outcomes related to the organization's mission, such as reducing poverty, increasing literacy, etc.