The Taliban's ideology has distant links to India. Scholars say Afghanistan's new leaders might listen to clerics in the birthplace of Deobandi Islam, though the clerics deny ties with the Taliban.
It's not clear if the Taliban will be able to seize control of the entire country, but the speed of their advance has many inside and outside the country alarmed at the prospect.
Journalist Peter Bergen visited bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, before it was demolished. His new book, The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden, draws on materials seized in the raid.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner posed for a cover portrait and spoke openly in an interview. One of her remarks about marriage has prompted vitriolic responses on social media in her homeland.
Al-Qaida is degraded but not defeated. Analyst Colin Clarke assesses where the U.S. may be mapping out its future counterterrorism presence after withdrawing from Afghanistan.
Wednesday's death toll was 354. Scientists are investigating what's making cases of infection rise precipitously after a decline last fall. "This race is really against time," says one immunologist.
Several European countries have imposed new lockdown restrictions as COVD-19 cases soar. In Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan is self-isolating at home after testing positive for the virus.
The pandemic has slowed efforts to eradicate the contagious disease. Yet the country's polio effort offers insights on the launch of its coronavirus vaccine campaign.
Zindagi Tamasha has come under fire for its portrayal of a its Muslim cleric. Critics add it to a growing list of entertainment shelved this year in response to outcries from the religious right.
The fifth most populous country has put strategies in place to address anti-vaccine sentiment and prevent elites from using their influence to obtain government vaccines.
Journalist Daniel Pearl's beheaded body was found in a shallow grave in the Pakistani port city of Karachi in 2002. The murder conviction of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was overturned last year.
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh's murder conviction was overturned in April and he was ordered released for time served for kidnapping Pearl. He has remained in detention pending appeals.
Dr. Amir Khalil, a veterinarian with Four Paws International, says the "world's loneliest elephant" is settling into his new home in Cambodia. Khalil sang Sinatra's "My Way" to help calm Kaavan.
It looked as if polio would be the second human disease to be eliminated — after smallpox. But "2020 has been a terrible year," the head of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative says.
