AUG. 12- 19, 2021 This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published in the past week by The Associated Press from the North American region. The selection was curated by AP photo editor Courtney Dittmar in Tokyo. Follow AP visual journalism: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Images AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Categories: AP National…
TOKYO — Much of Japan kicked in its government “state of emergency” to curb COVID-19 infections Friday, as well as a less stringent “quasi-emergency,” although worries remained about their effectiveness. Those requiring hospitalization grew to more than 168,000 people, and complaints have surfaced about hospitals turning patients away. The emergency, which lasts through Sept. 12, requests restaurants and bars to…
WASHINGTON — Amid the chaos and confusion at the airport, the United States said it had taken at least one step to ease requirements for those seeking to leave: COVID-19 tests. Although Afghanistan had been a hotspot for the coronavirus pandemic, the State Department said Thursday that evacuees are not required to get a negative COVID-19 result to travel. “A…
This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by Associated Press photographers in the Middle East, Afghanistan & Pakistan Region between Aug. 12-18, 2021. This week’s selection includes scenes from across the region, where the Taliban’s swift advance on Afghanistan followed the American retreat from the country two decades after their invasion. Wildfires outside of…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s two most populous states on Thursday recorded new benchmark highs in COVID-19 infections. New South Wales reported a record 681 cases in the latest 24-hour period, mostly in Sydney. The previous record for the most populous state was 633 cases set on Wednesday. Neighboring Victoria reported 57 new cases in its capital Melbourne. It was the…
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — CANBERRA, Australia — Australia had evacuated the first 26 people, including Australian and Afghan citizens, from Kabul since the Taliban overran the Afghan capital, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday. An Air Force C-130 Hercules transport aircraft landed at an Australian military base in the United Arab Emirates with the 26 who included a…
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand’s first coronavirus outbreak in six months has grown to seven people. The announcement Wednesday came a day after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern imposed a strict lockdown after the first case was reported. The lockdown is for at least three days for the country and at least a week for the cities of Auckland and…
The Taliban fighters who rolled into Afghanistan’s capital and other cities in recent days appear awestruck by the towering apartment blocks, modern office buildings and shopping malls. When the Taliban last seized power, in 1996, the country had been ravaged by civil war and the capital was in ruins. Afghanistan has been transformed in the two decades since the U.S.-led invasion drove the militants from power. A new generation has come of age under a Western-backed government more open to women’s rights, technology and economic development. Many now fear those gains will be rolled back, even as the Taliban have signaled greater moderation.
