US withdrawal from Afghanistan: A huge arsenal left in Taliban hands
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This week, America put an end to its 20-year war in Afghanistan. In addition to taking control of the country, the Taliban have also recuperated huge quantities of US military equipment left behind. Much of it was originally meant to be used by Afghan armed forces to defend themselves. Pictures of Taliban soldiers in full US army gear have now got many people worried. Our tech editor Peter O'Brien tells us more about the Taliban's military capabilities.
While much of the focus this week was on the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, a very real storm was brewing at home. Hurricane Ida hit the south-eastern United States hard. Tens of thousands of people are still without power and could remain so for up to a month. Ida made landfall 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina began wreaking destruction on New Orleans. But lessons were learned in the wake of Katrina, with a series of construction projects put in place to control damage from a similar storm.
Also in this edition, we take a look at what's happening around Latin America. El Salvador moves to adopt bitcoin as an official currency, while Cubans start using the Chinese vaccine against Covid-19. And two weeks after a powerful earthquake struck Haiti, the local population is still desperate for aid.
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