Few Palestinians in the occupied West Bank get to board an airplane these days. The territory has no civilian airport and those who can afford a plane ticket must catch their flights in neighboring Jordan. But just outside the northern city of Nablus, a pair of twins is offering people the next best thing.

Khamis al-Sairafi and brother Ata have converted an old Boeing 707 into a café and restaurant for customers to board.

Since the Taliban seized the Afghan capital on Aug. 14, more than 82,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan in one of the largest U.S. airlifts in history. While the pace has picked up in recent days, it's still a chaotic scramble as people seek to escape. Afghans trying to reach the Kabul airport face a gauntlet of danger, and there are far more who want to leave than will be able to do so. Those who do make it out will face the many challenges of resettlement, either in the U.S. or somewhere else.

Time may also be running short. President Joe Biden set an Aug. 31 deadline to complete the U.S.-led evacuation, but the president has also asked for contingency plans in case the U.S. still needs to get people out beyond that date.

An armed conflict in Kashmir has thwarted all attempts to solve it for three quarters of a century.

Kashmir, an 85,806-square-mile valley between the snowcapped Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges, is a contested region between India, Pakistan and China. Both India and Pakistan lay claim to all of Kashmir, but each administers only part of it.

From the shell of their sitting room, its wall blown open by Israeli missiles, Zaki and Jawaher Nassir have a window into their neighborhood's upheaval.

In one building's skeleton, children play video games atop a slab of fallen concrete. In another, a man stares out from beside a bed covered in debris.

Fighting between government forces and former rebels in the Syrian province of Daraa has displaced more than 38,000 people over the past month, the United Nations said Tuesday, as truce talks falter.

Daraa, retaken by government forces in 2018, has emerged as a new flashpoint in recent weeks as government forces tightened control over Daraa al-Balad, a southern district of the provincial capital that is considered a hub for former rebel fighters.

After 20 years of devastating war, Afghans in cities far from the capital Kabul are feeling a mix of relief and dread about what awaits them under the Taliban.

The triumph of the hardline Islamist group and the mass surrender of government forces has brought a long-desired respite from fighting, which has left tens of thousands dead and millions homeless since 2001.

Former Afghan government forces forming a resistance movement in a fortified valley are preparing for "long-term conflict," but are also seeking to negotiate with the Taliban, their spokesman told AFP in an interview.

Concern is mounting over freedoms in Tunisia as President Kais Saied presses ahead with a "purge" that has seen politicians, judges and businessmen arrested or banned from travel, activists say.

The combined effects of war and drought linked to global warming have put one-third of Afghanistan's population -- 14 million people -- at risk of severe or acute hunger, the U.N. World Food Program warned.

The dire assessment comes as the country faces an uncertain future after the Taliban routed the government to take power over the weekend.

Life is returning to normal for some Afghans in the capital, although Kabul's normally crowded streets appear empty of their usual traffic congestion.

The Taliban have not imposed any restrictions on people so far, as they prepare for Friday prayers. Having a long beard and wearing traditional hats and clothes were required while the group was ruling the country in the late 90s.