Twenty years after the September 11 attacks, the US "war on terror" is still being fought on a piece of hilly scrubland in southeast Cuba known as Guantanamo Bay.

Within months of the attacks, the United States rounded up hundreds of people with suspected ties to perpetrator Al-Qaeda and dropped them in the US naval base.

Two Israeli men who lost close relatives in sectarian mob violence, one Jewish and one Arab, have bonded in grief -- but their contrasting pursuits of justice highlight a deep divide.

Both are mourning loved ones who were killed in the mixed city of Lod during the spasm of inter-communal unrest that tore through Israel during the latest Gaza war. 

Ask anyone old enough to remember travel before Sept. 11, 2001, and you're likely to get a gauzy recollection of what flying was like.

There was security screening, but it wasn't anywhere near as intrusive. There were no long checkpoint lines. Passengers and their families could walk right to the gate together, postponing goodbye hugs until the last possible moment. Overall, an airport experience meant far less stress.

The historic Khan al-Harir souk in war-torn Syria's erstwhile economic capital of Aleppo has reopened following restoration work, but much of the former workforce that energized it remains exiled.

"Reconstruction works are done and this is great, but it's not enough," said Ahmed al-Shib, a 55-year-old textile merchant who had hoped to pass his business onto his sons.

The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in late 2001 to destroy al-Qaida, remove the Taliban from power and remake the nation. On Aug. 30, 2021, the U.S. completed a pullout of troops from Afghanistan, providing an uncertain punctuation mark to two decades of conflict.

For the past 11 years I have closely followed the post-9/11 conflicts for the Costs of War Project, an initiative that brings together more than 50 scholars, physicians and legal and human rights experts to provide an account of the human, economic, budgetary and political costs and consequences of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

- Op-ed by U.N. Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Najat Rochdi:

"Over the last few years, Lebanon has been through immense challenges that have left no segment of its society unscathed. The country has been challenged by economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Port of Beirut explosion, environmental disasters and prolonged political deadlock. These challenges have crippled Lebanon, obstructed its development and decimated its capacity to cope. To top it all off, in climate change Lebanon faces another challenge: a threat multiplier that will intensify current predicaments, and one that requires resolute action by the government and the people, both in the short-term and well into the future.

Driving back to base after firing rockets toward Israeli positions from a border area last month, a group of Hizbullah fighters was accosted by angry villagers who smashed their vehicles' windshields and held them up briefly.

It was a rare incident of defiance that suggested many in Lebanon would not tolerate actions by the powerful group that risk triggering a new war with Israel.

The rapid takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban left many surprised. To Ali Olomi, a historian of the Middle East and Islam at Penn State University, a key to understanding what is happening now – and what might take place next – is looking at the past and how the Taliban came to prominence. Below is an edited version of a conversation he had with editor Gemma Ware for our podcast, The Conversation Weekly.

How far back do you trace the Taliban's origins?

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.