Spencer Fehrenbacher took a selfie on the evacuation plane that carried Diamond Princess passengers to the US ⁠— including some who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Spencer Fehrenbacher

• The Diamond Princess cruise ship developed one of the world’s largest outbreaks of the new coronavirus. More than 700 passengers have gotten sick.
• The ship was quarantined for two weeks in the port of Yokohama, Japan.
• Two American graduate students who were on the Diamond Princess have been repatriated to the US and remain under federal quarantine in California, along with the other US passengers.
• They shared their story and photos from the quarantine and evacuation flight.
• For the latest case total, death toll, and travel information, see Business Insider’s live updates here.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Spencer Fehrenbacher set sail on the Diamond Princess cruise on January 20. He had no idea he was about to be exposed to one of the world’s largest coronavirus outbreaks outside China.

After a passenger who’d previously disembarked tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the cruise docked in Yokohama, Japan, and was put under quarantine. But new cases seemed to arise even after the quarantine began, and in total more than 700 passengers who were on board have now tested positive for the disease COVID-19.

“The quarantine process failed,” Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told USA Today. “I’d like to sugarcoat it and try to be diplomatic about it, but it failed. People were getting infected on that ship. Something went awry.”

At the end of the 14-day quarantine, the US evacuated more than 300 people from Japan, but 14 people who’d tested positive for the virus were put on the same flight as others who were healthy. All those repatriated residents are now completing another two-week quarantine at military bases in California and Texas. At least 30 more of them have tested positive for the virus.

Fehrenbacher and his friend Gordon Christoph, who was also on the cruise, spoke with Business Insider about their experience while finishing their quarantine at Travis Air Force Base in California.

“I keep harkening back to all these zombie movies that have been made over the last decade,” Fehrenbacher said. “Nobody wants to be deemed as infected.”

His photos show what it was like on the quarantined cruise ship, the 11-hour evacuation flight to the US, and their 14-day isolation on the military base.

On January 20, Fehrenbacher and Christoph boarded the Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Japan, for a vacation that would turn into a nightmare.

Christoph, left, and Fehrenbacher in front of the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Spencer Fehrenbacher

Fehrenbacher, 29, and Christoph, 25, were taking a break from their graduate studies at Tianjin Foreign Studies University in Tianjin, China. Fehrenbacher grew up in Washington, Virginia, and Colorado, and Christoph is from the Chicago area. They went on the cruise with two friends who declined to be named in this story.

“We were definitely the four youngest people on the cruise,” Christoph told Business Insider. “But it was good. We had a blast.”

On February 3, a day before the cruise was scheduled to end, a voice on the ship’s intercom announced the discovery of a case of the new coronavirus on board. Fehrenbacher had just recovered from a fever. The cruise ship Diamond Princess anchored at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama on February 7. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

The announcer asked anyone who had experienced a fever, chills, or a cough to report to the ship’s medical center. Fehrenbacher debated whether to go.

“Anybody that might have symptoms of the virus are all going to the exact same place at the exact same time, and that’s where I didn’t want to be,” Fehrenbacher told his alma mater, Grand Canyon University.

After a phone call with his dad, he decided to go down for the medical screening.

“Here I am in my sweats and my surgical mask and I’m walking into gloom,” Fehrenbacher said. “I’m shivering. I’m in an elevator next to people in evening gowns and tuxedos going to dinner and shows. I couldn’t help of thinking of a scene from ‘Titanic’ where you have Jack and Rose running around panicking and 95% of everyone else is staring at them like they are the crazy ones.”

Fehrenbacher said he stood close to a woman who was clearly sick when he got that initial screening. Fehrenbacher in his room on the Diamond Princess during the ship’s quarantine. Spencer Fehrenbacher

“You could hear that cough that’s deep down in your lungs. I empathized with her and felt so bad,” Fehrenbacher said. But he said he also recalled thinking to himself, “OK, I don’t want to be in this room.”

When the ship docked in Yokohama on February 4, it was put under quarantine. Officials in hazmat suits went door-to-door with questionnaires. Officials starting the quarantine processes on the Diamond Princess on February 4.  Twitter /@DAXA_TW /Getty Images

Fehrenbacher said he felt “super anxious” and stayed up until 3 a.m. waiting for the knock on his door.

He fell asleep, then woke back up when the staff came around at 4 a.m. They questioned him and took his temperature. The following evening, given his recent fever, they came back and took a swab from him to send off for testing.

By the following morning, 10 people on the ship had tested positive for the virus. Ambulances took them to nearby hospitals. An image from a video showing a passenger getting a DNA swab test in his cabin room on the Diamond Princess on February 13. Cheryl and Paul Molesky /Associated Press

The ship started with 3,711 people on board, both passengers and crew. That number would dwindle in the coming weeks as hundreds more people tested positive for the virus.

Dr. Norio Ohmagari, the director of Japan’s Disease Control and Prevention Center, told CNN that the quarantine “may not have been perfect” and that “scientifically speaking,” crew members should have been isolated just like passengers.

“We suspected some of the cruise staff may have already been infected, but … they had to operate the cruise ship itself, they had to see the passengers, they had to deliver the meals,” Ohmagari added. “So that may have caused some close contact with the cruise-ship workers and also the passengers.”

Fehrenbacher said it felt as if there were a “wall for information” as he waited for his test results. They never came. He eventually found out he’d tested negative but said “it was just a process of elimination.” Fehrenbacher in front of the balcony door in his cabin. Spencer Fehrenbacher

On February 7, the ship’s captain and CNN correspondents confirmed that all the tests taken on the ship had been processed.

“It was like, OK, well if I’m still here tomorrow, then I’m negative,” Fehrenbacher said.

Nobody came to his door to take him off the ship.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, which oversaw the quarantine, did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment in time for publication.

Princess Cruises has promised to refund “full cruise fare for all guests including air travel, hotel, ground transportation, prepaid shore excursions, gratuities, and other items.”

Fehrenbacher and Christoph spent the next 12 days in the room they shared. The room Fehrenbacher and Christoph shared, as seen in the final days of the quarantine. Spencer Fehrenbacher

“We tried to enjoy it as much as we could,” Christoph said.

The cruise line offered passengers free alcohol, so the two said they ordered it regularly for the first few days.

“Being somebody who doesn’t normally spend $42 on a bottle of wine, that was a really nice treat in the middle of a quarantine,” Fehrenbacher said. Fehrenbacher, left, and Christoph drinking beer with two friends who were staying in the cabin next to theirs. Spencer Fehrenbacher

After talking to other passengers, though, Fehrenbacher and Christoph decided to cut back on drinking to keep their immune systems in working order.

To pass the time, Fehrenbacher read a science-fiction trilogy and watched videos that his mom sent him with messages from friends and family. Fehrenbacher on the cabin’s balcony. Gordon Christoph/Spencer Fehrenbacher

“It just feels good to see familiar faces and hear those voices,” Fehrenbacher said at the time. “When I’m feeling good about the whole thing, it’s super encouraging.”

But some nights he went to bed “just thinking about the worst-case scenario of everything,” he said, adding that the quarantine was “a roller coaster of ups and downs.”

“The first eight days of the quarantine on the cruise ship, my roommate and I were both very focused on remaining supportive, remaining optimistic,” Fehrenbacher said. Christoph waving at a boat passing below their balcony on the Diamond Princess. Spencer Fehrenbacher

They shared a balcony with the two other friends traveling with them. The group spent nights playing Cards Against Humanity and other games.

Fehrenbacher said he also spent a lot of time watching TV and laying in the sun. He talked to his dad about three to five times a day.

He said he started boiling the silverware that came wrapped in a napkin with each meal.

During a live TV interview with the Canadian broadcaster CBC News, Fehrenbacher realized that authorities had stopped updating passengers on the boat’s case count. On live TV, Fehrenbacher reacted to news that another 67 people on the Diamond Princess had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Screenshot from Youtube/CBC News

As Fehrenbacher sat in front of his laptop, the CBC reporter introduced him with an update on the cruise ship outbreak: 67 new people had tested positive.

It was the first time Fehrenbacher had heard the number.

“It was just like a hammer in the face,” he said. “I felt like an absolute buffoon in that moment.”

Before that, Fehrenbacher had been championing the quarantine efforts of Princess Cruises and the Japanese government. He’d even written an op-ed article about it for USA Today.

“They were not being entirely forthcoming anymore,” he said. “And that was a very disappointing experience.”

The next day, Fehrenbacher and Christoph left the ship with 327 other evacuees, bound for the US. Once back on US soil, they’d face another 14-day quarantine. Passengers disembarking from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked at Yokohama Port on February 19. Kyodo via Reuters

After the US quarantine, Fehrenbacher planned to go to his parents’ home in Canada.

He said he and Christoph were hesitant about leaving their rooms and sharing a plane with the other passengers they’d been avoiding for two weeks.

The evacuees boarded buses to take them to Haneda airport — a 20-minute drive, by Fehrenbacher’s estimate. But he said they sat in the buses for hours, with people coughing all around them. Fehrenbacher sat at the back of the evacuation bus. Spencer Fehrenbacher

Fehrenbacher said some people tried to hide their coughs, though many had a lung-deep, rasping cough that indicated more than a scratchy throat.

The CDC did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

“All you can do is kind of try to get as small as you can and hope that that respirator is fully sealed around your face,” Fehrenbacher said. A bus believed to be carrying the US Diamond Princess passengers leaving the Yokohama pier on February 17. One person, right, appeared to not be following proper mask protocol. Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

After a few hours, a woman stood up at the front of the bus, called for attention, and explained the proper protocols for wearing an N95 respirator mask, Fehrenbacher said.

After she sat down, Fehrenbacher said he heard someone behind him mutter “mask Nazi” under their breath.

“You could tell that the flip — between being a passenger who’s catered to on a luxury cruise line, versus an evacuee being rescued in the middle of an outbreak — that switch hadn’t flipped for quite a few people,” Fehrenbacher said.

“Some people were very, very critical, very, very frustrated, extremely upset with the circumstances of the bus ride,” Christoph added.

More than two hours in, a man asked about using the bathroom, Fehrenbacher said. There were none on the bus. A passenger talking to officials about using the bathroom. Spencer Fehrenbacher

He said the man was first told he would have to wait, so he sat down. But as more time passed, the man went back to the driver and insisted. Other people on the bus began scolding the driver, Fehrenbacher said.

Eventually, workers in hazmat suits took the man off the bus to use a bathroom. Others did the same.

Before they could load onto the cargo planes, officials had to return everyone’s passports, which was “its own ordeal,” Christoph said. Fehrenbacher in front of the cargo plane that carried US evacuees to Travis Air Force Base in California. Spencer Fehrenbacher

The process seemed disorganized, Fehrenbacher said — workers in hazmat suits handed passports to people at the front of the bus and let passengers pass them in a line to their owners at the back. He worried about all the hands touching each passport.

Fehrenbacher didn’t know it at the time, but a metal and plastic box on the flight was holding people who had already tested positive for the coronavirus. Fehrenbacher took a selfie in front of the biocontainment box that held infected passengers.  Spencer Fehrenbacher

The Washington Post reported that CDC officials had argued against the decision to have sick and healthy people fly on the same plane. The sick people’s tests had come back positive after they had already begun leaving the cruise ship and boarding their buses.

The CDC lost that argument on the tarmac, The Post reported, then insisted it be left out of the news release announcing that 14 infected Americans had shared a plane with more than 300 others.

That argument is most likely the reason the buses were held up for so long.

Fehrenbacher said it wasn’t until later, when he talked to a reporter, that he learned he’d shared a plane with people who had tested positive for the virus. A US health official in a protective suit in front of a portable biocontainment unit talking to passengers on the evacuation flight at Haneda airport in Japan on February 17. Philip and Gay Courter/Reuters

Officials had told the evacuees that nobody who tested positive would be on the flight, he said.

“At the very least, I think they should have told us when we were on the tarmac,” Fehrenbacher said. “These people who were spending 20 minutes with their masks off, eating sandwiches and having snacks — they might have been a little bit more careful.”

On the flight, passengers could take from boxes of supplies like face masks and water bottles as they boarded the plane. Passengers looking at supplies available on the evacuation flight. Spencer Fehrenbacher

Officials also provided snacks, but Fehrenbacher said he didn’t eat on the flight for fear of exposing himself to the virus.

Fehrenbacher said he slept for most of the flight. He covered his eyes with a surgical mask that he’d been handed at the front of plane. Christoph took this photo of Fehrenbacher on the plane. Gordon Christoph/Spencer Fehrenbacher

Christoph said he also slept for most of the flight and hoped his glasses would provide some eye protection.

The plane landed at Travis Air Force Base in California, where the evacuees would complete their next quarantine. Fehrenbacher and Christoph on the evacuation flight. Spencer Fehrenbacher

Fehrenbacher said he later realized that a woman sitting behind him had also tested positive for the virus: When the plane landed, he said, a CDC official told her she would be continuing to Omaha, Nebraska — where the CDC sent the infected Diamond Princess evacuees.

The CDC did not respond to a request for comment about the woman’s case in time for publication.

“Every single person, first thing they said was ‘welcome home,’ ‘welcome home, sir,'” Fehrenbacher said of his arrival. Fehrenbacher and Christoph after arriving at Travis Air Force Base. Spencer Fehrenbacher

“You hear ‘welcome home’ 100-plus times in a situation like that, it’s very emotional. It’s very heartwarming,” he said. “It kind of makes it a little more clear how dramatic the situation that you’ve just gone through actually is.”

When he got to the apartment where he’d be staying while quarantined, Fehrenbacher said, the first thing he did was shower and request disinfecting wipes to clean his luggage. The Westwind Inn lodging facility at Travis Air Force Base, where Diamond Princess evacuees were housed. Nicholas Pilch/U.S. Air Force via AP

“I used probably half a bar of soap trying to just feel clean again,” he said, adding, “I was still concerned that, OK, let’s hope that I don’t have this virus. Because every time I had to clear my lungs I was worried that I had it.”

The morning everyone got their next test results, Fehrenbacher said, CDC workers went apartment to apartment with a 50-gallon trash can, stacks of gowns and gloves, a big bottle of hand sanitizer, and manila envelopes. A medical professional at a preliminary testing facility at the National Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, on February 21. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

“They go into an apartment, they come out a couple minutes later, and they would kind of help one another take the gown off, throw it in the trash, take the gloves off, put hand sanitizer on, and then put new gloves on, put another gown on, and take the trash can and walk to the next apartment,” he said.

They told Fehrenbacher his coronavirus test had come back negative. “I sat down on the ottoman behind me and I just felt an overwhelming feeling of wanting to burst into tears,” he said. A group of ambulances from the Solano EMS Cooperative staging at the visitor center at Travis Air Force Base, adjacent to Fairfield, California, on February 16. Hector Amezcua/AP Photo

They read him a script that said he still needed to monitor his symptoms and then moved on.

“It took a few minutes to process. My dad was the first person that I called,” Fehrenbacher said.

He added, “The times that I’ve cried throughout most of the quarantine were times when I didn’t really ever expect it to happen.”

Fehrenbacher and Christoph are no longer confined to their room, so they spend much of the day outside on the military base, as do many of the other people under quarantine there. Evacuees can walk the lawns of their quarantine area at Travis Air Force Base. Spencer Fehrenbacher

People walk around the lawns, play soccer, sunbathe, and do calisthenics, he said. Everybody wears face masks and tries to stay 6 feet apart.

Fehrenbacher said he had about 300 pages of his last book left. He still spends lots of time with Christoph.

“We went on a late-night walk, which is quite the experience because the whole yard is lit by these giant floodlights,” he said. “There’s at least three or four cars and trucks with US Marshals sitting in them to keep watch around the perimeter.”

“[It’s] somewhere between a zombie movie and summer camp,” Fehrenbacher said. “I don’t know if this is awesome or if this is terrifying.” Fehrenbacher in the quarantine area at Travis Air Force Base. Spencer Fehrenbacher

He said he and Christoph went into the laundry rooms, which are often filled with extra supplies, to see what kind of loot they could find. Sometimes there are bottles of lotion or shampoo, cases of soda, or boxes of cookies.

“The best thing that I’ve gotten at this point was a bottle of hand sanitizer,” Fehrenbacher said.

“I’m kind of in a limbo stage right now, where I can’t go back to China for the foreseeable future, and beyond that I have to find a place to stay,” Christoph said. Fehrenbacher and Christoph on the porches of their quarantine apartments at Travis Air Force Base. They now have separate apartments. Spencer Fehrenbacher

“The last 20-some days quarantined on a ship and then here, I guess it’s just kind of a free meal and a free bed,” he added.

Fehrenbacher said he’s excited to be with his family again but nervous about what the interaction with customs would be like. He’s preparing himself for the chance that Canadian officials will ask him to complete another 14 days of isolation.

“If there’s one thing I’m learning in this quarantine, it’s that you just have to be OK with the absolute unexpected happening and just having to roll with the punches,” he said.

Isaac Scher contributed reporting.

Source link:https://www.businessinsider.com/diamond-princess-cruise-passengers-details-photos-from-quarantine-evacuation-2020-2

Krish Raghav is an illustrator and writer in Beijing. He is writing his first book of graphic nonfiction, a comic-book history of underground music in China.

Source link: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/quarantine-cooking-finding-relief-from-coronavirus-anxiety-in-the-kitchen

Soon after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the United States military’s attention turned to Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda’s leaders were based. Many knew an invasion was sure to come.

What no one knew was that Operation Enduring Freedom, the invasion to rout Al Qaeda and its hosts, the Taliban, would turn into a war that is now in its 19th year — America’s longest.

It has vexed three American presidencies and outlasted 13 American military commanders. It has also opened a window, for much of the world, onto a country where modernity still clashes with ancient customs and religious edicts.

Here, in chronological order, are images showing the long arc of the war, as seen through the eyes of New York Times photographers.

2001-2002

The War Begins

Operation Enduring Freedom began on Oct. 7, 2001, with an American bombing campaign against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. On the ground, American Special Operations forces teams linked up with Afghan militias opposed to the Taliban, mainly the Northern Alliance, to drive the Taliban from power. The capital, Kabul, fell in mid-November, along with the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

In December, Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda’s leader, escaped to Pakistan through the mountains around Tora Bora. That same month, an interim Afghan government led by Hamid Karzai was installed.

A United Nations Security Council resolution established the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, a military coalition led by the United States.

Northern Alliance troops firing on Taliban positions in rugged territory outside the northeastern city of Taloqan, Afghanistan, in October 2001.Credit.    James Hill for The New York Times

Fighters for the Northern Alliance, an anti-Taliban militia, headed to the front lines near the besieged Taliban stronghold of Kunduz, Afghanistan,  in November 2001.Credit…James Hill for The New York Times On their way into Kabul, Afghanistan, in November 2001, Northern Alliance members found a Taliban fighter in a ditch and killed him, despite his pleas.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times An American B-52 bomber circled above Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan, December 2001.Credit…Joao Silva for The New York Times American soldiers at Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, in August 2002.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

2003-2007

Drift to Iraq

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced an end to major combat operations in Afghanistan in May 2003. Even with a major reconstruction effort underway there, and about 8,000 American troops in place, President George W. Bush’s administration began shifting combat resources to the war in Iraq.

In 2004, an Afghan assembly drafted a Constitution. Zalmay Khalilzad, then the American ambassador, said it contained “the foundation for democratic institutions.”

[Read a Times historical photo essay on past Afghan wars, The Empire Stopper.]

The Taliban-led insurgency grew stronger in 2006, carrying out more ambushes and suicide bombings. Despite training and equipment supplied by the United States and ISAF, Afghan security forces could not contain the Taliban resurgence, aided by militants across the border in Pakistan. The United States sent more of its soldiers to the war.

By 2007, about 25,000 American troops were in Afghanistan. Women in Kabul waiting to vote in October 2004. The landmark presidential election quickly fell into dispute.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times The shadow of a U.S. soldier on patrol in Afghanistan’s Paktika Province, near the border with Pakistan, in August 2005.Credit…Scott Eells for The New York Times Afghan police recruits being trained by DynCorp, a contractor for the U.S. government, in Kabul, in November 2005.Credit…Scott Eells for The New York Times American soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division yelled to others to get out of the line of fire after being ambushed by Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, in June 2006.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Wounded soldiers in the Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan, in October 2007.Credit…Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

2008-2010

Recommitment and Surge

In February 2009, the new American president, Barack Obama, declared a recommitment to the war and deployed 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan, adding to the 36,000 already there.

In December, Mr. Obama announced a “surge” meant to build and train an Afghan security force that would be strong enough to assume responsibility for fighting the insurgency. His plan included sending 30,000 more American troops, bringing the total number to nearly 100,000 by mid-2010. American soldiers during a Taliban attack at Combat Outpost Lowell near Kamu, Afghanistan, in October 2008.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times President George W. Bush with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan during a visit to Kabul, in December 2008.Credit…Lynsey Addario for The New York Times Soldiers from the First Infantry Division on a foot patrol in Hutal, in the southern province of Kandahar, Afghanistan, in January 2009.Credit…Danfung Dennis for The New York Times A German soldier burning a flare at a temporary campsite in the desert of Kunduz Province, in October 2009.Credit…Moises Saman for The New York Times  A bullet-pierced window at a Kabul guest house attacked by the Taliban, in November 2009. Five United Nations workers were killed.Credit…Moises Saman for The New York Times

A suicide bomber struck near a hotel in Kabul in December 2009, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens.Credit…Adam Ferguson for The New York Times President Barack Obama with cadets from the United States Military Academy at West Point, in December 2009.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times American Marines on patrol in Marja, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in February 2010.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Village elders meeting in Marja, in March 2010.Credit…Moises Saman for The New York Times Afghan soldiers rushed a wounded police officer to an American helicopter in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, in March 2010.Credit…Moises Saman for The New York Times American soldiers on a transport plane about to land in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, in April 2010.Credit…Damon Winter/The New York Times An American soldier looking over the Pech Valley, in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, in April 2010.Credit…Christoph Bangert for The New York Times Sgt. Grayson C. Colby, right, helped members of his medevac helicopter crew gather the remains of a fellow Marine who was killed by an improvised explosive device, in Helmand Province, in May 2010.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Members of the First Battalion, 87th Infantry, tended to a wounded comrade in Kunduz, in September 2010.Credit…Damon Winter/The New York Times

2011-2013

A Troop Drawdown

In May 2011, a U.S. Navy SEAL team killed Osama bin Laden in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he had been living for years. In June, Mr. Obama announced that he would pull 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by mid-2012.

In 2012, Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, began blaming United States and coalition troops for rising civilian casualties, as his relationships with American leaders deteriorated.

Afghans took over most security responsibilities in 2013, with the U.S.-led coalition’s forces shifting to training and counterterrorism operations. Soldiers boarded a transport helicopter in Kunduz, in March 2011.Credit…Damon Winter/The New York Times Fighter jets on the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis flew sorties into Afghanistan from the North Arabian Sea, in January 2012.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Marines inspecting a load of equipment for shipment back to the United States from Camp Leatherneck in southern Afghanistan, in July 2012.Credit…Mauricio Lima for The New York Times Afghan soldiers, left, and American soldiers blew up a Taliban firing position in the village of Layadira, in Kandahar Province, in February 2013.Credit…Bryan Denton for The New York Times Members of the 101st Airborne Division in Paktia Province, in April 2013.Credit…Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times Samiullah, 8 months old and malnourished, is held by his mother, Islam Bibi, 15, at a hospital in Lashgar Gar, in Helmand Province, in September 2013.Credit…Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times Sayed Wazir, 40, a former mujahadeen, firing a rocket toward Taliban positions in surrounding hills, in Wardak Province, in November 2013.Credit…Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times The view from a Humvee of Highway 1, which links Kabul with major cities, in November 2013.Credit…Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

2014-2018

A Taliban Resurgence

On Dec. 31, 2014, the combat mission in Afghanistan formally ended, but the American military presence in the country did not. Mr. Obama announced a timetable for the withdrawal of most troops by the end of 2016.

After a 2014 election marred by fraud, Ashraf Ghani became president, but he signed a power-sharing agreement with his top opponent, Abdullah Abdullah.

On the battlefield, the Afghan security forces increasingly struggled against the Taliban taking heavy casualties and losing territory.

In August 2017, President Trump said that while his first instinct had been to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan, he would continue to prosecute the war. He stressed that withdrawal decisions would be based on combat conditions, not on predetermined timelines.

The United Nations said 2018 was the deadliest year for Afghan civilians since it had begun tracking civilian casualties 10 years earlier. The aftermath of an American airstrike on the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, in October 2015. Forty-two people were killed in the attack, which was later found to be the result of a cascade of human errors and mechanical and equipment failures. Credit…Victor J. Blue for The New York TimesA view of the outskirts of Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province, in March 2016.Credit…Adam Ferguson for The New York Times

The Kart-e-Sakhi cemetery in Kabul, in April 2016. More than 28,000 Afghan police officers and soldiers have been killed in the war since 2015, President Ashraf Ghani said last year.Credit…Adam Ferguson for The New York Times Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, where many veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are buried, in May 2018.Credit…Damon Winter/The New York Times The outskirts of Khost, a city in eastern Afghanistan, in July 2018.Credit…Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times

2018-2020

Peace Talks and a Historic Deal

Late in 2018, American and Taliban negotiators began holding peace talks. The discussions continued well into 2020, in Doha, Qatar. (The Afghan government was excluded from the talks — the Taliban refused to meet with its officials.)

On Feb. 29, the United States signed a peace deal with the Taliban, opening the door to a gradual, final troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the beginning of direct talks between the Afghan government and the insurgency to determine the country’s future.

As of February, about 12,000 American troops were still in the country.

The United States has spent more than $2 trillion on the war effort. More than 2,400 American troops and nearly 700 troops from other nations in the coalition have died. More than 38,000 civilians have been killed, and among the Afghan security forces, about 60,000 are estimated to have died since the start of the war. A funeral for one of the 63 people killed at a wedding in Kabul by an Islamic State suicide bomber, in August 2019.Credit…Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times

The crater left by a car bomb attack, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, in Kabul, in September 2019.Credit…Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times

President Trump at Bagram Air Base in Kabul, in November 2019. Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York Times

After their base was overrun by the Taliban, Afghan police officers inspecting a replacement trench, in February 2020.Credit…Kiana Hayeri for The New York Times

Produced by Craig Allen, David Furst, Mikko Takkunen and Gaia Tripoli.

Source link:https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/world/asia/afghanistan-war-photos-pictures.html

The 18-year-old won five Grammys, including record of the year and best new artist, at a ceremony in which Kobe Bryant, who died on Sunday, was mourned.

A big night for an 18-year-old auteur.

LOS ANGELES — The 62nd annual Grammy Awards anointed a new star in Billie Eilish, even as the mood Sunday night was darkened by the death earlier that day of the basketball great Kobe Bryant, who spent much of his N.B.A. career playing at the Staples Center, the arena where the show was held.

Eilish, an 18-year-old auteur with a moody and idiosyncratic aesthetic, won five awards, including the four most prestigious and competitive prizes — album, record and song of the year, and best new artist. She was the first artist to sweep the top awards since Christopher Cross in 1981, besting competition from Lizzo, Lil Nas X, Ariana Grande and others.

“Bad Guy,” a No. 1 hit, took record and song of the year — the latter prize recognizes songwriting — while “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” won album of the year as well as best pop vocal album. She is the youngest artist to win album of the year.

When accepting the award for best new artist, Eilish recognized the fans — even other artists’ fans, who, she said, would surely be dogging her for years.

“I love all fandoms,” she said. “You guys make this worth it.”

Finneas O’Connell, her brother, accepting with her for song of the year, noted that they record together in a bedroom in their family home. “This is to all the kids that are making music in their bedroom today,” he said, holding the trophy. “You’re going to get one of these.”

Finneas, as he is known, also won producer of the year and an engineering award.

Lizzo declares, ‘Tonight is for Kobe.’

The UK stopped being a member of the European Union (EU) after 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020.

For those not following every twist and turn, this is what you need to know.

What is Brexit?

Brexit – British exit – refers to the UK leaving the EU.

A public vote (known as a referendum) was held in June 2016, when 17.4 million people opted for Brexit. This gave the Leave side 52%, compared with 48% for Remain.

What is the European Union?

The EU is an economic and political union involving 28 European countries. It allows free trade, which means goods can move between member countries without any checks or extra charges. The EU also allows free movement of people, to live and work in whichever country they choose.

The UK joined in 1973 (when it was known as the European Economic Community) and it will be the first member state to withdraw.

What happens after Brexit day?

After the UK formally leaves the EU on 31 January 2020, there is still a lot to talk about and months of negotiation will follow.

While the UK has agreed the terms of its EU departure, both sides still need to decide what their future relationship will look like.

This will be worked out during the transition period (which some prefer to call the implementation period), which begins immediately after Brexit day and is due to end on 31 December 2020.

During this 11-month period, the UK will continue to follow all of the EU’s rules and its trading relationship will remain the same.

• UK-EU trade talks: A simple guide
• Seven things that will change after Brexit day

What needs to be agreed?

The transition period is meant to give both sides some breathing space while a new free trade agreement is negotiated.

This is needed because the UK will leave the single market and customs union at the end of the transition. A free trade agreement allow goods to move around the EU without checks or extra charges.

If a new one cannot be agreed in time, then the UK faces the prospect of having to trade with no deal in place. That would mean tariffs (taxes) on UK goods travelling to the EU and other trade barriers.

Aside from trade, many other aspects of the future UK-EU relationship will also need to be decided. For example:

• Law enforcement, data sharing and security
• Aviation standards and safety
• Access to fishing waters
• Supplies of electricity and gas
• Licensing and regulation of medicines

Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists the transition period will not be extended, but the European Commission has warned that the timetable will be extremely challenging.

• What is the transition period?
• Brexit: What happens next?

What is the Brexit deal?

The transition period and other aspects of the UK’s departure were agreed in a separate deal called the withdrawal agreement.

Most of that was negotiated by Theresa May’s government. But after Mr Johnson replaced her in July 2019, he removed the most controversial part – the backstop.

The backstop was designed to ensure there would be no border posts or barriers between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit. If needed, it would have kept the UK in a close trading relationship with the EU.

Under Mr Johnson’s deal, a customs border will effectively be created between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Some goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain will be subject to checks and will have to pay EU import taxes (known as tariffs).

These would be refunded if goods remain in Northern Ireland (ie are not moved to the Republic of Ireland).

Supporters of the new customs arrangement say it will allow the UK to negotiate its own trade deals with other countries – something that would not have been possible under the backstop.

The rest of the withdrawal agreement is largely unchanged from the one negotiated by Mrs May. This includes:

• The rights of EU citizens in the UK and British citizens in the EU (which will remain the same during the transition)
• How much money the UK is to pay the EU (estimated to be down to about £30bn)

Why did Brexit take so long?

Brexit was originally meant to happen on 29 March 2019, but the deadline was delayed twice after MPs rejected the deal negotiated by Mrs May, the prime minister at the time.

Many Conservative MPs and the DUP (the government’s then ally in Parliament) were unhappy with the backstop – arguing that the UK could remain trapped in the arrangement for years with no way out.

After MPs voted down the deal for a third time, Mrs May resigned.

Mr Johnson needed a Brexit extension of his own after MPs failed to get the revised deal passed into law.

This led to the new deadline of 31 January 2020.

With Parliament still in deadlock, Mr Johnson called an early general election, to which MPs agreed.

The election, which happened on 12 December 2019, resulted in a Conservative majority of 80.

With a sizeable majority in Parliament, it proved straight forward to pass the Brexit legislation.

Across Britain, people are spending more money on vegan products, and plant-based diets are trending online.

With major supermarkets catching on and stocking up on vegan-friendly food – BBC News asks what’s behind the rise?

The number of vegans is on the up

A vegan diet involves cutting out animal products like meat, fish, dairy and eggs.

According to the latest research by , conducted in 2018, there are around 600,000 vegans in Great Britain.

It’s estimated that this is up from 150,000 in 2006, and that there are twice as many women than men who are vegan.

Around 360,000 people also describe themselves as lifestyle vegans, who commit to only using or buying cosmetics and clothes free from animal products, for example.

Supermarkets are staying on-trend

Supermarket chains in the UK are stocking more vegan options to keep up with consumers’ food choices.

In 2018 Waitrose introduced a dedicated vegan section in more than 130 shops, while Iceland reported that sales of its plant-based food have risen by 10% over the last year.

And a range of fast-food companies, from Greggs to McDonalds and Burger King to KFC, have launched, or announced, vegan options for the UK.

The UK market for meat-free foods was reportedly worth £740m in 2018, according to market researchers , up from £539m only three years ago.

Interest in vegetarian and vegan products shows no sign of slowing down, as retail sales are expected to increase to £658m by 2021.

Do influencers influence what we eat?

Social media has had a big part to play in the rise of the plant-based lifestyle.

Celebrities like Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Ellen DeGeneres are some of the well-known figures who don’t eat animal products, while #vegan has more than 87 million posts listed on Instagram.

Veganism is a hot topic – the number of Google searches worldwide has also spiked in recent years.

The search engine uses a number out of 100 to represent interest in a search term. In 2009, the word “veganism” had a peak popularity score of only 33 but it had increased to 100 only 10 years later.

The top three most-searched questions on the topic in the UK ask what veganism is, about its sustainability and how it affects climate change.

Giles Quick, director at market researcher Kantar Worldpanel, said: “The vegan market has changed fundamentally in the last six or seven years – it’s now for everyone.

“Social media has brought it to the forefront of customer’s minds, and the mainstream. It’s not seen any more as a choice for life, but as a choice for one meal, one moment, for one or two days a week.”

Flexitarianism, part-time vegetarianism or veganism, is becoming more and more popular. And in January 2019, 250,000 people pledged to go vegan for the first month of the year, under .

Launched in the UK in 2014, and supported by a wide range of social media, Veganuary encourages people “to try vegan for January and beyond”.

According to analysts, young women are driving the growth of the vegan movement.

But, a range of reasons lie behind veganism’s rise.

A total of 49% of those interested in cutting down on their meat consumption said they would do so for health reasons, according to a survey of more than 1,000 adults in Great Britain by Mintel.

Weight management, animal welfare and environmental concerns were also big motivators.

With interest increasing all the time in healthy eating, part-time veganism might well become a full-time fixture in many people’s lives.

Update: This piece was originally published on 18 June 2018. It has been updated to reflect the latest available statistics.

Source link: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44488051

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has chosen its top 10 species discovered in 2019, celebrating the diversity of plants and fungi. From a bamboo-dwelling medicinal fungi to a snowdrop spotted on Facebook, this year’s picks represent the breadth of discoveries made by Kew and its collaborators around the world every year

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Marc Bain December 27, 2019

Antara Foto/Abriawan Abhe/via Reuters

We’re all alike in enjoying a good eclipse.

The last eclipse of the decade is taking place in the sky above a roughly 73-mile-wide path running across the Middle East and South Asia.

The celestial event is dubbed a “ring of fire” eclipse for the amazing pattern it creates. Here’s what is actually happening: The moon is passing in front of the sun while at its furthest distance from Earth in its elliptical orbit, making it small enough in the sky that it doesn’t totally obscure the sun as it crosses it. Instead, it leaves a thin blazing ring—a spectacular sight topped only by the images of the people watching it.

Photographers captured the watching crowds as the eclipse unfolded above Saudi Arabia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and elsewhere. The images, like eclipses themselves, are an occasional reminder that all of us look out from the same general vantage point, even if our particular views vary. For a few moments as objects in space line up just right, we are united in our desire to look up and see past the limits of our little planet—while wearing funny glasses, of course. (Please, protect your eyes.)

First, because we know you want to see it, here’s the eclipse itself over Indonesia.

AP Photo/Rifka Majjid

Ok, the eclipse is pretty cool.

And now, here’s what it looked like if you were just in it for the people watching, which is also a pretty fantastic sight as everyone—different ages, religions, and more—shared in the same curiosity, albeit at different times. Depending on location, some saw the eclipse on Dec. 25,  and some on Dec. 26.

Saudi Arabia

Men and women accessorized their headwear with protective glasses.

 

Reuters/Hamad I Mohammed

Reuters/Hamad I Mohammed

India

A class of students, a roadside vendor carrying on with work, and a Hindu priest—opting for exposed x-ray film to shield his eyes—all watched the eclipse.

Pakistan

Whether they had the authorized glasses or not, people found a way to watch. This man in Pakistan used welding glasses.

Thailand

Of course if you can find one pair of glasses big enough for everyone, that works too, like it did for these kids in Bangkok.

Malaysia

Young and old alike cast their eyes up for a glimpse.

Indonesia

However different the world’s inhabitants may be on most days, they all like a good eclipse.

india, asia, pakistan, saudi arabia, indonesia

Source Link: https://qz.com/1775395/photos-asia-eclipse-watchers-are-more-fascinating-than-eclipse/

From family teas to fancy parties, the best baking treats to see you through the festive season

Yotam Ottolenghi’s orange and saffron shortbread stars. Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian

It’s holiday season soon, a time for winter feasting, for baking Christmas treats. If you want simple and savoury – Jeremy Lee’s definitive soda bread, a smart twist on cheesy straws, or something eye-catching and adventurous such as Justin Gellatly’s monumental croquembouche – you need look no further. From Dan Lepard to Dominique Ansel, Anna Jones to Claire Ptak, Yotam Ottolenghi to Nigel Slater, our experts have your back. There are also crisp shortbread stars, a Christmas pudding, perfect mince pies, Mont Blanc tarts, a luxurious meringue cake, even Anja Dunk’s gingerbread house. Top recipes for a family tea or a posher party. Merry Christmas everyone.

Yotam Ottolenghi’s orange and saffron shortbread stars

Gloriously festive, these fragrant star biscuits are perfect to have on hand for cups of tea over Christmas, and make a great present.

Yotam Ottolenghi’s orange and saffron shortbread stars. Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian

There’s little reason to think 5G frequencies are any more harmful than other types of electromagnetic radiation, like visible light.