WASHINGTON (AP) — The Taliban face a frontal challenge in cementing control of Afghanistan: Money.

Despite <a class="" title="In Taliban’s 7-day march to power, a stunning string of wins" href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-middle-east-taliban-fe160be42181cbde7cc430a4eace7475" target="_blank" rel="noopener">their dominant military blitz</a> over the past week, the Taliban lack access to billions of dollars from their central bank and the International Monetary Fund that would keep the country running during a turbulent shakeup. Those funds are largely controlled by the U.S. and international institutions, a possible leverage point as tense evacuations proceed from the airport in the capital of Kabul. Tens of thousands of people remain to be evacuated ahead of the United States’ Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw its troops from the country.

Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. The Taliban celebrated Afghanistan’s Independence Day on Thursday by declaring they beat the United States, but challenges to their rule ranging from running a country severely short on cash and bureaucrats to potentially facing an armed opposition began to emerge. Photo: Rahmat Gul/AP/TT

The Taliban face a frontal challenge in cementing control of Afghanistan: Money.

Taliban took Afghanistan but face cash squeeze

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The head of Iran’s prison system acknowledged Tuesday that videos purportedly obtained by a self-described hacker group that show abuses at the Islamic Republic’s notorious Evin prison are real, saying he took responsibility for the “unacceptable behaviors.”

The comment by Mohammad Mehdi Hajmohammadi came the day after <a class="" title="Leaked footage shows grim conditions in Iran’s Evin prison" href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-health-religion-iran-prisons-01dfade61d7a706d630bf83d30d8cb02" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press published parts of the videos and a report about the abuse at the facility in northern Tehran</a>, long known for holding political prisoners and those with ties to the West whom Iran uses as bargaining chips in international negotiations.

In this undated frame grab taken from video shared with The Associated Press by a self-identified hacker group called ”The Justice of Ali,” a guard beats a prisoner, at Evin prison in Tehran, Iran. The alleged hackers said the release of the footage was an effort to show the grim conditions at the prison, known for holding political prisoners and those with ties abroad who are often used as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West. Image: The Justice of Ali via AP/TT

The head of Iran’s prison system has acknowledged that videos from the notorious Evin prison are real, saying he took responsibility for the “unacceptable behaviors.”

Iran official acknowledges videos of Evin prison abuse real

BEIJING (AP) — In the U.S. departure from Afghanistan, China has seen the realization of long-held hopes for a reduction of the influence of a geopolitical rival in what it considers its backyard.

Yet, it is also deeply concerned that the very withdrawal could bring risk and instability to that backyard — Central Asia — and possibly even spill over their narrow, remote border into China itself and the heavily Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang.

In this July 28, 2021, file photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pose for a photo during their meeting in Tianjin, China. In the U.S. departure from Afghanistan, China has seen the realization of long-held hopes for a reduction of the influence of a geopolitical rival in what it considers its backyard. Yet, it is also deeply concerned that the very withdrawal could bring instability to that backyard - Central Asia - and possibly even spill over the border into China itself in its heavily Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang. Photo: Li Ran/Xinhua via AP/TT

A move that reduces the influence of a Chinese geopolitical rival in what it considers its backyard, but that could also bring instability.

China both worries and hopes as US departs Afghanistan

LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — A gang leader is offering a truce as well as help for communities in southwestern Haiti that were shattered by an earthquake, raising a glimmer of hope for relief operations that have been disrupted by the looting of aid trucks and other disorder.

It remained to be seen whether anything would come from Sunday’s offer by Jimmy Cherizier, alias “Barbecue.” While he is a powerful crime boss, Cherizier is far from the only gang leader in Haiti, and widely spread social media reports of a supposed earlier gang truce have failed to prevent attacks on the expanding relief effort.

The coffin with the body of Baptist church minister Andre Tessono, who was killed during the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the area 8 days ago, is carried to the cemetery during his funeral in the Picot neighborhood in Les Cayes, Haiti, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. Photo: Matias Delacroix/AP/TT

Jimmy Cherizier, alias “Barbecue, is offering a truce as well as help for communities in southwestern Haiti that were shattered by an earthquake.