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In this security vacuum, the resurgent Taliban laid siege to the highway. Attacks on LBG road crews intensified — fueled in part, Afghan officials told me, by grievances over the company’s failure to hire local workers and consult tribal elders. In February 2004, militants shot down an LBG helicopter, killing the pilot and injuring three employees. Meanwhile, travelers were increasingly stopped at gunpoint and shaken down. State employees were often summarily executed on the roadside. The Taliban made a special effort to destroy fuel and supply trucks that serviced the main NATO military bases at Bagram and Kandahar. In one infamous 2008 attack in Ghazni province, a convoy of more than 40 trucks was blown up and left to burn. “The highway was a vehicle graveyard,” says the senior U.S. officer, who returned to Afghanistan after serving in Iraq. “We tried to send logistics guys to move all the carcasses of the dead trucks off the road as fast as … [Read more...] about Highway to Hell: A Trip Down Afghanistan’s Deadliest Road

On a brisk morning, we drive through Kunduz City, a northern provincial capital of more than 300,000 people. In the absence of U.S. and NATO ground forces, Kunduz has degenerated under the heel of corrupt, abusive local militias and ethnic rivalries. In 2015, the Taliban seized the city for 15 days, the first takeover of any Afghan city since the U.S. invasion, and a shocking indictment of the Afghan army’s capacity to defend vital urban centers. Though the government generally has more support in cities, Kunduz remains one of the most contested. A bomb detonates overnight during our stay, said to be part of a militant attack that never materializes. Afghan army convoys of pickups and armored Humvees topped with masked gunners swiveling .50-caliber machine guns patrol the streets. We pass the derelict Doctors Without Borders trauma hospital, where at least 42 people were killed in an October 2015 errant airstrike by the U.S. … [Read more...] about America’s Longest War Takes a Deadly New Turn

The deal, first reported by Variety, includes Big Machine's client roster ... which includes Sheryl Crow, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Rascal Flatts and the trio formerly known as Lady Antebellum. The label will remain under Scooter and Scott's control. … [Read more...] about Taylor Swift Rips Scooter Braun For Selling Her Masters For $300M

She had said, "We started off together in the industry. I have known him for a long time and there's too much history between us. Honestly, there will never be issues. I have nothing but just positivity in my heart for him. I'm sure he wishes the same as well. We have witnessed several milestones of our lives together. He spoke about meeting and chatting and we were fine. There are no bad vibes." … [Read more...] about When Alia Bhatt Confessed About Loving Sidharth Malhotra: I Love Him, There’s No Stress; I’m Not Nachaoing Him

Related Story International Insider: BBC Studios' Stuttering CEO Search; BAFTA Voting; Netflix's UK Reality Show Binge But but but: The headline growth in subs masked something International Insider spotted in the detail of Netflix’s shareholder letter. Netflix’s subscriber growth actually slowed in EMEA, despite skyrocketing streaming during lockdown and record levels of investment in the UK, where it spent $1B on shows including The Crown and The Witcher. Europe, Middle East and Africa subs rose 29% to 66.7M in 2020, which was a contraction on the growth rate of 37% the year before, when Netflix first started breaking out territory-specific data. By contrast, the U.S., Canada, and Asia-Pacific all grew at a faster rate than in 2019. It begs the question: Have we hit peak Netflix in some international territories? … [Read more...] about International Insider: Netflix By Numbers; Cannes Question Marks; Epic Games’ Movie Push; Bye-Bye ‘Peaky Blinders’