Kathy Gannon
Indonesian Muslims pray spaced apart as they practice social distancing to curb the spread of the new coronavirus during an evening prayer called "tarawih" marking the first eve of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia. Monday, April 12, 2021. During Ramadan, the holiest month in Islamic calendar, Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk. (AP Photo/ Achmad Ibrahim)
Muslims mark Ramadan amid virus surge and new restrictions

By Amr Nabil And Niniek Karmini Apr. 12, 2021 11:37 PM EDT

Pregnant women sing and dance before being assisted in a health unit where several women look for assistance with prenatal care in Koidu, district of Kono, Sierra Leone, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Many African, Asian families marry off daughters amid virus

By Krista Larson Dec. 14, 2020 03:09 AM EST

FILE - In this April 26, 2020 file photo, a commuter wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, sleeps aboard the driverless Metro as it passes the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Travel agencies in countries across the Middle East and Africa say the United Arab Emirates has temporarily halted issuing new visas to their citizens, a so-far unexplained ban on visitors amid both the coronavirus pandemic and as the UAE normalizes ties with Israel. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell, File)
Travel agents in Mideast, Africa say UAE is blocking visas

By Isabel Debre Nov. 27, 2020 12:46 PM EST

Relatives carry the dead body of a boy who was killed by a mortar shell attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. Mortar shells slammed into different parts of the Afghan capital on Saturday. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
EU, other donors step up with funds to help Afghanistan

By Jamey Keaten Nov. 24, 2020 07:18 AM EST

FILE - In this Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020 file photo, Khadim Hussein Rizvi, center on wheelchair, head of 'Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, a religious political party, leads an anti France rally in Karachi, Pakistan. Rizvi, a radical religious cleric, who led tens of thousands in anti-France around the country, died Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. His spokesman and a doctor at the hospital where Rizvi died said he was suffering from COVID-like symptoms but was not tested for the virus. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan, File)
Radical Pakistani religious cleric dies after leading sit-in

By Babar Dogar And Asim Tanveer Nov. 19, 2020 02:13 PM EST

A Mumbai Municipal Corp. worker fumigates a street in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. While 2019 was the worst year on record for global dengue cases, experts fear an even bigger surge is possible because their efforts to combat it were hampered by restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Dengue prevention efforts stifled by coronavirus pandemic

By Victoria Milko And Aniruddha Ghosal Jul. 12, 2020 12:54 AM EDT

FILE - This Dec. 25, 2013, filer, photo shows a general view of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan after it was hit by rocket fire in Kabul, Afghanistan. The U.S. State Department says Saturday, June 20, 2020 that COVID-19 infections have been reported at its embassy in the Afghan capital and the staff who are affected include diplomats, contractors and locally employed staff. (AP Photo/Ahmad Nazar)
US says its embassy in Kabul battling coronavirus outbreak

By Rahim Faiez And Matthew Lee Jun. 20, 2020 05:47 AM EDT

A man walks past a painting on a wall with writing in the Dari Language reading "We cannot breath" during a protest themed Killings of Afghans in Iran in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, June 15, 2020. The violent deaths of Afghan refugees inside Iran has sparked an uproar despite denials from Tehran. (AP Photo/ Rahmat Gul)
Afghans allege Iran police involved in attacks on refugees

By Rahim Faiez And Tameem Akhgar Jun. 15, 2020 08:30 AM EDT

Muslim men pray next to the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's old city, Sunday, May 31, 2020.The Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, reopened early Sunday, following weeks of closure aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Mosques reopen in Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem amid virus woes

By Aya Batrawy May. 31, 2020 02:48 AM EDT

Pakistani Shahid Ahmed shows the picture of his mother Irshad Begum, who was killed in the Friday's plane crash, on his mobile phone outside a morgue in Karachi, Pakistan, Saturday, May 23, 2020. An aviation official says a passenger plane belonging to state-run Pakistan International Airlines carrying passengers and crew has crashed near the southern port city of Karachi. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Turbulence, warnings before Pakistan plane crash killed 97

By Adil Jawad May. 23, 2020 02:00 AM EDT

Volunteers look for survivors of a plane that crashed in a residential area of Karachi, Pakistan, May 22, 2020. An aviation official says a passenger plane belonging to state-run Pakistan International Airlines carrying more than 100 passengers and crew has crashed near the southern port city of Karachi. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Pakistan jet with 98 aboard crashes in crowded neighborhood

By Adil Jawad May. 22, 2020 08:59 AM EDT

Afghan and foreign security personnel stand guard in front of a hospital after gunmen attacked, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, May 12, 2020. Gunmen stormed a maternity hospital in the western part of the Afghan capital, setting off a gun battle with the police and several people were reported wounded. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Militants storm maternity clinic in Afghan capital, kill 14

By Rahim Faiez May. 12, 2020 07:55 AM EDT

A health worker checks the temperature of car passengers in an effort to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, as they enter the city in the Paghman district of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
In random test of 500 in Afghan capital, one-third has virus

By Rahim Faiez And Amir Vahdat May. 03, 2020 09:30 AM EDT

Mark Frerichs, a contractor from Illinois, poses in Iraq in this undated photo obtained from Twitter that he would include with his resume when job hunting. Frerichs was abducted in Afghanistan in January 2020. Early efforts to locate him have been shrouded in mystery and his disappearance has been the subject of minimal public discussion by the U.S. government. The Associated Press has learned that in the days following Frerichs’ capture, Navy commandos raided a village and detained suspected members of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network while the U.S. intelligence community tried to track the cellphones of Frerich and his captors. (Twitter via AP)
SEALs tried to locate US citizen taken by Afghan militants

By James Laporta And Eric Tucker Apr. 30, 2020 12:07 AM EDT

Anti-government protesters wave Lebanese flags from their cars as they protest by driving through the streets to express rejection of the political leadership they blame for the economic and financial crisis, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, April 21, 2020. Lebanon's parliament began Tuesday a three-day legislative session at a Beirut theater so that legislators can observe coronavirus social distancing measures, as protests against the country's ruling elite in the crisis-hit country resumed. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese protests, politics resume with a new, virus twist

By Fadi Tawil Apr. 21, 2020 05:43 AM EDT

FILE - In this Monday, April 20, 2020 file photo, daily-wage workers wait in line to receive free wheat donated by Afghan businessmen ahead of the upcoming holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan. As Ramadan begins with the new moon later this week, Muslims all around the world are trying to work out how to maintain the many cherished rituals of Islam’s holiest month without further spreading the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
Muslims try to keep Ramadan spirit amid virus restrictions

By Samy Magdy And Lee Keath Apr. 21, 2020 02:10 AM EDT

FILE - In this Monday, April 13, 2020 file photo, police officers try to restrict people from defying the nation-wide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, in Hyderabad, Pakistan. Wealthier Western countries are considering how to ease lockdown restrictions and start taking gradual steps toward reviving business and daily life. But many developing countries, particularly in the Middle East and Africa, can hardly afford the luxury of any misstep. (AP Photo/Pervez Masih, File)
Poorer nations face bigger risk in easing virus restrictions

By Zeina Karam And Bassem Mroue Apr. 17, 2020 02:19 AM EDT

Afghan National Army soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint near the Bagram base in northern Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, April 8, 2020. An Afghan official said Wednesday that the country has released 100 Taliban prisoners from Bagram, claiming they are part of 5,000 detainees who are to be freed under a deal between insurgents and U.S. But the Taliban says they have yet to verify those released were on the list they had handed over to Washington during negotiations. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghanistan frees 100 Taliban, but group hasn't verified

By Rahim Faiez And Tameem Akhgar Apr. 08, 2020 10:09 AM EDT