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Cities across Europe, like Frankfurt, above, are taking steps to protect pedestrians after a series of terrorist attacks using cars.

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Iraqi forces are advancing in their offensive to retake the stronghold of Tal Afar from the Islamic State.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, above left, is in Iraq for talks to address renewed political instability fueled by regional rivalries. In Erbil, he reiterated his request that a referendum next month on Kurdish independence be postponed.

Separately, YouTube inadvertently removed videos that could be used in potential war crimes prosecutions. It had intended to purge extremist propaganda from its site.

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Our Washington team looked at how President Trump developed his new strategy for Afghanistan, one that will require thousands more American troops.

Pakistan reacted with apprehension. And the Taliban, with the hard-line Haqqani Network in their top leadership, are gaining ground.

Heres a look at some of our photographers best work covering 16 years of war. And here are some notable reactions from the right and left to Mr. Trumps plan.

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On Capitol Hill, the presidents relationship with the top Republican senator, Mitch McConnell, has disintegrated to the point that they are no longer on speaking terms. The rupture threatens to stall the Republicans legislative agenda.

Mr. Trump, at a rally in Arizona, attacked the sick news media, which he said are trying to take away our history and our heritage.

And our most-read story in Europe today: Louise Linton, the Scottish actress married to the U.S. Treasury secretary, belittled a stranger on social media for having less money than she does.

European antitrust regulators opened an investigation into Bayers $56 billion takeover of Monsanto, its American agribusiness rival.

Apple scaled back its ambitions for a self-driving car project, code-named Titan, to focus on developing the underlying technology and testing it in an employee shuttle service.

Heres a snapshot of global markets.

DNA results confirm that a torso found in Copenhagens harbor is that of the missing Swedish journalist Kim Wall, the Danish police said in a Twitter post. [The New York Times]

In Russia, the detention of Kirill Serebrennikov, the acclaimed theater director, has renewed fears of a crackdown on artists. [The New York Times]

President Emmanuel Macron will begin a tour of Central and Eastern Europe today. Notably, no meetings with the populist leaders of Hungary and Poland are said to be on the agenda. [Reuters]

Brawls between more than a hundred Afghan and Eritrean migrants in Calais, France, left 21 injured. Six police officers were also hurt. [Associated Press]

The Trump administration denied $96 million in aid to Egypt and delayed $195 million in military funding in part over Cairos ties to North Korea. [The New York Times]

Angolans are voting in a presidential election today. Outgoing President Jos Eduardo dos Santos, who led one of the worlds most corrupt nations for nearly four decades, is likely to remain influential. [Quartz]

The U.S. Navy is set to replace a top commander in Asia after two deadly collisions that raised questions among allies about American naval superiority. [The New York Times]

Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.

Who really needs to be gluten-free?

Your guide for dorm room essentials.

Recipe of the day: Embrace the meatless meal with roasted cauliflower and broccoli with salsa verde.

Salzburg, Austria, has become the Davos of classical music. There, we followed Anna Netrebko, above, the star soprano, as she navigates a changing classical music industry.

At the Womens Rugby World Cup, England beat France and New Zealand crushed the U.S. to advance to Saturdays final in Belfast.

Soccer: Barcelona is suing Neymar, the star player, for breach of contract over his move to Paris Saint-Germain.

In memoriam: Janusz Glowacki, the Polish writer of darkly humorous works on totalitarianism and the migr experience, died at 78.

The depths of the ocean are a lot brighter than you might think. Scientists are finding that bioluminescence is so common in the oceans that it is one of Earths dominant traits.

They were a dissatisfied group of Americans, determined to break away.

Not Californians in 2017. Or Texans for decades. But on this day in 1784, settlers in western North Carolina declared an independent state. They were concerned that the state and national governments, which were in a debate over debts related to the Revolutionary War, did not have their best interests at heart.

The State of Franklin, in what is now eastern Tennessee, adopted a constitution with power divided among three branches, like the national government that its leaders hoped one day to join.

The state made treaties, levied taxes and set salaries, but not in currency. Instead, those salaries included 1,000 deer skins a year for the governor, 500 raccoon skins for the governors secretary and a single mink skin for the constable for each warrant signed, according to one account published in The Times in 1852.

Officials sought the help of Benjamin Franklin, but hopes of national recognition were never realized. The state only lasted a few years because of internal dissent and external pressure.

But it had an impact. The State of Franklin was eventually absorbed into Tennessee, and its leader, John Sevier, became Tennessees first governor when it joined the union in 1796.

Sarah Anderson contributed reporting.

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This briefing was prepared for the European morning. You can browse through past briefings here.

We also have briefings timed for the Australian, Asian and American mornings. You can sign up for these and other Times newsletters here.

Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online.

What would you like to see here? Contact us at europebriefing@nytimes.com.

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Barcelona, Afghanistan, Kim Wall: Your Wednesday Briefing - New York Times

But it also signaled that, nearly 16 years on, many years of American entanglement may remain.

Even before the presidents speech, the American military and Afghan leaders were laying long-term plans. Mr. Ghani has a new four-year plan for the war, extending through the 2020 fighting season, and it includes doubling his armys special forces. The American military has a $6.5-billion plan to make the Afghan air force self-sufficient and end its overreliance on American air power by 2023.

The Taliban have long-range plans, too. While their attempts to actually hold seized provincial capitals have failed often because of intensive intervention by American air power, aided by Special Operations troops many provincial centers remain little more than islands, surrounded by hostile countryside.

Taliban fighters can create roadblocks and ambushes in almost any part of the country, disrupting commerce and exacting an ever-growing human toll. Most of the 3,000 civilians killed annually are victims of the insurgents. And with Taliban control of most of Helmand Province, where 80 percent of Afghanistans opium is produced, Taliban coffers are full, both from taxing the drug and trafficking in it.

The insurgents, too, suffer high casualties; one senior American military official put their losses at 10,000 a year. Only five years ago, American military intelligence officials put the Talibans entire strength at 20,000 men, yet they seem to have no trouble replenishing their numbers.

Ask the Taliban about that, and they have a ready answer.

Hajji Naqibullah, an insurgent commander from Sangin District, cited Hajji Amanullah, who had 13 members of his family killed in battle, all replaced by his nephews. And Mullah Abdul Salam had four sons killed, but his fifth volunteered and is now a local commander.

Hajji Naqibullah said three of his own cousins were killed during the fight in Sangin, where more American and British soldiers died than anywhere else in Afghanistan, and which fell to the insurgents in March after a yearlong campaign. The three were brothers, and their widowed mother had one son left, who joined after they died. His mother is now living with widows and orphans, Hajji Naqibullah said.

Somewhere in Kandahar Province Monday morning, the Talibans military commander for the south, a member of the groups ruling Quetta Shura, tuned in at 5:30 a.m. to the BBCs Pashto service to hear a translation of Mr. Trumps speech. Like many Taliban leaders, he said, he had hoped to hear Mr. Trump make good on early vows to quit Afghanistan.

This is not good for the people of Afghanistan, said the commander, who did not want his name or even precise location identified for security reasons.

He should realize Afghanistan is not like it was during the Bush and Obama administrations, he said. And we are not going to surrender; we are not going to give up; well fight this war for another 16 years.

Reporting was contributed by Taimoor Shah from Kandahar, Afghanistan; Fahim Abed and Jawad Sukhanyar from Kabul; and Helene Cooper from Jidda, Saudi Arabia.

A version of this article appears in print on August 23, 2017, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Afghan Victory Looks More Distant, 15 Years On.

Continue reading here:
What an Afghanistan Victory Looks Like Under the Trump Plan - New York Times

BBC News

US Afghanistan: Tillerson ups pressure on Pakistan BBC News American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has increased pressure on Pakistan over its perceived backing for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan denies sheltering the Taliban, but Mr Tillerson suggested it could lose US privileges if the government ... Trump's Afghanistan war strategy: Use military to force peace talks with TalibanUSA TODAY Pakistani Journalist Criticizes 'Little Substance' In Trump's Address On AfghanistanNPR Tillerson says the Taliban won't win in Afghanistan and neither will the USVox all 121 news articles »

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US Afghanistan: Tillerson ups pressure on Pakistan - BBC News

KABUL, Afghanistan Soon after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the United States militarys attention turned to Afghanistan, where Al Qaedas leaders were based. The world awaited an invasion that many knew was sure to come.

What nobody knew was that the invasion to rout the Taliban and Al Qaeda would turn into a war that has now stretched into its 16th year Americas longest.

It has vexed three American presidencies and outlasted a dozen American military commanders.

The war also opened a window into a country where modernity clashed with tribal customs and religious edicts.

On Monday night, President Trump announced a new strategy for the war, bringing with it a possible increase in troop levels and a seemingly open-ended commitment to American involvement.

Here in reverse-chronological order are images that depict the arc of the war, as seen through the eyes of New York Times photographers who shadowed the soldiers of the United States and its allies.

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16 Years of War in Afghanistan, in Pictures - New York Times

By Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

Breitbart promised #war, and Monday night, after Donald Trump accepted the advice of the Joint Chiefs and committed the United States to an indefinite engagement in Afghanistan, it delivered. Within minutes of Trump leaving the lectern at Fort Myer, surrounded by men and women in uniform, the sites infamous all-caps, orange headlines came fast and furious: TRUMPS AMERICA FIRST BASE UNHAPPY WITH FLIP-FLOP AFGHANISTAN SPEECH read one. IS TRUMPS AFGHANISTAN POLICY THAT DIFFERENT FROM OBAMAS? blared another. By Tuesday morning, the tone was more measured, but the hand of Stephen Bannon was clear. Two articles singled out Paul Ryan and Lindsey Graham for approving a likely troop surge, while another highlighted how the government had wasted $160 million on a failed anti-corruption program in Afghanistan. In a particularly cheeky bout of trolling, there was also a video of CNN pundit Fareed Zakaria reacting to the speech, critiquing Trumps decision. Where is Steve Bannon when you need him? he asked rhetorically.

Bannon, of course, was at Breitbart, where he returned as executive chairman shortly after being pushed from the White House. As my colleague Gabriel Sherman reported on Sunday, Breitbart staffers has warned that they were ready to go to war with the globalist wing of Trumps White House if the president deviated too far from Bannons nationalist agenda, and, if necessary, Trump himself. On Monday, the assault began in earnest. The headlines were consistent with the sites anti-interventionist, pro-isolationist stances, and the content even more so. H.R. McMasters voice was clear to hear, wrote Breitbart London editor Raheem Kassam. Its a voice that appears to have been carried over from the George W. Bush administration, and even the Obama White House. Accusing the president of flip-flopping, Kassam pinned the blame on an external influence: This isnt about changing his perspective on the war. POTUS is a remarkably astute and stubborn individual. This was about the swamp getting to him.

The site had gone after Trump for breaking his campaign promises before, famously melting down when Trump dropped bombs on Syria, a country he previously urged Obama not to intervene in. But eventually, it and the rest of the populist-nationalist movement backed off, hoping that this was a one-off moment in the Trump administration. This time, however, was different: with Bannon no longer in the White House as a populist-nationalist voice, either mitigating the generals influence or wringing a concession out from them in exchange for his support, there was no hope for their agenda. The Afghanistan troop surge isnt going to be a one-off mission, or a one-off air strike, Mike Cernovich, an ideological ally of Bannon, told me over the phone. Its going to be further going into the quagmire.

With Trumps Afghanistan decision, the fissures on the right are widening. As Breitbart ferociously pushed its stories into the world on Monday night, other Trump-defending figures and outlets decided to take the presidents side: on Fox News, Sean Hannity gushed over Trumps plan, calling the delivery the right tone, the right cadence, the right pitch. Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton agreed, saying, I think this is a dramatic change from the Obama administration. The Drudge Report, whose namesake reportedly has an intense hatred of Bannon, went with a headline echoing Trumps tough-guy rhetoric: WE WILL FIGHT TO WIN. With Bannon at Breitbart, the war will have to be fought on multiple fronts.

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Bannon's Breitbart Slams Trump for Afghanistan Flip-Flop - Vanity Fair