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From Our Own Correspondent: Kabul's Hopes and Fears

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Kabul's Hopes and Fears

31/08/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Kabul's Hopes and Fears

What Afghans make of US-Taliban talks; plus stories from Iraq, Costa Rica and France

Afghans' views of US talks with the Taliban; what the Yazidis who went back to Sinjar in Iraq have found; migration through Costa Rica; petanque gets more professional in France

The United States of America has spent billions of dollars and sacrificed thousands of lives in Afghanistan since 2001. Now it's talking to the Taliban in Qatar looking for a deal, so it might be able to cut back its commitment without making things in the country any worse. But what do Afghan citizens make of the prospects for peace? Secunder Kermani hears the word on the street in Kabul. 

Rebecca Kesby introduces this story and others from writers and reporters around the world. 

In 2014 the world looked on in horror as the fighters of Islamic State swept through Iraq - singling out members of the Yazidi minority for especially brutal treatment. Around the city of Sinjar, thousands of people from this community were massacred; kidnapped; raped; and some sold into slavery. Since then, Iraqi Kurdish forces have retaken the city, but only a quarter of its residents have returned. Lizzie Porter describes a place left broken by war. 

Compared to many Central American countries, Costa Rica is quiet, safe, and prosperous. Yet, just like its unhappier neighbours, it's seeing a spike in migration - but in this case, from much further afield. People from as far away as Nepal, Bangladesh and the DRC are turning up there, hoping to make it north and into the USA. Katy Long talks about they journeys they made - and the thoughts their travels triggered in her. 

And in France, Chris Bockman reveals some crafty tricks from the experts - on how to cheat your way to victory in a game of petanque. This version of boules might not seem all that dramatic a sport - but it turns out that plans to professionalise the game, including bringing in a dress code and an alcohol ban, have caused plenty of upset recently. 

Photo:TOPSHOT -A boy walks alongside a wall covered with street art in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan - August 2019. (FARSHAD USYAN/AFP/Getty Images)

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