For many in the BBC Afghan service, recent events have brought back traumatic memories. For Shekiba Habib, the first takeover by the Taliban ended her dream of becoming a doctor. 20 years on, she shares similar stories she's hearing of broken dreams and loss of hope.

El Salvador and Bitcoin: the El Zonte mystery
Bitcoin joined the US dollar as legal tender in El Salvador this week. Quite a leap, but it turns out the small tourist surf town of El Zonte had been using the cryptocurrency for a couple of years already. BBC Mundo’s Marcos Gonzalez set out to find out why.

My Hometown: Weifang
Fan Wang of BBC Chinese takes us to her hometown of Weifang in China to fly kites and play with friends.

Algeria cuts ties with Morocco
Algeria’s relationship with Morocco was caught in the fallout from this year's devastating wildfires. It blamed the fires on criminal acts by a separatist group, which it accuses Morocco of backing. Fethi Benaissa has been reporting on the break in diplomatic ties for BBC Arabic.

How Arab tourists fell in love with Ukraine
The number of tourist flights from Saudi Arabia to Ukraine has more than doubled since 2019, so what explains this new found popularity? Diana Kuryshko of BBC Ukrainian visited a tourist village in the Carpathians to speak to both holidaymakers and local businesses to find out more.

Image: Women protest in Kabul, Afghanistan on 8th September 2021
Credit: Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images