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KABUL has erupted in rage after a gunman opened fire killing dozens of people. Shooting has been heard 2 hours after the incident.

“a crime against humanity and against the national unity of Afghanistan”
-Mr. Ghani

Tensions were suspended until the Treaty with the Taliban was signed.

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KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's capital erupted into violence on Friday when a sustained gun battle broke out at an event attended by the opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah, officials said.

Mr. Abdullah escaped injury in the attack in Kabul, his aides confirmed, and it was unclear who was behind the shooting. At least 15 people were wounded, the country's Health Ministry said.

Political tensions have been at high pitch in recent weeks, with Mr. Abdullah challenging the results of an election that declared the incumbent president, Ashraf Ghani, as the winner of another five-year term in office. Mr. Abdullah has also declared victory, and preparations were underway for two parallel inaugurations in the Afghan capital on the eve of the United States signing an agreement with the Taliban in hopes of ending the 18-year war.

American diplomats managed to buy some time by convincing Mr. Ghani to postpone his inauguration until after the United States signed its deal with the Taliban last Saturday, hoping that the sides in Kabul could find their own negotiated solution.

The Taliban, who had recently resumed attacks against government forces after signing a peace deal with the United States, denied involvement in the attack. But in the past, some elements of the insurgent group have been accused of exploiting the gray areas of a complex conflict to escalate tensions and suspicion while maintaining deniability.

Mr. Ghani called the attack "a crime against humanity and against the national unity of Afghanistan" and said he had spoken to Mr. Abdullah on the phone.

The event was a ceremony commemorating the killing of an ethnic Hazara leader, Abdul Ali Mazari, by Taliban militants in 1995. Most Hazaras are Shiite Muslims, a persecuted minority in Afghanistan and a favorite target of Islamic State loyalists here in recent years. But attacks by that group have dropped off sharply after a sustained offensive against them last year.

Najim Rahim reported from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Mujib Mashal from Doha, Qatar.

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Gun Battle Breaks Out at Kabul Event Attended by Opposition Leaders

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KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's capital erupted into violence on Friday when a sustained gun battle broke out at an event attended by the opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah, officials said. Mr. Abdullah escaped injury in the attack in Kabul, his aides confirmed, and it was unclear who was behind the shooting.

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3,750 active warheads. 13,890 total nuclear warheads. The most urgent national security issue in the US is the possibility that a nuclear weapon might be used against another country. Most of the nuclear weapons today are in the US and/or Russia.

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KABUL has erupted in rage after a gunman opened fire killing dozens of people. Shooting has been heard 2 hours after the incident.

“a crime against humanity and against the national unity of Afghanistan”
-Mr. Ghani

Tensions were suspended until the Treaty with the Taliban was signed.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's capital erupted into violence on Friday when a sustained gun battle broke out at an event attended by the opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah, officials said.

Mr. Abdullah escaped injury in the attack in Kabul, his aides confirmed, and it was unclear who was behind the shooting. At least 15 people were wounded, the country's Health Ministry said.

Political tensions have been at high pitch in recent weeks, with Mr. Abdullah challenging the results of an election that declared the incumbent president, Ashraf Ghani, as the winner of another five-year term in office. Mr. Abdullah has also declared victory, and preparations were underway for two parallel inaugurations in the Afghan capital on the eve of the United States signing an agreement with the Taliban in hopes of ending the 18-year war.

American diplomats managed to buy some time by convincing Mr. Ghani to postpone his inauguration until after the United States signed its deal with the Taliban last Saturday, hoping that the sides in Kabul could find their own negotiated solution.

The Taliban, who had recently resumed attacks against government forces after signing a peace deal with the United States, denied involvement in the attack. But in the past, some elements of the insurgent group have been accused of exploiting the gray areas of a complex conflict to escalate tensions and suspicion while maintaining deniability.

Mr. Ghani called the attack "a crime against humanity and against the national unity of Afghanistan" and said he had spoken to Mr. Abdullah on the phone.

The event was a ceremony commemorating the killing of an ethnic Hazara leader, Abdul Ali Mazari, by Taliban militants in 1995. Most Hazaras are Shiite Muslims, a persecuted minority in Afghanistan and a favorite target of Islamic State loyalists here in recent years. But attacks by that group have dropped off sharply after a sustained offensive against them last year.

Najim Rahim reported from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Mujib Mashal from Doha, Qatar.

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Gun Battle Breaks Out at Kabul Event Attended by Opposition Leaders

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KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's capital erupted into violence on Friday when a sustained gun battle broke out at an event attended by the opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah, officials said. Mr. Abdullah escaped injury in the attack in Kabul, his aides confirmed, and it was unclear who was behind the shooting.

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Museums in Italy have reopened and were closed do to the corona virus, as they reopened some new rules were established. Individuals must wear gloves. They are  not aloud to hug, kiss, and must stay atleast 3 meters away from each other.

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But reduced attendance means it's not hard to enforce the new regulations.

A gallery in the Museo del Novecento in Milan on Thursday. Credit... Alessandro Grassani for The New York Times

MILAN - The Museo del Novecento is usually bustling, but on Wednesday afternoon, it was virtually empty.

Giulio Gamberi, 42, an IT manager, had finished working from home, and decided to enjoy the museum without its usual crowds. He was outnumbered by guards, many of whom wore protective face masks and gloves.

Italy's first coronavirus cases were reported on Feb. 21, and two days later, the government cordoned off 11 towns and closed schools, universities, libraries, theaters and museums across the north of the country.

While some museums were allowed to open, on Tuesday the government announced new nationwide measures. Residents are discouraged from hugging, kissing and shaking hands in public, and must keep one meter - about three feet - apart from each other at all times, the regulations say.

In a further decree on Wednesday, Italy suspended "events and performances of any nature, including cinema and theater," where the one-meter rule cannot be enforced.

"If the cinema or theater manager can guarantee the meter distance, selling fewer tickets, or arranging people so they don't sit next to each other, they can stay open," said Mattia Morandi, a spokesman for the culture ministry. "But the fact is, people aren't going to the cinema or the theater."

In Milan on Wednesday, attendance was down at museums, too. Under the regulations, museums must also limit their capacity to make sure the one-meter rule can be enforced. But, at the Novecento, there was no need to turn anyone away.

A staff member at the ticket kiosk said that, by just after midday, only 28 people had been admitted to the museum.

At the Palazzo Reale museum next door, 160 visitors were admitted by 1 p.m. on Wednesday. According to a staff member at the ticket desk, the usual daily average is 1,000.

Daily attendance across Milan's museums was down by 70 percent, Filippo Del Corno, Milan's chief culture official, said in a telephone interview.

Italy's culture ministry analyzes attendance at museums and archaeological sites on a monthly basis, so numbers for the whole country were not available on Thursday. But contacted individually, some of Italy's top tourist draws were noting dramatic drops in visitors.

The archaeological site at Pompeii has seen an 80 percent reduction, a culture ministry official said. The Uffizi in Florence continues to register between 1,000 to 2,500 visitors a day, "about the same as a normal day in low season, which this year is likely to continue through March and April," said the museum's director Eike Schmidt.

Inside the Novecento in Milan, Alessandro Viapiana, 22, said he had been wearing a protective face mask when he was near his elderly grandfather, but he had left it at home to visit the museum. "The city is empty," he said with a shrug.

Low turnout meant that the new one-meter rule was easy to regulate, according to a guard. The real test, he said, will be if numbers climb over the weekend.

But even on Wednesday, the rule's enforcement seemed lax. At one point, a staff member at the Novecento asked Mr. Viapianaand a friend to pose for a photo for the museum's social media, and the two men drew close together while the staff member took their picture.

Mr. Del Corno said the government's measures were proportionate to the virus's threat. Italy's aging population, Europe's oldest, is especially vulnerable to infection, he added.

"Our hospitals are publicly funded, so avoiding a health crisis is everyone's responsibility," Mr. Del Corno said. "Ultimately, it is in all of our interests."

In Milan, people were pulling together and trying to follow the rules, he said. "There was a small queue at the Palazzo Reale yesterday, and it was like being in England. People really were patiently standing one meter apart."

But how long it would take the country's cultural life to return to normal was unclear. "I don't believe it will be an immediate recovery," Mr. Del Corno said. "It could be more than another week."

Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Rome.

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Italy's Museums Reopen With Coronavirus Rule: Stay a Meter Apart

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But reduced attendance means it's not hard to enforce the new regulations. MILAN - The Museo del Novecento is usually bustling, but on Wednesday afternoon, it was virtually empty. Giulio Gamberi, 42, an IT manager, had finished working from home, and decided to enjoy the museum without its usual crowds.

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/biotech-companies-tap-ai-to-speed-path-to-coronavirus-treatments-11583451564