The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has told Sky News he is seeking the arrest of two senior Taliban figures over the “systemic and deliberate” persecution of women in Afghanistan.

Karim Khan KC, speaking on Sky News’ The World with Yalda Hakim, said the pair bore “criminal responsibility” over the treatment of women and girls in the country.

It comes after the ICC announced earlier on Thursday it had filed two applications for warrants for the arrest of Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Afghanistan‘s chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani.

Mr Khan said: “The charges are gender persecution. It’s the systemic, we say, organised, deliberate, malicious suffocation of women, the targeting of girls and women, the denial of their rights to education, access to any public spaces, the inability to go to beauty salons, the inability to walk in the park, the inability really to have hope.

“And this isn’t something doctrinal. This has crossed every threshold and we say clearly is criminal. And that’s what we presented to the judges of the International Criminal Court to consider.”

The prosecutor said the evidence was “overwhelming” and that the charges amounted to the “crime against humanity of gender persecution”.

Human rights groups have heavily criticised Taliban leaders since they took back control of Afghanistan in 2021.

Under their leadership, women have faced a string of restrictions over their daily lives, including over work, education and freedom of movement.

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Mr Khan added: “This isn’t some acceptable choice from a menu of options that states can choose from. This isn’t about religious autonomy of doctrinal beliefs of Christianity or Islam or Buddhism or anything else for that matter.

“This has crossed every threshold in which women can either be seen or heard. Women can’t go to university. Girls don’t have an opportunity to go to school”.

There is no deadline for judges to rule on a request for a warrant, but a decision typically takes around four months.

Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of classified files on the assassination of President John F Kennedy.

The 1963 killing in Dallas is the source of one of the most well-known conspiracy theories of modern times.

Lee Harvey Oswald was said to be the gunman, but was shot dead himself two days after JFK‘s killing.

Theories that have persisted include that there was a second shooter and that it was plot connected to communist Cuba.

President Trump had promised during his election campaign to make public the last withheld records on the case.

He signed an executive order to that effect on Thursday, telling reporters “everything will be revealed”.

The order will also declassify remaining federal records on the assassinations of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr in 1968, and JFK’s brother, Robert F Kennedy, who was shot dead the same year while running for president.

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Mr Trump had promised to uncover the documents during his first term but agreed with CIA and FBI pleas to keep some secret.

JFK’s nephew, Robert F Kennedy Jr, is the president’s pick for health secretary and has said he is not convinced just one man was behind his uncle’s murder.

After signing the order, Mr Trump ordered the pen should be given to RFK Jr.

However, JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg hit back at President Trump’s executive order, saying there was “nothing heroic” about it.

“The truth is alot sadder than the myth – a tragedy that didn’t need to happen. Not part of an inevitable grand scheme,” he wrote on X.

“Declassification is using JFK as a political prop, when he’s not here to punch back.”

The attorney general and head of national intelligence must now come up with a plan in the next 15 days to declassify the JFK files, and within 45 days for the other cases.

It is therefore unclear exactly when they will see the light of day – and experts on the case are not holding their breath for any major revelations.

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Only a few thousand of the millions of records on the JFK case are still to be fully declassified.

“There’s always the possibility that something would slip through that would be the tiny tip of a much larger iceberg that would be revealing,” said Larry J Sabato, author of a book on Kennedy.

“That’s what researchers look for. Now, odds are you won’t find that but it is possible that it’s there.”

The executive order is the latest in a slew signed by Mr Trump in his first few days back in the White House.

Others include leaving the Paris climate agreement, renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, and terminating government diversity programmes.

However, his attempt to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented migrants has already been temporarily blocked by a judge.

Thousands of schools are expected to close, with drivers also warned to stay off the roads and rail services suspended amid rare red weather warnings as Storm Eowyn gets set to batter parts of the UK.

The wind alerts, which cover all of Northern Ireland from 7am on Friday until 2pm, and parts of Scotland from 10am to 5pm, warn of “very dangerous conditions” and “widespread disruption”.

Tornados could also hit parts of the UK ahead of the storm, with forecasters warning of a danger to life.

As many as 4.5 million people got an emergency alert on their phones from the Met Office warning of the incoming storm.

Click here to check the weather where you are

The Met Office said changing conditions could trigger an explosive cyclogenesis – or weather bomb – with strong winds, rain, snow and gusts of up to 90mph expected on Friday.

The red alert is the Met Office’s most serious warning and means the weather is likely to cause “substantial disruption to travel, energy supplies and possibly widespread damage to property and infrastructure”, according to the agency.

A series of amber and yellow warnings have also been put in place, threatening injuries and a danger to life.

Major disruption expected on Friday:
• All schools in Northern Ireland have been advised to close;
• Several local authorities in Scotland have announced schools and nurseries will be shut;
• People in areas covered by red and amber warnings have been told to avoid travel “unless absolutely essential”;
• All ScotRail services will be suspended;
• A number of train companies including Avanti West Coast, Lumo, CrossCountry, and Grand Central have told customers not to travel on routes across parts of North Wales, Scotland and northern England with no services running.
• A number of CalMac ferry services have been cancelled;
• Operations will be limited at Glasgow and Edinburgh airports and Belfast International warned of significant disruption.

Met Eireann has issued a rare nationwide red warning for wind across the Republic of Ireland, describing possible “danger to life”.

Irish premier Simon Harris has warned there is an “extreme” risk to life and said: “We cannot give a higher warning than nationwide red. The risk to life is extreme and real.

In Scotland, First Minister John Swinney said: “Red weather warnings like this are very rare. Our message is simple, please follow the advice from the Met Office and the police, take this seriously and stay safe.”

European storm forecasters Estofex issued a level 2 alert, saying there was a “risk of a few tornados” between 6am on Thursday and 6am on Friday.

“A strong event cannot be ruled out,” the meteorologists said.

“Given rapid translation of thunderstorms, any tornado could be long-tracked… The main tornado risk seems to evolve along and [south] of a Bristol-London line.”

The south coast of England, parts of the South West and much of the Welsh coast are covered by a yellow weather warning for wind from 7am until 6pm on Thursday.

As the storm arrives on Friday, rain and even snow are expected over parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and on higher ground in northern England.

The whole country is covered by at least one yellow weather warning on Friday, with warnings for snow, wind and rain in place.

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The Met Office says the strongest winds are due to hit the north of England, south of Scotland and North Wales, where an amber wind warning is in place from 6am to 9pm on Friday – but the south of the country will also be affected.

Amber and yellow warnings for wind and rain have also been issued across Saturday and Sunday.