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An elderly British couple who have been freed after being detained by the Taliban earlier this year have been reunited with their daughter.

Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were detained by the Taliban’s interior ministry on 1 February as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan.

In March, they were moved to a maximum security prison in Kabul where they had been held without charge.

In the final stages of negotiations they were transferred to Kabul’s central prison.

They were safely released from detention on Friday and flown to Doha following mediation led by Qatar.

As they touched down in Doha, Sky correspondent Sally Lockwood said she saw the “joy” on Mrs Reynolds’ face as her daughter Sarah hugged her on the tarmac.

She told Lockwood it was “wonderful” to have arrived in Qatar.

Peter Reynolds, who was released from Taliban detention in Afghanistan, hugging his daughter Sarah. Pic: Ruters
Image:
Peter Reynolds, who was released from Taliban detention in Afghanistan, hugging his daughter Sarah. Pic: Ruters

Peter and Barbie Reynolds  walk after disembarking from a plane, in Doha, Qatar.  Pic: Reuters
Image:
Peter and Barbie Reynolds walk after disembarking from a plane, in Doha, Qatar. Pic: Reuters

Earlier, Sky correspondent Cordelia Lynch was at Kabul Airport as the freed couple arrived and departed.

Mr Reynolds told her: “We are just very thankful.”

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Detained British couple speak to Sky News

His wife added: “We’ve been treated very well. We’re looking forward to seeing our children.

“We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens.”

Asked by Lynch if they had a message for family and friends, Mrs Reynolds replied: “My message is God is good, as they say in Afghanistan.”

Peter and Barbie Reynolds after their release
Image:
Peter and Barbie Reynolds after their release

Qatari and British diplomats with Barbie and Peter Reynolds on the flight to Doha
Image:
Qatari and British diplomats with Barbie and Peter Reynolds on the flight to Doha

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the news in a statement thanking Qatar.

“I welcome the release of Peter and Barbara Reynolds from detention in Afghanistan, and I know this long-awaited news will come as a huge relief to them and their family,” he said.

“I want to pay tribute to the vital role played by Qatar, including The Amir, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, in securing their freedom.”

Peter Reynolds was visited by Qatari diplomats last month
Image:
Peter Reynolds was visited by Qatari diplomats last month

Richard Lindsay, the UK’s special envoy to Afghanistan, told Lynch it remained “unclear” on what grounds the couple had been detained.

He said they were “very relieved to be going home and delighted to be reunited with their family”.

Asked about the state of their health, he said: “I am not a doctor, but they are very happy.”

He added the British government’s travel advice to the country was clear. “We advise British nationals not to travel to Afghanistan. That remains the case and will remain the case,” he said.

Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesperson at the Taliban government’s foreign ministry, said in a statement posted on X that the couple “violated Afghan law” and were released from prison after a court hearing.

He did not say what law the couple were alleged to have broken.

Pic: Sarah Entwistle
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Pic: Sarah Entwistle

Pic: Reynolds family
Image:
Pic: Reynolds family

Qatar, the energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that mediated talks between the US and the Taliban before the American withdrawal, helped in releasing the Reynolds.

Mirdef Ali Al-Qashouti, acting charge d’affaires at the Qatar Embassy in Kabul, told Lynch that Qatari officials ensured the couple were kept in “comfortable” conditions during talks.

He told Lynch the Reynolds’ release was because of “continuous efforts by my government to keep our policy in helping releasing hostages and our mediation and diplomacy”.

“Throughout their eight months in detention – during which they were largely held separately – the Qatari embassy in Kabul provided them with critical support, including access to their doctor, delivery of medication, and regular communication with their family,” a Qatari official told Reuters news agency.

Couple filled with emotion but alert and composed after time in Afghan jail

At Kabul International Airport, we watched as a string of Afghan, Qatari and British officials walked into a building by the runway, alongside doctors.

On the runway a plane waited, the steps ready for what appeared to be an imminent departure. We had heard from our sources about the possible release of Peter and Barbie Reynolds, the elderly British couple detained in February, but we had no official confirmation yet.

Then, from behind a double door, I caught the eye of Barbie. The 76-year old smiled at me – her face seemingly bright with relief. Her husband, Peter, 80, then stepped into frame. A tall gentle looking man, his eyes looked filled with emotion.

Their relief and gratitude was immediately apparent. It was of course impossible to know what state their health was in, but they appeared alert and composed, despite nearly eight months in detention.

The couple’s son, Jonathan, had previously said his father had been suffering serious convulsions and his mother was “numb” from anaemia and malnutrition. The UN had also described their conditions as “inhumane”. But today, as he prepared to leave the country, Peter wouldn’t be drawn on the conditions he faced. “We’re just very thankful, very thankful,” he told me.

Barbie, who spent part of her detention in a separate facility, looked strikingly calm – a graceful and understated demeanour. “We’ve been treated very well,” she said as she made her way to the plane. Taliban officials maintained they received adequate medical care in prison and their human rights were respected.

Read Cordelia Lynch’s full eyewitness story here

Hamish Falconer, minister for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in a statement: “The UK has worked intensively since their detention and has supported the family throughout.

“Qatar played an essential role in this case, for which I am hugely grateful.”

The couple have lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and run an organisation called Rebuild, which provides education and training programmes.

They have been together since the 1960s and married in the Afghan capital in 1970.

Read more from Sky News:
Afghans relocated to UK ‘exaggerating’ Taliban threat

Pic: Reynolds family
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Pic: Reynolds family

Pic: Reynolds family
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Pic: Reynolds family


Their son, Jonathan, told Sky News in April his parents had “never heard one accusation or one charge”.

He said the British government had offered to evacuate them when the Taliban took over, to which they replied: “Why would we leave these people in their darkest hour?”

Mr and Mrs Reynolds are now on their way home, where they will be reunited with their family.

Speaking to Sky News from Wyoming in the United States following their release, Jonathan said he was “excited” to be seeing his parents again, and joked: “I’m a little bit jealous of my dad’s beard.”

“They look really well to me,” he said, “which I’m just delighted about”.

“I am looking forward to putting my arms around them and giving them a big hug, as all of my siblings will be.”

He offered his “special thanks” to all the British and Qatari diplomats involved in his parents’ release.

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‘I’m just so excited to see my parents’

He said the grounds for their detention remained a mystery as they were given no explanation for their arrest.

“They were investigated for all kinds of things but everything came up with no evidence of any wrongdoing,” he said.

“One of them, the original arrest, they said something about flying a drone – my parents don’t own a drone. It’s hard enough trying to get them to know how to use certain new technologies, let alone a drone.

“So, yeah, bizarre things, but I think they were just people of interest and then got caught up in a big, big mess of a situation, and no one knew what to do. But I’m just happy they are home.”

Asked about their desire to return to Afghanistan, he said: “It’s probably not wise to go back to a place where they are not welcome, and I would say, clearly they are not welcome there.”

“They are going to arrive back in the UK with the clothes on their backs. They have sold everything… all of their possessions,” he said, when asked what the future held for his parents.

“Knowing my mum she has probably written a few books in her mind whilst she’s been in captivity.

“We have heard great reports from schools across Afghanistan that the programmes they set up are running really, really well, so they will probably want to continue those,” he added.

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‘Great regret’ some European nations buying Russian oil and gas, says top EU official

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'Great regret' some European nations buying Russian oil and gas, says top EU official

Donald Trump is right that European countries should stop buying Russian oil and gas, one of the EU’s top officials has told Sky News.

Speaking on The World with Yalda Hakim, European Commission vice president Kaja Kallas said it was of “great regret” that this was still happening among some of the bloc’s member states.

The commission has proposed legislation to phase out Russian imports of its oil and gas by 1 January 2028, as Brussels tries to cut its decades-old energy relations with Moscow following Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Most European countries stopped importing Russian crude oil in 2022 and Russian fuel in 2023, but crude imports by Hungary and Slovakia have continued.

Ms Kallas, who is the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said of Mr Trump‘s energy call: “Of course he has a point. I mean, we have been saying this for quite some time, that the dependency on Russian oil and gas is actually also fuelling the war.

“But you have to see that we have done a lot to diminish that, really, to get rid of Russian oil and gas. And there are a few countries who are still buying oil and also there America has leverage because they are also good friends of America.

“Neighbours around those countries have also proposed alternatives, so we can do this.”

More on Donald Trump

Ms Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister, does not think NATO and EU members Hungary or Slovakia should be sanctioned, but instead they should “really build on the alternatives that neighbours are providing them to get rid of the Russian oil and gas like President Trump has asked”.

She added that “the neighbouring countries are providing or offering different alternative routes. The thing is that this oil and gas is just cheaper…”

European Commission vice-president Kaja Kallas
Image:
European Commission vice-president Kaja Kallas

She continued: “It is of great regret that we haven’t been able to put all these member states in the same position… getting rid of the Russian oil and gas.”

On Wednesday, Slovakia pushed back on pressure it is facing to cut back its purchases of Russian energy, saying it was ready to discuss the issue, but singled out some European states for increasing their gas purchases from Moscow.

Slovakian foreign minister Juraj Blanar said there was hypocrisy in criticising his country when liquefied natural gas purchases from Russia to Western Europe had increased by 30% over the last year.

“France, Spain, and the Netherlands… so can you see the picture is a little bit more colourful than black and white,” he said.

Read more from Sky News:
Zelenskyy’s UN speech was a warning and a plea
Trump is ‘racist, sexist and Islamophobic’, says London mayor

Slovakia's foreign minister Juraj Blanar (R) speaks to Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Pic: AP
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Slovakia’s foreign minister Juraj Blanar (R) speaks to Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Pic: AP

Donald Trump has said the US was prepared to impose energy sanctions against Russia – but only if all NATO countries stop buying Russian oil and implement similar measures.

“I am ready to do major sanctions on Russia when all NATO nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO nations stop buying oil from Russia,” the US president said on his Truth Social platform earlier this month.

And at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, he said: “In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs, which would stop the bloodshed, I believe, very quickly.”

But for the measures to be effective, he said, “European nations, all of you gathered here, would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures.”

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Yalda Hakim on development between Trump and Zelenskyy

Energy revenues remain the Kremlin’s single most important source of cash to finance the war effort, making oil and gas exports a central target of Western sanctions.

But officials and analysts warn that aggressive curbs on Russian crude also risk driving up global oil prices, a prospect that could strain Western economies and weaken public support for the measures.

Since 2023, NATO member Turkey has been the third-largest buyer of Russian oil, after China and India, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

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Ferocious wind and rain as super typhoon brings megacities to a standstill

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Ferocious wind and rain as super typhoon brings megacities to a standstill

In the end, the damage wrought by typhoon Ragasa, on mainland China at least, was not as bad as many had feared, but its power still brought multiple megacities to an almost complete standstill.

The city of Zhuhai, just across the water from Macao, is one such example.

On our drive in, we passed street after street of shuttered businesses, debris littering the roads, and precious few other vehicles.

Typhoon, hurricane or cyclone – what’s the difference?

Super typhoon Ragasa
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Super typhoon Ragasa

Pic:  The Warthog Air Squadron/Reuters
Image:
Pic: The Warthog Air Squadron/Reuters

People here had either been evacuated or told to stay at home and, by and large, they listened.

And you can see why.

Pic: The Warthog Air Squadron/Reuters
Image:
Pic: The Warthog Air Squadron/Reuters


Damaged cars in Hualien, Taiwan. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Damaged cars in Hualien, Taiwan. Pic: Reuters


The wind and the rain were ferocious.

Even some time after the eye of the storm had passed, the gusts were still plenty strong enough to knock you off balance.

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Moment hotel doors smash in super typhoon

Read more on Sky News:
Kimmel back on air
Ukraine ‘can retake all lost land’
Iconic Italian actress dies

They are used to typhoons in this part of the world, and they are well prepared for them, but experts say the regularity and intensity of storms like this are increasing.

Waves crash against the waterfront in Hong Kong. Pic: AP
Image:
Waves crash against the waterfront in Hong Kong. Pic: AP

Pic: The Warthog Air Squadron/Reuters
Image:
Pic: The Warthog Air Squadron/Reuters


Shenzhen, southern China. Pic: AP
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Shenzhen, southern China. Pic: AP

Indeed, Ragasa is the ninth typhoon to have hit Hong Kong this year and the annual average is normally six.

A growing problem for this hugely populous region.

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Israel kills 22 people including nine children in ‘horrific massacre’ in Gaza, Palestinian officials say

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Israel kills 22 people including nine children in 'horrific massacre' in Gaza, Palestinian officials say

Israel killed 22 people – including nine children – in strikes on Gaza City today, Palestinian officials have said.

Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal described the killings as a “horrific massacre”.

Video purportedly from the scene of the attack on the Souq Firas area of the city showed the bodies of children being pulled from rubble.

“We were sleeping in God’s care, there was nothing – they did not inform us, or not even give us a sign – it was a surprise,” said Sami Hajjaj.

“There are children and women, around 200 people maybe, six to seven families – this square is full of families.”

Men carry the bodies of Palestinian children killed in a strike on a building where people were sheltering in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Men carry the bodies of Palestinian children killed in a strike on a building where people were sheltering in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters

The Israeli military claimed the strike targeted Hamas militants and that its forces tried to reduce harm to civilians in the area.

A total of 51 people have been killed across Gaza today, according to hospital medics in the Hamas-run territory.

More on Gaza

Israeli forces pushed towards the heart of Gaza City on Wednesday, placing at risk the lives of Palestinians who had stayed put in hopes that growing pressure on Israel for a ceasefire would mean they would not lose their homes.

“We moved to the western area near the beach, but many families didn’t have the time, tanks took them by surprise,” said Thaer, a 35-year-old father of one from Tel Al-Hawa.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the oxygen station at Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza had stopped operating “due to Israeli occupation forces firing at it”.

“Operations are currently being conducted using pre-filled oxygen cylinders, which are sufficient for only three days,” the group said.

“Occupation forces are currently stationed at the southern gate of the society’s Al-Quds Hospital in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City, preventing anyone from entering or leaving the hospital.”

The world’s leading authority on hunger crises said last month that Israel’s blockade and ongoing offensive had pushed Gaza City into famine.

Palestinians inspect the site of deadly overnight Israeli strikes on a building where displaced people were taking shelter. Pic: Reuters
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Palestinians inspect the site of deadly overnight Israeli strikes on a building where displaced people were taking shelter. Pic: Reuters

More than 300,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks as Israel has ordered the population to move south, but UN agencies and aid groups say an estimated 700,000 remain.

More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than half of them women and children.

Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

The current wave of violence began on 7 October, 2023, when Hamas-led militants carried out an attack inside Israel that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw around 250 people taken hostage.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been fleeing northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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Hundreds of thousands of people have been fleeing northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters

Pic: Reuters
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Pic: Reuters

Israel claims its operation in Gaza is aimed at pressuring Hamas to surrender and return the remaining 48 hostages. Israel believes around 20 of the captives are still alive.

Critics say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in peace negotiations and wants to continue the war with a view to displacing Gaza’s population and expand Israeli settlements.

He has repeatedly rejected the possibility of a Palestinian state.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said: “In Gaza, the horrors are approaching a third monstrous year.

“They are the result of decisions that defy basic humanity,” he continued, citing “a scale of death and destruction beyond any other conflict” in his years as secretary-general.

“Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people and the systematic destruction of Gaza,” he added.

The world’s leading association of genocide scholars, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), declared in August that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

Several other leading rights organisations, including two Israeli groups, have also said Israel is committing genocide.

Israel has repeatedly denied its actions in Gaza amount to genocide and claims they are justified as a means of self-defence.

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