At Kabul International Airport, there are dozens of confused looking families.

Many are holding flowers, waiting and hoping their loved ones will touch down.

Others came here hoping to take-off but are now sitting bewildered in the hot sun.

After the Taliban imposed a nationwide shutdown of the internet, no one knows if any flights are still operating and no one can use their phones to find out.

“I am waiting for my brother from Australia,” one man tells me, “but I don’t know if he’s coming”.

Beyond the gates, the runway is full of grounded planes.

After hours of waiting on Tuesday, no international flights took off or arrived at Kabul Airport, despite some airlines scheduling departures.

The Taliban caught many in the country off-guard with their shutdown – reportedly even some of their own ministers.

Initially, there appeared to be no official indication of how long the shutdown might last or an explanation for why it was imposed.

On Wednesday, the Taliban government rejected reports of a nationwide internet ban, saying old fibre optic cables are worn out and are being replaced.

But, at the airport, people worry it could be indefinite. Others speculate about rumours it’s to do with security protocols and the movement of officials in the country.

No one knows, and the TV and radio stations they get their news from have not been providing the latest information.

The banks are open but no one can get out money. An employee at the bank in our hotel in Kabul told us they haven’t been able to open their operating systems since Tuesday morning and that Western Union isn’t accessible either.

That’s hugely significant in a country where many are reliant on money sent back by relatives abroad and banks are already struggling with sanctions.

No one can call the police, no one can call an ambulance, and hospitals and medical services are wrestling with how to adjust too.

It follows more than a week of temporary connectivity issues in some parts of the country, with the northern region of Balkh among the first to be affected by a ban on fibre optic internet.

Read more: Internet ban ‘extinguishing the only light that still reaches us’

In the last 10 days, we have been travelling across Afghanistan. People in Nangarhar, Kunar, Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat all expressed concern about possible impending blackouts, and we personally experienced a slowdown in connectivity in these places. But nothing as widespread or sustained as this shutdown which is nationwide.

Two weeks ago, the Taliban’s provincial government spokesman Haji Attaullah Zaid said leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had imposed a “complete ban” on cable internet access in Balkh.

“This measure was taken to prevent immorality, and an alternative will be built within the country for necessities,” Mr Zaid said.

It was said to be connected to concerns around pornography – but this was never officially stated by the Taliban.

We have tried to reach the government for comment via satellite phone but with no success.

The blackout has disrupted phone services. In countries with limited telecom infrastructure, phone networks are often routed through fibre-optic systems which have now been disabled.

The lack of connectivity has raised immediate concern in the aid community. Amnesty International called it “reckless” and said the shutdown would have “far-reaching consequences for the delivery of aid, access to healthcare and girls’ education”.

After the Taliban banned school for girls over the age of 12, many in the country have been secretly studying online.

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Everyone we’ve spoken to seems dumbfounded.

During the previous temporary blackouts, the Taliban did warn more was to come. But no one appears to have anticipated this – not ordinary citizens, not foreign officials here in Kabul, not big business, not the airlines or the hospitals.

It is an indication of how quickly this country can turn and the power the Taliban has to disrupt and reshape its future.

Internationally, many are raising concerns that this is an attempt by the Taliban at widespread censorship and further restriction of girls’ education.

Whatever the intention of their move, it has created an extreme scenario: no one in this country can currently contact anyone – for an emergency, for a family member, or for guidance – creating a major information vacuum.

At least 69 people have been killed in a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked the central Philippines.

The centre of the quake, which knocked out power lines and sent people running out into the streets, was about 12 miles northeast of Bogo, a coastal city of about 90,000 people on the island of Cebu.

Civil defence official Raffy Alejandro told reporters that the city’s hospital has been “overwhelmed,” and that the number of dead remains “fluid”.

Earlier, authorities said at least 14 residents in Bogo had died. Another official said more than 150 people were injured.

The tremor was set off by movement in a local fault at a depth of three miles at around 10pm (3pm in the UK) on Tuesday.

Gemma Villamor, head of the local disaster office, said earlier that in the town of Medellin, near Bogo, at least 12 residents died when the ceilings and walls of their homes collapsed, with some asleep at the time.

And in nearby San Remigio, vice mayor Alfie Reynes added that five people – including three coastguard members, a firefighter, and a child – were killed by collapsing walls while fleeing a basketball game.

He later told DZMM Radio: “It is raining heavily and there is no electricity so we really need help, especially in the northern part because there’s a scarcity of water after supply lines were damaged by the earthquake.”

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Businesses and landmark buildings have suffered damage, including an old Catholic church in the town of Daanbantayan, and roads have shown deep cracks.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology briefly issued a tsunami warning for Cebu and nearby provinces, but later lifted it after no unusual waves were detected.

The quake struck while Cebu and surrounding areas were still recovering from a severe storm that hit the central region days earlier, killing at least 27 people mainly from drownings and fallen trees, cutting power across cities, and forcing evacuations.

The Philippines, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, is highly prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

It also faces around 20 typhoons and storms annually, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone nations.

Eurovision is supposed to be a celebration of the unifying power of music. But for the past two years, it has attracted protests and fan boycotts over its inclusion of Israel amid the country’s continued military action in Gaza.

Ahead of 2026’s contest, while nobody has even sung a note yet, a number of countries have been getting vocal.

“If Israel is there, we won’t be there,” says Natalija Gorscak, the president of broadcaster RTV Slovenia.

As the world waits to see what happens with the negotiations over Donald Trump‘s Gaza peace plan, within the cultural world, there’s no let up in the increasing isolation of Israel.

Slovenia and broadcasters from Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Iceland have all issued statements saying if Israel’s allowed to enter, they’ll consider boycotting the contest next year.

Jolted into action by the controversy, officials from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – which runs the contest – have announced plans for an emergency vote.

In a letter to members, EBU president Delphine Ernotte-Cunci said “given that the union has never faced a divisive situation like this before”, the board agreed it “merited a broader democratic basis for a decision”.

Described by the EBU as “an extraordinary meeting of [its] general assembly to be held online”, early next month member countries will be asked to vote on whether Israel should or shouldn’t participate.

Eurovision expert Dr Paul Jordan said: “Ultimately this has been a really challenging issue for the EBU. This is a really complex picture that is building up… and they’ve not been consistent.

“The situation is made even more complicated by the fact the organisers themselves haven’t sometimes followed their own rules about political entries and about political messaging, and they’ve allowed certain countries to, in a sense, get away with breaking the rules or deeming them to have not broken the rules sufficiently to allow participation.

“As far as I’m aware, the Israeli broadcaster has not broken any rules. However, you could argue their inclusion could indeed bring the contest into disrepute, which would be against the organisers’ rules.”

‘We should focus on music’

In 2023, Israel was represented by Noa Kirel, her country’s equivalent to Britney Spears. She came third with her song Unicorn.

“It was one of the highlights in my career, it was an incredible experience for me,” she said.

While she acknowledges “it’s very different from two years ago when I represented Israel”, she hopes her country won’t be excluded next month.

“It’s not about politics, it’s never been like that, and we should keep it that way, to focus on music.”

She believes it would be unfair to punish the Israeli people for the actions of their government: “Voters understand that politics has no connection to this competition.

“Hopefully people will understand and respect that, see the good side… and not the bad side.”

‘European policy needs more balls’

Regardless of the outcome of next month’s vote, Ireland, Iceland, and Slovenia have all confirmed to Sky News that their plans to boycott will stand as long as Israel’s still at war.

Ms Gorscak said: “We can lie to ourselves and say ‘no, it’s not political’ but, you know, you can’t avoid politics.”

She believes it’s fundamentally wrong for bigger countries to be sitting on the fence.

“We are all somehow prisoner of German guilt towards Israel,” she claimed. “European policy, it needs more balls. In certain moments somebody needs to decide, somebody needs to say ‘this is enough’.”

A spokesperson for German broadcaster SWR has said it “supports the consultation process that has been initiated” and that the goal is “to reach a well-founded and sustainable agreement that aligns with the values of the EBU”.

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Whether Spain abides by the outcome of next month’s vote might have the biggest impact.

If it makes good on its threat to boycott – as one of the big five backers of Eurovision – financially it’ll hurt.

Ms Gorscak explained: “Slovenia is a small country, and while our participation fee is peanuts, if there are more countries who are not participating it is seen in the budget.”

Israel’s public broadcaster, KAN, has said its “potential disqualification… could have wide-ranging implications for the competition and the values for which the EBU stands”.

Dr Jordan said up until now we’ve mostly seen “virtue signalling” when it comes to Eurovision artists speaking out who’ve ultimately opted to perform regardless of their objections to Israel’s inclusion on the night.

However, should entire nations boycott in 2026, he said the impact will be felt way beyond the contest’s final.

“There are two semi-finals, because of the number of participating countries, and if there isn’t a need for two semi-finals that will impact upon the logistics of the event and even the funding,” he explained.

Pop bangers and power ballads aside, the criticism of the EBU has become deafeningly loud. The world waiting and watching for political decisions – and cultural ones too.