World

The Taliban has replaced Afghanistan’s women’s ministry with an all-male “vice and virtue ministry”. The new ministry is tasked with enforcing the group’s extreme interpretation of Islam. Officials at the ministry told the Associated Press they had not been informed whether a new women’s ministry is being planned. Please use Chrome browser for a more

France has recalled its ambassadors to the United States and Australia in a backlash over a new security partnership. The country’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made the announcement following the deal between the UK, US and Australia – which aims to help Australia obtain nuclear-powered submarines. Mr Le Drian said in a statement that

Google deleted a Russian tactical voting app from its online store after staff were threatened, sources at the tech giant have said. Both Apple and Google had come under significant pressure from Russian regulators to block the anti-government app, devised by allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny ahead of Friday’s election starting. The app

Italy is to become the first European country to make a vaccine passport system compulsory for all workers. Proof of vaccination, a negative test or recent recovery from infection must be provided or staff will be suspended without pay and face a fine. However, they cannot be sacked. Image: The pass is unpopular among some

Around 3,000 health workers in France have been suspended, reportedly without pay, for failing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 ahead of a deadline this week to have at least one jab. It comes as care workers in England must get their first vaccine dose by today and be double jabbed by 11 November to keep

The UK, Australia and the United States have agreed a “landmark” partnership to boost their defences and share nuclear submarine secrets at a time of growing concern over China. The initiative will focus initially on helping the Australian navy procure a multi-billion-pound fleet of nuclear-powered submarines – a move that Beijing will likely see as

Three former US intelligence and military officers have admitted working as mercenaries for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and carrying out sophisticated hacking operations targeting victims in America. The charges against them are published amid growing concerns that foreign states may be compromising US security by recruiting intelligence personnel to bolster their own capabilities. The

Many of the women of Afghanistan are frightened right now. And those who worked for the foreigners who’ve pulled out of the country, are even more so. They are some of the top Taliban targets and too many of them are telling us how the Taliban are going from door to door, trying to find

Syrian President Bashar al Assad has met Vladimir Putin in Moscow – their first meeting in the Russian capital since 2015. Mr Putin congratulated his counterpart on winning May’s presidential election, according to the Kremlin. The election – in which Mr Assad is said to have won 95% of the vote – was dismissed as

An Afghan man suspected of raping and killing a 13-year-old girl in Austria has been arrested in the UK and faces extradition. Rasuili Zubaidullah, 22, entered the UK on a boat of refugees and claimed asylum using a fake name, only weeks after the girl was found dead in Vienna. He was housed at a

Ten million people are “likely to die” due to extreme temperatures if world leaders fail to agree significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, a report has warned. Agricultural output could also drop by 30% by 2050 – even as the amount of food needed by growing populations is predicted to rise by 50%,

North Korea has successfully fired a new long range cruise missile, its state media has said. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the missile hit targets 932 miles away, flying along different patterns, in tests over North Korea during the weekend. It described the missile as “a strategic weapon of great significance”. South

The notorious detention centre built by the Americans inside the huge Bagram military base is a terrifying place even when empty. It’s known locally as Afghanistan‘s Guantanamo. Those who were held here feared they’d never leave. Many who did leave have never been the same since. We’re the first Western television team to get inside the

For 20 years now, New Yorkers have woken up to this day – to relive, to remember. Some find themselves forced to, others want to. In a church yard – just yards from Ground Zero – a group gathered as a bell rang out. Five strikes, repeated four times, the traditional firefighters’ salute to the

The Taliban fighters we are with are on a charm offensive. “We have changed. We have changed a lot,” one of them tells us. “Praise God, our behaviour is very good now…we are polite, our manners are good and our behaviour is much improved. We’re much better than the last government. Kabul is safe now.

The head of MI5 has said terrorist attacks on UK soil will likely happen on his watch and that his officers and the police have foiled six “late-stage” plots during the pandemic. Ken McCallum revealed the number of terrorist plots the Security Service has to deal with has grown since the September 11 attacks on

The British embassy’s new tenants in Kabul cannot understand why the diplomatic staff have not returned since the Taliban took control. “Why don’t they come back?” one of the Taliban commanders escorting us asks. He knows we are British and pushes us further. I wonder briefly whether he’s taunting us. After a 20-year war in

Twenty years on from the September 11th terror attacks, the Taliban are back in power in Afghanistan. After being driven out by US forces following 9/11, the US commitment to withdraw from the country ahead of the two-decade anniversary has resulted in Islamist rule there once again. Despite Taliban promises to keep al Qaeda and

The Taliban says it will allow 200 Americans and other civilians to leave Afghanistan on charter flights, according to a US official. The official, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said the Taliban were pressed to allow the departures by US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad. The flight is expected to depart on

Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has told a court he is “a soldier of Islamic State”. Abdeslam is among 20 men on trial accused of being involved in the 2015 atrocities at the Bataclan music theatre and other venues. The so-called Islamic State (IS) terrorist attacks, which took place on 13 November 2015, killed 130