World News

In a significant concession to Afghanistan’s new Islamist Taliban rulers, the U.S. said Tuesday it would not extend the deadline for evacuations beyond August 31.

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban group said Tuesday that Americans must leave by August 31 and warned Afghans not to go to the Kabul airport or try to leave the country.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) demanded Monday a two-month moratorium on COVID-19 “booster shots” to reduce vaccine inequality.  WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned wealthy nations for stockpiling vaccines as poorer countries struggle to administer coronavirus jabs to their people.

Deadly shootings erupted Monday in Kabul as the Islamist Taliban group warned that delaying an American presence beyond an August 31 deadline would “provoke a reaction.”

The NATO military alliance says at least 20 people died in the last week near Kabul airport in attempts to flee Afghanistan by plane after the Islamist Taliban group captured the capital.

While it has banned former U.S. President Donald J. Trump from its service, the social networking site Twitter continues to host accounts of high-profile officials linked to the Islamist Taliban group.

Embattled U.S. President Joe Biden says discussions are underway about keeping American forces in Afghanistan after his August 31 deadline for completing the U.S. withdrawal as thousands, including Christians, struggle to leave the Islamic nation.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the situation in Afghanistan during a phone call and agreed to strengthen bilateral coordination on Afghan issues, the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday.

Taliban fighters ruling Afghanistan have begun hunting for Afghan girls to marry while seeking to kill journalists, Christians, Hazara men, and people who worked for the U.S.-led military, several sources say.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the West not to interfere in Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul, amid signs that China and Russia are increasing their footprint there. The authoritarian leader said Western nations “must stop the irresponsible policy of imposing foreign values from abroad.”

Lebanon’s government has decided to increase the price of fuel by a whopping 66%, as it attempts to partially reduce fuel subsidies.

Western allies of the United States struggle to respond to the Islamist Taliban group’s return to power in Afghanistan amid reports of killings and thousands fleeing the country. They also expressed concerns about the situation at a just-concluded virtual meeting of foreign ministers of the NATO military alliance.

Britain, France, and Germany — three of the signatories of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers — have expressed serious concern over the UN’s nuclear watchdog reporting that Tehran has produced uranium metal and stepped up production of weapons-grade enriched uranium in violation of the deal.

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban group declared the nation an “Islamic Emirate” Thursday, prompting more protests in which several people were killed, footage showed. Zabihullah Mujahid, the group’s spokesman, announced the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on social media with a photo of the country’s new logo.

The United Kingdom’s Parliament on Wednesday held President Joe Biden in contempt for his withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, calling the move “catastrophic” and “shameful.”

Although Afghanistan is desperately poor, the Taliban now rule over a nation with nearly $1 trillion worth of mineral deposits that the world needs to manufacture clean technologies, CNN Business reports. Experts have said that Afghanistan has the natural resources to become one of the region’s richest countries within 10 years.

Australia’s government will build a mandatory quarantine camp for people suspected of having COVID-19 to combat the coronavirus pandemic, according to plans seen by Worthy News.

Afghanistan was moving closer to civil war Wednesday after its former First Vice President Amrullah Saleh declared himself the country’s new leader and, backed by a resistance movement, vowed not to surrender to the ruling Islamist Taliban group.

Pope Francis is urging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, calling the decision an “act of love.”

Ousted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani surfaced in the United Arab Emirates Wednesday, while his nation was in turmoil with people being killed or injured during evacuations and in protests against Afghanistan’s new Islamist Taliban rulers.