https://www.scmp.com/rss/33169/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse One of Australia’s most-decorated soldiers was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly murdering unarmed prisoners while serving in Afghanistan, police and local media said following a sweeping war crimes investigation. The Australian Federal Police said they arrested a 47-year-old former Australian soldier, who was widely named in local media as Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith. Federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said the soldier had been linked to a string of murders while serving... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3349228/decorated-australian-soldier-faces-5-murder-charges-afghan-war-crime-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3349228/decorated-australian-soldier-faces-5-murder-charges-afghan-war-crime-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2026 06:06:07 +0000 Neeta Lal Neeta Lal As tensions simmer along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier – fuelled by disputes over the contested Durand Line, recurring cross-border strikes and the persistent threat of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters operating from Afghan soil – a subtle but consequential geopolitical shift is under way. India is quietly but steadily stepping up its engagement with the Taliban. The urgency of this recalibration was underscored on March 16, when Pakistani military forces carried out one of the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3348182/why-india-quietly-deepening-its-engagement-taliban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3348182/why-india-quietly-deepening-its-engagement-taliban?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Pakistan bombed major cities in Afghanistan including the capital Kabul on Friday, with Islamabad’s defence minister declaring the neighbours at “open war” following months of tit-for-tat clashes. Journalists in Kabul and Kandahar heard blasts and jets overhead until dawn, as Pakistan launched air strikes on the Afghan capital and the southern power base of the Taliban authorities. Pakistan’s latest operation came after Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night over... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344796/pakistan-declares-open-war-afghan-taliban-after-morning-strikes-kabul-kandahar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3344796/pakistan-declares-open-war-afghan-taliban-after-morning-strikes-kabul-kandahar?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2026 01:01:15 +0000 Reuters Reuters British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called US President Donald Trump’s comments about European troops staying off the front lines in Afghanistan ‍insulting and appalling, joining a chorus of criticism from other European officials and veterans. “I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling, and I’m not surprised they’ve caused such hurt for the loved ones of those who were killed or injured,” Starmer told reporters. When asked whether he would demand an apology from... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3341070/uks-starmer-slams-trumps-insulting-remarks-allies-afghanistan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3341070/uks-starmer-slams-trumps-insulting-remarks-allies-afghanistan?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Jan 2026 18:29:35 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain A ceasefire between Afghanistan’s Taliban regime and Pakistan, agreed after intense clashes last month, is hanging by a diplomatic thread, following a wave of suicide bombings in Pakistan and disputed claims that it retaliated with cross-border drone strikes on Tuesday. With both countries vowing vengeance, analysts say regional states acting as mediators – Qatar and Turkey, and Iran and Russia – have only a narrow window of opportunity to prevent another round of hostilities. Otherwise,... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3334306/can-mediators-stop-afghan-pakistani-war-cat-and-mouse-game-enters-retaliatory-phase?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3334306/can-mediators-stop-afghan-pakistani-war-cat-and-mouse-game-enters-retaliatory-phase?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Nov 2025 05:30:09 +0000 Aidyn Fitzpatrick Aidyn Fitzpatrick AT BOARDING SCHOOL in the UK in the mid-1970s, a fellow pupil asked me, after I had told him I was born in Beijing, whether that meant I was Chinese. “Oh yes,” I said, “that means I possess a Chinese soul.” OK, in my defence, I was nine. My father (Alan Donald) was a British diplomat, posted to Beijing three times during his career, and ended up British ambassador there in the late 1980s. I don’t remember anything of China as a baby – we left in 1966 at the start of the Cultural Revolution, when... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3327804/angus-donald-wild-parties-war-zones-and-finding-love-through-psychic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3327804/angus-donald-wild-parties-war-zones-and-finding-love-through-psychic?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Oct 2025 04:45:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Afghanistan faced a second day without internet and mobile phone service on Tuesday, after Taliban authorities cut the fibre optic network. Taliban authorities began shutting down high-speed internet connections to some provinces earlier in the month to prevent “vice”. On Monday night, mobile phone signal and internet service gradually weakened until connectivity was less than 1 per cent of ordinary levels, according to internet watchdog NetBlocks. It is the first time since the Taliban... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3327366/afghanistan-faces-digital-blackout-taliban-cuts-internet-access-prevent-vice?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3327366/afghanistan-faces-digital-blackout-taliban-cuts-internet-access-prevent-vice?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Sep 2025 07:33:16 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Afghanistan’s Taliban government released an American citizen from detention on Sunday, a week after freeing an elderly British couple. In a statement the country’s foreign ministry identified the detainee as Amir Amiri and said he had been handed over to Adam Boehler, Washington’s special envoy on hostages. Boehler made a rare visit to Kabul earlier this month to discuss the possibility of a prisoner exchange with the Taliban government. “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan released an American... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3327169/us-citizen-released-afghanistans-taliban-after-visit-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3327169/us-citizen-released-afghanistans-taliban-after-visit-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Sep 2025 18:56:26 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse An Afghan government defence official said Sunday that a deal over Bagram airbase was “not possible”, after US President Donald Trump said he wanted the former US base back. Bagram, the largest airbase in Afghanistan, located north of the capital Kabul, was the centre of US operations in their 20-year year-war against the Taliban. Trump threatened unspecified punishment against Afghanistan if it was not returned – four years after it was abandoned by US troops. “If Afghanistan doesn’t give... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3326305/trump-demands-bagram-airbase-not-possible-taliban-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3326305/trump-demands-bagram-airbase-not-possible-taliban-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Sep 2025 11:37:18 +0000 Reuters Reuters Rescuers on Thursday pulled bodies from the rubble of homes razed in Afghanistan’s earthquakes as the confirmed death toll topped 2,200, while homeless survivors faced a bleak future with global aid agencies warning of dwindling resources. Search operations continued in the quake-hit mountainous eastern areas, the Taliban administration said, announcing a new death toll of 2,205 with at least 3,640 people injured. “Everything we had has been destroyed,” said Aalem Jan, whose house in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3324380/afghan-earthquake-deaths-top-2200-survivors-face-aid-crunch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3324380/afghan-earthquake-deaths-top-2200-survivors-face-aid-crunch?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Sep 2025 12:25:06 +0000 Agencies Agencies The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for pursuing investigations into US and Israeli officials for alleged war crimes. The State Department on Wednesday announced new sanctions on four ICC officials, including two judges and two prosecutors, who it said had been instrumental in efforts to prosecute Americans and Israelis. As a result of the sanctions, any assets the targets hold in US jurisdictions are frozen. The sanctions are just the latest... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322575/us-sanctions-icc-judges-prosecutors-probes-alleged-american-israeli-war-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3322575/us-sanctions-icc-judges-prosecutors-probes-alleged-american-israeli-war-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Aug 2025 18:52:41 +0000 Hani Shehada Hani Shehada Most global actors still treat education as an afterthought during crises, something to address only once food, water and shelter are secured. But in places like Palestine, Syria and Afghanistan, this hierarchy collapses. Education isn’t a post-crisis luxury; it’s the anchor in the chaos. Over the past decade, I’ve learned that education must be treated as a frontline intervention, restoring not only learning, but also safety, identity and hope. It’s not just about classrooms. It’s about systems... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3318487/war-ravaged-youth-education-anchor-amid-chaos-not-luxury?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3318487/war-ravaged-youth-education-anchor-amid-chaos-not-luxury?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jul 2025 12:30:08 +0000 dpa dpa The children of an elderly couple imprisoned by the Taliban in Afghanistan have urged the group to release them before they “die in custody”. Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were arrested as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan, in February. They have been held for five-and-a-half months without charge and, up until eight weeks ago, had been separated and detained in a maximum-security prison. The couple’s four adult children, who live in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3318935/taliban-urged-release-elderly-uk-couple-they-die-custody?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3318935/taliban-urged-release-elderly-uk-couple-they-die-custody?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Jul 2025 22:36:21 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Thousands of Afghans, including many who worked with British forces, have been secretly resettled in the UK after a leak of data on their identities raised fears that they could be targeted by the Taliban, the British government revealed on Tuesday. The government now plans to close the secret route. Defence Secretary John Healey said a data set containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to come to Britain after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was released... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3318337/uk-reveals-secret-us11-billion-resettlement-thousands-afghans-after-data-leak?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3318337/uk-reveals-secret-us11-billion-resettlement-thousands-afghans-after-data-leak?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:59:13 +0000 Reuters Reuters Russia said on Thursday it had accepted the credentials of a new ambassador of Afghanistan, making it the first nation to recognise the Taliban government of the country. In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said Moscow saw good prospects to develop ties and would continue to support Kabul in security, counterterrorism and combating drug crime. It also saw significant trade and economic opportunities, especially in energy, transport, agriculture and infrastructure. “We believe that the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3316877/russia-becomes-first-country-recognise-taliban-government-afghanistan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3316877/russia-becomes-first-country-recognise-taliban-government-afghanistan?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Jul 2025 19:50:39 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court including over an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as it ramped up pressure to neuter the court of last resort. The four judges in The Hague, all women, would be barred entry to the United States, and any property or other interests in the world’s largest economy would be blocked – measures more often taken against policymakers from US adversaries than against judicial... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3313271/trump-administration-hits-icc-judges-sanctions-over-israel-afghanistan-cases?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3313271/trump-administration-hits-icc-judges-sanctions-over-israel-afghanistan-cases?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Jun 2025 01:56:05 +0000 To say that Carey Mulligan and her brother Owain Mulligan went down totally different career paths would be an understatement. While the Oscar-nominated actress was busy flying around in her Great Gatsby co-star Leonardo DiCaprio’s private jets, and enjoying the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, her older sibling was pursuing a career in the military, as revealed in his new memoir, The Accidental Soldier: Dispatches from (Quite Near) the Front Line. “I remember on one of my tours I flew to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3306107/meet-carey-mulligans-ex-military-brother-owain-mulligan-who-just-released-memoir-he-says-boarding?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3306107/meet-carey-mulligans-ex-military-brother-owain-mulligan-who-just-released-memoir-he-says-boarding?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Apr 2025 10:00:19 +0000 The daughter of an elderly British man detained with his wife by the Taliban in Afghanistan has expressed grave fears for his health, a report said on Sunday. Peter and Barbie Reynolds, who are in their 70s, were detained last month with Chinese- American friend Faye Hall, as they travelled to their home in central Bamyan province. “We hear he now has a chest infection, a double eye infection and serious digestive issues due to poor nutrition. Without immediate access to necessary medication,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3302605/health-fears-elderly-uk-man-held-taliban-daughter-calls-fathers-release?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3302605/health-fears-elderly-uk-man-held-taliban-daughter-calls-fathers-release?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Mar 2025 22:54:16 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s administration is planning to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia, a senior Trump official and three sources familiar with the matter said, potentially putting them on a fast track to deportation. The move, expected as soon as April, would be a stunning reversal of the welcome Ukrainians received under US President Joe Biden’s administration. The planned rollback of protections for Ukrainians was under way before... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3301378/trump-plans-revoke-legal-status-ukrainians-who-fled-us-insiders-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3301378/trump-plans-revoke-legal-status-ukrainians-who-fled-us-insiders-say?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Mar 2025 17:31:01 +0000 US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) for targeting the United States and its allies, such as Israel, a White House official said. Thursday’s order places financial and visa sanctions on individuals and their family members who help in ICC investigations of US citizens or US allies, said the official. The move by Trump comes after US Senate Democrats last week blocked a Republican-led effort to sanction the ICC in protest at... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3297696/trump-impose-sanctions-international-criminal-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3297696/trump-impose-sanctions-international-criminal-court?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Feb 2025 22:44:43 +0000 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has threatened bounties on the heads of Afghanistan’s Taliban leaders, sharply escalating the tone as he said more Americans may be detained in the country than previously thought. The threat comes days after the Afghan Taliban government and the US swapped prisoners in one of the final acts of former president Joe Biden. The new top US diplomat issued the harsh warning via social media on Saturday, in a rhetorical style strikingly similar to his boss, President... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/politics/article/3296319/rubio-warns-very-big-bounties-us-taliban-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/politics/article/3296319/rubio-warns-very-big-bounties-us-taliban-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jan 2025 05:53:46 +0000 US President Joe Biden on Sunday spoke to the families of three Americans detained in Afghanistan by its Taliban rulers since 2022, and emphasised his commitment to bringing home Americans wrongfully held overseas, the White House said. Biden’s administration has been negotiating with the Taliban since at least July about a US proposal to exchange the three Americans – Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi – for Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani, a high-profile prisoner held in Guantanamo... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3294462/biden-spoke-families-3-americans-detained-afghanistan-white-house-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3294462/biden-spoke-families-3-americans-detained-afghanistan-white-house-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Jan 2025 21:14:00 +0000 A group of Afghan nationals arrived in the Philippines ⁠on Monday to process special immigrant visas for their resettlement in the United States, as part of an agreement between Manila and Washington. The Philippines agreed last July to temporarily host a US immigrant visa processing centre for a limited number of Afghan nationals aspiring to resettle in America. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza said the Afghan nationals who landed in the Philippines on Monday were... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3293629/philippines-hosts-us-immigrant-visa-processing-afghans-resettle-after-taliban-takeover?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3293629/philippines-hosts-us-immigrant-visa-processing-afghans-resettle-after-taliban-takeover?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Jan 2025 11:07:48 +0000 Since the beginning of this century – triggered by the United States’ illegal invasion of Iraq, its occupation of Afghanistan, and aided by the turbocharged arrival of the digital age – there has been significant growth in interest among those in the non-Western world around issues related to their colonial past. This quest has been shaped by those seeking answers to fundamental questions linked to events in their past and how these events shaped the world today – a world that for the first time... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3293301/west-and-rest-how-genocide-gaza-will-usher-end-his-story?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3293301/west-and-rest-how-genocide-gaza-will-usher-end-his-story?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Jan 2025 04:00:19 +0000 The US Army veteran who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revellers in New Orleans acted alone, the FBI said Thursday, reversing its position from a day earlier that he likely worked with others in the deadly attack that officials said was inspired by Islamic State. The FBI also revealed that the driver, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an American citizen from Texas, posted five videos on his Facebook account in the hours before the attack in which he proclaimed his support for the militant... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3293215/new-orleans-attacker-acted-alone-supported-islamic-state-fbi-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3293215/new-orleans-attacker-acted-alone-supported-islamic-state-fbi-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Jan 2025 19:27:00 +0000 A senior Taliban diplomat urged the international community to aid Afghanistan’s recovery during a meeting in Kabul on Sunday, emphasising the destruction caused by decades of conflict. Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Shir Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai called on the United Nations and international NGOs to provide support to Afghanistan in the form of technical help, economic development initiatives and agricultural cooperation. He particularly addressed countries that were previously... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3286955/taliban-seeks-international-aid-afghanistans-reconstruction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3286955/taliban-seeks-international-aid-afghanistans-reconstruction?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Nov 2024 16:45:41 +0000 I support Donald Trump, but not for the reasons you might think. Supporting the Republican presidential nominee and former US president exclusively based on a four-year term loses sight of the possible impact of his protectionist policies and his preference for withdrawing the United States from its traditional spheres of influence in global commerce and diplomacy, and from its military commitments. This has allowed other players, like China and Russia, to fill the void, democratising the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3284431/how-trump-victory-could-benefit-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3284431/how-trump-victory-could-benefit-world?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Nov 2024 12:30:11 +0000 US Vice-President Kamala Harris criticised Republican presidential rival Donald Trump on Saturday over a visit he made to soldiers’ graves at Arlington National Cemetery that was later used in campaign video footage. “It is a solemn place; a place where we come together to honour American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of this nation. It is not a place for politics,” Harris wrote in an X post. The vice-president weighed in five days after Trump took part in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3276718/kamala-harris-says-donald-trump-disrespected-sacred-ground-arlington-military-cemetery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3276718/kamala-harris-says-donald-trump-disrespected-sacred-ground-arlington-military-cemetery?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Aug 2024 19:31:31 +0000 Sarah Palin’s 15-year-old grandson Tripp has moved back to the family’s home state of Alaska. The update was shared on his mum Bristol’s Instagram Stories on August 14, where her son was noticeably absent from the pics. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bristol Palin (@bsmp2) “This has been the hardest ‘first day of school’ yet with one of the biggest pieces of my heart missing,” Texas-based Bristol wrote. “Tripp has decided to finish out high... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3276416/who-bristol-palins-ex-husband-dakota-meyer-sarah-palins-former-son-law-was-us-marine-who-received?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3276416/who-bristol-palins-ex-husband-dakota-meyer-sarah-palins-former-son-law-was-us-marine-who-received?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Aug 2024 10:00:32 +0000 Donald Trump was embroiled in controversy Wednesday after a report that his entourage shoved staff during a politicised visit to the United States’ most hallowed resting place for its war dead. National Public Radio reported late the previous day that an Arlington National Cemetery official tried to prevent the Republican’s aides from filming and photographing in a section where those killed in recent wars are buried – and where filming is banned. Trump staffers responded by shoving and verbally... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3276313/trump-entourage-accused-shoving-staff-hallowed-us-military-cemetery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3276313/trump-entourage-accused-shoving-staff-hallowed-us-military-cemetery?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Aug 2024 16:45:27 +0000 The Taliban on Monday rejected concerns and criticism of the United Nations over new vice and virtue laws which ban women in Afghanistan from baring their faces and speaking in public places. Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the UN mission in the country, UNAMA, said on Sunday the laws provided a “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future. She said the laws extend the “ already intolerable restrictions ” on the rights of women and girls, with “even the sound of a female voice” outside the home... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3276016/taliban-rejects-un-concerns-over-laws-banning-womens-voices-and-bare-faces-public?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3276016/taliban-rejects-un-concerns-over-laws-banning-womens-voices-and-bare-faces-public?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Aug 2024 17:29:57 +0000 Afghanistan’s former president Hamid Karzai on Sunday called on the Taliban regime to allow girls and women to attend school and university, as the country marked 105 years of independence. Karzai emphasised the importance of women’s education and participation in society, urging all Afghans to work together to overcome poverty, acquire knowledge and strive for progress. According to United Nations data, 1.4 million Afghan girls have been deliberately deprived of secondary and higher education... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3274963/former-afghan-president-karzai-calls-taliban-allow-girls-and-women-be-educated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3274963/former-afghan-president-karzai-calls-taliban-allow-girls-and-women-be-educated?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Aug 2024 19:04:13 +0000 Taliban authorities were told women must be included in public life, UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said on Monday as she defended a decision to sideline civil society groups at official talks in Doha, Qatar. Rights organisations have strongly criticised the controversial UN move to exclude the groups, including women’s rights activists, from the two-day meeting on Afghanistan as the price for the Taliban government’s participation. “Authorities will not sit across the table with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3268787/taliban-told-include-women-public-life-during-un-talks-qatar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3268787/taliban-told-include-women-public-life-during-un-talks-qatar?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Jul 2024 21:26:25 +0000 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is due to plead guilty on Wednesday to violating US espionage law, in a deal that will end his imprisonment in Britain and allow him to return home to Australia, ending a 14-year legal odyssey. Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents, according to filings in the US District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. The deal marks the end of a legal saga in which... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3267895/wikileaks-julian-assange-expected-plead-guilty-us-espionage-charge-document-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3267895/wikileaks-julian-assange-expected-plead-guilty-us-espionage-charge-document-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Jun 2024 23:43:11 +0000 Taliban authorities will attend the third round of United Nations-hosted talks on Afghanistan in the Qatari capital, a government spokesman said on Sunday, after snubbing an invitation to the previous round. The Taliban government’s participation in the conference of foreign special envoys to Afghanistan had been in doubt after it was not included in the first round and then refused an invitation to the second round in February. “A delegation of the Islamic Emirate will participate in the coming... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3266829/afghan-taliban-government-says-attend-next-round-un-talks-doha?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3266829/afghan-taliban-government-says-attend-next-round-un-talks-doha?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Jun 2024 15:00:25 +0000 WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s appeal against a UK court ruling that approved his extradition to the United States to face trial for breaking national security laws will begin on July 9, a judicial spokesman said on Tuesday. Assange, 52, won his bid to challenge the ruling last month, and the two-day hearing will now take place at the High Court in London next month. The Australian publisher is wanted by Washington for publishing hundreds of thousands of secret US documents from 2010 as head... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3266203/assanges-uk-appeal-against-us-extradition-begin-july-9?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3266203/assanges-uk-appeal-against-us-extradition-begin-july-9?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Jun 2024 11:53:11 +0000 This week, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) applied for arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, in connection with the ongoing war in Gaza. The reaction of the United States, Israel’s main backer, was swift. President Joe Biden condemned the prosecutor’s action against Israel’s leaders as “outrageous” and accused the ICC of drawing false moral equivalence between Hamas and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3264949/its-complicated-us-icc-ties-alternate-between-hostility-and-support-when-it-suits-washingtons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3264949/its-complicated-us-icc-ties-alternate-between-hostility-and-support-when-it-suits-washingtons?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Jun 2024 03:00:11 +0000 Russia has invited Afghanistan’s Taliban to its biggest annual economic forum as Moscow moves to remove a ban on the Islamist movement, a senior Russian diplomat was quoted as saying on Monday. Since the Taliban seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war, Russia has been slowly building ties with the Taliban, though the movement is still officially outlawed in Russia. Russia’s foreign and justice ministries have reported to President Vladimir Putin on the issue... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3264286/russia-invites-afghanistans-taliban-st-petersburg-forum-relations-west-worsen-over-ukraine-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3264286/russia-invites-afghanistans-taliban-st-petersburg-forum-relations-west-worsen-over-ukraine-war?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 May 2024 10:10:16 +0000 Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack targeting tourists in Afghanistan that killed three Spaniards and three Afghans. The jihadist group said in a statement on its Telegram channels that “fighters shot at Christian tourists and their Shiite companions with machine guns” in the mountainous city of Bamiyan on Friday. The tour group was fired on while shopping in a market in Bamiyan, around 180km (110 miles) west of the capital Kabul. The jihadists on Sunday said they attacked a “bus... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3263290/islamic-state-claims-deadly-afghanistan-attack-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3263290/islamic-state-claims-deadly-afghanistan-attack-tourists?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 May 2024 20:19:00 +0000 An Australian judge sentenced a former army lawyer to more than five years in prison on Tuesday for stealing secret defence files on the Afghanistan war and leaking them to the media. David McBride, who pleaded guilty in November to three charges of stealing and sharing military information, was given five years and eight months’ imprisonment, Australian media reports said. McBride must serve a minimum of two years and three months before being eligible for parole, they said, after the ruling by... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3262596/australia-jails-afghanistan-war-crimes-whistle-blower-leaking-secret-defence-files?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3262596/australia-jails-afghanistan-war-crimes-whistle-blower-leaking-secret-defence-files?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 May 2024 05:46:13 +0000 Friba Rezayee, the first woman to represent Afghanistan at the Olympics, has been appalled by the treatment of women since the resurgence of the Taliban and is now campaigning for the country to be kept out of the Paris Games. Rezayee, a judoka who competed at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, has called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Afghanistan due to the Taliban’s human rights record. She has argued that under a such ban, Afghan women should still be allowed to participate as... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3259083/afghanistans-first-female-olympian-urges-paris-games-ban-country-over-talibans-rights-record?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3259083/afghanistans-first-female-olympian-urges-paris-games-ban-country-over-talibans-rights-record?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Apr 2024 11:35:09 +0000 I was raised in that end-of-empire era. My generation grew up on stories of World War II. My father was in the army and my parents moved to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), where my elder sister was born, then back to the UK and then to Egypt, where I was born, in 1952. I was 18 months old when we moved to the UK and almost six when we moved to Cyprus. The EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) troubles – effectively a Greek-Cypriot freedom fight against the British – meant we had armed soldiers on... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3257830/fighting-properly-general-david-richards-former-uk-armed-forces-chief-career-uniform-and-his-pal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3257830/fighting-properly-general-david-richards-former-uk-armed-forces-chief-career-uniform-and-his-pal?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Apr 2024 08:15:13 +0000 Russia called Britain’s judiciary a “farce” on Tuesday over its treatment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who must wait weeks to learn if he can appeal against extradition to the United States. The 52-year-old, who has been held in a London prison since 2019, is wanted by the United States over his role in WikiLeaks’ publication of classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A British court ruled on Tuesday that Assange cannot be extradited to the United States on... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3256851/russia-calls-uk-courts-farce-over-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-extradition-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3256851/russia-calls-uk-courts-farce-over-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-extradition-case?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Mar 2024 23:23:58 +0000 A London court is expected to rule whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gets one final appeal in England to challenge extradition to the United States on espionage charges. Two judges are scheduled to issue a judgment on Tuesday morning in the High Court that could put an end to Assange’s long legal saga – or extend it further. If he fails in winning the right to appeal, his legal team fears he could be swiftly sent to the US to face charges, though they are likely to ask the European Court... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3256692/uk-court-rule-whether-wikileaks-assange-can-challenge-extradition-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3256692/uk-court-rule-whether-wikileaks-assange-can-challenge-extradition-us?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Mar 2024 18:18:06 +0000 Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs described air strikes its military carried out on Monday as “intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations in the border regions inside Afghanistan”, after seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in an attack by Taliban rebels based in the neighbouring country. Monday’s operation specifically targeted the Hafiz Gul Bahadur militant faction, a Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) affiliate which claimed responsibility for Saturday’s lethal attack against a Pakistani... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3255823/pakistan-air-strikes-target-taliban-rebel-camps-afghanistan-after-7-killed-terrorist-attack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3255823/pakistan-air-strikes-target-taliban-rebel-camps-afghanistan-after-7-killed-terrorist-attack?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Mar 2024 09:45:43 +0000 An angry, emotional US President Joe Biden defended his mental competence Thursday in a rare evening address to Americans to respond to biting comments in a report released hours earlier on his mishandling of classified documents. Appearing on live television from the White House, Biden was furious over the report’s claim that he was unable to remember even the date of his son Beau’s death in 2015, as well as other key moments in his life. “My memory is fine,” he said. “There’s even reference... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3251467/bidens-age-and-poor-memory-cited-reasons-he-was-not-charged-classified-documents-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3251467/bidens-age-and-poor-memory-cited-reasons-he-was-not-charged-classified-documents-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Feb 2024 21:57:39 +0000 The Taliban has completed its first road link between Afghanistan and China, but analysts expect Beijing to be cautious about giving its war-torn neighbour full access to its land border because of security concerns over terrorists and separatist militants. At this stage, China has no customs facilities in the area – where Afghanistan meets the autonomous Chinese region of Xinjiang – and has said nothing to suggest it intends to add a formal crossing point. Currently, only Chinese border guards... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3249931/why-china-wary-opening-afghanistans-new-road-xinjiang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3249931/why-china-wary-opening-afghanistans-new-road-xinjiang?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Jan 2024 14:00:09 +0000 The Taliban have arrested women in the Afghan capital for wearing “bad hijab,” a spokesman at the country’s Vice and Virtue Ministry said Thursday. It’s the first official confirmation of a crackdown on women who don’t follow the dress code imposed by the Taliban since they returned to power in 2021 and has echoes with neighbouring Iran, which has enforced mandatory hijab for decades. The development is the latest blow to Afghan women and girls, who are already reeling from bans on education,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3247307/latest-blow-afghan-womens-rights-taliban-make-arrests-over-bad-hijab-dress-code-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3247307/latest-blow-afghan-womens-rights-taliban-make-arrests-over-bad-hijab-dress-code-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Jan 2024 12:31:33 +0000 India plans to add some 200 employees to its “short-staffed” diplomatic corps over the next five years in a mark of its expanding global ambitions, but even as observers welcome the move, concerns linger about the calibre of such staff members to navigate the evolving geopolitical landscape. The decision to restructure the foreign service represents a substantial revamp in nearly two decades and comes as New Delhi grapples with diplomatic challenges, including strained relations with Canada over... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3243761/indian-diplomacy-getting-boost-its-still-no-match-likes-us-china-uk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3243761/indian-diplomacy-getting-boost-its-still-no-match-likes-us-china-uk?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Dec 2023 12:30:08 +0000 Maroza Bibi and her children are among hundreds of Afghans waiting at the Pakistani border, hurriedly leaving a country she has called home for decades in fear of arrest. Islamabad has issued an order to 1.7 million Afghans it says are living in the country illegally to leave by November 1, or be deported. A series of holding centres are being established across the country in preparation for the Wednesday deadline in what rights groups and lawyers say is an unprecedented crackdown. “I am... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3239477/afghans-leave-pakistan-heavy-heart-it-forces-out-settled-migrants-protect-welfare-and-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3239477/afghans-leave-pakistan-heavy-heart-it-forces-out-settled-migrants-protect-welfare-and-security?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Oct 2023 11:39:47 +0000