The Taliban released on Friday a British couple held in Afghanistan for more than seven months on undisclosed charges, likely part of a wider effort to get their government recognized internationally, years after taking power. The case of Peter and Barbie Reynolds, aged 80 and 76, underlined the concerns of the West over the actions of the Taliban since they overthrew the country’s U.S.-backed government in a 2021 lightning offensive. The Reynolds lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and ran an education and training organization in the country’s central province of Bamiyan, choosing to remain in the country after the Taliban seized power. “God...

Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack targeting regions across Ukraine early on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding dozens more, Ukrainian officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said attacks took place across nine regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Kharkiv. “The enemy’s target was our infrastructure, residential areas and civilian enterprises,” he said, adding that a missile equipped with cluster munitions struck a multi-story building in the city of Dnipro. “Each such strike is not a military necessity but a deliberate strategy by Russia to intimidate civilians and destroy our infrastructure,” he said in a statement on...

 Brazil’s health minister said on Friday he will not attend the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York next week because the United States government gave him “an unacceptable visa” with mobility restrictions within the country. Alexandre Padilha, one of the closest aides to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, said in a statement he will stay in Brazil due to “unfounded and arbitrary limitations to Brazil’s diplomatic exercise” from the U.S. government. The two countries have been at odds since President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on Brazilian exports in connection with the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro,...

Pakistan’s defense minister says his nation’s nuclear program “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed under the countries’ new defense pact, marking the first specific acknowledgment that Islamabad had put the kingdom under its nuclear umbrella. Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif’s comments underline the importance of the pact struck this week between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, which have had military ties for decades. The move is seen by analysts as a signal to Israel, long believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed nation. It comes after Israel’s attack targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar last week killed six people and sparked...

A group of about 100 pro-democracy activists from Eswatini protested Friday at the U.S Embassy in South Africa’s capital over their country’s deal to receive five immigrants deported by the U.S. The activists likened the arrangement to human trafficking, and said their country’s absolute monarch, King Mswati III, entered into the deal without consulting parliament. They also alleged he is secretly obtaining benefits from the arrangement that are not being shared with the Eswatini people. The five men were deported to Eswatini in July and are currently being held at a maximum-security prison where their lawyers allege they have not...

“My Wedding Gift To The Happy Couple”-Nigerian Billionaire Femi Otedola Opines His Memoir “Making It Big” As Gift To His Daughter Temi And Husband Mr. Eazi, On Their Wedding.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met a Sikh delegation led by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in New Delhi on Friday, where he received recommendations for the secure preservation and public display of the Jore Sahib, a 300-year-old pair of sacred footwear belonging to Guru Gobind Singh and Mata Sahib Kaur. The relics, custodied by Puri’s family for generations, symbolize the founding of the Khalsa Panth and values of courage and equality, with proposals suggesting placement at a Delhi gurdwara. The Prime Minister took to X to expressed his emotion at being bestowed such honor on by members of the...