Vishal Garg: 'Your employment here is terminated, effective immediately'

Tens of thousands of ordinary people have had to flee their homes – with hundreds killed or injured in recent weeks – as Taliban insurgents continue to gain ground in Afghanistan. As foreign troops withdraw, many Afghans fear a brutal return to the regime of the 1990s, which was characterised by public executions, stonings and…

LJ Rich looks at some of the best technology news stories of the week including: Ride-haling firm Lyft sells its self-driving business to Toyota – for $550 million (£395m, € 454m) A drone capable of carrying three separate loads takes to the skies A robotic arm which uses artificial intelligence to identify and pick apples…

A sharp rise in Covid Delta variant cases in Israel shows the need for caution when ending restrictions, says Dr Asher Salmon, deputy director general of the country’s Ministry of Health. Israel had led the way with its vaccine programme, and was able to lift many restrictions, but there is now a surge in new…

Former Afghan finance minister Omar Zakhilwal says there is no alternative to working with the Taliban. He travelled to Kabul after the city’s fall to the Taliban. Like the rest of Afghanistan he is waiting to see what the Taliban decide to do, but says he is in the capital trying to help form an…

The secret dealings of hundreds of world leaders, politicians and billionaires have been exposed in one of the biggest investigations of leaked offshore documents in history. The leak of almost 12 million documents reveals hidden wealth, tax avoidance and, in some cases, money laundering by some of the world’s rich and powerful. Paul Tang, chair…

As the Taliban advance there are feelings of grief and fear, a child rights activist in Kabul says.