Abba on new album Voyage: We don't need to prove anything

President Joe Biden will be clear about America’s red lines, when he meets his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, later this week, after a Nato summit, Lt Gen Ben Hodges has said. The retired US military commander said it was the 60th anniversary of a disastrous meeting between former President John F Kennedy and former Soviet…

On 4 August 2020, Lebanon’s capital was rocked by a catastrophic blast as hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in the port, killing at least 200 people and injuring thousands. An investigation is underway but has not yet been made public. The country’s ambassador to the UK, Rami Mortada, told BBC World News that…

Leaders of individual countries need to work for the good of the world as a whole if we are to be better prepared to tackle pandemics, the World Health Organization’s special envoy for Covid-19, has said. “Unless we work for the good of all, we are all going to end up in a lot of…

The president of the Australian Medical Association has spoken of his disappointment at Italy’s decision to block the export of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the country. Dr Omar Khorshid told BBC World News the country would soon be in a position to manufacture the vaccine itself but for now was dependent on…

Gunfire rang out at Kabul as the Taliban celebrated the last US troops leaving Afghanistan. BBC News chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet says the skies were full of red tracer and machine gun fire as the Taliban hailed the US departure, nearly 20 years since the US-led invasion forced them from power.

Armed forces minister James Heappey has said that British soldiers in Afghanistan are facing “extraordinary circumstances” at Kabul airport. UK troops were deployed to Kabul airport to aid the evacuation of people from the country, following the Taliban’s total takeover of Afghanistan. Mr Heappey told the BBC that while soldiers are helping with the evacuation,…