Interviewing the Taliban: 'Still now I am terrified'

The 2021 Oscar nominations are the most diverse Oscars ever, with nine of the 20 acting nominees from non-white backgrounds. And two women were nominated for best director – the first time more than one woman has been shortlisted for that prize in the awards’ 93-year history. Anna Smith, a film critic and host of…

The trial of Derek Chauvin, the US police officer accused of killing George Floyd in May, has wide implications, Prof David Schultz, of Hamline University, says. He set out how he expected the prosecution and defence to outline their cases and told BBC World News: “It is always easy for people to say there is…

Disney’s The One and Only Ivan, starring Sam Rockwell, has been nominated for a best visual effects Oscar. MPC’s animation director Greg Fisher and VFX supervisor Nick Davis told BBC Click how the film’s effects were made. See more at Click’s website and @BBCClick

Afghanistan’s former central bank governor has said that he will not return to the country despite assurances from the Taliban that former officials can return with amnesty to their jobs. Ajmal Ahmady told BBC World News that the Taliban had been looking for him, knocking on doors at properties where he had previously lived. Mr…

Belarus’s authoritarian leader says it is “absolutely possible” his forces helped migrants cross into Poland, but denies they were invited. Alexander Lukashenko has been accused by the EU of orchestrating the border crisis with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in recent months in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Belarus for its brutal crackdown on opponents who…

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…