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Joe Biden is poised to launch his most forceful defence yet of America’s chaotic pullout from Afghanistan, a day after the last US troops flew out of Kabul airport ending their 20-year military presence in the country. In remarks scheduled for 2.45pm local time at the White House, the US president will attempt to put

The US dramatically scaled back its evacuation mission in Afghanistan on Monday with the number of civilians being airlifted out of Kabul falling sharply as its forces scramble to withdraw ahead of Tuesday’s deadline to end the 20-year war. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said military commanders were sharing some drawdown logistics with Taliban commanders to

The US launched a drone strike to protect the Kabul evacuation effort on Sunday, as the Biden administration and its European allies promised to help people leave Afghanistan after Tuesday’s deadline for withdrawal.  The US military said it had carried out a “self-defence” air strike on a vehicle in the Afghan capital, which posed an “imminent

The US has carried out a drone strike in eastern Afghanistan against an Isis-K “planner” behind the deadly attack on Kabul airport on Thursday, as countries wrap up desperate efforts to evacuate thousands of Afghans trying to flee. According to US Central Command on Friday night, American forces conducted an “over-the-horizon counter-terrorism operation” in Nangarhar

Jay Powell has sent his strongest signal yet that the Federal Reserve could start dialling back its massive pandemic-era stimulus programme this year, declaring “clear progress” in the recovery of the US labour market. In a closely watched virtual speech at the Jackson Hole gathering of central bankers on Friday, Powell said the US central

The US has warned American citizens to avoid Kabul airport because of security threats, just hours after secretary of state Antony Blinken urged the Taliban to ensure “safe passage” for people seeking to flee Afghanistan. The deteriorating security situation at the airport has been a mounting concern for US and western officials trying to evacuate

Delta Air Lines said it would start charging unvaccinated employees enrolled in its healthcare plan an additional $200 a month, becoming the latest US company to cajole workers into having the Covid-19 jab. The first fully-fledged approval of a vaccine this week by the US Food and Drug Administration, which gave a green light to

Joe Biden is sticking by his plan to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by the end of the month, defying international pressure, including from key European allies, to allow more time for evacuations. The US president’s decision caps days of uncertainty about the fate of the August 31 deadline for the final pullout of American

Nato members’ hopes that the US will extend the emergency evacuation from Afghanistan beyond August 31 were in doubt because of the risk of Taliban opposition, a British defence minister admitted on Monday. James Heappey said the Taliban “gets a vote” on whether to allow the air bridge out of Kabul to continue beyond the

Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, will on Tuesday host crisis talks on Afghanistan with world leaders, as Britain presses the US to extend the evacuation timetable amid chaos and deaths at Kabul airport. Johnson, as chair of the G7, will hold talks that will include evacuation arrangements for western nationals and Afghan citizens, with Britain

Seven Afghan civilians have been killed around Kabul international airport as chaos continued to hamper western efforts to evacuate people from the country, one week after the Taliban retook control. Confirming the civilian deaths, the UK defence ministry acknowledged on Sunday that “conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging”, as the US warned its citizens

Tsai Hui-chun has lived under the roar of fighter jets her whole life. In her hometown Hualien, on Taiwan’s east coast, they can be seen and heard everywhere, taking off from the local air base. But over the past year, the patrols and exercises have grown almost constant. “They used to do a couple of

Vaccinating children against Covid-19 would be a “very marginal decision” and it is hard to predict whether that would go ahead in the UK, a government adviser has said. Meanwhile, a decision on a booster jab is imminent, said Adam Finn, a member of the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the

The Taliban was facing growing signs of dissent in several cities as Afghans carried the national flag in a second day of protests that led to reports of at least two deaths. Protesters marched in Kabul and other cities on Thursday to celebrate Afghanistan’s Independence Day, which commemorates the 1919 war that ended British control

The FT Weekend Magazine sent Jon Boone, the Financial Times’ formerKabul correspondent, to Afghanistan in early August. Because theTaliban’s conquest of the country potentially puts their lives injeopardy, we have not photographed most of the subjects and some nameshave been changed. There is less than a minute to go before Afghanistan’s most-watched news broadcast goes

Afghans were bracing themselves for life under strict Islamic rule on Monday after the Taliban drove the US-backed government of Ashraf Ghani from power to establish control of Kabul. Thousands of residents filled the airport and throngs of people tried to push their way on to planes in a desperate effort to flee after the

Shortly after her 12th birthday, Ameneh — not her real name — was forced to get engaged to her adult, bearded cousin and move into the house of her uncle, a businessman who traded with the Taliban. That was two decades ago. Back then, the Islamist movement was at the height of its power, controlling

Just six weeks ago, Joe Biden seemed confident that the 300,000 men of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces had the training, equipment and competence to hold off a Taliban takeover of the country after the US withdrew its military forces. “The likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the

The US Senate is set to pass a $1tn package to invest in America’s crumbling infrastructure with significant Republican support, a bipartisan vote that will be seen as a major legislative achievement of Joe Biden’s young presidency. Senators voted 68-29 late on Sunday to end the debate on the infrastructure bill, setting up a final

The US, UK and Canada have tightened sanctions against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, exactly one year after he won re-election in a presidential ballot that he has been accused of rigging. Also on Monday, Latvia said it was poised to declare a state of emergency on its frontier with Belarus and build