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The United States is imposing new visa restrictions on certain current and former Taliban members, non-state security group members and others who are believed to be involved in repressing the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday.

In the town of Krasnohorivka, grim Soviet-era apartment buildings stand nearly but not quite empty, with only a few residents remaining. Blocks on the southern edges of town are burned shells, windows shattered and awnings dangling in the winter breeze. Houses are largely shuttered; their tenants long gone. The central square is abandoned and eerie.

More than one million people attended Pope Francis' Mass in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Wednesday, the Vatican Press Office said, citing figures estimated by local authorities.

A shocking 48 hours of violence -- bloody even by the standards of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- followed immediately by a fortunately timed flying visit from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, focused the eyes of the world on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week.

Abu A'asem brews pot after pot of his specialty Arabic coffee, despite the pouring rain. His corner stand at the heart of Ramallah is always busy, no matter the weather, but his future as a Palestinian is very much as gloomy as the skies above.

As many as half a million workers will strike across Britain on Wednesday, closing schools, canceling university lectures and bringing most of the rail network to a standstill in what unions say will be the biggest single day of walkouts in more than a decade.

Content warning: This story contains descriptions of violence against children and images viewers may find disturbing.

Eating out seems to have been as popular 5,000 years ago as it is today, with archaeologists in Iraq uncovering an ancient tavern dating back to 2,700 BCE.

Two and a half years after Lily Allen and David Harbour tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2020 — complete with an Elvis impersonator — the couple is opening the doors to their dream home in the tree-lined Brooklyn neighborhood of Carroll Gardens.

Three years of strict pandemic controls in China and a real estate crash have drained local government coffers, leaving authorities across the country struggling with mountains of debt. The problem has gotten so extreme that some cities are now unable to provide basic services, and the risk of default is rising.

The United States and India are taking steps to strengthen their defense partnership, officials said Tuesday, the latest sign of cooperation between the two countries in the face of an increasingly assertive China.

Railways have long been a source of fascination for travelers, allowing us to experience journeys at a slower pace and revisit a time when packed airplanes and crowded airports weren't the norm.

Russia is violating a key nuclear arms control agreement with the United States and continuing to refuse to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities, a State Department spokesperson said Tuesday.

French schools and transportation networks were heavily disrupted Tuesday for the second time this month, as unions staged another mass strike against government plans to raise the retirement age for most workers.

The death toll from a suspected suicide bomb that ripped through a mosque at a police compound in northwestern Pakistan Monday has risen to at least 88, as the Pakistani Taliban walked back its earlier claim of responsibility for one of the deadliest attacks in the country in years.

• Live updates: Putin's former speechwriter says military coup is becoming a possibility • Analysis: A brutal mercenary army is gaining power in Russia

Car crashes, opportunistic criminals, rotting food, decomposing bodies, bankrupt businesses, and water shortages. Welcome to life under South Africa's power blackouts.

With space in our cities at a premium, and a majority of the world's population expected to live in urban areas within the next few decades, there's less room for trial-and-error when it comes to urban planning -- with decisions made today having critical impacts on the future.

The Greek island of Samothrace is a vision in green. The craggy rocks of Mount Saos, the island's highest mountain at 5,285 feet (1,611 meters), give way to gentle slopes covered in oddly shaped plane trees, oak woodlands and majestic cedars.

Economic activity in China has expanded for the first time in four months as disruptions caused by the abrupt end of its zero-Covid policy appears to be fading.