Russia has become the first country to formally recognize the Taliban’s government in Afghanistan since it seized power in 2021, after Moscow removed the group from its list of outlawed organizations.

An American man who was abducted more than two years ago while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist has been released by the Taliban.

A senior Taliban figure says the group's leader should scrap education bans on Afghan women and girls.

Thousands of people have attended the funeral of a Taliban government minister killed in an Islamic State suicide bombing the previous day.

French police have arrested a man climbing on the Eiffel Tower, temporarily stranding a crowd at the top.

The new Saudi Cup will comfortably eclipse horse racing's previous richest individual race, the Pegasus World Cup, which peaked at a purse of $16 million in 2018 before dropping back behind the $12M Dubai World Cup. The Saudi Cup will take place at the King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh on February 29 -- between the Pegasus and the Dubai World Cup -- and will be contested on dirt over nine furlongs (1,800 meters). Sport is playing an increasing part in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plan to modernize Saudi Arabia, relax the conservative social code and improve in its controversial global image. "As for $20m for a horse race, that's a drop in the ocean - it's nothing. They're creating the idea that Saudi Arabia is not dissimilar to the UAE."