Taliban faces security challenge from ‘Islamic State’

As the United Nations Security Council convenes, global food insecurity takes center stage with a looming crisis threatening vulnerable populations.

Armed militias are fighting against Ethiopia's National Defense Forces in the Amhara region. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has declared a state of emergency, and experts warn that the national peace process is in jeopardy.

As global interest in the war-torn country diminishes, many Afghans feel abandoned. In the two years since the Taliban retook control they have imposed draconian restrictions on society, especially women and girls.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers took over the capital Kabul on August 15, 2021. A Taliban spokesperson denied the group was anti-woman in comments to DW, while the UN has accused it of gender apartheid.

EU countries neighboring Belarus are ramping up border security, citing threats posed by Wagner mercenaries. That leaves Minsk more isolated, but ordinary Belarusians are impacted too.

Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban rulers have prevented women scholarship recipients from flying to the United Arab Emirates to continue their studies. Their sponsor, a businessman from Dubai, is not giving up.

Chinese shopping app Temu has taken the world by storm, luring customers with rock-bottom prices for goods sent directly from China. But is the app a security risk? Do bargain hunters even care? DW takes a closer look.

Fatal skirmishes last week near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border between troops and militants has resulted in a renewed crackdown on Afghan refugees.

Enlargement of the European Union was one of the priorities outlined by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union speech on September 13th, and it is likely to become an ever more pressing issue over the next few years. After the speech, Talking Europe sat down with the EU Commissioner in charge of neighbourhood and enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi. He is a distinguished Hungarian diplomat and lawyer. He served as Hungary's ambassador to the EU, and has held prominent positions at the Hungarian ministry of justice and ministry of foreign affairs.

Three West African countries ruled by military juntas have signed a mutual defense pact. Mali and Burkina Faso had previously promised to come to Niger's aid in the event of an attack.

The International Assistance Mission said 18 staff members, including an international team member who local media reported as being a US national, were taken from their office on two separate occasions in a month.

Germany has wanted reform of the UN Security Council for years. But its bids to join the exclusive circle of permanent members have always failed.