In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, discussed the country’s state of literature, religious practices, commercialization of arts and culture.

After 11 years of learning and finishing a formal 5-year training programme, 31-year-old US national Jake Pinnick finally became a rare foreign coach teaching Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Daoism at a traditional Daoist Kung Fu Academy in Wudang, as filmed on Saturday.

On the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Taliban flag is flying over Kabul again. A German police expert fears that Afghanistan could once again become a gathering place for jihadists — including from Germany.

Twenty years since the September 11 attacks, hundreds of undocumented workers who joined the clean-up efforts at Ground Zero are suffering from health issues caused by inhaling contaminated dust, with many still fighting to obtain US citizenship.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States that left nearly 3,000 people dead. The Al-Qaeda plane hijackings of September 11, 2001 were the first foreign attack on the US mainland in nearly two centuries. It ruptured America's sense of safety and plunged the West into war in Afghanistan. In the lead up to the anniversary, AFP spoke with survivors and those closest to the victims, piecing together the timeline of the fateful day that would reshape the course of US history.

Director Oliver Stone, actresses Dylan Penn and Lea DeLaria and photographer David Turnley reflect on the September 11 attacks, 20 years on. As one of the few photographers who recorded the Twin Towers fall right in front of him, Pulitzer Prize winner David Turnley takes us through his powerful images and takes us back to the day that changed the world forever.

George W. Bush, who was president during 9/11, says at a service marking 20 years since the attacks that disunity today makes him "worried" about the future of the United States. "In the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks, I was proud to lead an amazing, resilient, united people," Bush says in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the fourth hijacked plane came down.

The relatives of victims of the 9/11 attacks read out a list of names during a ceremony at ground zero in New York, 20 years after the terror attacks took place.

After the 9/11 attacks, Jorge Roldan was one of about 3,000 illegal workers who helped clean up Ground Zero. Like many others, he got sick from toxins at the site, but his immigration status made it hard to get the help he needed.

The January 6 riots at the US Capitol and the terror attacks of September 2001 were an "assault" on democracy, the House speaker says. She also claimed ex-President George W. Bush did not "accept" climate initiatives.

Six months after the Taliban retook Afghanistan, FRANCE 24 spoke to former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who remains in the country. Karzai strongly criticised the Biden administration's recent decision to unfreeze Afghan assets but divide the funds between aid to Afghanistan and victims of the 9/11 attacks, saying the funds "belong to the Afghan people". He also said he believed the Taliban would eventually allow girls to return to school, since doing so is "absolutely necessary for the well-being" of Afghanistan.

An estimated 10 million jobs were lost in the creative industries in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report from the United Nations' cultural agency UNESCO. The organisation estimates that shutdowns and other restrictions incurred a loss of $750 billion to the global economy. The UN body is calling for better social protection for workers in the arts, many of whom lost their income for long periods during the pandemic. We discuss the report's findings with UNESCO's Berta de Sancristóbal.