Why polio continues to be a health risk in Pakistan

Police say scores were injured when a bomb ripped through a mosque in Kunduz during Friday prayers. The attack came as an "Islamic State" affiliate claimed responsibility for several earlier bomb attacks.

The last time prices rose faster was for West Germany in 1981. More than any other factor, increasing energy prices, exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, are fueling inflation.

The Taliban have further curbed women's rights with their latest veil compulsion decree. Afghanistan's civil society faces an uphill task to challenge the group without adequate support from the international community.

The "Maghreb-Orient des livres" book festival takes place in Paris this weekend, focusing on literature from north Africa and the Middle East. One of those taking part is Jérémie Dres, the author of the graphic novel "The day I met bin Laden". It features the story of two young French men who travelled from France to Afghanistan in the spring of 2001, just months before the 9/11 terror attacks. The pair then found themselves trapped in Afghanistan and were later sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. The author joined us for Perspective to tell us more.

Bombs and weapons used in Afghanistan by militants and US forces are making their way into India-administered Kashmir, raising fears that they could bolster an Islamist insurgency in the area.

The former human rights minister of Pakistan was arrested, prompting protests from her supporters before she was later released. She was a close aide of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The Taliban has made face veils mandatory for all Afghan women appearing in public, including those on television. This edict was ignored by presenters on Saturday, but they relented a day later.

The burning of fossil fuels like coal and gas supercharged the heat wave that has scorched India and Pakistan in recent weeks, two separate attribution studies have found.

Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan last year, international aid for the country has dried up. The pandemic and the ongoing food crisis have complicated an already dire economic situation. Unicef says that as more families are pushed deeper into poverty, they are forced to make desperate choices, such as putting children to work and marrying girls off at a young age. Our France 2 colleagues report.

Imran Khan may be out as prime minister, but he still has plenty of supporters. They turned out in force on Sunday, and his party has called for more protests. This underscores how shaky political situation remains.

Afghanistan is heading back to the pre-2001 dark days of the Taliban, and Western powers were naive if they ever thought this wouldn't be the case. That's the view of Heather Barr, associate women's rights director at Human Rights Watch. As women are told to cover their faces in public again and female television presenters are told to do the same, she spoke to us on Perspective about the how the Taliban are rolling back women's rights and what, if anything, the West can do about it. "Life has become a prison for most women and girls," she told us.

Polio cases are on the rise in Pakistan although it's an illness eradicated almost everywhere else in the world. Part of the problem is widespread vaccine skepticism and outlandish conspiracy theories.