Hospitals across Afghanistan are facing a growing, compounded crisis. The poor economy is leading to growing health problems — in particular chronic cases of malnutrition — while funding from the international community has been cut drastically since the Taliban took over. And there is also a medical brain drain, with doctors and nurses leaving the country.

Kabul

Afghanistan’s hospitals face staffing shortage

He was born more than 18 months after the war ended in Afghanistan. But two-month-old Mohamed Yassin is a victim of the peace. Like other infants in this ward, he's suffering from severe malnutrition. Afghans are facing great economic hardship. The UN says this is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. But there's another problem here. Lack of staff. We weren't allowed to film close-up shots of the female nurses, but they are allowed to work as part of a medical exemption from the Taliban. The problem is that both female and male medical staff are leaving the country. With the situation of all these people living here, both nurses and doctors, these guys leave us here alone, and as well as leaving our nation. There will be a very bad effect as there are more and more patients. This is one of the better equipped hospitals in Afghanistan, but staffing here is still a real problem. There is just one nurse here for eight children. The international standard is one nurse caring for two children in an ICU like this. And the nurses here work 12-hour shifts. The international standard is just eight hours at a time. One hospital in Kabul has had over 150 staff leave in two years, although the World Health Organization say there are no official figures for the whole of Afghanistan being kept. This is really a very serious issue, and as WHO we are trying our best to be able to provide that capacity building to those healthcare workers who are left in the country. And many of them, in reality, when you say about this exodus of healthcare workers, most of them are those senior healthcare workers who were already trained by the government and by UN agencies before. The medical brain drain comes on top of the withdrawal of much of the international funding not just for hospitals but for all humanitarian projects. Afghanistan's health sector faces a growing crisis. James Bayes, Al Jazeera, Kabul. Indonesia is set to host a...

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is stable but his condition remains serious after undergoing several hours of surgery. Fico was shot five times in the central town of Handlova after he left a government meeting. The assassination attempt shocked the country and drew global condemnation.

Handlová

Slovakia PM in stable condition after surgery

At their bilateral meeting in Beijing, Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China stressed their close relationship through economic and military ties even though trade has come down since its peak in 2023. Some analysts say the drop may be related to Chinese banks' fears of U.S. sanctions for technology sales with Russia.

Beijing

Putin, Xi reinforce ties amid U.S. pressure to halt tech sales

A major reinforcement operation is underway to bolster security forces in the French Pacific island territory of New Caledonia. The airlift of police and soldiers follows three nights of protests over electoral reform. Four people have died in the unrest, including a police officer.

France sends forces to New Caledonia amid deadly riots

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would force President Joe Biden to send weapons to Israel, seeking to rebuke the Democrat for delaying bomb shipments as he urges Israel to do more to protect civilians during its war with Hamas.

Washington

Israel-Gaza War

U.S. House bill requires Biden to send weapons to Israel

At the former U.S. president's trial on Thursday, Donald Trump's lawyer accused star witness Michael Cohen of lying about a phone conversation he claimed to have had with Trump about a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.

Manhattan

Trump's lawyer accuses Cohen of lying at hush money trial

Authorities have charged an alleged gunman with the attempted murder of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Following emergency surgery, Fico's condition is now listed as stable but serious.

Banská Bystrica

Alleged gunman charged with Slovak PM's attempted murder

Peter Dutton has announced if the Opposition wins Government it will cut permanent migration numbers in half in an effort to ease the housing supply crisis.

Canberra

Opposition plans to slash foreign arrivals

France has deployed troops to New Caledonia's ports and international airport, banned TikTok and imposed a state of emergency after three nights of clashes that have left four dead and hundreds wounded.

Nouméa

TikTok banned in New Caledonia amid riots

Leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin framed their nations' ties as a stabilizing force in a chaotic world as they met in Beijing. It is Putin's first trip abroad since his March re-election and the second in just over six months to China, an economic lifeline for Russia.

Russia's Vladimir Putin meets China's Xi Jinping in Beijing

This week, the U.S. Department of Justice said Boeing did not hold up their end of the bargain after 737 Max crashes and now it's a possibility the company could face charges.

U.S. Justice Department may prosecute Boeing

France declared a state of emergency on the Pacific island of New Caledonia after three young indigenous Kanak and a police official were killed in riots over electoral reform.

France declares state of emergency in New Caledonia

Israel's defense minister publicly challenged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the country's post-war plans for the Gaza Strip, with Yoav Gallant stressing his opposition of any long-term military rule by Israel in the ravaged Palestinian enclave.

Jerusalem

Israel's defense chief challenges Netanyahu on Gaza

Peter Dutton is set to deliver a budget reply speech, hinting at a focus on migration intake to address the housing crisis. The Coalition expected to propose further cuts to migration numbers and align housing supply with immigration rates.

Opposition wants fewer migrants to ease housing crisis

Former Bulldogs and Tigers Brandon Wakeham has been charged over allegedly supplying large quantities of MDMA and cocaine. The 25-year-old, along with two co-accused arrested by Police and charged with commercial supply of illicit drugs.

Council of the City of Sydney

Former NRL player charged over alleged drug supply

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico has been undergoing surgery after being shot in a suspected assassination attempt, as he greeted supporters after a meeting. Five shots were fired at close range, while security scrambled to confront the shooter. The government says the attack, which has left the prime minister in a critical but stable condition, was politically motivated.

Bratislava

Slovakia PM's 'life in danger' after assassination attempt

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing for talks with Xi Jinping that the Kremlin hopes will deepen a strategic partnership between the two most powerful geopolitical rivals of the United States.

Putin arrives in China, to meet Xi Jinping in Beijing

Ukrainian forces struggle to repel Russian advances near the important city of Kharkiv. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is in Kyiv to highlight $61 billion US in aid and weapons, but some say it comes too late to make a difference.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Concerns U.S. aid for Ukraine arriving too late as Russia advances

Dutch nationalist Geert Wilders said a deal had been reached to form what was set to be the most right-wing government in the Netherlands in decades, almost six months after a major election victory.

Amsterdam

Netherlands set for most right-wing government in years

Firefighters in western Canada are battling the first major wildfires of 2024 after unseasonably warm temperatures and an ongoing drought left forests tinder-dry. The blazes prompted evacuation orders for parts of northern British Columbia and Alberta.

British Columbia

Climate Crisis

Wildfires in western Canada spur large evacuations

Protesters occupying a University of Melbourne building are refusing to move, defying orders by Police and risking arrest. A group of around one-hundred students staging a sit-in to protest the war in Gaza.

Melbourne

Pro-Palestine protesters refuse to leave uni campus

A Sydney council has voted to overturn a controversial same-sex parenting book ban that prompted national outrage. Riot police were called after rival protests gathered outside the council chambers.

Cumberland City Council

Council votes to reverse same-sex parenting book ban

Hundreds of police are scouring northern France for Mohamed Amra, a fugitive known as "The Fly" who was freed by gunmen in a brazen attack against a prison van that killed two guards and wounded three.

Paris

French police search for 'The Fly' after deadly prison van escape

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico is battling life-threatening wounds after officials said he was shot multiple times in an assassination attempt condemned by European leaders. The suspected gunman was detained by police.

Slovakian leader critical after assasination attempt

The Cannes Film Festival officially kicked off as celebrities walked the red carpet into the plush Grand Theatre Lumiere to honour Hollywood actor Meryl Streep before settling in to watch this year's opening film, "The Second Act." Story by Monte Francis.

Cannes

Cannes kicks off with a Palme d'Or for Meryl Streep

Ukraine has pulled back troops near several villages in the northeastern Kharkiv region, where Russian forces have been advancing and pounding settlements in a new offensive along the border, Kyiv said.

Kharkiv

Ukraine pulls back from two areas of Kharkiv

French police and authorities have launched a nationwide manhunt for an escaped prisoner, after an armed gang ambushed his prison van, killing two officers. Video footage has emerged of the deadly attack which took place in Normandy, France on Tuesday morning in public.

Normandy

Manhunt underway after prison van attack in France

The Federal Budget has promised an energy rebate of $300 for all Australian households, but critics say a lack of means testing is a tougher sell. Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the latest budget will reduce inflation, but economists disagree.

Federal budget promises an inflation fix 'by Christmas'

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a trip to Kyiv that part of a major U.S. aid package had arrived in Ukraine and that more was on its way.

Blinken says Putin must pay for damage in Ukraine

In his second day on the stand at Donald Trump's criminal trial, the prosecution tried to build up the former fixer's credibility as a witness who can link Trump to the alleged scheme of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

New York

Star witness Michael Cohen grilled by defence at Trump trial

A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report says the cargo ship Dali that collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore lost power twice in the hours before it left port.