Heartwarming footage taken last weekend shows Afghan evacuees making the most of their newfound freedoms while playing games with members from the Australian Defence Force.

British bomb disposal expert Jack Cummings, 32, said he is ‘heartbroken and devastated’ to see Afghanistan fall into the hands of the Taliban so quickly after the West’s withdrawal.

President Biden defended leaving Afghanistan in a speech at the White House on Monday and blamed Afghan leaders for the country’s descent into chaos.

Australia had handled the coronavirus crisis much better than many other developed countries, with fewer than 1,000 deaths, but it has been achieved by sealing its border to all but a trickle of people.

Sohail Pardis is reported to have been beheaded by extremists after he was attacked outside Kabul. He applied to be relocated to the US but was rejected.

The country is preparing for a march next month to mark 30 years of independence following the Soviet Union’s breakup.

American soldiers stationed at military bases in Europe armed with nuclear weapons have been unknowingly sharing secret protocols and base details, and all fully searchable on Google.

Steve Davies, 63, from Hawkhurst, Kent, who served in the Royal Green Jackets in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, has restored more than 80 graves in three years.