BBC News
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VIDEO: Nigeria close to eradicating polio September 25, 2015
Until recently there were three countries - Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria - where polio was endemic, now there remain just two.
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VIDEO: VW row 'shows no sign of slowing down' September 25, 2015
Matthias Mueller is announced as the new CEO of Volkswagen, following the diesel engine emission tests scandal that has engulfed the company.
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VIDEO: Peston: China slowdown in 30 seconds (or less) September 25, 2015
BBC economics editor Robert Peston tries to explain why China's slowdown matters in three, six and 30 seconds.
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VIDEO: Tensions rise between Austria and Hungary September 25, 2015
The location of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's recent press conference is a sign of strain in the countries relationship with Austria
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VIDEO: Reporter at Hajj: 'My aunt is missing' September 25, 2015
A BBC Hausa Service correspondent who was at the scene of a deadly stampede near Mecca, says she has lost her aunt, and some members of her group are missing.
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VIDEO: Why did an Israeli model want a no-fly zone? September 25, 2015
Why did Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli want a no-fly zone over a hotel in northern Israel?
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VIDEO: Seattle: Students in fatal bus crash September 25, 2015
Four people are killed and 12 critically injured when an amphibious tour bus and a charter bus carrying foreign exchange college students collide on a bridge in Seattle.
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VIDEO: 'I lost my son when dinghy was hit' September 24, 2015
The BBC's Jim Muir talks to a migrant on Lesbos whose son is missing after their migrant dinghy was struck by a ship that migrants allege sailed on without stopping.
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VIDEO: The rooftop cattle farmer celebrating Eid September 24, 2015
Azadur Rahaman, and his brother, herd cattle on the rooftop of the building the live, in Dhaka.
– AFGHAN INSURGENCY POSSIBLY TO SPLIT
A delegation from a powerful Afghan militant group, Hezb-e-Islami, has met officials for talks in Kabul the government said, on Monday 03/22/2010.
Just few days after dozens of the Afghan Islamic insurgency from the Hezb-e-Islami, loyal to the controversial warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. were killed in Baghlan province (see – Badghis 03.08.10), a team from the Hezb-e-Islami held talks with President Hamid Karzai, his spokesmen said. It is the first confirmed direct contact between Mr Karzai and envoys of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is wanted by the USA (see- Karzai’s Peace offer).
Observers say the talks in Kabul may only be preliminary but they come at a fluid time in Afghan politics, with a peace jirga or tribal gathering due to be held in a few weeks’ time and a surge in USA-led troop numbers under way.
On Friday the former UN envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide confirmed he had been holding secret contacts with top Taliban leaders for the past year (see – Kai’s Talks).
The Hezb-e-Islami delegation is headed by a former Afghan prime minister, Qutbuddin Helal, who is deputy to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, another former prime minister.
Among the group’s reported demands are a pull-out of foreign forces from Afghanistan by this summer, a year ahead of a date indicated by USA President Barack Obama for any withdrawal to begin. They also want fresh elections within a year and a new constitution.
* Due to growing pressure on the Taliban in Afghanistan, there are indications that the Taliban allied itself to its former rivalry – Iran in order to establish a new safe haven instead of FATA region in Pakistan (see – Talebans New Haven).
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