An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years held captive by a network with ties to the Taliban, US and Pakistani officials said.

Lebanon's parliament has abolished a law which allowed rapists to avoid prison by marrying their victims.

The Taliban have launched two co-ordinated assaults at opposite ends of Afghanistan, attacking the northern city of Kunduz from several directions and killing a police chief in Helmand in the south.

A unique conservation effort in Afghanistan has helped bring the elusive snow leopard back from the brink and given hope to one of the poorest and most isolated communities on earth.

As the death toll in the massive earthquake that struck the remote Hindu Kush mountains soared above 300, officials on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border warned yesterday that casualty figures will likely leap once relief workers return from villages so remote they can only be accessed on foot or by donkey.

Young people in Europe may not live as long as their grandparents, if current rates of smoking and drinking continue.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has strongly defended Moscow’s military aid to the Syrian government, saying it is impossible to defeat the Islamic State group without co-operating with Damascus.

Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency said that the reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has been dead for more than two years.

SAUDI ARABIA is one of those countries that is so very wealthy that it does not really have to bother too much with what the rest of the world thinks about it. It can, metaphorically at least, smile at the world’s opprobrium and buy another string of racehorses to get over the slight.

Kitty Scully discusses the role of the fruit as food and in biodiversity.

Russia’s aggression is a watershed moment for Europe, which has to prove much with less, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill.

Japan’s most iconic landmark, Mount Fuji, has been named as a World Heritage site.

The Republic of Ireland have moved up a place in the latest FIFA world rankings following their two World Cup qualifying draws.

Katie Taylor has admitted that she would love to face Natasha Jonas again at this year’s European Union Boxing Championships.

A supposedly friendly guide for migrant workers new to Russia has caused a storm of resentment after portraying them as paint brushes, brooms and other low-skill tools.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Irish boxing’s greatest achievement — the day Michael Carruth won Irish boxing’s first gold medal at the Olympic Games in Barcelona and Wayne McCullagh added a silver.

Pete Taylor is treating the Olympic Games the same as any other tournament that his daughter Katie boxes in.

Katie Taylor has said she is determined to win the gold for Ireland in the women's lightweight boxing at the London Olympics.

John Joe Nevin became the first Irish boxer to qualify for a medal fight at London 2012 with a masterful display at the ExCel yesterday when he outpointed Kanat Abutalipov (Kazakhstan) 15-10 for a place in Sunday night’s quarter-finals.

The realisation she had qualified for the London Olympics resulted in a flood of emotion that exposed the human side of Katie Taylor at the women’s world boxing championships in the Chinese city of Qinhuangdao during the week but then it was back to business as usual for the Bray superstar.

Just one boxer stands between Katie Taylor and a fourth successive world title after another thrilling day for the Irish at the women’s world boxing championships in Qinhuangdao yesterday.

Katie Taylor is back in action at the World Championship this morning in China.

The anxiety surrounding her Olympic qualification was dispelled when Katie Taylor arrived at the stadium in Qinhuangdao for her quarter-final bout yesterday and was informed her opponent, Mihaela Lacatus, had conceded a walk over.

Sports Minister Michael Ring and the coach and father of boxer Katie Taylor have led tributes after she secured her place in the London Olympics.

Katie Taylor is through to the Olympics after receiving a walkover in her World Championship quarter final in China.

With Katie Taylor preparing to glove up for her shot at Olympic qualification this morning (7am Irish time), flyweight Ceire Smith moved excitingly close to a place in the London Games by claiming a second victory at the Women’s World boxing championships in Quinhuangdao, China, yesterday.

Katie Taylor must wait until Monday to start her campaign underway at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in the Chinese city of Qinhuangdao, where her quest for a fourth successive lightweight title is overshadowed by her search for Olympic qualification.

A blaze at a market on the outskirts of Moscow has killed a dozen migrant workers who lived on the premises, a fire department spokesman said.

How much can Ireland really be expected to achieve as the newly appointed OSCE chair, asks Caroline O’Doherty

To mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the former Soviet Union, Geoffrey Roberts reflects on what led to the collapse of the institution instigated by the Bolsheviks in 1922

ON New Year’s Day, Ireland will begin a year-long term as chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. This week’s visit to Dublin by Secretary General Lamberto Zannier is part of the quickening of pace of diplomatic preparation.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has proposed forming a "Eurasian Union" of former Soviet nations, saying the bloc could become a major global player competing for influence with the US, the European Union and Asia.

THE Irish boxers head into the second and final week of the world boxing championships in Baku with nine members of the 10-man team still standing and the prospect of Olympic qualification looming midweek.

WITH the business end of the tournament looming, European light welterweight champion Ray Moylette turned in another barnstorming finish to beat Arturs Ahmetous (Latvia) 16-11 and qualify for the last 32 in Baku yesterday.

OLYMPIC silver medallist Kenny Egan has drawn tough opposition for his heavyweight debut at the world championships in Baku.

A healthy population of snow leopards, elusive big cats threatened across their homes in the mountain ranges of Central Asia, has been found in one of the few peaceful areas of Afghanistan, a wildlife group said.

A HISTORIC ceremony was held for new Irish citizens as Justice Minister Alan Shatter pledged to speed up the citizenship process for emigrants.

A FORMER prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, who was allowed to leave for Ireland in 2009, was forced to spend five years in captivity even after interrogators decided he had little to offer in terms of military intelligence.

Divorce by text message will soon be banned in the mainly Muslim Central Asian nation of Tajikistan.

The suicide bomber who killed 35 people at Moscow’s busiest airport was deliberately targeting foreigners, investigators said today.

Russian investigators have said a suicide bomber who killed 35 people and wounded 180 at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport was a 20-year-old man from the volatile southern Caucasus region.

Eight foreign citizens, including two Britons, were among the 35 people killed in a suicide bombing at Moscow’s busiest airport, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said today.

David Cameron today hailed an agreement by Nato allies to return Afghanistan to the control of Afghan forces within four years, paving the way for the return of British combat troops.

DESPITE the great delay in bringing even one of those responsible for our economic collapse to book, and despite the almost laughable fact that the Moriarty Tribunal resumed its public hearings yesterday 13 years and €200 million after it began its investigations, Transparency International has reported that Ireland is amongst the least corrupt countries in the world.

Insurgents killed eight Afghan policemen today in a raid on a checkpoint outside the northern city of Kunduz, local police said.

Unesco added five cultural sites to its World Heritage List, including the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi in Vietnam.

At least 11 police officers and a government official were killed by militant attacks in in once-calm northern Afghanistan, authorities said today.

RIOTING has killed several hundred people in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan, the Red Cross said yesterday, as new reports strengthened suspicions that the violence was deliberately ignited to undermine the interim government.