British Prime Minister David Cameron gathered senior representatives of the military and security services at Downing Street after a third man was beheaded by Islamic State (IS).

Security forces in tanks and on foot took up positions around the Afghan capital today to prevent a repeat of deadly anti-foreigner riots, the most widespread violence in the city since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

An earthquake which has shaken northern Afghanistan has killed more than 30 people and left 100 others injured.

A powerful earthquake devastated villages in the Hindu Kush mountains of northern Afghanistan, where Afghan officials today estimated that 1,800 people had died and thousands more were injured in a region already afflicted by drought, war and food shortages.