AFGHANISTAN: A suicide bombing in Kabul today killed the Taliban refugee minister and two others, Interior Ministry officials said.

The explosion struck inside the ministry, killing Khalil Haqqani, the refugee minister, officials said.

The officials provided no further details and there were no immediate claims of responsibility.

Mr Haqqani was the most high-profile casualty of a bombing in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power three years ago. 

NETHERLANDS: A Dutch court has convicted a woman of crimes against humanity for keeping a Yazidi woman as a slave in Syria and sentenced her to 10 years in prison.

The Hague District Court found Hasna A guilty today of multiple offences for travelling to Syria in 2015 to join the Islamic State group. Ms Hasna married a fighter and was given a Yazidi woman as a domestic servant.

PHILIPPINES: Vice-president Sara Duterte skipped the first hearing into threats she made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr today, saying she did not believe the investigation will be fair.

Ms Duterte was ordered to appear before the National Bureau of Investigation but instead sent her lawyer, who submitted a letter saying their client vehemently “denies having made any threat constituting grave threat” under the law.

AUSTRALIA: Federal police launched a special operation today to investigate an increase in anti-semitic threats and violence since Israel’s war on the Palestinians in Gaza began last year.

Jewish leaders say prejudice against their community has reached unprecedented levels, with most incidents reported in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s largest cities, where 85 per cent of the nation’s Jewish population live.