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Taliban kills internet across Afghanistan, citing morality concerns as UN protests

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The Taliban shut down internet and telecom services across Afghanistan on Monday, plunging the country into near-total digital darkness and drawing a UN warning of «significant harm» to citizens.

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The blackout is said to have come after Afghanistan’s 9,350-kilometer fiber optic network was disabled, leaving flights grounded, banks frozen, and millions of citizens and businesses cut off.

Kabul International Airport has seen all commercial flights canceled or marked as «unknown,» leaving the country’s main air hub virtually deserted, per Reuters.

MASSIVE TELECOM BUST IN MAJOR CITY IS ‘WAKE-UP CALL’ AS FOREIGN ADVERSARIES THREATEN US SECURITY: EXPERTS

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The Taliban has not issued a clear explanation for the blackout, saying only that the suspension would last «until further notice.» (WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Monitoring group NetBlocks also confirmed to Reuters that traffic levels had dropped to around one percent of normal, underscoring the unprecedented scale of the disruption.

According to Reuters, the Taliban ordered internet and mobile data services to be cut across the country, with diplomatic and industry sources confirming cellphone connectivity had collapsed. 

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NetBlocks also confirmed connectivity was cut in phases starting on Monday, with the final stage also affecting telephone services, which share infrastructure with the internet.

The nationwide blackout appears to be part of a phased campaign led by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada in Kabul. Earlier in September, he directed the dismantling of fiber optic networks in many provinces. 

SECRET SERVICE DISMANTLES ‘TELECOMMUNICATIONS THREAT’ NEAR UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN NEW YORK

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Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada

Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had ordered the dismantling of networks, according to Reuters. (Afghan Islamic Press via AP, File)

Officials have defended the move as a way to curb «immorality» online, echoing earlier statements from provincial governors.

Reuters reported that Afghan telecom companies said they were «managing this sensitive and complex situation» under Taliban directives, while hoping to restore services soon. 

Private broadcaster Tolo News, also cited by Reuters, reported that authorities had set a one-week deadline to shut down 3G and 4G internet services for cellphones, leaving only 2G active.

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TALIBAN LURES YOUNG FEMALE TRAVEL INFLUENCERS FOUR YEARS AFTER TAKEOVER

Kabul, Afghanistan

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has urged the Taliban to immediately restore full access to the country and Kabul (seen above) (REUTERS/Ali Khara.)

In a statement, the United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) urged the Taliban to immediately restore access and warned that the blackout «has left Afghanistan almost completely cut off from the outside world, and risks inflicting significant harm on the Afghan people.» 

Reuters also quoted UN officials as saying the blackout has crippled humanitarian operations. 

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Arafat Jamal, the UN refugee agency’s country representative, told reporters how it could no longer reach frontline aid workers, including those responding to a deadly earthquake in the east.

«It is another crisis on top of the existing crisis,» he said via satellite link from Kabul.

The Taliban administration could not be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.

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Jack Smith pushes for public testimony to confront ‘mischaracterizations’ of Trump probes

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EXCLUSIVE: Former Special Counsel Jack Smith is requesting to testify in open, public hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, Fox News Digital has learned.

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Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a letter Smith’s attorneys sent to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley Thursday afternoon, after both panels signaled interest in testimony from the former special counsel.

EXCLUSIVE: JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS

«Given the many mischaracterizations of Mr. Smith’s investigation into President Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Mr. Smith respectfully requests the opportunity to testify in open hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees,» Smith attorneys Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski wrote.

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Jack Smith, then-U.S. special counsel, speaks during a news conference in Washington, Aug. 1, 2023.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

«During the investigation of President Trump, Mr. Smith steadfastly adhered to established legal standards and Department of Justice guidelines, consistent with his approach throughout his career as a dedicated public servant,» they wrote.

«He is prepared to answer questions about the Special Counsel’s investigation and prosecution, but requires assurance from the Department of Justice that he will not be punished for doing so,» they continued. «To that end, Mr. Smith needs guidance from the Department of Justice regarding federal grand jury secrecy requirements and authorization on the matters he may speak to regarding, among other things, Volume II of the Final Report of the Special Counsel, which is not publicly available.»

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Smith’s attorneys also noted that in order to provide «full and accurate answers to your questions, Mr. Smith requires access to the Special Counsel files, which he no longer has the ability to access.»

Rep. Jim Jordan

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee leaves the Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023.  (Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press )

JACK SMITH DEFENDS SUBPOENAING REPUBLICAN SENATORS’ PHONE RECORDS: ‘ENTIRELY PROPER’

«With the guidance and access described above, Mr. Smith is available to testify in an open hearing at your earliest convenience,» they wrote.

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A source familiar told Fox News Digital that Smith’s attorneys are planning to officially seek guidance from the Department of Justice on the matter.

The letter from Smith’s attorneys comes after Jordan, R-Ohio, requested Smith appear for a closed-door transcribed interview and provide all records from his work related to President Donald Trump.

Sen. Chuck Grassley

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025 (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The letter also comes after Grassley, R-Iowa, and nearly two dozen Senate Republicans demanded that the Department of Justice and FBI release documents on Smith’s decision to subpoena telecommunications companies for phone records of a number of Senate Republicans during his probe into Jan. 6, 2021.

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Fox News Digital exclusively reported earlier in October that Smith tracked the private communications and phone calls of GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania as part of his «Arctic Frost» investigation.

An official said the records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers. 

Patel and Grassley shaking hands

FBI Director Kash Patel shakes hands with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa during a Senate Judiciary hearing on Sept. 16, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

An FBI official told Fox News Digital that Smith and his team tracking the senators were able to see which phone numbers they called, the location the phone call originated and the location where it was received.

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A source said the calls were likely in reference to the vote to certify the 2020 election. 

Smith, though, called his decision to subpoena several Republican lawmakers’ phone records, calling the move «entirely proper» and consistent with Justice Department policy.

«As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,» Smith’s lawyers wrote Tuesday to Grassley. 

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Merrick Garland, Donald Trump and Jack Smith

A split image featuring US Attorney General Merrick Garland, President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images | Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Smith was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022.

Smith, after months of investigating, charged President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request. 

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Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million. 

Fox News’ Ashley Oliver contributed to this report. 

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Expertos advierten que limpiar Gaza de artefactos explosivos sin detonar llevará entre 20 y 30 años

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FOTO DE ARCHIVO: Un misil sin detonar disparado por un avión israelí yace entre los escombros, en medio del actual conflicto entre Israel y Hamás, en el norte de la Franja de Gaza. 14 de mayo de 2024 (REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/Archivo)

Limpiar la superficie de Gaza de artefactos explosivos sin detonar llevará probablemente entre 20 y 30 años, según un funcionario de la organización humanitaria Humanity & Inclusion, que describe el enclave como un “horrible campo de minas sin cartografiar”.

Según una base de datos dirigida por la ONU, más de 53 personas han muerto y cientos han resultado heridas por los restos mortales de la guerra de dos años entre Israel y Hamas, lo que los grupos de ayuda consideran una enorme subestimación.

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El alto el fuego logrado este mes con la mediación de Estados Unidos ha aumentado las esperanzas de que pueda comenzar la ingente tarea de sacarlos de entre millones de toneladas de escombros.

Si se trata de un desminado completo, nunca se hará, es subterráneo. Lo encontraremos durante generaciones”, afirma Nick Orr, experto en desactivación de artefactos explosivos de Humanity & Inclusion, comparando la situación con la de las ciudades británicas tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

“Despejar la superficie, eso sí que es algo alcanzable dentro de una generación, creo que de 20 a 30 años”, añadió. “Va a ser una pequeña reducción de un problema muy grande”.

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Orr, que estuvo en Gaza varias veces durante el conflicto, forma parte del equipo de siete personas de su organización que la semana que viene empezará a identificar restos de guerra en infraestructuras esenciales como hospitales y panaderías.

Palestinos recogen panfletos arrojados por
Palestinos recogen panfletos arrojados por un dron israelí, que advierten a la gente que se mantenga alejada de la llamada línea amarilla en Jan Yunis, en el sur de la Franja de Gaza, el lunes 20 de octubre de 2025 (AP Foto/Jehad Alshrafi)

Por ahora, sin embargo, los grupos de ayuda como el suyo no han recibido permiso general de Israel para empezar a retirar y destruir los artefactos, ni para importar el equipo necesario, dijo.

COGAT, el brazo del Ejército israelí que supervisa la ayuda a Gaza, no respondió a una solicitud de comentarios. Bloquea la entrada en Gaza de artículos que considera de “doble uso”, tanto civil como militar.

Orr dijo que estaba solicitando permiso para importar suministros para quemar bombas en lugar de detonarlas, con el fin de aliviar la preocupación de que puedan ser reutilizadas por Hamas.

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Se mostró partidario de una fuerza temporal como la prevista en el plan de alto el fuego de 20 puntos.

“Si va a haber algún tipo de futuro dentro de Gaza, tiene que haber una fuerza de seguridad que permita a los trabajadores humanitarios que hagan sus tareas”, afirmó Orr.

El presidente de Estados Unidos,
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, habla durante una celebración de Diwali en la Oficina Oval de la Casa Blanca en Washington, D.C., EEUU, el 21 de octubre de 2025 (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Por otra parte, el presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, afirmó que Israel “perderá su apoyo” si decide seguir adelante con el proceso legal para la anexión de Cisjordania, una cuestión que la Administración Trump ha pedido dejar fuera de la mesa en reiteradas ocasiones.

En una entrevista concedida a la revista Time, Trump aseguró, no obstante, que esto “no sucederá”. “No va a suceder porque he dado mi palabra a los países árabes y no es algo que pueda hacerse ahora, tenemos un gran apoyo de estos países. Israel perdería el apoyo de Estados Unidos si esto sucede”, aclaró.

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En este sentido, aseguró que sus acciones han permitido “frenar a (Benjamin) Netanyahu a la hora de seguir con los ataques en Gaza”. “Simplemente habría seguido con la guerra durante años”, dijo, al tiempo que recordó que insistió al primer ministro israelí sobre la cuestión de ponerle fin. “Le dije que se pueden librar batallas de forma unilateral, pero que el mundo estaba en su contra. E Israel es un lugar pequeño en comparación con el mundo”, dijo.

Le detuve porque iba a seguir. Fue increíble”, sostuvo, al tiempo que aseguró que los intentos de Israel de acabar con la cúpula de Hamas con sus ataques sobre Qatar “fueron un error”, algo “terrible”, pero que creó la posibilidad de lograr por fin un acuerdo. “Cuando cometieron ese error táctico, el de Qatar, le dije al emir que esa cuestión nos colocaría a todos en la misma página”, sostuvo.



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Essential workers left unpaid after Senate Democrats kill pay bill

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Democrats blocked a Republican-led attempt to provide essential government workers with paychecks amid an ongoing, 23-day shutdown, calling the bill overly selective and incomplete.

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That bill, proposed by Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Todd Young, R-Ind., failed in a 54-45 vote, where 60 votes were needed to advance the bill over the threat of a filibuster.

Only three Democrats, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, and Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia, voted with Republicans. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., turns to an aide during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, June 3, 2025.  (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

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In addition to compensating federal employees and military personnel during the current shutdown, the bill would also extend relief to future instances where funding bills aren’t in effect. 

«For fiscal year 2026, and any fiscal year thereafter, there are appropriated such sums as are necessary to provide standard rates of pay, allowances, pay differentials, benefits, and other payments on a regular basis to excepted employees,» the bill reads.

SENATE STALLS ON SHUTDOWN VOTE AMID WARNING FURLOUGHED WORKERS MAY LOSE PAY

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Johnson had pitched his bill as a long-term solution.

«I just hope, on a nonpartisan basis, we do something that makes sense around here for once,» Johnson said ahead of the bill’s consideration. 

«With Democrats continuing the Schumer Shutdown, they should at least agree to pay all the federal employees that are forced to continue working. The 2025 Shutdown Fairness Act is a permanent fix that will ensure excepted workers and our troops are paid during a shutdown,» Johnson said.

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Other Republicans blasted Democrats for voting against the bill.

«It means Democrats don’t care,» Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. «We know this is going to end sometime. The question is when. I guess it will depend on how much carnage the Democrats want to create. To me, they are in a box canyon, and they can’t figure out how to get out.» 

Essential federal employees have been asked to continue working since the government entered a shutdown on Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to pass spending legislation to begin the 2026 fiscal year. Republicans have advanced a short-term spending extension that would open the government through Nov. 21. Democrats have repeatedly rejected that proposal though, demanding that Congress first consider an extension to expiring COVID-19-era supplemental funding for Obamacare health insurance subsidies. 

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Republicans, who maintain that the health insurance subsidies are unrelated to the government’s short-term funding needs, have rejected those demands out of hand.

Democrats in the Senate have voted 12 times to defeat the stopgap bill. 

JOHNSON WARNS US ‘BARRELING TOWARD ONE OF THE LONGEST SHUTDOWNS’ IN HISTORY

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Sen. Ron Johnson speaks to reporters in washington

Sen. Ron Johnson talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol after the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on May 22, 2025. (Tom Williams/Getty Images)

The shutdown looks poised to continue with no resolution in sight, prompting lawmakers to worry about key areas that are feeling the shutdown’s effects more acutely. The Johnson-Young supplemental package was the most recent attempt to provide a limited basis for relieving some of that pain.

Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Republicans in the House of Representatives appeared open to considering the Johnson-Young bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told House Republicans during a lawmaker-only call on Tuesday that his chamber would be «prepared to act» if the bill passed the Senate, Fox News Digital was told. Johnson has repeatedly said he would give lawmakers 48 hours’ notice to return to Washington before any votes but has largely signaled he will keep the House out of session until Senate Democrats pass the GOP’s funding bill.

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Johnson also said on the call that he was skeptical the bill would get enough Senate Democratic support to pass.

«If they oppose the Ron Johnson bill in the Senate, it will be absolutely clear that they are simply using the military and air traffic control and law enforcement and all these other personnel as pawns for their political efforts,» Johnson said, Fox News Digital was told.

But other lawmakers had hesitations about partially reopening the government, offering relief to some workers and not others. That was the concern of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ahead of Thursday’s vote.

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«I have a concern about picking and choosing among all the federal workers,» Blumenthal said.

«I’m fine to support it. I think we need to pay our military, but I want to define and limit it in a way that provides pay to essential workers who serve our public safety and our national defense,» Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal voted against the measure.

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Democrats in the House of Representatives signaled similar lines of opposition to the idea behind the Johnson-Young bill. 

HOUSE GOP BLOCKS DEMS’ MILITARY PAY BILL AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN THREATENS CHECKS

«It’s not legislation that I support, because it appears to be more like a political ploy to pick and choose, giving Donald Trump discretion [over] which employees should be compensated, and which employees should not be compensated. All employees should be compensated and that will happen when we reopen the government,» House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters on Monday.

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., holds a press conference on the 14th day of the government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, Oct. 14, 2025.  (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

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Senate Democrats also defeated other pieces of legislation that would open portions of the government. Last week, Democrats in the Senate voted against a 2026 defense spending bill ­— one of the 12 year-long bills normally used to fund the government.

Aside from the Johnson-Young bill, the Senate will not consider other pieces of spending legislation on Thursday. Senators are scheduled to leave Washington, D.C., on Thursday and will return at the beginning of next week.

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