The English-born singer, actor and showbusiness veteran is gearing up to release a rockin' new album, recorded last year in Rome. He made time in his chaotic agenda for Digital Journal.

New York - Stomach turning levels of barbarism perpetrated as religiously sanctioned behavior have changed the rules on public conversation about religion in media and the public square.

Kabul - The worst snow slides in 30 years or more have killed an additional 200 people, adding to a total of almost 250 deaths attributed to the avalanches plaguing Afghanistan this winter.

A newly-released United Nations report on detainee torture in Afghanistan details widespread serious abuses committed by Afghan security forces, and multiple "credible and reliable" reports of recent torture by US forces.

In Afghanistan, the majority of taxi drivers are males, but Sara Bahayi, 40, is a female taxi driver who is trying to change that.

Parwan - More than 200 people have been killed in a series of avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall around Afghanistan, officials said Thursday, warning the death toll could rise still further.

Kabul - A Taliban suicide attack targeting a Turkish diplomatic vehicle killed two people in Kabul Thursday, highlighting the fragile security situation as the Afghan government presses for peace talks with the militants.

Kabul - Avalanches triggered by heavy snowfall have killed more than 100 people in Afghanistan and the death toll is expected to rise, officials said on Wednesday.

Kabul - The Afghan government is making progress in reducing the torture of conflict detainees, the UN said Wednesday, though more than a third still suffer mistreatment.

Kandahar - Masked gunmen have abducted 30 Shiite Muslim men who were travelling by bus through southern Afghanistan, officials said on Tuesday.

Kabul - Bank clerks in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province may have stolen as much as 81 million Afghanis ($1.4 million) from the country's central bank when they raided their own bank and fled, said one official on Saturday.

Kandahar - Pentagon chief Ashton Carter headed to southern Afghanistan on Sunday to review plans to withdraw US forces in a volatile area that has long preoccupied American commanders.

Kabul - President Barack Obama's new Pentagon chief said Saturday the United States was seriously considering slowing the pace of a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, as the country battles a resilient Taliban insurgency.

Kabul - The Pentagon's new chief, Ashton Carter, flew to Kabul on Saturday to confer with commanders and Afghan leaders about the future of the American military presence in Afghanistan.

Kabul - The number of civilians killed and wounded in Afghanistan jumped 22 percent in 2014, the UN said Wednesday, as NATO troops withdrew from combat leaving government forces to battle a raging Taliban insurgency.

San Francisco - A Russian Cybersecurity firm reported on Monday that the United States permanently embedded sabotage tools and software in targeted networks globally.

Kandahar - At least 20 Afghan policemen were killed on Tuesday in a Taliban attack near Kabul, bringing to 26 the number of officers to die since the start of an army offensive aimed at weakening the insurgents.

Minsk - Amid a history of failed negotiations and a looming civil war in Ukraine, world leaders huddled together in Belarus to prevent a bloody confrontation between the West and Russia that has already claimed thousands of lives.

Kandahar - A NATO drone strike in Afghanistan on Monday killed a former Taliban commander and Guantanamo detainee who was suspected of links to the Islamic State group, officials said.

Kabul - An Afghan air force official said that three American contractors were killed in an apparent attack by an insider in the Afghan capital Kabul. The international force in Afghanistan confirmed the shooting that took place on Thursday morning.