Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul - subsequently claiming victory after the government collapsed - foreign countries have been scrambling to evacuate their nationals and those Afghans who supported US-led forces over 20 years. The UK is one of those countries and the government has now promised to resettle up to 20,000 Afghan refugees. Women, girls and others in need will be given priority in the plan, which will allow 5,000 eligible refugees to set up home in the UK in the first year. "We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who have worked with us to make Afghanistan a better place,” says Prime Minister Boris Johnson, announcing the Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme ahead of Parliament being recalled later. Though welcomed, Labour's shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds says "this proposal does not meet the scale of the challenge".
The government’s pledge comes as the Taliban’s top political leaders landed back in Afghanistan from Qatar where many were in exile, and after the group gave their first news conference on Tuesday. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid did most of the talking as reporters asked a wide range of questions. The Taliban say "no harm will be done" to all those who worked for foreign powers and women’s rights will be respected "within the framework of Islamic law". However, women face uncertainty, with one who worked for the Afghan government saying she didn’t see her future in Afghanistan as being safe. And one man - who has applied to relocate - says he has received "some warnings" from the Taliban. Meanwhile, British-Afghans who have previously fled the country have revealed their devastation and guilt about the current situation. Ministers acknowledge the practicalities of getting people out of Afghanistan will be considerably more complicated because of the extent of Taliban control, says our political correspondent, Nick Eardley. And government insiders don't know the extent to which the new regime will allow people to flee, he adds. To keep up to date with this story follow our live page.

It’s been widely reported that NHS waiting list times have gone up, treatments have been delayed and fewer people have been contacting doctors due to the pandemic. Now the extent to which the pandemic has affected mental health referrals has emerged. Monthly referrals across the UK hit their highest point in two years, the latest data shows, and this comes with a warning from charities, which say the surge is set to continue. One woman, Katie Yelland, tried to take her own life after suffering post-natal depression. She says she relied on family support to get her through the first lockdown after services stopped. She had been receiving support and then the pandemic hit: "I was left for a good number of weeks, with no help, just getting worse and worse." Her case is one example and there is growing fear that a spike in urgent crisis referrals suggests people are entering the system more unwell than they would have been. The charity SANE warns the leap in referral numbers could be the beginning of a mental health surge as people who were discouraged from seeking help come forward. The government says it's committed to tackling mental health and plans to expand and transform services.

The plague has featured in many lessons and history books, but did you know there are still cases to this day? The most famous plague - the Black Death - swept through Europe in the 1300s, killing as much as half of the population. It still infects people in some rural areas of Africa, Asia and America. In 2017, an outbreak killed 171 people in Madagascar. So now UK scientists behind the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine are trialling a new jab to protect people from the bacterial disease. Antibiotics can be used to treat it, if given early, but many cases are found in remote areas so vaccination is seen as a new way of protecting lives. The trial, involving at least 40 healthy 18- to 55-year-olds, will run for at least a year.

A new scheme to resettle 20,000 Afghan refugees in the UK is splashed across many of the front pages this morning. As the turmoil in Afghanistan continues after the Taliban seized power, the Guardian says women, children and religious minorities will be prioritised under the UK resettlement plan. "Big-hearted Britain to take 20,000 refugees", headlines the Daily Express. However, the Daily Mirror says the pledge in which only 5,000 people will be resettled in the first year "just isn't enough". This scheme comes amid the Taliban saying "trust us", reports the i, which also claims Afghan residents are "in hiding as militia raid homes and arrest activists". Read the newspaper review in full here.

Have you heard of Nubya Garcia? You soon will. The British saxophonist is set to jazz up the BBC Proms when she performs at the Royal Albert Hall later. She’s been shortlisted for the Mercury Prize for her debut album, and now the composer can’t quite believe she’ll be playing on that stage. Take a look at her story.
Here's another kind of entertainment, where the seaside is the stage. Meet the young people who have learnt to juggle, stilt walk and perform magic and escapology for a project aimed at continuing the art of professional promenade performing.
And finally, like magic, the magnetic strip is about to disappear. Well for Mastercard anyway. The strips have been a familiar sight on debit and credit cards for decades, but Mastercard is phasing them out - with some strip-less ones being issued in just a few years’ time. Find out why and how payments will work.

From elsewhere