The Taliban on Sunday seized the last major city outside of Kabul held by the country's increasingly isolated central government, cutting off the capital to the east and tightening their grip on the nation as tens of thousands fled their rapid advance.

Port-Au-Prince (Haiti), Aug 15 (AP): A powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southwestern Haiti on Saturday, killing at least 304 people and injuring at least 1,800 others as buildings tumbled into rubble. Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was rushing aid to areas where towns were destroyed and hospitals overwhelmed with incoming patients.

Port-au-Prince, Aug 14: A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Haiti on Saturday, with the epicenter 12 kilometers northeast of Saint-Louis du Sud, the US Geological Survey said.

The Taliban seized a province just south of Afghanistan's capital and launched a multi-pronged assault early Saturday on a major city in the north defended by powerful former warlords, Afghan officials said.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says he will not give up the achievements of the last 20 years and that consultations are underway.

Voicing concern that Afghanistan is spinning out of control , UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the Taliban to immediately halt the offensive and asserted that seizing power through military force is a "losing proposition" and can only lead to prolonged civil war and the complete isolation of the war-torn nation.

 An influential US lawmaker from New York on Friday reintroduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives to posthumously award the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal to Mahatma Gandhi in recognition of his promotion of peace and nonviolence.

Kabul: The Taliban completed their sweep of the country's south on Friday as they took four more provincial capitals in a lightning offensive that is gradually encircling Kabul, just weeks before the US is set to officially end its two-decade war.