The war-battered country has yet to register a single confirmed case of the Covid-19 virus, and would likely struggle to contain its spread if it did.

Nakamura had worked in the country for more than three decades, helping secure clean water and irrigate arid land by building canals.

Amid the spectre of suicide bombings and raging combat, Afghans are cheering on their internationally competitive cricket and futsal teams – and the promise of a career in sports is also a rare beacon of hope.

Before 2001, the fundamentalist Islamic movement ruled Afghanistan with a brutal interpretation of sharia law. Now that peace could bring the group back into the political fold, young adults dread what that might mean

Breshna started working at age six to support herself after her parents died, but Dr Wee Teck Young’s non-profit organisation in Kabul has given her – and many others like her – respite, food and a future