The United States, Britain and other allies promised Thursday not to abandon Afghanistan’s new government, and the country’s president said “peace is a top priority” as international security missions end and Taliban attacks surge.

Brad Pitt was bringing the London Film Festival to a storming conclusion Sunday.

Australian writer Richard Flanagan won the Booker Prize on Tuesday with a visceral book about wartime brutality and its aftermath — a novel the head of the judging team said was as powerful as a kick in the stomach.