Militants shot dead five soldiers in a gunfight in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

Four soldiers and a junior commissioned officer were “critically injured during an anti-terror operation” in the district of Poonch, according to Indian army spokesman Lt. Col. Devender Anand.
-They were rushed to the nearest medical facility where they succumbed to their injuries - he said.
The shoot-out took place during a search operation in villages near the area of Surankote in Poonch.
- The operation is ongoing and reinforcements have been called in - the spokesman said.
According to police, two militants were also killed in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday – one in the southern Anantnag district and the other in Bandipora district in the north.
Official records show 113 militants have been killed in the disputed Himalayan region this year, with the highest fatalities recorded in the month of July.
Unrest has peaked in Kashmir over recent days, particularly with a spike in attacks on religious minorities, including Sikhs and Hindus.
At least seven civilians have been killed in targeted attacks over the past two weeks, including two teachers and a popular pharmacist from the Sikh and Hindu communities.
The killings have been claimed by a group that calls itself The Resistance Front, which Indian police officials believe is an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The group has accused those it targeted of working for “occupier mercenary forces and occupier stooges.”
According to police statement issued last week, 28 civilians have been killed in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir this year, out of which 21 were Muslims, five were from the local Hindu and Sikh communities, and two were “non-local Hindu laborers.”
Varying reports suggest Indian police and military have picked up somewhere between 500 to 900 people in recent days as part of efforts to track down the perpetrators behind the spate of killings.
Police officials have refused to divulge the exact number, but maintain that “only people with possible links to militants or those involved in subversive activities” are being detained.

Deadly shoot-out between militants, Indian forces comes amid spate of violence in disputed Himalayan region

The shoot-out took place during a search operation in villages near the area of Surankote in Poonch

5 Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir gunfight

Tunisia’s new Cabinet was sworn in on Monday, two weeks after Najla Bouden was appointed the country’s first female prime minister.

The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Presidential Palace of Carthage.
On Sep. 29, President Kais Saied appointed Bouden as the country’s new prime minister, two months after assuming executive authority.
In an earlier Facebook posting, the presidency said that Saied had approved the new government selected by Bouden.
Eight out of the new government's 23 ministerial portfolios were given to women, according to the same source.
The lineup saw Tawfiq Sharafeddine, the former coordinator of Saied’s presidential election campaign in Sousse, returning to his post as interior minister after he was dismissed by former Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi on Jan. 5.
Mechichi did not reveal the reasons for dismissing Sharafeddine at the time, but media reports suggested that he was sacked for removing a number of ministry officials from their positions without consulting the premier.
The new Cabinet also saw the creation of a ministerial portfolio of employment and vocational training.
In a televised speech following the government formation, Bouden said her government is committed to “improving services and citizens' living conditions” and restoring the international community's confidence in the North African country.
On July 25, Saied ousted the government, suspended parliament, and assumed executive authority. While he insists that his "exceptional measures" are meant to "save" the country, critics accuse him of orchestrating a coup.
Tunisia has been seen as the only country that succeeded in carrying out a democratic transition among Arab countries which witnessed popular revolutions toppling ruling regimes, including Egypt, Libya, and Yemen.

Najla Bouden named country’s first female prime minister in late September

The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Presidential Palace of Carthage

New Tunisian government sworn in

Pope Francis met Sunday with a Colombian nun who was freed the previous day by militants in Mali after more than four years in captivity, the Vatican said.

Gloria Cecilia Narvaez was kidnapped on Feb. 7, 2017 in southern Mali near the border with Burkina Faso while doing missionary work by the Macina Liberation Front, an al-Qaeda-linked group.
After travelling to Rome, Narvaez met the Pope, said the Vatican, a day after she met with Mali’s interim President Assimi Goita.
Her meeting with Pope Francis took place before the celebration of a holy mass for the beginning of the synodal process at St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said.
The 59-year-old Franciscan nun said she was grateful to Malian authorities for all the efforts towards liberating her.
- I am very happy. I stayed healthy for five years, thank God - she said.
In a statement Saturday, Mali’s presidency saluted the courage and bravery of the nun, saying her liberation was a culmination of four years and eight months of combined efforts by several intelligence services.
It was not immediately clear whether Narvaez was freed following a ransom payment.
The Archbishop of Bamako, Jean Zerbo, also thanked Malian authorities and other “good people who made her release possible.”
- We have prayed long and hard for this day - he said.
Regular reports on the nun’s safety provided reassurance as two Europeans who escaped from captivity earlier this year reported that Sister Gloria was still alive. In March, her brother reportedly received a letter written and signed by her through the Red Cross.
Mali has been battling an insurgency linked to the al-Qaeda and Daesh/ISIS terrorist groups since 2012, when unrest erupted in the north of the West African country.
The violence, which has killed thousands of civilians and troops, has spread to neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso.
On Saturday, Goita reassured the Malian people and the international community that “efforts are still underway to secure the release of all persons, Malians and foreigners, held captive on Malian territory.”

Gloria Cecilia Narvaez was kidnapped on Feb. 7, 2017  by the Macina Liberation Front, an al-Qaeda-linked group

Pope Francis meets with Colombian nun freed in Mali

Three US-based economists jointly won the 2021 Nobel Prize in economics for their contributions to labor economics and analysis of causal relationships, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Monday.

The award – the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel – went to American economist David Card "for his empirical contributions to labour economics," and US economist Joshua D. Angrist and Dutch-born American economist Guido W. Imbens "for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships."
Last year, the prize in economic sciences was jointly awarded to US economists Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson “for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats.”

This year’s Nobel Prizes have been awarded to a total of 13 people, including David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian in physiology or medicine; Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, and Giorgio Parisi in physics; Benjamin List and David MacMillan in chemistry; Abdulrazak Gurnah in literature; and Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov in peace.

Sweden’s central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, established the prize in economic sciences in memory of Sir Alfred Nobel in 1968.
Alfred Nobel was a Swedish scientists specialized particularly in the fields of chemistry and engineering, and he is most famously known for the inventing the dynamite.
Before his death in 1896, Nobel bequeathed all of his "remaining realisable assets" to be used to establish five prizes which became known as "Nobel Prizes" in his last will and testament he signed on Nov. 27, 1895, be endowed “to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.”
The Nobel Prize, generally widely regarded as the most prestigious award in the fields, was first awarded in 1901.

David Card, Joshua D. Angrist, Guido W. Imbens deemed worthy of prize for contributions to labor economics, analysis of causal relationships

The Nobel Prize, generally widely regarded as the most prestigious award in the fields, was first awarded in 1901.

Nobel Prize in economics goes to 3 US-based economists

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss the stalemate in the Middle East peace process during her visit to Israel over the weekend, her spokesman said Friday.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Steffen Seibert said: “The subject of Palestine, the subject of the peace process, the subject of the negotiated two-state solution, of which, however, nothing is to be seen at the moment, that always travels with us because it is one of the important subjects alongside bilateral relations.”
Seibert added: “This means that the chancellor will also express her conviction on this subject in talks with the Israeli interlocutors.”
Merkel is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, President Isaac Herzog, and Foreign Minister Jair Lapid for talks in Jerusalem on Sunday. The German leader will also meet with the Israeli cabinet members during her Oct. 9-11 visit.
The chancellor is also scheduled to lay a wreath in the presence of Bennett at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.
At a ceremony in Jerusalem, Merkel will be awarded an honorary doctorate by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.
According to the program, Merkel will also join a roundtable with representatives of the Institute for National Security Studies from Tel Aviv on Monday.
Meanwhile, Seibert reiterated the chancellor would not visit the Palestinian-run territories when she will be in Israel. The chancellor's last visit to the West Bank was in 2006.
Sworn in in mid-June, the new Israeli coalition government is supported by a total of eight parties from the right to the left, including an Arab party for the first time. This marked the end of the era of long-term right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had been in office without a break since 2009.

Subject of Palestine, negotiated 2-state solution will be discussed with Israeli leadership, says German official

Merkel to discuss stalled Mideast peace process during visit to Israel

Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to move forward with negotiations on a post-war peace agreement between the two countries. 

Speaking to the press after his first phone call with Putin since assuming office, Kishida said they discussed bilateral and regional developments.
Noting that he and Putin agreed to continue talks on reaching a peace agreement between the two countries for the first time since World War II, Kishida said he would strive to resolve the problem of the status of four Russian-controlled islands located in the Kuril region northeast of Hokkaido.
Expressing his desire to improve relations between Japan and Russia, he quoted Putin as saying that he is willing to continue dialogue on many fields.
Kishida added that he also congratulated the Russian president on his birthday, which fell on Thursday.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry also quoted Putin as saying during the 25-minute meeting that he wanted to meet face-to-face with Kishida as soon as possible.
Noting that Kishida is a former foreign minister, Putin was quoted by a ministry official as saying that “I am looking forward to working with Prime Minister Kishida, who knows bilateral relations well,” Kyodo reported.
While the two leaders also discussed North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs, it was noted that Kishida also requested Russia's help in solving the problem of Pyongyang’s abductions of Japanese citizens.

Leaders of 2 countries discuss bilateral, regional developments in 1st phone call after Japanese premier takes office

Japan, Russia to continue talks on peace treaty

Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for their 'courageous fight for freedom of expression' in the Philippines and Russia, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Friday.

- Nobel Prize laureate Maria Ressa uses freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence and growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines," the committee said in a statement, adding: "As a journalist and the Rappler’s CEO, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa has shown herself to be a fearless defender of freedom of expression.-Ressa in 2012 co-founded the Rappler, a digital media company for investigative journalism in the Philippines.
On Russian laureate Dmitry Muratov, the committee said he has for decades "defended freedom of speech in Russia under increasingly challenging conditions."
Muratov was one of the founders of the Novaja Gazeta in 1993, a daily known for its critical stance for Russia's political and social affairs.
- Despite the killings and threats, editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov has refused to abandon the newspaper’s independent policy. He has consistently defended the rights of journalists - the committee noted.
Muratov will transfer part of the Nobel Prize to the Circle of Kindness Foundation, which helps children with serious and rare diseases in Russia, Novaja Gazeta announced on Twitter.
In a conversation with Rappler after the committee's announcement, Ressa said: "The Nobel Peace Prize committee realized that a world without facts means a world without truths and trust."
- And if you don't have any of these, you certainly can't conquer coronavirus, climate change - she added.
Adding that the Philippines government has filed 10 arrest warrants against her in less than two years, she stressed the need to continue shining the light. "We need to continue doing accountability journalism," she said.
The Nobel Peace Prize is worth 10 million Swedish krona ($1.1 million).
It was in 1935 that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a journalist, Carl von Ossietzky of Germany, for his efforts to reveal the clandestine German re-armament.
Last year's Nobel Peace Prize had gone to the UN World Food Program for its efforts to combat hunger.
The previous year, it was awarded to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for "efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation and for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea."
Previous winners of the award include South Africa's first Black President Nelson Mandela (1993), former US presidents Jimmy Carter (2002) and Barack Obama (2009), as well as activist Malala Yousafzai (2014), the EU (2012), the UN and its then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan (2001).

2 journalists win prestigious award for their 'courageous fight for freedom of expression' in Philippines, Russia, says Nobel Committee

The Nobel Peace Prize is worth 10 million Swedish krona

Nobel Peace Prize awarded to journalists Maria Ressa, Dmitry Muratov

Little Amal, a giant puppet representing a Syrian refugee girl, arrived in Brussels on Thursday as part of an 8,000-kilometer (4,970-mile) journey across Europe to raise awareness about the plight of millions of young refugees.

Little Amal delivered a mountain of letters to the European Parliament in the Belgian capital, all drawing attention to the difficulties experienced by uprooted refugee children.
Her journey – a project titled The Walk – started from Gaziantep in southeast Turkey in late July and culminates in the northern English city of Manchester in early November, following stops in Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium.
The project is led by Good Chance, a UK-based theater and art company, and supported by Turkey’s Association of Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants and the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts.

Giant puppet depicting Syrian refugee girl will end cross-Europe journey in Manchester in early November

Little Amal, symbol of child refugees, reaches Brussels

The presidents of Turkey and Russia on Thursday held a phone call to discuss bilateral ties and regional issues, according to the Turkish Communications Directorate.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin also exchanged views on regional developments, it added in a statement.
During the phone call, Erdogan also congratulated Putin on his 69th birthday.

Turkish president discusses bilateral ties, regional issues with Russian counterpart

Turkish, Russian leaders discuss regional issues over phone

Ash spewing from the La Cumbre volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma forced the local airport to close Thursday.

After Binter and Canaryfly airlines announced they were canceling flights to the island, Spain’s national airport operator, Aena, confirmed that the airport would completely shut down due to accumulating ash.
It is the second time that the Cumbre Vieja volcano has made the La Palma airport inoperable since the eruption began 19 days ago.
By early Thursday, the volcano was spewing ash 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) into the air and the wind was pushing it toward the airport, according to Spain’s Department of National Security.
Earlier this week, scientists in Cuba said gases and ash from the volcano have crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, on La Palma, seismic activity and emissions continue, but destruction has been relatively limited in recent days.
That is because rivers of lava are now flowing through tubes formed by hardened lava, which transport the molten lava quickly to the sea without destroying more land.
The accumulated lava in the sea has created a 38-hectare (94-acre) delta.
Since the eruption, lava has wiped out 422 hectares (1043 acres) of land, including hundreds of homes, banana plantations, wineries and other businesses.
Around 6,000 people have evacuated their homes and experts cannot predict when eruptions will end.

Active volcano spewing ash 9,842 feet high but destruction from lava remains stable

It is the second time that the Cumbre Vieja volcano has made the La Palma airport inoperable since the eruption began 19 days ago

Volcanic ash forces closure of Spain’s La Palma airport

The UN on Wednesday welcomed Turkey's ratification of the Paris Climate Agreement in a move that will contribute to global efforts against climate change. 

- It's essential that all countries continue to boost ambition, and the Secretary-General has been clear that G20 countries must lead the way - Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, told Anadolu Agency.
Dujarric's remarks were made shortly after all political parties in the Turkish parliament voted “Yes” to the agreement.
Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change reached an agreement Dec. 12, 2015, to fight climate change and achieve a sustainable low-carbon future at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris.
The Paris Agreement, defined as "a bridge between today's policies and climate-neutrality before the end of the 21st century," seeks to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by stopping global average temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels over the next century and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius, if possible.

'It's essential that all countries continue to boost ambition,' says UN spokesman

Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change reached an agreement Dec. 12, 2015, to fight climate change and achieve a sustainable low-carbon future at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris

UN welcomes Turkey's ratification of Paris Agreement

Turkish police have detained a wanted terrorist of the Daesh terror group, also known as ISIS, in an operation in the capital Ankara, according to a security source on Thursday.

After receiving information that the Russian national entered Turkey illegally from Syria, anti-terror police conducted an operation to capture the terrorist.
The security forces in Ankara raided the address of the terrorist, who was also sought by Interpol on a red notice, on Thursday morning.
Digital materials, $4,800, some 8,000 Russian rubles ($111), and 16,800 Turkish liras ($1,894) were seized during the raid.
Sources also said the Daesh/ISIS terrorist was found to possess a fake Syrian ID.
Separately, Turkish police in the central Nigde province conducted an operation to capture a Syrian-national al-Qaeda terror suspect.
The police raided an address in Nigde's Bor district and arrested the terror suspect, identified only by the initials H.E.
Turkey was one of the first countries to declare Daesh/ISIS as a terror group.
The country has since been attacked by Daesh/ISIS terrorists multiple times. The terror group has carried out at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks, and four armed attacks, killing 315 people and injuring hundreds more.
In response, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.

Russian national Daesh/ISIS terrorist entered Turkey illegally from Syria, say security sources

Digital materials, $4,800, some 8,000 Russian rubles ($111), and 16,800 Turkish liras ($1,894) were seized during the raid

Turkish police arrest Daesh/ISIS terrorist wanted by Interpol

Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel Committee for Literature at the Swedish Academy announced on Thursday.

The Tanzanian novelist, who, as a young man, had arrived in the UK as a refugee, was awarded the prize "for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents," the committee said.
Gurnah was born in 1948 in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and arrived in the UK at the end of the 1960s.
He has published ten novels and several short stories, while the theme of the refugee's plight and disruption runs throughout his work.

Gurnah awarded 2021 Nobel Prize for 'uncompromising, compassionate penetration of effects of colonialism,' says committee

Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature

Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah wins Nobel Prize in Literature

NATO canceled the accreditation of eight members of the Russian mission on Wednesday, saying they were "undeclared Russian intelligence officers." 

A NATO official said the alliance reduced the number of positions Russia can accredit from 20 to 10.
Noting that NATO's policy to Russia remains consistent, the official said: "We have strengthened our deterrence and defense in response to Russia's aggressive actions, while at the same time we remain open for a meaningful dialogue."
According to Russian news agency Interfax, Leonid Slutsky, head of the Russian lower house of parliament's international affairs committee, said: "Moscow would retaliate."
Relations between NATO and Russia have been strained, especially after the country’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny last year.
NATO canceled the accreditation of seven Russian officials in 2018 for the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.

"Moscow would retaliate", Russian official says

A NATO official said the alliance reduced the number of positions Russia can accredit from 20 to 10

NATO expels 8 "undeclared intelligence officers" from Russian mission

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone call on Wednesday.

The conversation was initiated by the US, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its official website.
- The counterparts exchanged views on the prospects for restoring the full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for the settlement of the Iranian Nuclear Program (JCPOA), and also discussed a number of topical issues on the bilateral agenda - it said.
The conversation took place ahead of Lavrov's meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who arrived in Moscow earlier on Wednesday for talks with his Russian counterpart.
Delegations from the JCPOA's signatories, the UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China launched efforts in April to bring Tehran and Washington, which abandoned the deal in 2018, back into its fold.
After the June 18 election victory of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, these negotiations in Vienna were suspended.
In the talks, Iran demands that all Western sanctions be lifted, while its interlocutors seek to reinstate controls on its nuclear program.

Lavrov, Blinken discuss Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on phone as Iranian foreign minister arrives in Moscow

Lavrov, Blinken discuss Iran nuclear deal

At least 17 bodies of undocumented migrants have washed ashore in Libya, the Libyan Red Crescent said on Wednesday.

The Red Crescent said in a statement that the bodies were found near the coastal city of Zawiya and were handed over to local authorities for burial.
- More than 1,100 migrants have died or are presumed to have died in numerous boat accidents and shipwrecks off Libya this year - the statement said.
Libya has been in turmoil since 2011 when a popular uprising toppled strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
The war-torn country has become a crucial departure point for irregular migrants trying to get to Europe to flee poverty and conflicts within their home countries.

Libya has become crucial departure point for irregular migrants trying to get to Europe

Libya has been in turmoil since 2011 when a popular uprising toppled strongman Muammar Gaddafi

5 Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir gunfight

New Tunisian government sworn in

Pope Francis meets with Colombian nun freed in Mali

Nobel Prize in economics goes to 3 US-based economists

Merkel to discuss stalled Mideast peace process during visit to Israel

Japan, Russia to continue talks on peace treaty

Nobel Peace Prize awarded to journalists Maria Ressa, Dmitry Muratov

Little Amal, symbol of child refugees, reaches Brussels

Turkish, Russian leaders discuss regional issues over phone

Volcanic ash forces closure of Spain’s La Palma airport

UN welcomes Turkey's ratification of Paris Agreement

Turkish police arrest Daesh/ISIS terrorist wanted by Interpol

Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah wins Nobel Prize in Literature

NATO expels 8 "undeclared intelligence officers" from Russian mission

Lavrov, Blinken discuss Iran nuclear deal

Libya says bodies of 17 migrants washed ashore

World

5 Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir gunfight

New Tunisian government sworn in

Pope Francis meets with Colombian nun freed in Mali

Nobel Prize in economics goes to 3 US-based economists

Merkel to discuss stalled Mideast peace process during visit to Israel

Japan, Russia to continue talks on peace treaty

Nobel Peace Prize awarded to journalists Maria Ressa, Dmitry Muratov

Little Amal, symbol of child refugees, reaches Brussels

Turkish, Russian leaders discuss regional issues over phone

Volcanic ash forces closure of Spain’s La Palma airport

UN welcomes Turkey's ratification of Paris Agreement

Turkish police arrest Daesh/ISIS terrorist wanted by Interpol

Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah wins Nobel Prize in Literature

NATO expels 8 "undeclared intelligence officers" from Russian mission

Lavrov, Blinken discuss Iran nuclear deal

Libya says bodies of 17 migrants washed ashore