Two Taliban fighters and a civilian were killed Wednesday by gunmen who attacked a checkpoint in eastern Afghanistan, security sources and witnesses said.
The attack in Jalalabad city is the latest on Taliban targets in Nangarhar province, which for years was the main operating base of the Islamic State group's Afghanistan chapter.
A security source and witnesses said unidentified gunmen in a rickshaw attacked a checkpoint in Ghawchak district of Jalalabad and killed two Taliban guards and a civilian bystander.
A Taliban official confirmed the attack, but said the dead were all civilians.
In another incident, local residents told AFP that two Taliban fighters were injured while trying to defuse an improvised explosive device in Jalalabad.
Further details were not immediately available.
Islamic State-Khorasan, the local branch of the jihadist group, claimed responsibility for several weekend attacks in Jalalabad that killed at least two people.
They were the first deadly blasts since the last US forces withdrew from Afghanistan on August 30.
IS-K also claimed responsibility for a bloody attack that killed more than 100 people at Kabul airport at the end of August.
Although both IS and the Taliban are hardline Sunni Islamist militant groups, they differ on the issues of religion and strategy, which has led to bloody fighting between the two.

A security source and witnesses said unidentified gunmen in a rickshaw attacked a checkpoint in Ghawchak district and killed two Taliban guards and a civilian bystander

A Taliban official confirmed the attack, but said the dead were all civilians

Two Taliban among three killed in Jalalabad attack

Germany’s foreign minister on Tuesday warned Iran that time is running out for diplomatic efforts to rescue the 2015 nuclear deal.

- I will meet with the Iranian foreign minister and once again make it very clear that we are running out of time - Heiko Maas said in New York ahead of his meeting with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
- We do not agree that the Iranian negotiating delegation will return to Vienna for negotiations in two, three months. It has to be done quickly now. This is not only our expectation, but also that of our French, British and American friends.-Maas reiterated that a nuclear agreement was still possible if Tehran returns swiftly to the dialogue table.
- We still believe that it is possible to lead these negotiations to a positive result, but not in months, but in the coming weeks - he added.
He was referring to an earlier statement by Amir-Abdollahian, who was quoted by Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB as saying that other parties in the talks understand that it would take “two or three months” for the new government to prepare for the talks.
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.
Negotiations in Vienna were suspended after the June election victory of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi.
In the talks, Iran demands that all Western sanctions be lifted, while the others seek to reinstate controls on Tehran’s nuclear program.​​​​​​​

Agreement still possible if Tehran returns swiftly to negotiation table, says German foreign minister

Time running out for nuclear deal, Germany warns Iran

Two Turkish-German scientists have won the most prestigious medicine award in Germany for their achievements in the use of mRNA for preventive and therapeutic purposes, the Scientific Council of the Paul Ehrlich Foundation announced Tuesday.

Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci, the second-generation Turkish immigrants who co-founded the German company BioNTech, were among the scientists to win the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2022.
Along with biochemist Katalin Kariko, Sahin and Tureci are being awarded "for their achievements in the development of messenger RNA (mRNA) for preventive and therapeutic purposes."
The prizes will be handed out next March in Frankfurt, said a foundation statement.
The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize is Germany’s most renowned medical award, endowed with €120,000, said the foundation's website.
Sahin and Tureci are a husband-and-wife team who surprised the world when they announced that the vaccine they developed together with US pharmaceutical company Pfizer was more than 90% effective at preventing COVID-19.
Theirs was the first vaccine released, faster than many had predicted, and it relied on cutting-edge mRNA technology that Sahin and Tureci had championed.

2nd-generation Turkish immigrants Ugur Sahin, Ozlem Tureci honored for rapid development of coronavirus vaccine

Turkish-German vaccine inventors awarded top German medicine prize

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raised the alarm on Tuesday as world leaders convened in New York for the 76th General Assembly, telling them to "wake up" in the face of cataclysmic challenges.

Speaking as the General Debate opened, Guterres said the international community is facing "the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetimes."
- We are on the edge of an abyss and moving in the wrong direction. Our world has never been more threatened or more divided - he said.&nbsp;-The COVID-19 pandemic has super-sized glaring inequalities. The climate crisis is pummeling the planet. Upheaval from Afghanistan to Ethiopia to Yemen and beyond has thwarted peace. A surge of mistrust and misinformation is polarizing people and paralyzing societies. Human rights are under fire, and science is under assault.-Guterres blasted searing inequity in vaccine access with the developed world mulling booster shots for its populations while many in developing regions are desperately searching for immunizations.
- This is a moral indictment at the state of our world. It is an obscenity. We passed the science test, but we are getting an F in ethics - he said.
The UN chief further warned that current national climate commitments will see emissions go up 60% by 2030, which he said would bring a "hellscape of temperature rises of at least 2.7 degrees above pre-industrial levels" as nations remain "light years away from reaching our targets."
- Instead of humility in the face of these epic challenges we see hubris. Instead of the path of solidarity, we are on a dead end to destruction - he said.
The stark warning comes after the UN issued a report last week that said the commitments established in the 2015 Paris climate accord, which are largely not being met, would lead to a 16% increase in emissions by 2030 compared to 2010 levels. A cut of 45% by 2030 is needed to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century, it added.
Guterres continued to warn of the dangers posed by ongoing great power competition between China and the US, saying he fears the world is heading toward "two different sets of economic, trade, financial and technological rules; two divergent approaches in the development of artificial intelligence, and ultimately, the risk of two different military and geopolitical strategies.”
- And this is a recipe for trouble. It would be far less predictable than the Cold War - he said.
Amid the potential global split, Guterres said the UN's powers remain too limited to address the globe's challenges and need to be updated to ensure it can adequately address them.
- Today’s multilateral system is too limited in its instruments and capacities in relation to what is needed for effective governance and managing global public goods. It is too fixed on the short-term - he said.

We are on the edge of an abyss and moving in the wrong direction, he warned  global leaders

Antonio Guterres: The world must wake up!

Tanzania’s imprisoned opposition leader has enlisted a renowned international lawyer to strengthen his legal team.

Freeman Mbowe, chairman of the Chadema party, was arrested in July and accused of involvement in terrorism and economic crimes, charges he vehemently denies and says are politically motivated.
Earlier this month, he filed an appeal with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention against his incarceration.
Robert Amsterdam, founding partner of Amsterdam &amp; Partners, will work closely with Mbowe’s local lawyers Peter Kibatala and John Mallya to issue filings before a variety of international bodies, the firm said in a statement on Monday.
- We condemn the brazenly criminal conduct of the regime of President Samia Suluhu Hassan with these politically motivated charges against Mbowe - read the statement.
- As we’ve already seen a judge recusal and direct comments by the president interfering in the case and tainting prospects of fair trial, it is abundantly clear to the international community that this is an authoritarian farce, not a judicial process.-Since taking office in March after the death of her predecessor John Magufuli, Hassan has brushed off allegations that the government is targeting Tanzania’s opposition due to its push for constitutional reforms in the country.
Gerson Msigwa, a government spokesperson, previously shot down claims of meddling in judicial processes as “abhorrent.”
However, Amsterdam asserted that Mbowe’s legal team “will ensure there are consequences for the Hassan regime for this egregious violation of Tanzania’s international commitments.”
They will also seek accountability of “all public servants who make themselves complicit in the government’s unlawful conduct,” the statement added.

Chadema party chief Freeman Mbowe was arrested in July, faces charges of terrorism, economic crimes

Freeman Mbowe, chairman of the Chadema party, was arrested in July and accused of involvement in terrorism and economic crimes, charges he vehemently denies and says are politically motivated

Tanzania’s jailed opposition leader hires international lawyer to bolster defense

President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party secured more than 49% of votes in parliamentary elections, the country’s election commission said on Monday.  

In a statement, Ella Pamfilova, head of the Central Electoral Commission, said that the voter turnout was 51.68%.
As 99.69% percent of votes have been counted until now, Pamfilova said, out of the 14 political parties, five of them passed the threshold to make it to the State Duma, the lower house of the parliament. 
Pamfilova described the election result as "an expansion of the political diversity," according to Russia's TASS news agency.

United Russia wins 49.85% of votes, says head of election commission

In a statement, Ella Pamfilova, head of the Central Electoral Commission, said that the voter turnout was 51.68%

Putin's party wins big majority in parliament polls

Japan on Tuesday decided to pick Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's successor at an extraordinary parliament session on Oct. 4, meaning a general election is likely to be held in November, Kyodo News reported.

- We need to nominate a next prime minister after the elections, so we will convene an extraordinary Diet session … this morning in the Cabinet meeting we have given an approval for that - Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news briefing in the capital Tokyo.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) holds its own election to pick Suga’s successor on Sept. 29. Whoever is elected is expected to be endorsed in the Diet.
Earlier this month, Suga said he will not run for re-election as party leader, signaling the end of his tenure. He was appointed to the role just a year ago following the resignation of Shinzo Abe.
The decision came amid his low approval ratings due to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic. The world’s third-largest economy has been badly hit, forcing the government to maintain liquidity in the markets by pushing in stimulus packages for businesses, and handing over cash to households.
Four lawmakers from the LDP are vying for leadership of the ruling party that holds majority in parliament. Vaccination Minister Taro Kono, former foreign minister Fumio Kishida, former Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi and LDP's Executive Acting Secretary General Seiko Noda are campaigning for the top post.

Special parliament session on Oct. 4 to pick successor, according to Cabinet decision

Japan to pick new premier early October

Somali National Security Advisor and former intelligence chief Fahad Yasin returned Tuesday to Somalia from Turkey aboard a private jet.

Yasin arrived in Mogadishu accompanied by his team from Turkey days after he was detained in Djibouti while en route Somalia.
He was traveling to Mogadishu to attend a National Security Council meeting last Friday, according to the presidency, when he was “unlawfully detained,”
Djibouti has denied claims that Yasin was detained by airport security.
Yasin’s detention threatened a diplomatic row between the two Horn of African countries, with Somalia warning that "such acts will not help strengthen ties between our governments.”
Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble sacked Yasin, the head of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) on Sept. 6, months after the mysterious killing of female intelligence operative Ikran Tahlil, who was killed in June.
The premier ordered the attorney general to investigate the killing.
But President Mohamad Farmaajo, however, asked Yasin to continue in his role and called the sacking "illegal."
Roble and Farmaajo locked horns concerning the hiring and firing with security agencies, triggering political instability as Somali struggles to hold long-delayed elections and fight rising extremism.​​​​​​​

Fahad Yasin was detained in Djibouti last week as he was headed to Mogadishu to attend National Security Council meeting

Yasin arrived in Mogadishu accompanied by his team from Turkey days after he was detained in Djibouti while en route Somalia

Former Somali intel chief returns to Mogadishu from Turkey

US President Joe Biden sought on Tuesday to rally the international community to meet the challenges of our time, telling world leaders "we cannot afford to waste any more time."

Biden spoke to a number of pressing challenges faced by the global order, from the coronavirus pandemic to the ravages of climate change, maintaining the US will "do our part" to meet them, but maintaining the world would be more "successful and more impactful if all nations are working toward the full mission to which we are called."
- As a global community we are challenged by urgent and looming crises where lie enormous opportunities if, if we can summon the will and resolve to seize these opportunities - he said during the 76th General Assembly.
The president also dashed authoritarian governments the world over, saying they are stifling the wills of their people and would ultimately fail to end the age of democratic governance.
- The future will belong to those who unleash the future of their people, not those who stifle it. The future will belong to those who give their people the ability to breathe free, not those who seek to suffocate their people with an iron hand - he said.
- The authoritarians of the world may seek to proclaim the end of the age of democracy, but they’re wrong. The truth is the democratic world is everywhere - he added.

US president urges world leaders to 'summon the will and resolve to seize' opportunities presented by crises

Biden seeks to rally international community: We cannot afford to waste any more time

Witness to two World Wars, 107-year-old sisters of Japan are the world’s oldest identical and oldest ever living twins, Guinness World Records has said in its latest survey.

In a statement released on Monday evening, Guinness World Records said that Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama “have been confirmed as the oldest identical twins living (female) and the oldest identical twins ever at 107 years and 300 days old as of Sept. 1 2021.”
The duo is currently living separately and they were handed over the official record certificates by care home staff.
Earlier, the record was held by another Japanese twin sisters Kin Narita and Gin Kanie who were 107 years and 175 days old. Narita died in 2000, and Kanie died a year later.
According to the records, Sumiyama and Kodama were born on Nov. 5 1913 on Shodo Island, Kagawa province of Japan, into a large family of 13 members.
- The twins are both sociable and positive and hardly worry about things. Apparently, Umeno is more strong-willed, while Koume is more gentle - the statement added.
Family records show the twins were living separately from a young age.
After her elementary school, Koume left the hometown island to help her uncle.
- Umeno married someone who lived on Shodo Island, while Koume married someone outside the island - the statement said.
During World War II, Umeno was forced to vacate her home as an air raid shelter was constructed in the mountain behind it. The war ended shortly afterward.

Umeno Sumiyama, Koume Kodama are 107 years and 300 days old as of Sept. 1, says Guinness World Records

Japanese sisters declared world's oldest living identical twins

Two Indian army pilots died after their chopper on Tuesday crash-landed in a dense forest area of Jammu and Kashmir region’s Udhampur district, officials said.
In a statement, the Indian army said the two pilots – a major and a captain – succumbed to their injuries after they crash-landed during a training sortie.
Earlier, a spokesman of the Indian army, Lt. Col. Devender Anand, said: “Today during a training sortie, an Indian army Cheetah Helicopter crash-landed in Shiv Garh Dhar area in Udhampur district. Two pilots have been grievously injured and evacuated to the hospital.”
Later the wreckage of the helicopter was found in the dense forest of the Shiv Garh Dhar area by the villagers and a rescue operation was launched.

Indian army says 2 pilots succumbed to injuries after they crash-landed in dense forest during training sortie

The wreckage of the helicopter was found in the dense forest of the Shiv Garh Dhar area

2 pilots dead as Indian army chopper crashes in Kashmir

The Palestinian prime minister on Monday called for a common stance of Palestinians and the international community against his Israeli counterpart's "no's".
Muhammad Shtayyeh used the "no's" in reference to Naftali Bennett’s refusal to talk to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume Israel-Palestinian negotiations, ignoring the two-state solution.
The Israeli “Prime Minister's no's, no contact with President (Mahmoud Abbas) Abu Mazen, no negotiations, and no Palestinian state, demonstrate that the program of this Israeli government is only to promote settlement and confiscate more land, further deprive our people of their natural resources, and bulldoze the geographical base of the State of Palestine,” Shtayyeh told the weekly session of the Council of Ministers in Ramallah, the center of the occupied West Bank.
He called for the "need of a serious stance" among all Palestinians and the international community, “especially from the countries that advocate and believe in the two-state solution" against the Israeli government’s position.
This is not the first time that Shtayyeh accuses Bennett of not intending to meet Abbas, citing the former’s continuation with illegal settlement plans.
According to Shtayyeh, Bennett seeks to continue with “the systematic destruction of the possibility of establishing the state of Palestine” which he said requires that Palestinians review their current approach.
The Palestinian prime minister also highlighted the recapture of six Palestinian prisoners who fled, saying the incident “reopens the prisoners' file."
On Sept. 6, six inmates tunneled out of the maximum-security Israeli Gilboa prison. Four of them were re-arrested on Sept. 10-11, while the last two were recaptured on late Saturday.
Peace talks between the Palestinian and Israeli sides collapsed in 2014 after Israel retracted from its decision to release the fourth batch of former prisoners, and for refusing to halt its settlement plans.
There are around 4,850 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including 41 women, 225 children, and 540 “administrative detainees,” according to observers.

Israeli prime minister has so far refused to talk to Abbas, resume negotiations, ignoring 2-state solution

Palestinian premier calls for standing against Bennett’s no's

The Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) urged the Taliban on Sunday to establish fair rule in Afghanistan.

IUMS said in a statement that its president, Ahmad al-Raysuni, and Secretary-General Ali al-Qaradagi received a delegation from the Taliban's political office in the Qatari capital Doha.
During the meeting, Al-Qaradagi called on the Taliban to establish a fair administration.
The Taliban took over Afghanistan in mid-August and have announced a 33-member interim government.

Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars receives delegation from Taliban's political office in Doha

IUMS said in a statement that its president, Ahmad al-Raysuni, and Secretary-General Ali al-Qaradagi received a delegation from the Taliban's political office in the Qatari capital Doha

Muslim union calls on Taliban to establish fair rule

The Kremlin on Monday said weekend parliamentary elections in Russia had been open, competitive and honest, after the opposition decried the vote as rigged.

- The competitiveness, openness and honesty of the elections were and are the most important thing for the president - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov acknowledged that the Communist Party -- who many Russians voted for to express dissatisfaction with the authorities -- improved its results in the election, calling it a sign of the competitiveness of the country's electoral system.
But he added: "At the same time we see that United Russia is the main preference of the voters."
- The party faced the task of reaffirming its leadership; this task was certainly fulfilled - Peskov added.
With 95 percent of votes counted by 10:00 GMT on Monday, United Russia was ahead with 49.6 percent of the vote followed by the Communist Party with 19.2 percent.
The ruling party's share of the vote was down from 54.2 percent in the last parliamentary election in 2016, while the Communists saw their support grow from 13.3 percent.
Allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said the vote was being falsified on a massive scale, pointing especially to repeated delays in releasing the results of electronic voting in opposition-friendly Moscow.
Peskov said he could not comment on electronic voting and referred all questions to the Central Election Commission.

With 95 percent of votes counted by 10:00 GMT on Monday, United Russia was ahead with 49.6 percent of the vote followed by the Communist Party with 19.2 percent

Allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said the vote was being falsified on a massive scale

Kremlin hails 'open and honest' parliamentary vote

Gunmen have killed a police inspector in southeast Nigeria, police said on Monday, the latest attack in the restive region where dozens of officers have died this year.

In the attack on Sunday, gunmen ambushed a police patrol in the commercial town of Onitsha in Anambra state and opened fire, state police spokesman Ikenga Tochukwu said in a statement.
- The attackers drove in a Sienna vehicle... and started shooting at the patrol vehicle along Ukegbu junction - he said.
- Unfortunately, during the exchange of gunfire, one police inspector paid the supreme price.-Other officers were wounded in the attack, he said.
No group has claimed responsibility for recent attacks, but police often blame the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a proscribed separatist group demanding an independent state for the ethnic Igbo people.
IPOB denies its armed wing, Eastern Security Network, is involved in the attacks, but separatist agitation is on the rise in southeast and southwest Nigeria.
Tochukwu said that "in a bid to escape the police responding team, the hoodlums set the patrol vehicle ablaze."
In nearby Enugu state, gunmen also attacked an electoral office and set parts of the building on fire.
Officials however said the blaze was put out before vital election materials and equipment could be damaged.
Dozens of police officers and other security personnel have been killed since the beginning of the year in targeted attacks in the southeast.
Prisons have also been raided with scores of inmates freed and weapons carted away.
IPOB's leader Nnamdi Kanu is in government custody since he was arrested abroad in June and brought back to Nigeria to face treason charges.
Separatist activism is especially sensitive in southeast Nigeria, where a declaration of an independent Republic of Biafra by Igbo army officers 50 years ago sparked a civil war that left more than one million people dead.&nbsp;

Other officers were wounded in the attack

No group has claimed responsibility for recent attacks

Gunmen kill police inspector in southeast Nigeria

The Philippines will reopen up to 120 schools for limited in-person classes for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in a pilot approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, officials said Monday.

While nearly every country in the world has already partially or fully reopened schools for face-to-face lessons, the Philippines has kept them closed since March 2020.
- We have to pilot face-to-face (classes) because this is not just an issue for education, it's an issue for the children's mental health - presidential spokesman Harry Roque told reporters.
- It's also an issue for the economy because we might lose a generation if we don't have face-to-face (classes).-Under guidelines approved by Duterte Monday, up to a hundred public schools in areas considered "minimal risk" for virus transmission will be allowed to take part in the two-month trial. 
Twenty private schools can also participate.
Classrooms will be open to children in kindergarten to grade three, and senior high school, but the number of students and hours spent in face-to-face lessons limited.
Schools wanting to take part will be assessed for their preparedness and need approval from local governments to reopen. Written consent from parents will be required.
- If the pilot class is safe, if it is effective, then we will gradually increase it - said Education Secretary Leonor Briones. 
Duterte rejected previous proposals for a pilot reopening of schools for fear children could catch Covid-19 and infect elderly relatives. 
But there have been growing calls from the UN's children fund and many teachers for a return to in-person learning amid concerns the prolonged closure was exacerbating an education crisis in the country.
It is not clear when the pilot will begin or which schools will be included. 
A "blended learning" programme, which involves online classes, printed materials and lessons broadcast on television and social media, will continue.
France Castro of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers told AFP the decision was "long overdue".
Fifteen-year-olds in the Philippines were at or near the bottom in reading, mathematics and science, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Most students attend public schools where large class sizes, outdated teaching methods, lack of investment in basic infrastructure such as toilets, and poverty have been blamed for youngsters lagging behind.&nbsp;

Under guidelines approved by Duterte Monday, up to a hundred public schools in areas considered "minimal risk" for virus transmission will be allowed to take part in the two-month trial

While nearly every country in the world has already partially or fully reopened schools for face-to-face lessons, the Philippines has kept them closed since March 2020.

Two Taliban among three killed in Jalalabad attack

Time running out for nuclear deal, Germany warns Iran

Turkish-German vaccine inventors awarded top German medicine prize

Antonio Guterres: The world must wake up!

Tanzania’s jailed opposition leader hires international lawyer to bolster defense

Putin's party wins big majority in parliament polls

Japan to pick new premier early October

Former Somali intel chief returns to Mogadishu from Turkey

Biden seeks to rally international community: We cannot afford to waste any more time

Japanese sisters declared world's oldest living identical twins

2 pilots dead as Indian army chopper crashes in Kashmir

Palestinian premier calls for standing against Bennett’s no's

Muslim union calls on Taliban to establish fair rule

Kremlin hails 'open and honest' parliamentary vote

Gunmen kill police inspector in southeast Nigeria

Philippines to reopen 120 schools for in-person classes

World

Two Taliban among three killed in Jalalabad attack

Time running out for nuclear deal, Germany warns Iran

Turkish-German vaccine inventors awarded top German medicine prize

Antonio Guterres: The world must wake up!

Tanzania’s jailed opposition leader hires international lawyer to bolster defense

Putin's party wins big majority in parliament polls

Japan to pick new premier early October

Former Somali intel chief returns to Mogadishu from Turkey

Biden seeks to rally international community: We cannot afford to waste any more time

Japanese sisters declared world's oldest living identical twins

2 pilots dead as Indian army chopper crashes in Kashmir

Palestinian premier calls for standing against Bennett’s no's

Muslim union calls on Taliban to establish fair rule

Kremlin hails 'open and honest' parliamentary vote

Gunmen kill police inspector in southeast Nigeria

Philippines to reopen 120 schools for in-person classes