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BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) – When Russian regulators approved the country’s coronavirus vaccine, it was a moment of national pride, and the Pavlov family were among those rushing to get the injection. But international health authorities have not yet given their blessing to the Sputnik V coup. So when the family from Rostov-on-Don wanted to visit the West, they looked for a vaccine that would allow them to travel freely – a quest that brought them to Serbia, where hundreds of Russian citizens have flocked in recent weeks to receive approved COVID-19 shots. Serbia, which is not a member of the European Union, is a practical choice for Russians seeking vaccines because they can enter the allied Balkan nation visa-free and because it offers a wide choice of vaccines. Western-made.
ISLAMABAD (AP) – Senior Taliban officials and U.S. officials are to meet on Saturday and Sunday to contain extremist groups in Afghanistan and facilitate the evacuation of foreign citizens and Afghans from the country, officials on both sides said. This is the first such meeting since the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in late August, ending a 20-year military presence there and the rise to power of the Taliban in the country. The talks are due to take place in Doha, the capital of the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. Doha-based Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told The Associated Press on Saturday that the talks will also review the peace deal the Taliban signed with Washington in 2020.
BAGHDAD (AP) – Sunday’s Iraqi elections present enormous challenges: the Iraqi economy has been hit by years of conflict, rampant corruption and, most recently, the coronavirus pandemic. State institutions are failing, the country’s infrastructure is collapsing. Powerful paramilitary groups increasingly threaten state authority, and hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced after years of war against ISIS. While few Iraqis expect a significant change in their daily lives, the parliamentary elections will shape the direction of Iraq’s foreign policy at a key time in the Middle East, including as Iraq serves mediator between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.
PARIS (AP) – The French ambassador to Australia has said Australian officials lied to his face and increased the risk of confrontation in Asia by reaching a secret submarine deal with the United States and Great Britain. Brittany which undermined confidence in democratic alliances. France is determined to protect its interests in the Indo-Pacific region and to put “muscle” in Europe’s geopolitical strategy towards an increasingly assertive China, Ambassador Jean-Pierre Thebault said on Friday. He spoke in an interview with The Associated Press before returning to his post in Canberra. “The way you treat your allies resonates in the region,” Thebault said in a gilded chamber inside the French Foreign Ministry, located on the banks of the Seine in Paris.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – On Friday night, a federal appeals court quickly allowed Texas to resume the ban on most abortions, just a day after clinics began running to serve patients again for the first time since early September. A one-page order from the U.S. 5th Court of Appeals restored the country’s strictest abortion law, which bans abortions once heart activity is detected, typically around six weeks. There are no exceptions for rape or incest. “The patients are thrown back into a state of chaos and fear,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents several clinics in Texas that have briefly resumed normal abortion services.
The number of Americans receiving COVID-19 vaccines has steadily increased to a three-month high as seniors and those with health concerns seek reminders, and government and employer mandates push more workers to take their first doses. Demand is expected to increase in a few weeks if regulators allow the Pfizer vaccine for elementary school children, and some states early reopen mass immunization clinics. In Missouri, a mass vaccination site in a former Toys R Us store is scheduled to open on Monday. Virginia plans to deploy nine major vaccination centers over the next few weeks, including one at the Richmond International Raceway.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday he would no longer help Democrats expand government borrowing power, raising further doubts about how Congress will avoid default federal when a temporary fix expires in December. McConnell issued his warning in a letter to President Joe Biden a day after the Senate approved a $ 480 billion increase in the federal debt limit, enough to last about two months. In an eleventh-hour turnaround, the Kentucky Republican was among 11 GOP senators who gave decisive support on Thursday for a procedural decision that opened the door for the Senate to pass the measure later with only the support from the Democrats.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration will try to persuade the Supreme Court this week to reinstate the death penalty for convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, arguing that a jury did not need to consider evidence that the government itself relied on at an earlier stage. of the case. Tsarnaev’s guilt in the deaths of three people in the shocking attack near the marathon finish line in 2013 is not at issue in the case the judges will hear on Wednesday – just whether he should be sentenced to imprisonment for life or death. The court is also unlikely to reflect on aggressively pursuing the administration of a death sentence for Tsarnaev even as it halted federal executions and President Joe Biden called for an end to the sentence. federal death.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House said on Friday that President Joe Biden would not block the delivery of documents requested by a House committee investigating the January 6 insurgency on Capitol Hill, staging a confrontation with the former president Donald Trump, who wants to protect these White House files from investigators. White House attorney Dana Remus’ letter to the US Archivist comes at the start of a potentially lengthy legal battle over the investigation. Trump, who told his supporters to “fight like hell” on the morning of the insurgency and defended the rioters who beat police and stormed into the Capitol, is trying to prevent Congress from knowing more.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – An Islamic State suicide bomber struck a mosque full of Shia Muslim worshipers in northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 46 people and injuring dozens in the latest security challenge against the Taliban as they move from insurgency to governance. In its claim of responsibility, the region’s ISIS affiliate identified the suicide bomber as a Uyghur Muslim, saying the attack targeted both the Shiites and the Taliban for their alleged desire to expel Uyghurs in response. at the requests of China. The statement was relayed by the Aamaq news agency, linked to ISIS. The explosion ravaged a crowded mosque in the town of Kunduz during Friday noon prayers, the highlight of Muslim religious week.
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