BEIRUT (AP) — A Turkish company supplying electricity to Lebanon from two power barges off the coast of Beirut said Friday it has halted supplies after its contract with the Lebanese state electricity company expired. The move by the Turkish company, Karpowership, which has provided electricity for the past eight years, was expected. It had said earlier that Lebanon’s state power company owes Karpowership overdue payments in excess of $100 million. Lebanon is grappling with an economic meltdown that includes fuel and power shortages; blackouts last up to 22 hours a day. Lebanon hopes to improve production in the coming weeks with power supplies from Jordan and Egyptian natural gas supplies to one of its main power stations.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Hundreds of Iraqis marched in the center of Baghdad on Friday to mark two years since mass anti-government protests erupted in the Iraqi capital and southern provinces calling for reforms. Around 1,000 protesters took part in the event, including a significant number of women, many carrying photos of loved ones who were killed by security forces during the protests. Demonstrators, mostly young people, had camped out in the capital’s Tahrir Square for months, decrying endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment. The killings have created a climate of fear and widespread reluctance to take part in the voting, particularly among young Iraqis who constitute the largest group of voters in Iraq. Hundreds of riot police and federal policemen fanned out in Baghdad ahead of the planned march.

The Interior Ministry announced on Friday it has halted an attempt by the Muslim Brotherhood to resume its activities in Egypt undercover through two businessmen. “As part of the Ministry of Interior’s efforts to abort the Muslim Brotherhood’s terrorist plans aimed at compromising the security of the homeland and undermining its stability, the National Security Sector was able to halt a scheme aimed at reviving the organization by working to find sources of funding for its terrorist activities,” an official statement from the Ministry read. “Brotherhood member Yehia Mahran Othman Kamal Eddin played a prominent role in that scheme, being one of the main arms of the imprisoned Brotherhood leader Safwan Thabet. A secret room was found inside the apartment used as a safe to hide money up to US$8.4 million and some ammunition, the statement added. Measures were taken regarding the incident, and the Supreme State Security Prosecution continued its investigations.

Just 11 percent of Republicans approve of the president, which is similar to July. Close to 9 in 10 Democrats approve of Biden’s handling of the pandemic, compared with about 2 in 10 Republicans. Even among Democrats, only 54 percent say they approve of Biden’s handling of Afghanistan. Forty-six percent of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of national security, while 52 percent disapprove. Just 35 percent of Americans approve of Biden’s handling of immigration, down from 43 percent in April, when it was already one of Biden’s worst issues.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Drugmaker Merck said Friday that its experimental COVID-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus and that it would soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize its use. If cleared, the drug would be the first pill shown to treat COVID-19, a potentially major advance in efforts to fight the pandemic. There were no deaths in the drug group after that time period compared with eight deaths in the placebo group, according to Merck. That is typical when early results so clearly show a treatment works that there is no need for further testing before applying for authorization. Merck had planned to enroll more than 1,500 patients in its late-stage trial before the independent board stopped it early.

AFP - Erling Braut Haaland has ruled himself out of Borussia Dortmund's Bundesliga match against Augsburg on Saturday and is set to miss Norway's upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Norway play crucial qualifiers against Turkey next Friday and Montenegro on October 11 in their bid to reach the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. But it appears as though they will have to do without talisman Haaland, who scored five goals in three internationals in September. Haaland missed Dortmund's 1-0 Bundesliga defeat at Borussia Moenchengladbach last Saturday and Tuesday's Champions League home win against Sporting Lisbon by the same scoreline. Mahmoud Dahoud is suspended after being sent off at Gladbach, but is unavailable anyway with a knee injury.

The Russian airline Aeroflot started operating its first regular flights to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh airports on Friday, with one daily flight for each airport. The number of Russian flights are increasing and all seats on flights to Egyptian resorts are fully booked, navigational sources at Hurghada International Airport said. And tourist resorts in the cities of Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada and Marsa Alam witnessed a tourism boom and a rise in occupancy from incoming foreign tourism. Companies can now operate one flight per week to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh from 49 Russian cities, and 15 flights per week from Moscow to the Red Sea resort cities. The resumption of and increase in flights will contribute to boosting tourism in Egypt, as Russian tourism generated billions of dollars in revenue for the country.

TAIPEI, Oct 2 (Reuters) – Taiwan sharply criticized China on Saturday after Beijing marked the founding of the People’s Republic of China with the largest ever incursion by the Chinese air force into the island’s air defense zone. Taiwanese fighters scrambled against 38 Chinese aircraft in two waves on Friday, the Taiwan Defense Ministry said. It said Taiwan sent combat aircraft to warn away the Chinese aircraft, while missile systems were deployed to monitor them. The previous largest incursion happened in June, involving 28 Chinese air force aircraft. China has stepped up military and political pressure to try and force Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty.

Terry Butcher is well known for playing a World Cup qualifier in 1989 with his England shirt drenched in blood. David Cannon/Allsport(Reuters) - Former England defender Terry Butcher wants heading to be gradually phased out of the sport to reduce the risk of brain trauma and neurodegenerative diseases. With several former players, especially from England’s World Cup-winning team of 1966, being diagnosed with dementia, Butcher said he eventually wanted to see no heading in football. “I think it’s something that we can do without and then it would rule out the trauma of heading a football, particularly at pace. You’ve got to get some brain trauma in there because your brain is going to rattle against your skull.

Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population on Thursday reported 741 new coronavirus cases, 37 deaths, and 419 recoveries. A total of 304,524 cases have been disclosed in Egypt, alongside 17,331 deaths and 256,886 recoveries. Moreover, the Health Ministry has stated that official figures likely only represent 10 percent of actual cases. Egypt is set to receive 5.2 million doses of the Moderna and Pfizer coronavirus vaccines in September, Zayed announced. Additionally, presidential health advisor Mohamed Awad Tag al-Din said in September that Egypt will be receiving 25 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot Janssen vaccine over the next four months.

The Chargé d’Affairs of the US Ambassador to Cairo Nicole Shampaine and Egypt’s Assistant Minister of Health Mohamed Hassany, welcomed the arrival of the first shipment of 1.6 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccine of doses to Cairo, the first shipment of several to come. “I am delighted to welcome this vaccine shipment, a direct donation of 1.6 million doses of Pfizer from the people of the United States to the people of Egypt. At the outset of the pandemic, Egypt sent medical supplies to the United States. In August of 2020, the United States sent 250 ventilators to Egypt. Thursday’s shipment follows on the heels of nearly 4.7 million doses of coronavirus vaccine donated by the US and partner countries to Egypt through the COVAX initiative, bringing the total donations so far to more than six million doses.

Israel began administering boosters to risk groups in July and by the end of August expanded its campaign to include anyone above the age of 12, five months or more after a second dose. In data published late on Thursday, the Health Ministry reported nine cases of myocarditis within four age groups that comprised more than 1.5 million people who had received a booster shot. All were male, three were between the ages of 16 and 29 and six were in the 30-59 group. Most myocarditis cases are generally mild, the ministry said. They have urged the government to take more steps to rein in infections, such as limiting large crowds, and not to rely on boosters alone.

“This is anti-feminist.”For all of its modernity, military firepower and high-tech know-how, Israel has for decades been unable to keep images of women from being defaced in some public spaces. There is a difference, one expert cautioned, between the more pragmatic mainstream ultra-Orthodox Judaism and the vandals defacing photos of women. The idea is to sell images of women that are acceptable to an Orthodox audience and better understood by people in general. The municipality said the Parnass photos have been restored and it has increased patrols around City Hall. Parnass’ niece, Keren-Or Peled, who lives in Israel, says Parnass has been told what happened.

The first World Fair held in the United States in 1876 debuted Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, the typewriter, a mechanical calculator and Heinz Ketchup. To enter the expo site, visitors will need to show a negative PCR test or proof of COVID-19 vaccination. So what is a World Fair in this not-quite-post-pandemic year of 2021? Some World Fair structures remain iconic markers of the human journey and our industrial evolution. The Space Needle in Seattle, Washington, built for the 1962 World Fair, is another structure with continued prominence and allure.

OSLO, Oct 1 (Reuters) – The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced just three weeks before world leaders gather for a climate summit that scientists say could determine the future of the planet, one reason why prize watchers say this could be the year of Greta Thunberg. With the COP26 climate summit set for the start of November in Scotland, that issue could be global warming. While parliamentarians from any country can nominate candidates for the prize, in recent years the winner has tended to be a nominee proposed by lawmakers from Norway, whose parliament appoints the prize committee. But other documents, including this year’s full list of 329 nominees, are kept behind an alarmed door protected by several locks at the Norwegian Nobel Institute, to be made public in 50 years. It would take another 41 years for Monnet’s creation, the EU, to finally win the prize in 2012.