A series of kidnappings and targeted assassinations that killed more than 35 people has further discouraged many from taking part. Iraq’s President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi urged Iraqis to vote in large numbers. The 2018 elections saw just 44% of eligible voters cast their ballots, a record low, and the results were widely contested. In a tea shop in Karradah, one of the few open, candidate Reem Abdulhadi walked in to ask whether people had cast their vote. In the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq’s influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr cast his ballot, swarmed by local journalists.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Abdul Qadeer Khan, a controversial figure known as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, died Sunday of COVID-19 following a lengthy illness, his family said. Both are declared nuclear weapons states after they conducted tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests in 1998. For 10 years during the Soviet occupation of neighboring Afghanistan, successive U.S. presidents certified Pakistan was not developing nuclear weapons. Pakistan was accused of selling nuclear weapons technology to North Korea in exchange for its No-Dong missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Prime Minister Imran Khan called him a “national icon,” whose nuclear weapons program “provided us security against an aggressive much larger nuclear neighbor.

HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will be fit to play in Monday’s 2022 World Cup qualifier against North Macedonia, coach Hansi Flick said on Sunday, with his team a win away from clinching a spot in next year’s tournament. Germany top Group J on 18 points, ahead of North Macedonia and Armenia on 12 with three matches remaining. The North Macedonians, who stunned Germany 2-1 in Duisburg in March, are desperate for a win to maintain their chances of advancing. They want to protect their chances (of qualifying) and with their win in Germany they now have more confidence,” Flick said. We want to win and qualify as quickly as possible for the World Cup.”

A week after thousands demonstrated in support of Saied, the growing numbers raise the possibility of Tunisia’s political divisions spiralling into street confrontations between rival camps. Saied dismissed the prime minister, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority in July in moves his foes call a coup. Saied said he would initiate a dialogue with Tunisians over the future during a meeting on Saturday with interim interior minister Ridha Gharsalaoui. With the political manoeuvering over Tunisia’s future moving very slowly, Saied has pointed to the street mobilisation to support his position. Last week more than 8,000 demonstrators rallied in Tunis in support of Saied, Reuters journalists and the state news agency said.

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Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport received its first flights from the UK belonging to Easy jet, after a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. The plane was received under a framework of coordination between the Civil Aviation and Tourism and Antiquities Ministries. The airport administration organized a special reception for the Easy jet plane by spraying water on it, marking the celebration of the first landed flight from the British company. The plane was received by airport director Nabil al-Mallah and the director of the Office of Tourism Authority in Sharm el-Sheikh Islam Nabil. A public relations team received the passengers with flowers, provided all necessary facilities and expedited the completion of arrival procedures, with a commitment to applying all precautionary and preventive measures.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq closed its airspace Sunday as voters headed to the polls to elect a parliament that, despite widespread skepticism, some Iraqis hope will deliver reforms after decades of conflict and mismanagement. A series of kidnappings and targeted assassinations that killed more than 35 people has further discouraged many from taking part. More than 250,000 security personnel across the country were tasked with protecting the vote. Iraq’s President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi urged Iraqis to vote amid widespread apathy and skepticism from many. “This is our opportunity for reform.”The 2018 elections saw just 44% of eligible voters cast their ballots, a record low.

Washington says there has been no change in its policy towards Syria, which demands a political transition as set out in a Security Council resolution. But in Washington, analysts say Syria has hardly been a foreign policy priority for President Joe Biden’s administration. After being warned against dealing with Damascus by the Trump administration, Arab states are pressing the issue again. Reviving trade will be a shot in the arm for Jordan and Syria, whose economy is in deep crisis. US policy in Syria is now focused on fighting Islamic State militants and humanitarian aid, he said.

It’s hard to know why Chinese authorities have shifted to subtler methods of controlling the region. Xinjiang officials took us on a tour to the Grand Bazaar in the center of Urumqi, which has been rebuilt for tourists, like many other cities in Xinjiang. Here, there are giant plastic bearded Uyghur men and a giant plastic Uyghur instrument. Xinjiang officials say they aren’t forcing atheism on the Uyghurs, but rather defending freedom of belief against creeping extremism. Here, young Uyghur men chant verses from the Quran and pray five times a day.

“Currently, most countries are spending orders of magnitude more funds subsidising activities that destroy biodiversity than we are spending on conserving it – this will have to change,” he said. The United Nations wants countries to commit to protecting 30% of their land by 2030, a pledge already agreed to by the United States and others. He said the global pandemic had injected new urgency into biodiversity protection, but warned that this was not yet reflected in “business-as-usual” post-COVID-19 stimulus measures. “We have to make sure… (the stimulus) is strengthening biodiversity and not adding to the problem,” he said. “Globally, if you look around, the stimulus packages are making it worse rather than better.”Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman

Spurred by national calls for racial equity, communities across the U.S. took a deeper look at Columbus’ legacy in recent years — pairing or replacing it with Indigenous Peoples Day. Kenney previously signed an executive order changing the city’s annual Columbus Day holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day. “As far as we’re concerned, we’re going to keep protesting it until Columbus Day is abolished.”In New York City, the annual Columbus Day Parade returns after a one-year, in-person absence attributed to the coronavirus pandemic. Chicago’s annual Columbus Day parade also returns Monday after the pandemic forced 2020′s cancellation of the event that draws 20,000 people. Chicago Public Schools in 2020 voted to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day, provoking outrage from several alderman and Italian American groups.

Senior Taliban officials and U.S. representatives are meeting this weekend in Doha, the capital of Qatar. However, Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen told The Associated Press there would be no cooperation with Washington on containing the increasingly active Islamic State group in Afghanistan. “We are able to tackle Daesh independently,” Shaheen said, when asked whether the Taliban would work with the U.S. to contain the Islamic State affiliate. Following Friday’s attack, Afghanistan’s Shiite clerics assailed the Taliban, demanding greater protection at their places of worship. A Taliban official in charge of refugees, Mohammed Arsa Kharoti, said there are up to 1.3 million Afghans displaced from past wars and that the Taliban lack funds to organize the return home for all.

MOSCOW (AP) — As editor of Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov was well aware that his independent Russian newspaper — a persistent critic of the Kremlin, government corruption and human rights abuses in Russia — was seen as a top contender for the Nobel Peace Prize. Finally, he was told by his paper’s spokeswoman that he had won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, along with journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines, for their fight for freedom of expression in countries where reporters have faced persistent attacks, harassment and even murder. “The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most controversial nominations of the Nobel Committee. Considering how critical Novaya Gazeta has been toward Putin and his government, Peskov’s congratulatory words could be seen as determined spin-control. They also likely reflect relief that the Norwegian Nobel Committee did not chose another Russian nominee for the Peace Prize — imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Cairo International Airport on Saturday afternoon received its first flights of the Libyan Airlines company, coming from Mitiga International Airport, its first operation since 2014 following unrest in Libya. The first Libyan Airlines flight, number LN202, arrived at Cairo International Airport from Mitiga Airport, carrying about 255 passengers. Cairo International Airport organized a protocol celebration inside Terminal I. The Libyan Airlines flight is scheduled to depart Cairo Airport, within two hours, to return to Libya with 250 passengers on board. The Holding Company for EgyptAir and Libya’s Afriqiyah Airways last month signed a protocol for cooperation in civil aviation security.

CAIRO – 9 October 2021: A 6-year-old girl won a legal case against the Egyptian Ministry of Education after a primary school in Beheira governorate rejected her enrollment in the second grade, Akhbar El You newspaper reported on Saturday. “I do love to learn and I’m good at [my studies] at the school. I was 5 years and several months old [at that time] and passed grade 1 at my school of Wadi El Natroun and got ranked number 1 [among my colleagues]. “But my father transported our residency to Abu El Matamir [village]. After listening to her complaint, the judge ordered that the Ministry of Education has to pay the little girl LE 3,000 in moral compensation.