WELLINGTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) – New Zealand police on Friday shot and killed a knife-wielding “extremist” who was known to authorities, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, after he stabbed and wounded at least six people in a supermarket. “A violent extremist undertook a terrorist attack on innocent New Zealanders,” Ardern told a briefing. A witness told the New Zealand Herald the attacker had shouted “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest). Ardern said the reasons the attacker was known to authorities were subject to court suppression orders over legal proceedings. Ardern, asked if the Friday attack could have been revenge for the 2019 mosque shootings, said it was not clear.

“We are afraid that the hungry monkeys will turn wild and vicious,” villager Saskara Gustu Alit said. About 600 of the macaques live in the forest sanctuary, swinging from the tall nutmeg trees and leaping about the famous Pura Bukit Sari temple, and are considered sacred. The Sangeh Monkey Forest typically had about 6,000 visitors a month, but as the pandemic spread last year and international travel dropped off dramatically, that number dropped to about 500. “A few days ago I attended a traditional ceremony at a temple near the Sangeh forest,” Gustu Alit said. “That’s why I have urged villagers here to come to the forest to play with the monkeys and offer them food,” he said.

At least 13 people lost their lives in New York City, along with three in suburban Westchester County. Four people died in suburban Philadelphia as a result of the storm, according to county spokesperson Kelly Cofrancisco. A Connecticut state trooper perished after his cruiser was swept away in floodwaters in the town of Woodbury early Thursday, state police said. New York officials blamed much of flooding on the high volume of rainfall in a short span of time, rather than the daily total, which was within predictions. Subway services in New York City remained “extremely limited,” transit officials said, and commuter rail services to the suburbs were largely suspended.

NASA announced the Perseverance rover exploring Mars succeeded on in scooping up Martian rock on its second try. The first effort was a bust after the rock it tried to scoop up crumbled as the Perseverance robot drill got to work. The drill Perseverance used to collect the rock sample is two meters (6 1/2 feet) long. The target of the rock collection was nicknamed “Rochette” by scientists. ___IMAGE: The shadow of the Perseverance Mars rover next to the first hole it drilled in a rock in early August.

Sept 3 (Reuters) – Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar will lead a new Afghan government set to be announced shortly, sources in the Islamist group said on Friday, as it battled rebel fighters in the Panjshir Valley and strived to ward off economic collapse. Baradar, who heads the Taliban’s political office, will be joined by Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, the son of late Taliban co-founder Mullah Omar, and Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, in senior positions in the government, three sources said. Haibatullah Akhunzada, the Taliban’s supreme religious leader, will focus on religious matters and governance within the framework of Islam, another Taliban source said. RECOGNITIONThe Taliban enforced a radical form of sharia, or Islamic law, when it ruled from 1996 to 2001. The United States, the European Union and others have cast doubt on such assurances, saying formal recognition of the new government, and the resultant flow of economic aid, was contingent on action.

Since then, Afghanistan has seen a proliferation of media outlets, and women made some strides within the restrictions of the deeply conservative society. “I just said to myself this is a good time to show for all the world, Afghan women don’t want to go back. Meanwhile, the Taliban are allowing journalists to enter Afghanistan from Pakistan and allowing media outlets to continue operating in Kabul, albeit under ominous guidelines. In July, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer from Reuters was killed covering clashes between the Taliban and Afghan security forces. Mohseni said he was concerned when the Taliban overran Kabul and that he remains “not necessarily positive.”“But I’m just thinking: Well, let’s just wait and see.

CAIRO – 2 September 2021: Egypt has offered its deepest condolences to the United States over the victims of flash flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida that brought torrential rains. It stressed Egypt’s solidarity and support for the government and people of the United States in this painful loss. At least 41 people were killed in New York and the surrounding area as a result of heavy rains and historical flash floods that occurred on Wednesday night, according to a new toll. Police and local authorities said there were 15 dead in New York City and its suburbs, and three others near Philadelphia. The floods washed away cars, inundated subway lines and forced a suspension to flights in New York and New Jersey.

CAIRO – 2 September 2021: Egyptian-Cypriot military training "Ptolemy 2021" kicked off, Thursday, with the participation of special forces from both countries. The exercise comes as part of the Armed Forces' plan to exchange expertise and boost military cooperation with sisterly and friendly countries, as well as advance joint action with their Cypriot counterparts. Also, The Bright Star 2021 joint drills kicked off, Thursday at Mohamed Naguib Military Base in Marsa Matrouh, with the participation of 21 countries. The military training expected to take place in Egypt starting September 2 until September17. At the beginning of the multi-national military drill, head of the Egyptian Armed Forces Training Authority said that the Armed Force's General Command is keen on conducting the military exercise "Bright Star 2021", for being one of the largest and most important military maneuvers at the global level, given the size of the participating forces.

“This year the increase (in demand) compared to previous years is around 70 to 80 percent,” Suleiman told Reuters. The rooftop tanks where his customers store their water now pepper the city’s landscape. While climate change has brought drier weather to the Middle East, Jordan has fared worse than its neighbors. “Rainfall did not exceed 60 percent of the average,” said Water Ministry official Omar Salameh. Jordan’s population has doubled in the past 20 years, with waves of refugees, including more than one million Syrians, taken in.

Beirut, Sept 2 (Reuters) – The first Iranian fuel oil cargo secured through Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah will be delivered via Syria by truck to avoid complications related to sanctions, two sources with knowledge of the mater said on Thursday. Hezbollah, a heavily armed group founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, announced last month that a shipment of Iranian fuel oil was on its way to help ease crippling shortages in Lebanon. Lebanon’s caretaker energy minister has said his government did not receive any requests for import permits for Iranian fuel. The sources said the shipment would arrive at a Syrian port and then be trucked to Lebanon, with the first priority being to deliver fuel oil to hospitals for power generation. A report in local newspaper Al Akhbar on Thursday said the vessel had entered Syrian waters but the tracking service TankerTrackers.com disputed the report.

Geelani spearheaded Kashmir’s movement for the right to self-determination and was a staunch proponent of merging Kashmir with Pakistan. Geelani was also the face of Kashmir’s civilian defiance against Indian rule. The group used civil disobedience in the form of shutdowns and protests as a tactic to counter Indian rule. Its foreign ministry condemned the non-public burial by Indian authorities. Rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Huw Groucutt passes rolling sand dunes as far as his eye can see when traveling to archaeological sites in the northern Arabian Peninsula. But the same desert regions were once intermittently lush and green, attracting early humans and large animals such as hippopotamuses migrating out of Africa to linger at ancient lakes, new evidence suggests. “We noticed color patterns made by ancient lakes — sand dunes are kind of orange-colored, while ancient lakes are tinted white or gray,” said Groucutt, who is also based at the Max Planck Institute. Extensive excavations over a decade revealed stone tools from multiple periods of prehistoric settlement by early human groups, the oldest 400,000 years ago. During these windows of hospitable climate, early humans and animals moved from northeast Africa into the Arabian Peninsula, the researchers say.

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco has launched a campaign to administer COVID-19 vaccines to children from 12 to 17, becoming one of the first African countries to inoculate that age group. The World Health Organization says that the North African country has already given around 33 million doses to adults this year. Access to good education — not just concerns over health — is one of the major factors influencing Moroccan parents’ decisions for their children. Morocco has administered more vaccine doses per person than the global average, and the highest proportion in Africa, according to Our World in Data. ___IMAGE: A mother accompanies her son to receive his COVID-19 vaccine as Morocco launches a campaign to vaccinate 12-17 year olds before the start of the school year, in Rabat, Morocco, Tuesday, August 31, 2021.

The Texas law, signed by Republican Gov. The high court’s order declining to halt the Texas law came just before midnight Wednesday. In particular, this order is not based on any conclusion about the constitutionality of Texas’s law, and in no way limits other procedurally proper challenges to the Texas law, including in Texas state courts,” the unsigned order said. Had Ginsburg remained on the court there would have been five votes to halt the Texas law. In contrast, Texas’ law allows private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone involved in facilitating abortions.

FARO, Portugal (Reuters) - Cristiano Ronaldo became the all-time leading scorer in men's international football when he headed two last-gasp goals to give Portugal a 2-1 comeback victory over Ireland in Group A of World Cup Qualifying on Wednesday. The Manchester United forward saw Gavin Bazunu, a Manchester City loanee, save a first-half penalty after Jeff Hendrick was deemed to have fouled Bruno Fernandes. "I'm so happy, not only for the record but for the special moments with two goals at the end," Ronaldo said. John Egan headed Ireland into a shock lead from a corner on the stroke of half-time after Diogo Jota had hit the post for the hosts. Portugal, who travel to Azerbaijan next Tuesday, are top on 10 points after four games, three ahead of Serbia who have played a game fewer.