President Joe Biden has promised to hunt down the jihadists behind an attack in Kabul which killed at least 90 people – including 13 US troops. Mr Biden warned the US would “not forgive” the perpetrators.

The twin blasts, claimed by a local branch of Islamic State (IS), tore through crowds of men, women and children outside Kabul airport. They were hoping to join the 100,000 people airlifted out of Afghanistan since it fell to Taliban militants. There had been repeated warnings that an attack was likely, but it either did not reach or did not deter those waiting. US troops in control of Kabul international airport have been facilitating the evacuation of foreign nationals and Afghans who had been working with foreign missions. They have been aiming to complete this within a 31 August deadline for US forces to leave under an agreement with the Taliban. A number of European countries have already announced the end of their evacuation plans. The UK said on Friday it would not be processing any more applications, acknowledging it was leaving people behind.(BBC)…[+]

Japan has suspended the use of about 1.63 million doses of the Moderna vaccine due to contamination.   The health ministry said “foreign materials” were found in some doses of a batch of roughly 560,000 vials. Takeda Pharmaceutical, which sells and distributes the vaccine in Japan, said Moderna had put three batches on hold “out of an abundance of caution”. It said an issue at a manufacturing contract site in Spain was the likely cause, but did not elaborate. “To date, no safety or efficacy issues have been identified,” Moderna said, adding that it would work with regulators and Takeda to investigate the matter further. There are no details of what the “foreign objects” are, but Takeda described it as particulate matter, after which it said conducted an emergency examination.(BBC)…[+]

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett hopes to reset relations with the US and agree how to stop Iran’s nuclear programme during his first meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House. The right-wing nationalist took office in June after forming an ideologically diverse governing coalition.  He succeeded Benjamin Netanyahu, who was close to Donald Trump and clashed with Barack Obama’s administration. Mr Bennett said he was bringing a “new spirit of co-operation” from Israel. He also made clear that Iran would be top of his agenda, especially the “leap” achieved by its nuclear programme over the past two or three years. Iran has gradually breached its commitments under a nuclear deal with world powers in retaliation for the sanctions that Mr Trump reinstated when he pulled the US out of the accord in 2018, which he called “defective at its core”.(BBC)…[+]

A new approach to protecting young African children from malaria could reduce deaths and illness from the disease by 70%, a study suggests. Giving them vaccines before the worst season in addition to preventative drugs produced “very striking” results, London researchers say. The trial followed 6,000 children aged under 17 months in Burkina Faso and Mali. Most of the 400,000 deaths from malaria each year are in the under-fives. And the mosquito-borne disease is still a major health issue in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa.(BBC)…[+]

A rollercoaster in Japan, said to be the world’s fastest-accelerating, has closed indefinitely following reports that multiple riders suffered serious injuries. The Fuji-Q Highland amusement park said four customers had broken bones on the “Do-Dodonpa” attraction between December 2020 and August 2021. Others have reported sustaining neck, chest and bone fractures. In a statement the park said the ride had closed “due to a safety overhaul”. However, it added that “the causal relationship between injuries and amusement machines has not yet been confirmed”. According to the regional government, the four incidents were among men and women in the 30-50 age range. All had “significant injuries”, including a cervical fracture and a thoracic spine fracture. A thoracic spine fracture can require up to three months in the hospital. Despite the injuries occurring over an eight-month period between December and August, they were only reported to officials last week.(BBC)…[+]

Spencer Elden, the man who was photographed as a baby on the album cover for Nirvana’s Nevermind, is suing the band alleging sexual exploitation. The cover depicts Elden as a four-month-old in a swimming pool, grasping for a dollar bill that’s being dangled in front of him on a fishing line. Now 30, Elden says his parents never signed a release authorising the use of his image on the album. He also alleges the nude image constitutes child pornography. “The images exposed Spencer’s intimate body part and lasciviously displayed Spencer’s genitals from the time he was an infant to the present day,” legal papers filed in California claim. Non-sexualised photos of infants are generally not considered child pornography under US law.(BBC)…[+]

The death of a 24-year-old Indian woman, who had set herself on fire last week after alleging harassment by police and judiciary at the behest of an MP she had accused of rape, has once again put the spotlight on the shameful treatment of women in India. The woman and a male friend did a Facebook live on 16 August before sprinkling petrol on themselves and lighting the fire. They were taken to hospital with severe burns. The man died on Saturday. The woman succumbed on Tuesday evening.

The duo had travelled from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh to the capital, Delhi. Their desperate act, outside India’s Supreme Court, to attract attention to their plight has stunned the country. The woman had accused Atul Rai, an MP from the regional Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), of raping her at his home in Varanasi city and registered a police complaint against him in May 2019.(BBC)…[+]

German police have begun an attempted murder investigation after six people were taken to hospital in a case of suspected poisoning at Darmstadt Technical University. They had all had food or drink from a small kitchen on the university’s Lichtwiese campus. A “harmful substance” was added to milk cartons or water, police believe. Investigators have not revealed what type of poison was found but say they know what it is.

The chemical involved is described as having a noticeably “pungent smell”. One 30-year-old student was taken to hospital in a critical condition but the university said everyone affected was feeling better and the last two remaining patients would be leaving hospital later on Tuesday.(BBC)…[+]

A second accuser took the stand at R. Kelly’s sex-trafficking trial on Monday, testifying that the star abused her, knowingly infected her with herpes and ordered her to have an abortion. The woman, identified as Jane Doe No 5, said her five-year relationship with Mr Kelly began in 2014, when she was 17. She alleged that the singer sought to control every detail of her life and would punish her if she did not comply. Mr Kelly, 54, has denied the allegations against him. His lawyers have portrayed his accusers as groupies out for revenge after their relationships with the R&B singer faded.The anonymous woman, now 23, testified that she had met the singer, whose real name is Robert Kelly, when he invited her to his hotel room after a gig in Orlando, Florida.(BBC)…[+]

Chad’s ex-ruler Hissène Habré has died at the age of 79 while serving a life sentence for crimes against humanity.  He was being treated for a coronavirus infection, reports say. Habré was found guilty in 2016 of crimes committed while he was president from 1982 to 1990. The conviction was the result of a landmark trial in Senegal. It was the first time an African Union-backed court had tried a former ruler for human rights abuses.

Habré was accused of being behind rape, sexual slavery and ordering killings while in power. He denied any knowledge of the crimes. A commission of inquiry formed in Chad after he was deposed in 1990 said his government carried out some 40,000 politically motivated murders and 200,000 cases of torture in the eight years he was in power.(BBC)…[+]