World News Roundup: New Zealand to criminalize attack planning after mall stabbing; Fewer than 1,400 evacuees from

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

New Zealand to criminalise attack planning after mall stabbing

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed on Saturday to tighten counter-terrorism laws this month after a knife-wielding militant known to the authorities stabbed and wounded seven people in a supermarket. Police shot dead the 32-year-old attacker, a Sri Lankan national who had been convicted and imprisoned for about three years before being released in July, moments after he launched his stabbing spree on Friday.

Fewer than 1,400 evacuees from Afghanistan still at Qatar base, U.S. general says

The United States has moved most of the 57,000 people it evacuated from Afghanistan to Qatar out of the Gulf state, with fewer than 1,400 still at the U.S. military base there, a U.S. general said on Saturday. The U.S. evacuated roughly 124,000 people from Kabul last month as part of a huge U.S.-led airlift of its citizens, Afghans and other nationals as the Taliban took control of the country.

Malaysia appoints former PM to lead coronavirus recovery council

Malaysia has appointed former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin as chairman of a council that will focus on economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the government chief secretary said on Saturday. The cabinet had on Wednesday agreed to the minister-level appointment for Muhyiddin based on confidence in him to lead a recovery strategy to “achieve the best economic impact and restore the lives of people affected by the pandemic”, the chief secretary said in a statement.

At least 17 killed in celebratory gunfire in Kabul – reports

At least 17 people were killed in celebratory gunfire in Kabul, news agencies said on Saturday, after Taliban sources said their fighters had seized control of Panjshir, the last province in Afghanistan holding out against the Islamist group. Leaders of opposition to the Taliban have denied that the province has fallen.

U.N. to convene Afghanistan aid conference on Sept. 13

The United Nations will convene an international aid conference in Geneva on Sept. 13 to help avert what U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called a “looming humanitarian catastrophe”. “We need the international community to stand together and support the Afghan people,” Guterres said in a post on Twitter announcing the conference that he said would seek a swift scale-up in funding for humanitarian relief.

Bahrain approves third booster shot of Sputnik V vaccine

Bahraini authorities have authorised the use of a booster dose of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the first time the Russian shot has been approved for a third dose, the state-run Bahrain News Agency said on Saturday. The booster shot was approved for use among all over-18s at least six months after receiving their second dose of the Sputnik V vaccine, the news agency reported.

ASEAN envoy to Myanmar in talks with junta over terms of visit, seeks access to Suu Kyi

The Brunei diplomat appointed by a Southeast Asian regional bloc as its special envoy to Myanmar said on Saturday he is still negotiating with the military on the terms of a visit to the country and he has sought access to ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to end the violence that erupted in Myanmar after the military overthrew Suu Kyi and took power in February, and has sought to open a dialogue between the military rulers and their opponents.

Taliban, opposition battle for Panjshir Valley, Pakistan spy chief flies to Kabul

Taliban and opposition forces were fighting on Saturday for control of the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul, the last province in Afghanistan holding out against the Islamist group, according to reports. Taliban sources said on Friday its fighters had taken the valley, although the resistance denied it had fallen.

Iran dismisses U.S. sanctions of Iranians over alleged kidnap plot

Iran on Saturday dismissed new U.S. sanctions on four Iranians over an alleged plot to kidnap an Iranian-American journalist, saying the move reflects Washington’s “addiction to sanctions”. The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday sanctioned https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-sanctions-iranians-over-alleged-plot-kidnap-ny-based-journalist-2021-09-03 the four, saying they were intelligence operatives behind the failed plot.

Exclusive-‘They’ll kill us’ – Afghan pilots held at Uzbek camp fear deadly homecoming

The U.S.-trained Afghan pilots and others held at a camp in Uzbekistan already feared being sent back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. So it was little comfort when an Uzbek guard unsympathetically quipped the other day: “You can’t stay here forever.” The offhand warning added to an already grinding sense of unease at the camp just across Afghanistan’s northern border, recounted one of the Afghan pilots who fled there with aircraft when ground forces fell to the Taliban in August as the United states and its allies withdrew their forces.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)