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Baghdad, Sep 25 (IANS) A soldier and two Islamic State (IS) militants were killed in clashes north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the Iraqi military said.

Based on intelligence reports, an Iraqi army force attacked an IS hideout in dense orchards in the Tarmiyah area, nearly 30 km north of Baghdad, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement on Saturday.

During the clashes, the force killed two IS militants, one of whom was wearing an explosive belt, while a soldier was killed and an officer was injured, the statement added.

On Saturday, Iraqi fighter jets carried out two airstrikes on an IS hideout in a rural area in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, destroying the hideout, the JOC said in a separate statement.

The statement gave no further details about casualties, adding more information to be released later, Xinhua news agency reported.

Over the past months, Iraqi security forces have conducted operations against extremist militants to crack down on their intensified activities.

The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the defeat of the IS in 2017. However, its remnants have since melted into urban centres, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.

--IANS
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Aden (Yemen), Sep 25 (IANS) Yemen's pro-government forces continued anti-terror military operations in the southern province of Abyan, a security official told Xinhua.

The troops raided the al-Qaida terrorist group's strongholds in various areas of the province in recent days, killing 24 armed al-Qaida members, the local security source said on condition of anonymity on Saturday.

"The troops launched on Saturday the fourth phase of the anti-terror campaign aimed at pushing their elements out of the whole province," the source added.

He said al-Qaida militants were evicted in four districts following weeks of deadly fighting, adding that 32 soldiers were killed and 40 others wounded in operations in the past several days, Xinhua news agency reported.

The pro-government forces backed by Saudi Arabia also continued their operations against al-Qaida militants in other southern areas, according to the official.

On Tuesday, military units of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), which are part of Yemen's government, attacked al-Qaida hideouts and positions in various mountainous areas of turbulent Abyan, making headway on the ground.

In August, the STC troops launched a major anti-terror operation code-named "Arrows of the East" in Abyan to combat terrorist groups.

The Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) network has been responsible for many high-profile attacks against the security forces in the country's southern provinces.

The AQAP has exploited years of deadly conflict between the Yemeni government and Houthi militia to expand its presence in the war-ravaged Arab country.

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Tehran, Sep 25 (IANS) Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani has expressed regret for the decision of the Ukrainian government to downgrade diplomatic relations with the Islamic republic.

On Friday, Ukraine announced to downgrade ties with Iran and remove the Iranian ambassador's accreditation over what it called Tehran's "unfriendly" decision to supply Russia with drones "used against its forces and citizens," the Iranian Foreign Ministry website reported.

The decision of the Ukrainian government is based on "unconfirmed reports and caused by the creation of media hype by foreign parties," Kanani said on Saturday.

He advised Ukraine not to be influenced by third parties who seek to destroy the relations between the two countries, Xinhua news agency reported.

Over the Russia and Ukraine conflict, Iran has adopted the "clear policy of neutrality" and has declared its opposition to war and the need for a political settlement of disputes away from violence, he was quoted as saying.

Kanani emphasised that Iran will take proportionate action in response to the Ukrainian government's decision.

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Tehran, Sep 24 (IANS) Iranian authorities said they will restrict Internet access in the country until calm is restored to the streets, as protests over the death of a young woman in the custody of the morality police rocked the Islamic Republic, media reported.

Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets in protest since the death last week of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was apprehended in Tehran and taken to a 're-education centre', apparently for not wearing her Hijab properly.

Since Friday, demonstrations have taken place in at least 40 cities nationwide, including the capital Tehran, with protesters demanding an end to violence and discrimination against women as well as an end to compulsory wearing of the Hijab, CNN reported.

Dozens of protesters have reportedly been killed in the resulting clashes with security forces.

Amnesty International said on Friday that at least 30 people, including four children, had died. According to state media the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), 35 people have died.

Authorities hope that by restricting the Internet, they can bring the protests under control, CNN reported.

Speaking to state broadcaster IRIB on Friday, Iran's Minister of Communications Ahmad Vahidi said, "Until the riots end, the Internet will have limitations. To prevent riot organization through social media, we are obliged to create Internet limitations."

Vahidi's comments came after videos on social media showed scenes of public defiance, with women removing and burning their headscarves and demonstrators chanting such slogans as, "women, life, freedom."

The move to further restrict the Internet also followed a call by the United Nations for an independent investigation into Amini's death and for Iran's security forces to refrain from using 'disproportionate force' on the protesters.

Amini's death has now become a symbol of the violent oppression women have faced in Iran for decades, and her name has spread around the globe, with world leaders invoking her even at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City this week, CNN reported.

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Washington, Sep 24 (IANS) As NASA prepares to launch its much-anticipated Artemis 1 Moon mission next week, there is only a 20 per cent chance that the weather will be ideal for the launch.

The US space agency is monitoring the forecast associated with the formation of a tropical depression in the Caribbean Sea while in parallel continuing to prepare for a potential launch opportunity on September 27, during a 70-minute window.

"Managers are initiating activities on a non-interference basis to enable an accelerated timeline for rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to protect the rocket, should it be necessary," NASA said in a statement.

Discussions about whether to remain at the launch pad or roll back to the VAB are also ongoing, it added.

NASA said it will make a decision on whether to remain at the launch pad or roll back using incremental protocols to take interim steps necessary to protect people and hardware "with a final decision anticipated no later than Saturday".

The US space agency has met all objectives for the launch, including the key hydrogen leak threat which has resulted in two failure attempts.

NASA will attempt to launch its Artemis I moon mission on September 27, with a potential backup opportunity of October 2 under review.

On September 3, NASA attempted to launch Artemis I but called it off after detecting a liquid hydrogen leak.

The US space agency on August 30 scrubbed the mission launch for the first time owing to technical glitch with one of the SLS rocket's engines.

Artemis I is NASA's uncrewed flight test which will provide a foundation for human exploration in deep space and demonstrate NASA's commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.

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Islamabad, Sep 24 (IANS) Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, has announced the release of an emergency grant worth $5 million in response to the deadly floods in Pakistan.

The 12-month investment will reach more than 80,000 girls and boys across Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan, Xinhua news agency quoted the ECW as saying on Friday.

"The climate crisis is an education crisis. These devastating floods have taken lives, destroyed as many as 22,000 schools ... and ripped families apart," said ECW Director Yasmine Sherif.

"We need to act with speed. ECW and our strategic partners are sprinting to deliver a fast-acting response to bring children back to school without further delay and deepening suffering."

The extraordinary monsoon rains in Pakistan have caused massive flooding and landslides across the nation.

More than 1,400 people have lost their lives and the government estimates that 22,594 schools have been damaged or destroyed, said the ECW.

The new response builds on the ECW's ongoing Multi-Year Resilience Programme in Pakistan, and focuses on providing equitable access to inclusive and quality learning environments, establishing temporary learning spaces, and providing children with the psychosocial supports they need to avoid dropping out of school permanently, said the fund.

Teaching and learning materials will be provided to children in both formal and temporary learning spaces. Teachers will be supported to adapt their teaching methods to best suit the new context. The investment will also ensure that gender-based violence mitigation measures will be implemented, with a particular focus on protecting adolescent girls, said the ECW.

Worldwide, 222 million crisis-impacted children and adolescents are in need of urgent education support.

The ECW and its partners are calling on world leaders to provide at least $1.5 billion in urgent funding for the '222MillionDreams' campaign.

--IANS
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London, Sep 24 (IANS) The British pound fell to a fresh 37-year low against the US dollar as investors worried that large-scale tax cuts announced by the UK government would bring much fiscal uncertainty.

on Friday, the pound tumbled more than 3 per cent and traded below $1.10, reaching its lowest level since 1985, reports Xinhua news agency.

The big sell-off came after Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng had earlier in the day unveiled his ambitious plan to cut taxes and boost economic growth.

The new measures include cancelling the planned rise in corporation tax to 25 per cent, keeping it at 19 per cent, and reversing this April's 1.25 percentage point rise in National Insurance contributions.

Kwarteng also announced a one-percent cut to the basic rate of income tax to 19 per cent in April 2023, a year earlier than planned.

The 45 per cent additional rate of income tax on earnings above 150,000 pounds will be scrapped.

Meanwhile, the UK's consumer price index (CPI) rose by 9.9 per cent in the 12 months to August.

To tackle high inflation, the Bank of England (BoE) on Thursday increased interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 2.25 per cent, the highest since 2008.

Elevated inflation, the ongoing energy crisis in Europe and the strengthening US dollar have continued to put pressure on the British pound.

The decline in the pace of rate hikes by the BoE compared with the US Federal Reserve also contributed to the weakness of the British currency.

Also on Friday, the FTSE 100, the leading benchmark for blue-chip companies listed in the UK, ended the session down 1.97 per cent at 7,018.60.

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New York, Sep 24 (IANS) The Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has called on other nations to join them in establishing a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, a proposed international mechanism that aims to explicitly address the source of 86 per cent of CO2 emissions that cause climate change: fossil fuels.

Vanuatu President Nikenike Vurobaravu on Friday made the historic call on the floor of the UN General Assembly, making Vanuatu the first nation-state to call for an international mechanism to stop the expansion of all new fossil fuel projects, and manage a global just transition away from coal, oil and gas.

The President will also launch their call for a treaty to phase out fossil fuels on stage at the 2022 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park.

In his speech, Vurobaravu said: "Every day we are experiencing more debilitating consequences of the climate crisis. Fundamental human rights are being violated, and we are measuring climate change not in degrees of Celsius or tons of carbon, but in human lives. This emergency is of our own making. Our youth are terrified of the future world we are handing to them through expanding fossil fuel dependency, compromising intergenerational trust and equity.

"We call for the development of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to phase down coal, oil and gas production in line with 1.5 degrees Celsius, and enable a global just transition for every worker, community and nation with fossil fuel dependence."

The call for a Fossil Fuel Treaty has already been endorsed by more than 65 cities and sub-national governments around the globe, including London, Lima, Los Angeles, Kolkata, Paris and the Hawaii State Legislature.

Recently the proposal has also been supported by the Vatican and the World Health Organization.

Significant momentum has built behind the proposal in recent months and Vanuatu's call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty is a pivotal step towards building formal diplomatic support for the proposal.

Similar moments were pivotal in the legal pathway towards treaties to manage the threats of nuclear weapons and landmines.

This historic call doubles down on Vanuatu's commitment to climate action, following their submission earlier this month of one of the world's most comprehensive climate targets under the UN.

Vanuatu has also been leading a campaign to have the International Court of Justice issue an opinion on climate justice and human rights, which paves the way for a new era of international climate policy focused on equity and justice and addressing the biggest drivers of the climate crisis -- coal, oil, and gas.

Vanuatu, an already carbon-negative country that absorbs more emissions than it produces, is rated the country most at risk of natural disasters, according to the UN.

Countries on the frontlines of this crisis have been calling for urgent, tangible action on climate as they face the impacts of climate change and sea level rise in real time.

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Kampala, Sep 24 (IANS) Ugandan Health Ministry has said the number of confirmed Ebola cases in the East African country has risen to 11.

The Ministry in a statement issued here on Friday added that in the last 24 hours four more cases were registered, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed Ebola cases in the country to 11, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Ministry also said three more deaths were recorded, bringing the cumulative number of deaths to 11, including confirmed and suspected cases. Of these, eight deaths were from the community while three were health facility- based.

The experts say they are still investigating the source of the Ebola virus disease outbreak.

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Jakarta, Sep 24 (IANS) A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's western province of Aceh on Saturday morning, the country's meteorology and geophysics agency said.

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