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Evacuation Flights Resume in Kabul After Deadly Bombings

Evacuation flights from Afghanistan resumed with new urgency on Friday, a day after two suicide bombings targeted the thousands of desperate people fleeing the Taliban takeover. The U.S. says further attempted attacks are expected ahead of the Tuesday deadline for foreign troops to leave, ending America's longest war.

Kabul residents said several flights took off Friday morning.

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Bomb Attacks at Kabul Airport, U.S. Military's Toll Rises to 13

Islamic State suicide bombers attacked crowds of people gathered Thursday outside Kabul airport hoping to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, killing dozens including 13 U.S. troops, as President Joe Biden vowed to hunt down those responsible.

Ten of those killed and several wounded were U.S. Marines, Marine Corps spokesman Major Jim Stenger said in a statement.

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Bitar Asks Security Forces to Bring Diab to Interrogation

The lead investigative judge into the port blast, Tarek Bitar, on Thursday issued a subpoena ordering security forces to bring caretaker PM Hassan Diab to an interrogation session on September 20.

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Hong Kong to Allow in Foreign Domestic Workers

Hong Kong said Thursday that domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines will be allowed to fly into the city starting Aug. 30, a move expected to ease a shortage of helpers in the city.

Hong Kong has approximately 370,000 domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines. Flights have been banned from both countries because they were considered high-risk for the coronavirus; under current arrangements, only fully-vaccinated Hong Kong residents from high-risk countries are allowed to enter the city.

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N. Korean Parliament to Meet in Sept. over Strained Economy

North Korea will convene its rubber-stamp parliament next month to discuss efforts to salvage an economy strained by pandemic border closures after decades of mismanagement and U.S.-led sanctions.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Thursday the Supreme People's Assembly will meet on Sept. 28 in Pyongyang to discuss economic development, youth education, government organizational matters and other issues. The report didn't mention any plans for discussions on foreign policy.

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World Stocks Slip Following Record Wall Street Charge

World stocks were broadly lower on Thursday following a charge on Wall Street that drove indices to all-time highs for the second straight day.

Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.3% to 7,127.10 and France's CAC 40 declined 0.2% to 6,665.06. The DAX in Germany also fell 0.2% to 15,822.87 in early trading.

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Israel to Allow Goods into Gaza in Move to Ease Tensions

Israel said that it would be easing commercial restrictions on the Gaza Strip and expand entry of goods to the Palestinian enclave following days of heightened tensions.

The announcement came after hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated Wednesday near the Israeli border, calling on Israel to ease a crippling blockade days after a similar gathering ended in deadly clashes with the Israeli army.

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U.S. Open Glimpse of Future Sans Serena, Roger, Rafa

It's been nearly a quarter of a century since Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all sat out the same Grand Slam tennis tournament.

That changes next week, when the U.S. Open will start at Flushing Meadows without any member of that distinguished and dominant trio. Williams, whose 40th birthday is in September, withdrew on Wednesday, joining Federer, who turned 40 this month, and Nadal, who is 35, on the sideline because of injuries. Williams' older sister, 41-year-old Venus, also pulled out of the field Wednesday.

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Palestinian Twins Open Café in Converted Jet in West Bank

Few Palestinians in the occupied West Bank get to board an airplane these days. The territory has no civilian airport and those who can afford a plane ticket must catch their flights in neighboring Jordan. But just outside the northern city of Nablus, a pair of twins is offering people the next best thing.

Khamis al-Sairafi and brother Ata have converted an old Boeing 707 into a café and restaurant for customers to board.

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Experts on WHO Team Say Search for COVID Origins Has Stalled

The international scientists dispatched to China by the World Health Organization to find out where the coronavirus came from said Wednesday the search has stalled and warned that the window of opportunity for solving the mystery is "closing fast."

Meanwhile, a U.S. intelligence review ordered up by President Joe Biden proved inconclusive about the virus's origin, including whether it jumped from an animal to a human or escaped from a Chinese lab, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

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