Terror Attack Targets Kabul Mosque

INTERNATIONAL: At least five people have been killed and four others injured in an explosion outside the Eid Gah Mosque in the Afghan capital. A shopkeeper says he heard an explosion followed by gunfire. Seemingly acting on intelligence, the Taliban had blocked the road shorty before the blast. There were about 35 people in the area when the explosion hit. Sunday’s attack targeted a memorial service for the mother of the Taliban’s deputy minister of information and culture. The bombing was the first to target the Afghan capital since the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a twin suicide bombing at Kabul’s international airport. That attack killed 169 Afghans and 13 US service members.

South Korea Celebrates 73rd Armed Forces Day

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South Korea has celebrated its 73rd Armed Forces Day with air and sea drills, as well as an amphibious landing exercise in the very bay where the US staged its first military landing during the Korean War in July 1950. The ceremony was attended by South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The president says he has faith in the army and is confident in the country’s “strong defence readiness.” He made a declaration to end the war on the Korean peninsula and usher in a new era of reconciliation and cooperation. The ceremony came hours after North Korea said it had fired a newly developed anti-aircraft missile, claiming its weapons tests are aimed at boosting its defence capabilities.

Oil Spill Off Coast of California

^{PHOTO: NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 03, 2021) (NBC - No Use USA. No Use CNN. No Use VOA. Digital No Use Digital.)}

And, an oil pipeline has failed off the coast of Orange County, California, causing almost half a million litres of oil to spill into the Pacific Ocean. It’s created a 15-square-kilometre slick that continues washing ashore at Huntington Beach, leaving dead fish and birds strewn on the sand. Cleanup crews are racing to try and contain the spill. Nine boats are responding to the round-the-clock cleanup effort. Crews have deployed a one kilometre boom to help contain the oil, but the impact on the environment will be irreversible. Beaches remain closed to swimming and a local air show has been cancelled.