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Taliban Not Sending Delegation to Muscat for New Afghan Peace Talks

Taliban militants pose with weapons in an undisclosed location in Nangarhar province in this December 13, 2010 picture. (Reuters)
Taliban militants pose with weapons in an undisclosed location in Nangarhar province in this December 13, 2010 picture. (Reuters)
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Taliban Not Sending Delegation to Muscat for New Afghan Peace Talks

Taliban militants pose with weapons in an undisclosed location in Nangarhar province in this December 13, 2010 picture. (Reuters)
Taliban militants pose with weapons in an undisclosed location in Nangarhar province in this December 13, 2010 picture. (Reuters)

At least eight Taliban militants have been killed in a US air strike in eastern Afghanistan, an Afghan news agency reported.

The air strike came as Reuters said that representatives of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States will meet in the Sultanate of Oman next week to discuss reviving peace talks with the Taliban.

But an Afghan official and a Pakistani foreign ministry source said it was not clear if Afghan Taliban representatives would join the talks. Taliban sources said they had not yet received an invitation and plan to skip Monday's discussions in Muscat, casting doubt on efforts to revive long-stalled negotiations.

According to Reuters, the four-nation Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QGC), comprising Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States, has been trying to ease the path to direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, with little success.

Amin Waqad, a close aide to Agfhan President Ashraf Ghani and a senior member of the High Peace Council (HPC), said, "HPC and government representatives will participate, and it is an important one because the Taliban representatives will be there. We will go with a clear plan."

A senior Pakistani foreign ministry official confirmed the talks would take place on Oct 16. Last week, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif told Voice of America the "quadrilateral arrangement will again be in operation" in Muscat in October.

The US embassy in Islamabad did not comment for the report.

Talks and efforts to kick start negotiations have failed following the 2015 announcement of the death of the Taliban's founder and long-time leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, in 2013.

Two senior Afghan Taliban leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the group's leadership council met on Tuesday and decided it would not send a delegation to Muscat even if the group was invited to participate.

Meanwhile, at least eight Taliban members were killed in an air strike carried out by the United States for the first time in Badakhshan Province, years after the US military had suspended its operations in the region, Khaama Press reported.

Locals said the air strike targeted the province on Tuesday night.

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Iran, European Powers Agree to Resume Nuclear, Sanctions Talks Next Week

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends the 17th annual BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 7, 2025. (AP)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends the 17th annual BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 7, 2025. (AP)
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Iran, European Powers Agree to Resume Nuclear, Sanctions Talks Next Week

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends the 17th annual BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 7, 2025. (AP)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends the 17th annual BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 7, 2025. (AP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his French, British and German counterparts agreed on Friday to resume talks next week on nuclear issues, Iranian state media reported, as a threat by the European powers to reimpose sanctions looms.

The three countries have said they could re-activate United Nations sanctions on Iran under a "snapback" mechanism if Tehran does not return to negotiations on a deal to curb its disputed uranium enrichment program.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul confirmed talks next week and warned Iran that sanctions would snap back into effect unless it reached a verifiable and durable deal to defuse concerns about its nuclear ambitions. He reiterated that time was very short and Iran needed to engage substantively.

Iranian state media said Araghchi and the British, French and German foreign ministers agreed during a phone call for deputy foreign ministers to continue the talks on Tuesday.

During the call, Araghchi "emphasized the legal and moral incompetence of these countries to resort to the (snapback) mechanism, and warned of the consequences of such an action", Iranian media reported.

The European trio, along with the US, contend that Iran is using the nuclear energy program to potentially develop weapons capability in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran says it seeks only civilian nuclear power.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, has stated that Iran is nowhere near developing a nuclear bomb, and US national intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that intelligence officials had not found evidence of Iran moving toward a nuclear weapon.

Tehran suspended nuclear negotiations with the United States, which were aimed at curbing its accelerating enrichment program, after the US and Israel bombed its nuclear sites during a 12-day war in June. Since then, IAEA inspectors have been unable to access Iran's nuclear installations, despite IAEA chief Rafael Grossi stating that inspections remain essential.

Iran and the three European powers last convened in Geneva on June 20, while the war was still raging, and there were few signs of progress.

Separately, Iran's envoy to the IAEA said an Iranian delegation and IAEA officials had agreed in talks in Vienna on Friday to discuss ways to interact within the framework of a law passed by Iran's parliament that curbs Tehran's cooperation with the nuclear watchdog, the official news agency IRNA reported.

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Fight at Dutch Holiday Park Injures 2 Israeli Tourists

Police declined to speculate whether the incident was motivated by anti-Israeli sentiment. (Getty Images/AFP file)
Police declined to speculate whether the incident was motivated by anti-Israeli sentiment. (Getty Images/AFP file)
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Fight at Dutch Holiday Park Injures 2 Israeli Tourists

Police declined to speculate whether the incident was motivated by anti-Israeli sentiment. (Getty Images/AFP file)
Police declined to speculate whether the incident was motivated by anti-Israeli sentiment. (Getty Images/AFP file)

A fight over a paintball match at a holiday park in the Netherlands left two Israeli tourists injured, Dutch police said Friday.

The two Israeli men, one of whom had a serious head injury, were treated by paramedics after a brawl between the Israelis and a group of Dutch tourists at the park in the southern city of Westerhoven on Thursday, police said. The victims were aged 37 and 41.

A 15-year-old boy from the Netherlands was arrested for assault at the scene, police said.

“Apparently, an argument broke out between two groups over the way the game was being played. This escalated into a brawl that spilled onto a terrace,” the police said in a statement.

Police declined to speculate whether the incident was motivated by anti-Israeli sentiment, and said an investigation was continuing.

The Israeli government, however, compared the incident to violence against Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam last year that was condemned at the time as anti-Semitism.

“Israel calls on the Government of the Netherlands to come to its senses and act resolutely to prevent attacks on Israelis in its territory, to locate the criminals, and to bring them to justice,” the ministry said in a statement on social media.

Dozens were arrested and five people were treated in hospital in a series of violent overnight incidents following a November match between the Dutch team Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

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National Guard Members on DC Streets for Trump’s Crackdown Will Soon Be Armed, Pentagon Says

Protesters, police, and National Guard troops congregate at the entrance to Union Station in Washington, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance visited Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP)
Protesters, police, and National Guard troops congregate at the entrance to Union Station in Washington, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance visited Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP)
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National Guard Members on DC Streets for Trump’s Crackdown Will Soon Be Armed, Pentagon Says

Protesters, police, and National Guard troops congregate at the entrance to Union Station in Washington, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance visited Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP)
Protesters, police, and National Guard troops congregate at the entrance to Union Station in Washington, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance visited Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP)

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered that National Guard troops patrolling the streets of Washington for President Donald Trump’s law enforcement crackdown will be armed, the Pentagon said Friday.

The Defense Department didn’t offer any other details about the new development or why it was needed.

The step is a escalation in Trump's intervention into policing in the nation's capital and comes as nearly 2,000 National Guard members have been stationed in the city, with the arrival this week of hundreds of troops from several Republican-led states.

Trump initially called up 800 members of the District of Columbia National Guard to assist federal law enforcement in his bid to crack down on crime and homelessness in the capital. Since then, six states have sent troops to the city, growing the military presence.

It was unclear if the guard's role in the federal intervention would be changing. The guard has so far not taken part in law enforcement but largely have been protecting landmarks like the National Mall and Union Station and helping with crowd control.

The Pentagon and the Army said last week that troops would not carry guns. The new guidance is that they will carry their service-issued weapons.

The city had been informed about the intent for the National Guard to be armed, a person familiar with the conversations said earlier this week. The person was not authorized to disclose the plans and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Spokespeople for the District of Columbia National Guard and a military task force overseeing all the guard troops in Washington did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.