President Joe Biden has promised to hunt down the jihadists behind an attack in Kabul which killed at least 90 people – including 13 US troops. Mr Biden warned the US would “not forgive” the perpetrators.

The twin blasts, claimed by a local branch of Islamic State (IS), tore through crowds of men, women and children outside Kabul airport. They were hoping to join the 100,000 people airlifted out of Afghanistan since it fell to Taliban militants. There had been repeated warnings that an attack was likely, but it either did not reach or did not deter those waiting. US troops in control of Kabul international airport have been facilitating the evacuation of foreign nationals and Afghans who had been working with foreign missions. They have been aiming to complete this within a 31 August deadline for US forces to leave under an agreement with the Taliban. A number of European countries have already announced the end of their evacuation plans. The UK said on Friday it would not be processing any more applications, acknowledging it was leaving people behind.(BBC)…[+]

Japan has suspended the use of about 1.63 million doses of the Moderna vaccine due to contamination.   The health ministry said “foreign materials” were found in some doses of a batch of roughly 560,000 vials. Takeda Pharmaceutical, which sells and distributes the vaccine in Japan, said Moderna had put three batches on hold “out of an abundance of caution”. It said an issue at a manufacturing contract site in Spain was the likely cause, but did not elaborate. “To date, no safety or efficacy issues have been identified,” Moderna said, adding that it would work with regulators and Takeda to investigate the matter further. There are no details of what the “foreign objects” are, but Takeda described it as particulate matter, after which it said conducted an emergency examination.(BBC)…[+]

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett hopes to reset relations with the US and agree how to stop Iran’s nuclear programme during his first meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House. The right-wing nationalist took office in June after forming an ideologically diverse governing coalition.  He succeeded Benjamin Netanyahu, who was close to Donald Trump and clashed with Barack Obama’s administration. Mr Bennett said he was bringing a “new spirit of co-operation” from Israel. He also made clear that Iran would be top of his agenda, especially the “leap” achieved by its nuclear programme over the past two or three years. Iran has gradually breached its commitments under a nuclear deal with world powers in retaliation for the sanctions that Mr Trump reinstated when he pulled the US out of the accord in 2018, which he called “defective at its core”.(BBC)…[+]

A new approach to protecting young African children from malaria could reduce deaths and illness from the disease by 70%, a study suggests. Giving them vaccines before the worst season in addition to preventative drugs produced “very striking” results, London researchers say. The trial followed 6,000 children aged under 17 months in Burkina Faso and Mali. Most of the 400,000 deaths from malaria each year are in the under-fives. And the mosquito-borne disease is still a major health issue in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa.(BBC)…[+]