“Russia claims one of its warships has chased away a U.S. Navy destroyer that, according to Moscow, attempted to enter Russian territorial waters during Russian-Chinese naval drills in the Sea of Japan,” Radio Free Europe reports.

A British lawmaker from the Conservative Party died after being stabbed multiple times in an attack, the BBC reports.

The Guardian has the latest.

“Satellite images have revealed China is upgrading and reinforcing its airbases closest to Taiwan along its southeastern coast, indicating Beijing may be stepping up its plans to take the island by force,” the South China Morning Post reports.

“The images… showed work on aircraft shelters and reinforced munitions storage started early last year and continued uninterrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“With the Afghan government and economy starved of cash, the Taliban are pressing their claim to the roughly $8 billion in Afghan foreign reserves that have been frozen by the U.S.,” Axios reports.

“Afghanistan is barreling into a humanitarian crisis, and donor countries and international institutions have cut off the aid that accounted for some 75% of the previous government’s budget.”

“The State Department plans to resume regular evacuation flights from Afghanistan before the end of the year to help U.S. citizens, residents and some visa applicants leave the country,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The small number of U.S. citizens and thousands of Afghans left behind after the chaotic evacuation effort in the final weeks of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan could be eligible for seats on the U.S.-sponsored flights.”

The United States and Israel said they are exploring a “Plan B” for dealing with Iran if the Islamic Republic does not return in good faith to negotiations to salvage the languishing landmark 2015 nuclear deal, the AP reports.

Days after being ousted as prime minister, Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu passed a message to Russian president Vladimir Putin promising a quick comeback, Axios reports.

“An unprecedented election pledge by Japan’s ruling party to double defense spending underscores the nation’s haste to acquire missiles, stealth fighters, drones and other weapons to deter China’s military in the disputed East China Sea,” Reuters reports.

“The Afghan interpreter who in 2008 was part of a team that rescued then-Sen. Joe Biden when his helicopter got caught in a blinding snowstorm in Afghanistan safely left the country with his family last week,” the Washington Post reports.

“The interpreter, Aman Khalili, had been in hiding in the weeks after Kabul’s fall to the Taliban in mid-August and the U.S. withdrawal from the country. Khalili, his wife and several of his children — a number he did not want to disclose for safety reasons — were rescued last week in a joint effort by a group of Arizona military veterans, aid organizations and, ultimately, the Department of State.”

“China’s military said on Monday it had carried out beach landing and assault drills in the province directly across the sea from Taiwan, though it did not link the exercises to current tensions with Taipei,” Nikkei Asia reports.

Financial Times: The moment of truth over Taiwan is getting closer.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared while attending a weapons exhibition that the country had “invincible” defense capabilities as he accused the U.S. of being the source of regional tensions, Axios reports.

“A decade after the Arab League voted to suspend Syria at the onset of a brutal civil war, Bashar al-Assad is being welcomed back in from the cold by some of America’s closest regional allies,” Axios reports.

“Jordan’s King Abdullah II, the first Arab leader to call for Assad to resign in 2011, spoke to the Syrian dictator last week for the first time since the conflict broke out, and recently reopened the two countries’ main border crossing to help boost trade.”

“More than a month after a frenzied U.S. effort to evacuate thousands facing retribution from the Taliban in Afghanistan, members of Congress are still quietly pushing the government to help extract a small group of stranded Afghans who are direct relatives of American military service members,” the New York Times reports.

President Biden nominated former Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) to serve as Ambassador to the Holy See, the South Bend Tribune reports.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro claimed that Covid-19 protocols at soccer matches had prevented him from attending a Brazilian championship match because he is not vaccinated, the AP reports.

Said Bolsonaro: “Why a vaccine passport? I wanted to watch Santos now and they said I needed to be vaccinated. Why should that be?”

Russian spies stole the formula for the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and used it to help create its own Sputnik vaccine, The Sun reports.