Iran says new round of talks with E3 to be held in Istanbul Friday

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that a new round of talks between Iran and France, Britain and Germany is scheduled to be held in Trkiye's Istanbul on Friday.

Baghaei said the talks would center on the removal of sanctions on Iran and Tehran's nuclear program. The meeting would be held at the level of deputy foreign ministers and attended by the European Union's deputy foreign policy chief.

Malian army announces killing of Islamic State leader

The Malian army announced Monday that it had killed Souleymane Ag Bakawa, a leader of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, also known as "Soldat," during an operation in the Tinfadimata area in northern Mali.

"This particularly feared individual led a group infamous for spreading terror in the town of Menaka and surrounding areas. He was directly involved in several kidnappings of civilians and targeted killings of Malian Armed Forces personnel and innocent civilians," the Malian army said in a statement.

Israeli forces detain senior Gaza health official: health authorities

Gaza's health authorities said on Monday that a senior official was detained by Israeli special forces disguised in civilian clothing near a field hospital in southern Gaza.

In a press statement, the health authorities said Marwan Al-Hams, director of Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital and head of Gaza's field hospital operations, was detained while on his way to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) field hospital in the city of Rafah.

According to the statement, Israeli forces opened fire on the ambulance transporting Al-Hams, killing one of his companions and injuring two others, including the driver. Palestinian journalist Tamer Al-Zaanin was also killed in the incident.

The Hamas-run government media office in Gaza condemned the abduction and the use of force, describing it as "a grave violation of international humanitarian law."

Japanese PM vows to stay in office after election setback

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday vowed to stay in office despite a significant electoral setback in the House of Councillors election, where the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner failed to secure a majority.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday afternoon, Ishiba acknowledged the disappointing results and expressed a strong sense of responsibility.

"What is most important right now is to avoid causing stagnation in national politics," he said, vowing efforts to fulfill the responsibilities as the leading party.

China's nano "two-photon factory" sets world record

A Chinese research team has achieved a world-leading breakthrough in quantum technology by developing an entangled light source with near-perfect fidelity, according to Sun Yat-sen University in south China's Guangzhou.

The research, published online in Nature, was led by Wang Xuehua and Liu Jin, two professors from the university's School of Physics.

It will provide critical support for the development of next-generation quantum precision measurement technologies and the construction of functional photonic quantum information processing chips, Wang said.

At least 19 killed as Bangladeshi military plane crashes

At least 19 people, mostly students, were killed as a training aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force crashed on the campus of a college here on Monday.

A government statement said that over 100 people were injured in the accident. Many of the injured are in critical condition.