The US and the Taliban are set to begin their seventh round of peace talks on Saturday.
Negotiators from both sides will discuss ways to end the war in Afghanistan.
One US official called the talks a “make-or-break moment” to halt more than 18 years of fighting.
The discussions will be led by Zalmay Khalilzad, who is the US peace envoy for Afghanistan.
He has held six rounds of talks with the Taliban since October.
Afghanistan is preparing to hold presidential elections on September 28.
Sources say Azerbaijan Airlines flight was downed by Russian air defence system
An Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday was downed by a Russian air defence system, four sources in Azerbaijan with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters.
Thousands mark 20 years after deadly Indian Ocean tsunami
Survivors and families of victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami 20 years ago visited mass graves, lit candles and comforted one another across Southeast and South Asia in ceremonies on Thursday to mark the disaster that killed some 230,000 people.
Russia says it prevented Ukrainian plots to kill high-ranking officers
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday that it had foiled several plots by Ukrainian intelligence services to kill high-ranking Russian officers and their families in Moscow using bombs disguised as power banks or document folders.
Israeli airstrike kills five journalists in central Gaza
Five Palestinian journalists were killed when their marked media van was struck by an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza's Nuseirat on early Thursday, the enclave's health authorities said.
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