BEIRUT (AP) — A few days after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, a convoy of militants drove through the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria in cars bearing the group’s white-and-black flags, honking horns and firing their guns in the air.

The celebrations by an al-Qaida affiliate in a remote corner of war-torn Syria were an expression of the triumph felt by radical Islamic groups from the Gaza Strip to Pakistan and West Africa who see America’s violence-marred exit from Afghanistan an opportunity to reassert their presence.

Members of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a Sunni Islamist militant group, wave the Taliban flags as they celebrate the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, in the city of Idlib, Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan is giving radical Islamic groups from Syria and the Gaza Strip to Pakistan and West Africa reason to celebrate. They see America’s violence-marred exit from Afghanistan as an opportunity to regroup and reassert their ideology. Photo: Ghaith Alsayed/AP/TT

The Islamic State promised a new phase in its “blessed jihad” against the West.

Taliban success in Afghanistan seen as boost for extremists

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldova’s pro-Western president was joined Friday in the capital Chisinau by her counterparts from Romania, Poland, and Ukraine to celebrate the country’s three decades of independence from Soviet rule.

Moldova, Europe’s poorest country, sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, proclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union on August 27, 1991.

Honor guards carry wreaths during an event held to celebrate Moldova’s national day, three decades after the country declared independence from the Soviet Union, in Chisinau, Moldova, Friday, Aug. 27, 2021. The 30-year anniversary event was held in the capital’s Grand National Assembly Square where President Maia Sandu was joined by Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis. Photo: Aurel Obreja/AP/TT

Moldova, Europe’s poorest country, proclaimed its independence from the Soviet Union on August 27, 1991.

Moldova marks 30 years of independence from Soviet rule

The Islamic State offshoot that Americans blame for Thursday’s deadly suicide attacks outside the Kabul airport coalesced in eastern Afghanistan six years ago, and rapidly grew into one of the more dangerous terror threats globally.

Despite years of military targeting by the U.S.-led coalition, the group known as Islamic State Khorasan has survived to launch a massive new assault as the United States and other NATO partners withdraw from Afghanistan, and as the Taliban return to power.

Smoke rises from a deadly explosion outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. Two suicide bombers and gunmen have targeted crowds massing near the Kabul airport, in the waning days of a massive airlift that has drawn thousands of people seeking to flee the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Photo: Wali Sabawoon/AP/TT

The group known as Islamic State Khorasan has survived to launch a massive new assault in Kabul.

Explainer: How dangerous is Afghanistan’s Islamic State?

BERLIN (AP) — It’s not that politics bore him; quite the opposite. But Christoph Gillitzer is stumped by whom to vote for in Germany’s federal election next month.

The retired engineer says he usually backs the underdog, yet the choices on offer Sept. 26 don’t have him convinced.

 In this Tuesday, Aug.3, 2021 file photo Armin Laschet, top canditate of the German Christian Democrats for the federal elections, and Olaf Scholz, top canditate of the German Social Democrats, address the media during a press conference in Stolberg, Germany that was hit by heavy rain and floods. A large chunk of the German electorate remains undecided going into an election that will determine who succeeds Angela Merkel as chancellor after 16 years in power. Photo: Marius Becker/AP/TT

Recent surveys show that support for political parties has flattened out, with none forecast to receive more than a quarter of the vote.