The World Food Program (WFP) warned Friday that funding shortfalls will cut off food assistance for 400,000 South Sudanese refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) following September distributions.

A fire broke out on Mount Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania on Thursday, with containment efforts underway.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that Russian drone strikes hit the headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security services, local media reported.

GAZA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, said Friday one of its members was killed as an attempt to abduct him by militias allegedly backed by Israel was foiled in the southern Gaza Strip.In a statement, the group said a militia force advanced earlier in the day toward the al-Qarara area north of Khan Younis in southern Gaza in an attempt to abduct one of its members.In the exchange of fire that followed, the force shot and killed the intended target, identified as Fadi al-Abadla of the group's al-Qarara Battalion in the Khan Younis Brigade.A security source told Xinhua that the Israeli military provided fire cover for the withdrawal of the force.There was no immediate comment from the militias or the Israeli military.The militias, based on the eastern outskirts of the Gaza Strip, are reportedly armed with various types of weapons and have repeatedly attempted to move into areas deeper inside the enclave to carry out security-related operations.

ADEN, Yemen, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- At least 40 Yemeni government soldiers and 50 Houthi fighters have been killed in fierce fighting across the country's western frontlines since Thursday, medical officials told Xinhua Friday.A medical official on the Red Sea coastal front in Hodeidah province said 14 government soldiers have been killed in fighting there since the Houthis launched a large-scale offensive early Friday.Separately, another medical official on the front in the neighboring Taiz province said 26 government soldiers have been killed in clashes that began Thursday and continued into Friday.Meanwhile, medical sources in Houthi-controlled areas said hospitals in Hodeidah have received the bodies of at least 50 Houthi fighters killed on the Hodeidah and Taiz fronts.The escalation intensified on Friday as both sides sent more troops, armored vehicles and equipment to the two fronts, according to military sources.The latest escalation marks some of the heaviest ground fighting in western Yemen in recent years, raising concerns of a broader return to large-scale hostilities after years of relative calm across many of the country's frontlines.Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

DUBAI, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Dubai branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) on Thursday held a bell-ringing ceremony at Nasdaq Dubai to mark the listing of its global dual-currency green bonds themed after China-Arab states renewable energy cooperation.The dual-currency green bonds, denominated in U.S. dollars and offshore Chinese renminbi, have a combined issuance size of 700 million U.S. dollars and were listed simultaneously in Dubai, Hong Kong and London.Bond proceeds will be used to support low-carbon projects in the renewable energy sector in China and Arab countries, according to ICBC.Following the listing, ICBC's cumulative issuance of renminbi-denominated bonds on Nasdaq Dubai has exceeded 10 billion yuan (about 1.49 billion dollars), the bank said.

The United States will begin reducing financial assistance for Namibia's HIV response as the southern African country assumes greater responsibility for sustaining its epidemic-control programs, the two governments announced in a joint statement released Friday.