Responsible for previous attacks on Israeli vehicle insurance company Shirbit, the Iran-based group demanded bitcoins as ransom and shut down the servers when Cyberserve failed to deliver payment.

Tuesday's close vote between Republican former private-equity executive Glenn Youngkin and Democrat Terry McAuliffe, a former governor, is widely seen as a foretaste of next year's midterm elections.

Cohen, from the Haredi religious Shas party, began his letter with complaints about students who were lectured about the concept of same-sex couples joint parenting.

The Health Ministry announced that Head of Public Health Services Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis had been assigned a bodyguard, following serious threats on her life by anti-vaxxers.

Sopko said that after the Taliban seized Kabul, the State Department asked him to temporarily suspend online access to certain reports he issued to ensure the safety of US-affiliated Afghans.

It is the first study to be peer-reviewed that evaluates the effectiveness of a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine against serious outcomes.

He said that if dismissal were not granted, Giuffre should provide a "more definitive statement" of her allegations.

With at least 11 protesters killed in clashes with security forces this week, opponents of the junta fear a full-blown crackdown and more bloodshed.