Pfizer plans to submit data about its COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 to the Food and Drug Administration "pretty soon," CEO Albert Bourla told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.

Why it matters: The start of the school year saw a rise in COVID-19 infections among kids, and heightened the focus on when the vaccine will be available for children.

• Earlier this week, Pfizer announced that results from its pediatric trial indicate that its vaccine — in a smaller dosage than given to adults — is safe and effective for children ages 5 to 11.

What he's saying: "I think we're going to submit this data pretty soon. It's a question of days, not weeks," Bourla said.

• "Then it is up to the FDA to be able to review the data and come to their conclusions, and approve it or not."
• "If they approve it, we will be ready with our manufacturing to provide this new formulation of the vaccine," Bourla said./Axios

No official representing Myanmar will address the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, a reversal of what was previously scheduled, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: The last-minute compromise comes amid competing claims for the country's U.N. seat after a military coup last February ousted Myanmar's democratically elected government from power.

• The decision comes after the U.S., China and Russia reached an agreement in which Myanmar’s U.N. ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, could stay in his position for the time being so long as he did not address the gathering, per Reuters.

The big picture: Kyaw Moe Tun, an appointee of the toppled government, was scheduled to speak before the assembly Monday, but no longer appears on the lineup, per the New York Times.

• "I withdrew from the speaker list, and will not speak at this general debate," Kyaw Moe Tun told Reuters.

Of note: Afghanistan is also now subject to competing claims to its U.N. seat.

• Earlier this week, the Taliban nominated a new envoy, Mohammad Suhail Shaheen, and asked to address the assembly in place of the current accredited ambassador Ghulam Isaczai, an appointee of the previous government.
• When a UN seat is disputed, the General Assembly's nine-member Credentials Committee is tasked with making a decision, but the group has not been able to meet and discuss the issue in time, per the Times.
• "For now, the Afghanistan representative inscribed on the list for Monday is Mr. Ghulam M. Isaczai," Dujarric told Reuters.

A Taliban patrol vehicle was targeted in a roadside bomb blast on Saturday in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, where the Daesh/ISIS terror group claimed similar deadly attacks last week, local media reported.

The incident took place during the morning rush hour near Pashtunistan Square in downtown Jalalabad, the provincial capital.

According to the state-run Bakhtar news agency, an employee of the Jalalabad Municipality got injured in the attack. The improvised explosive device was hidden in a plastic container.

However, local Azadi Radio reported that a Taliban security officer was killed and four civilians were injured in the blast.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

On Tuesday, the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group took credit for the back-to-back bomb blasts in the same city that claimed at least three lives last weekend.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed, who is also the acting deputy information minister in the Taliban-appointed government, said on Tuesday the terrorist group poses no “major threat” and would soon be uprooted.

“The recent attacks by Daesh were their ‘last attacks’, they have no capacity to attack again,” said Mujahed./agencies

Thousands of Scots marched to demand for independence from the UK in nation’s capital Edinburgh on Saturday.

The march started near the Royal Commonwealth Pool just after midday and protesters marched through the city streets to arrive at the Scottish parliament.

The colorful rally saw protesters carrying thousands of Scottish flags, playing drums and back pies.

Some banners carried at the rally read “Break Up the British State,” “Independence Now” and “Hope over Fear.”

Keir McKechnie, spokesperson for organizers All Under One Banner said Scots do not want to be part of the “toxic union.”

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, McKechnie said: “We are here today to send notice to (Prime Minister) Boris Johnson and the Tory government that we want independence in Scotland.

“We don’t want to be a part of their toxic union. That is a union that’s racist, divisive, reactionary. They have absolutely screwed economy over and we want to break free from this horrible marriage.

“We want a divorce from the UK and we are here to show there is a huge appetite for independence amongst the people of Scotland.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon recently said the country will go for a public vote on independence for the second time by the end of 2023.

The Scottish Parliament has a pro-independence majority which would be enough to legislate a second referendum but a new referendum is subjected to approval from the central British government.

Johnson has constantly rejected the idea of a new referendum on Scottish independence, repeatedly saying that Scots made their choice in a 2014 referendum.

However, Sturgeon has argued that circumstances have changed with Brexit, and Scotland has been dragged from the EU against its will as 62% voted to remain part of the bloc in 2016.

The first referendum that asked Scottish voters whether they would want to break free from the UK was held in 2014, two years before the historic EU referendum.

The government under then-Prime Minister David Cameron pledged better understanding for Scots from Westminster and “extensive new powers” for the Scottish Parliament.

The SNP, the party which led the independence campaign, had full confidence that the country would survive and even be better off outside the UK, strengthened by the nation’s oil fields in the North Sea, world-famous malt whiskey, textile, jet engines, and various banking and financial services.

But Scots rejected separation from the rest of the UK, as just over 2 million votes (55.3%) were cast to remain part of the kingdom, while 1.62 million (44.7%) people voted for independence./aa

A Cameroonian migrant claimed on Saturday that he and two other people had been thrown off a vessel into the Aegean Sea by the Greek Coast Guard.

According to Turkish Coast Guard officials, Cameroon national I.O. said he managed to swim to the shore, but that the two people with him had drowned on the way.

I.O. said that on Sept. 14, a group of 36 people had arrived by boat at the island of Samos, where 28 people from this group was later caught by Greek security forces after which he and seven others fled.

"They started firing left and right once they saw us. We were two groups in the forest. After walking in the forest for an hour we were caught by the Greek police. They started punching us and they searched us. They took our phones and money, threw us into their car, telling us not to look out the window. They said they would kill anyone who lifts their head. They lifted us like animals and then threw us onto their own vessel. They kept hitting us there," I.O. said.

He recounted that the Greek forces had taken them on a sea route they were not familiar with, stopping the engine in the middle of the water.

"They took my sibling Aliya and threw her in the sea. Later, they threw Yusuf into the sea. They also wanted to throw me over, but I resisted. That's why they punched me in the head. They were able to throw me in, too, when I had no strength left," he said.

After a while, he said, he saw Yusuf's body in the sea and said he tried to drag him to the shore.

"I did CPR to see if I could resuscitate him and I also checked to see if he was alive, but he wasn't. I saw him die and attached a stick and rag to his side. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know whether to walk by the sea or go to the forest. I slept in the forest. The next day, I decided to walk by the beach. While walking, I saw a house on the hill. When I got there, I realized that the house was an old police station. I checked to see if I could find food or water, but there was none and I took the road in front of it. There, the gendarmerie came and rescued me," he said.

On Sept. 18, a lifeless body belonging to an irregular immigrant from Cameroon was found in the Kusadasi district of Aydin, in western Turkey.

On Sept. 20, the body of another Cameroonian irregular migrant was found by Turkish Coast Guard personnel.

The identities of both bodies, were confirmed by I.O./aa

The US Treasury Department has issued general licenses and guidance to facilitate humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, it said in a statement.

The department said in a press release on Friday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued two general licenses "to support the continued flow of humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan and other activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan."

The move was meant to ensure that US sanctions "do not limit the ability of civilians located in Afghanistan to receive humanitarian support" from the US and the international community, while denying assets to the Taliban and other sanctioned entities and individuals.

"Treasury will continue to work with financial institutions, international organizations, and the non-governmental organization community to ease the flow of critical resources, like agricultural goods, medicine, and other essential supplies, to people in need, while upholding and enforcing our sanctions against the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and other sanctioned entities," said OFAC Director Andrea M. Gacki.

OFAC's two licenses authorize activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan, and certain transactions related to the export of agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices.

Meanwhile, The Taliban-run Foreign Ministry in Afghanistan has welcomed the move.

In a statement, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the ministry spokesman, said that the interim government is hopeful that all countries and international organizations, including the US, will continue to strengthen ties with Afghanistan and provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

In another development, Shahabuddin Delavar, a senior Taliban figure, said that the group wants good relations with the US and other countries.

Also, Din Mohammad Hanif, the acting economy minister, urged the international community to give the Taliban a 20-month period to prove its ability to serve the nation with transparency.

The US government has blocked the Afghan central bank's reserves, and many donors and organizations, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, have halted payments since the Taliban swept to power on Aug. 15./aa

At least seven people, including soldiers and civilians, were killed on Saturday in Somalia's capital, after a suicide car bombing that targeted a security checkpoint near the presidential palace, police said.

"What we know so far is that at least seven people, among them soldiers, were killed, and more than 10 others wounded in today's suicide car bomb blast in Mogadishu," police officer Abdi Hassan Mohamed told Anadolu Agency over the phone after the blast.

Paramedics and security forces rushed to the scene as the wounded were transported to hospitals for treatment, he said, adding that the explosion had also destroyed several vehicles and shook nearby houses.

Recounting what he saw of the blast and its aftermath, minivan driver and eyewitness Guuled Ibrahim said: "The explosion was huge. After the blast occurred, there was gunfire. Minutes later, we rushed to the scene and it was horrific, with a lot of confusion."

A Somali police spokesman had also confirmed that the attack was caused by a suicide car bombing.

The Al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab terror group claimed responsibility for the blast shortly after the attack and said that it had targeted a convoy carrying senior government officials heading to the presidential palace.

Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate, was also behind a truck-bombing attack in October 2017 in Mogadishu that took some 600 lives, the worst attack in the nation's history.

The same organization was behind numerous similar attacks across the country./aa