International

BSS :Kyiv said on Friday that it has decided to reduce Iran’s diplomatic presence in Ukraine over sending weapons to its foe Russia.Ukraine’s foreign ministry said “the temporary charge d’affaires of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Ukraine was summoned” over the issue.A ministry statement said the envoy was told the supply of Iranian weapons to Russia “directly contradicts the position of neutrality, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” and was “an unfriendly act that deals a...

BSS :Historical novelist Hilary Mantel, the first British female writer to win the Booker Prize twice, died aged 70, her publishers 4th Estate Books announced on Friday.“We are heartbroken at the death of our beloved author, Dame Hilary Mantel, and our thoughts are with her friends and family, especially her husband, Gerald,” a statement said.“This is a devastating loss and we can only be grateful she left us with such a magnificent body of work.”...

BSS :Police have arrested 48 people for allegedly starting forest fires in France during the summer, a spokeswoman told AFP Friday, after a season marked by large, devastating blazes.Up to 10,000 French firefighters a day were mobilised this summer to fight fires which have ravaged more than 65,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System — a record since the start of satellite data in 2006.Of the 48 arrested, 12 people have already been sentenced to two years...

BSS :Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Thursday said the death of a young woman that sparked protests in the Islamic republic needed to be investigated, but accused Western powers of hypocrisy for raising concerns.At a news conference in New York where he attended the UN General Assembly, the clerical leader repeated a coroner’s conclusion that 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was not beaten, a finding rejected by protesters. “But I don’t want to rush to a conclusion“If there is a party at...

BSS :Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke over phone to express their satisfaction over a prisoner-of-war swap between Moscow and Kyiv facilitated by Riyadh, the Kremlin said Friday. During a phone call late Thursday the two leaders expressed “satisfaction in connection with the transfer to Saudi Arabia of foreign citizen prisoners of war… that took place with the personal mediation of the crown prince”, it said.As part of the exchange, Ukraine received 215 of its...

BSS :Hong Kong announced on Fridaythat it will end mandatory hotel quarantine, scrapping some of the world’s toughest travel restrictions that have battered the economy and kept the finance hub internationally isolated.The long-awaited move will bring relief to residents and businesses who have been clamouring for the Asian business hub to rejoin the rest of the world in resuming unhindered travel and living alongside the coronavirus.For the past two and a half years, Hong Kong has adhered to a version...

BSS/AFP :A Chinese worker who tended to his injured colleagues following a deadly earthquake and then got lost in the mountains has been rescued 17 days later.The 6.6-magnitude quake struck southwestern Sichuan province earlier this month, killing at least 93 people and forcing thousands to be resettled into temporary camps.Gan Yu, an employee at Sichuan’s Wandong hydropower plant, was found alive but injured on Wednesday by a local villager, state-owned China National Radio (CNR) said, calling the rescue a “miracle...

Reuters :A convicted politician is liable to be disqualified for at least five years under Pakistani lawsFormer Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said sorry in a contempt of court case andpromised not to hurt the dignity of the judiciary, the court said, a concession that could avoid his disqualification from politics.The charges are related to a speech by Khan in which he allegedly threatened police and a female judge last month after one of his close aides was...