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British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and dual national Anoosheh Ashoori arrived in Britain from Iran on Thursday, ending an ordeal during which they became a bargaining chip in Iran's talks with the West over its nuclear program.

Source: alarabiya.net

Kanye West has been suspended from social media network Instagram for 24 hours after the rapper infringed the platform's policy regarding harassment, the spokesperson for its parent firm Meta Platforms Inc, Joe Osborne said. A report in entertainment industry publication Variety said West directed racial slurs at Trevor Noah, host of "The Daily Show" in an Instagram post after Noah discussed a row between West, West's former wife Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend, "Saturday Night Live" comic Pete Davidson.

Source: reuters.com

A Czech zoo has welcomed a critically endangered eastern black rhinoceros baby that has taken the name of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in honor of that country’s resistance to invading Russian forces. The rhino was born early on March 4 in the Dvur Kralove zoo, a rare occurrence for the facility even if it has the most rhinos belonging to the subspecies.

Source: apnews.com

According to WHO data, South Korea leads the world in newly reported cases in the last seven days with 2,417,174 infections, followed by Vietnam with 1,776,045. The 621,328 case tally recorded Thursday is South Korea's highest daily figure since the pandemic began.

Source: france24.com

Canada will no longer require a pre-arrival COVID-19 test for vaccinated travelers as of April 1. A senior government official confirmed the change Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to lack of authorization to speak publicly ahead of the announcement this week. The United States still requires a negative COVID-19 test to enter.

Source: apnews.com

Manchester United are monitoring Thomas Tuchel’s situation at Chelsea as they intensify their search for a new manager and also have Sevilla’s Julen Lopetegui on their shortlist. Three other candidates are understood to be of particular interest: Paris Saint-Germain’s Mauricio Pochettino, Erik ten Hag of Ajax and Spain’s Luis Enrique.

Source: theguardian.com

Reigning men's Olympic and world champion Nathan Chen of the United States on Wednesday withdrew from next week's world figure skating championships in France. Chen captured Winter Olympic gold last month in Beijing but will not make a bid for his fourth consecutive world title due to an unspecified injury.

Source: france24.com

A vehicle carrying members of a New Mexico university's golf team collided with a pickup truck in Texas, the school said. Nine passengers including the team's coach were on the bus involved in the fatal crash, the University of the Southwest said in a statement. Two passengers from the bus are in critical condition. A driver and passenger in the pickup were also both killed. The vehicles collided on Tuesday night in Andrews County in west Texas, just after 20:00 local time.

Source: bbc.com

Saudi Arabia’s octogenarian monarch underwent medical tests and had the battery of his pacemaker changed, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported Wednesday. King Salman will rest for several days following the procedure and “successful medical tests,” the news agency said. Government-produced images showed the king leaving the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the capital, Riyadh, hunched forward and using a cane, but otherwise walking unassisted.

Source: apnews.com

A dark Francis Bacon painting of a screaming pope, said to be the earliest in his series of papal depictions, went on display in London on Tuesday, the first time the artwork has been exhibited publicly. The Dublin-born artist created the canvas, known as "Landscape with Pope/Dictator", in 1946 while living in Monaco.

Source: reuters.com

The ex-Everton striker, who earned £20,000 a week in his heyday, is now so broke he is planning to put up summer houses for just £150 a day. He was last month caught behind the wheel nearly four times the limit and was yesterday disqualified from driving for 32 months at Wimbledon Magistrates Court. The 43-year-old ex-footballer, who scored more than 100 goals for 14 different clubs, pleaded guilty to driving his grey BMW X5 on the A3 at Tibbet’s Corner on February 27.

Source: thesun.co.uk

French Open organisers said on Wednesday that Novak Djokovic is allowed to defend his title as the tournament prepares to stage what is expected to be the first Grand Slam without any COVID-19 related restrictions since the pandemic broke two years ago. France has lifted restrictions in almost all public spaces - except hospitals, nursing homes and public transports - on Monday.

Source: reuters.com

For a second straight day, a huge dust storm swirling over Europe from the Sahara desert made it hard to breathe in large parts of Spain and gave cleaning crews extra work in France and Portugal to remove the film of dirt from cars and buildings. The European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said Wednesday it was tracking the large mass of dust that has “degraded air quality across large parts of Spain, Portugal and France.”

Source: apnews.com

At least 21 babies born through surrogacy, are stuck in a bomb shelter nursery in Kyiv. They're waiting for their biological parents, who live abroad, to take them home. But the war has made the journey into the capital too risky.

Source: bbc.com

as his goal against Mallorca in La Liga took him to 412 in his career, one more than Thierry Henry. The Real Madrid striker converted a penalty in the second half at Son Moix on Monday to give Madrid a 2-0 lead, after Vinicius Junior had opened the scoring. Benzema’s historic feat comes after he scored a hat-trick against Paris Saint-Germain last week to make it 309 goals for Real Madrid, overtaking the great Alfredo Di Stefano in the club’s all-time scorers list.

Source: france24.com

Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed constitutional reforms to limit the powers of his office, saying Wednesday the country needed to switch from "superpresidential" rule to a presidential republic with a strong parliament. Tokayev was elected president in 2019 with the backing of his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had resigned after running the oil-rich nation for three decades but retained sweeping powers until recently.

Source: reuters.com

Hailey, 25, suffered a blood clot in her brain on Thursday, doctors determined, after she was admitted to the hospital with stroke-like symptoms. She was released from the hospital and is resting at home, but the ordeal shocked the pair, particularly Justin, 28, who "is probably more traumatized than even she is," a source close to the singer tells PEOPLE. "When it happened, there was a lot of panic. Justin texted everyone he knew and asked everyone to pray for her, and he never left her side."
 

North Korea has fired an "unknown projectile" which appeared to fail immediately after launch, South Korea's military said. The suspected missile was fired from an airfield outside the capital Pyongyang. The airfield has been the site of several launches, including previous tests of what were the US alleges were intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). It comes as North Korea has in recent weeks stepped up its weapons testing.

Source: bbc.com