World Briefs

IRAN A Ukrainian passenger jet carrying 176 people crashed yesterday just minutes after taking off from the Iranian capital’s main airport, turning farmland on the outskirts of Tehran into fields of flaming debris and killing all on board. The crash of Ukraine International Airlines came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing US soldiers.

IRAN struck back at the United States yesterday for killing its most powerful military commander, firing a barrage of ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases that house American troops in what the Iranian supreme leader said was a “slap” against America’s military presence in the region. The retaliation is another dangerous escalation that could draw the region deeper into turmoil, despite insistence by Washington and Tehran that neither side wants war. US and Iraqi officials said there were no casualties among their forces.

PHILIPPINES The government has ordered the mandatory evacuation of Filipino workers from Iraq and Iran and is sending a coast guard vessel to the Middle East to ferry its citizens to safety in case hostilities between the United States and Iran worsen, officials said yesterday.
Sri Lanka Police have suspended a leading investigator who probed the killings of journalists and alleged abductions during the presidency of the current president’s brother for discussing a politically sensitive murder case in a phone call with a government minister.

LEBANON Nissan’s fugitive ex-boss, Carlos Ghosn, yesterday described his arrest in Japan, from which he escaped last month, as a plot against him and his detention conditions as a “travesty” against human rights. Ghosn was defensive as he held a news conference in Beirut – his first appearance since fleeing Japan last month in a high-risk operation. He said the decision to escape the country, where he was due to stand trial for alleged financial misconduct at the automaker, “was the most difficult of my life.”

UK British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned what he called Iran’s “reckless and dangerous” missile attacks on bases in Iraq used by U.S. troops, and he called for “urgent de-escalation” by Tehran and Washington. Johnson also said Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander killed in a U.S. airstrike last week, “had the blood of British troops on his hands.”

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis is asking for prayers for Australia as it copes with devastating fires and expressed his solidarity with the country’s people. In his comments, Francis said: “I’d like to ask for you all to pray to the Lord to help the [Australian]people at this difficult moment, with these powerful fires. I’m close to the Australian people.”