The world in brief

Irked Iraq clamps down on Reuters

BAGHDAD -- Iraq on Friday suspended the work of the Reuters news agency for three months, after a report by the agency the previous day that said the Iraqi government was under-reporting confirmed cases of the new coronavirus.

The news agency was also fined about $21,000, according to a statement posted on the official Communication and Media Commission website.

The suspension comes after Reuters on Thursday published a story citing multiple sources who said the government was vastly misreporting cases of coronavirus in the country, saying the true number of those infected was in the thousands.

The Health Ministry said Friday that there were 820 confirmed cases and 54 deaths in the country. The Reuters report said the true number ranged from 3,000 to 9,000.

[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]

Reuters said it has not received any notification from Iraqi authorities regarding their license and were "seeking clarification on the matter."

Palestinian envoy detained in Israel

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police arrested the Palestinian minister for Jerusalem affairs early Friday on accusations of violating an Israeli ban on Palestinian political activities in east Jerusalem.

Fadi al-Hidmi was arrested at his home near the Mount of Olives. His office circulated surveillance camera footage showing police searching his home with dogs. It said they confiscated around $2,750. It was the fourth time he has been arrested.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state. Israel views the entire city as its capital.

Israel bars the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the occupied West Bank, from operating in east Jerusalem or carrying out any political activities there.

Palestinian officials said al-Hidmi was working to assist residents as part of their response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said al-Hidmi was arrested "on suspicions of Palestinian activities in Jerusalem."

Man in Pearl case to stay in custody

KARACHI, Pakistan -- A Pakistani provincial government Friday ordered a British Pakistani man whose conviction in the kidnapping and killing of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl was overturned to remain in custody for three months.

The superintendent of Karachi's Central Prison, Hasan Sehtoo, said he received an order from the Sindh provincial government saying Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh's release would threaten public safety. The government ordered him detained as it appeals to the Pakistan Supreme Court to have his murder conviction reinstated.

Saeed was found guilty of murder and kidnapping in the 2002 death of Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl and was sentenced to death. On Thursday, the Sindh High Court overturned his murder conviction and sentenced him to seven years for the kidnapping.

Pearl disappeared Jan. 23, 2002, in Karachi while researching links between Pakistani militants and Richard C. Reid, who became known as the "shoe bomber" after he was arrested on a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives in his shoes.

A Section on 04/04/2020

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