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A30 world news
Diahuebs 1 aPRiL 2021

Italy orders 2 Russian Embassy officials expelled for spying

(AP) — Italy ordered two The Russian Embassy in aware of details of the in-
Russian Embassy officials Rome confirmed the de- cident, but noted that “we
expelled Wednesday and tention of a diplomat who hope that the quite positive
arrested an Italian Navy belonged to the military at- and constructive character of
captain on spying charges tache’s office but wouldn’t the Russian-Italian relations
after police caught the of- comment on the incident. will be preserved.”
ficer allegedly giving clas- “In any case, we hope that it The Russian Foreign Min-
sified documents to one of wouldn’t affect bilateral ties,” istry voiced regret about the
the Russians in exchange it said in a statement. diplomats’ expulsion in a
for money. Italy’s special operations terse statement carried by
forces in Rome staged the Russian news agencies. It
Foreign Minister Luigi Di sting “during a clandestine added that its “possible steps
Maio told a joint session of operation between the two, in connection with the situ-
the Italian Parliament’s for- surprising them red-handed ation that doesn’t conform
eign relations committees immediately after the hand- with the level of bilateral ties
that the documentation con- ing over of classified docu- will be announced later.”
cerned NATO information after a sting operation on the tioned at the Russian Em- ments by the Italian official British Foreign Secretary
and that the incident was a outskirts of Rome allegedly bassy in Italy, was initially de- in exchange for a sum of Dominic Raab conveyed
“hostile act of extreme grav- caught the Italian and one of tained but not immediately money,” said the Carabinieri support for Italy in a tweet.
ity.” the Russians in a “clandes- placed under arrest given his statement. “The UK stands in solidarity
“It is not just our security at tine operation” to exchange diplomatic status. The Carabinieri said both with Italy and its actions to-
risk, but that of the entire the documents for cash late He was ordered expelled were accused of “serious day, exposing and taking ac-
NATO (alliance), and we Tuesday. along with another Rus- crimes concerning espionage tion against Russia’s malign
cannot accept this,” he told Italy’s Carabinieri paramili- sian Embassy official alleg- and state security.” and destabilizing activity that
lawmakers. tary police said the Italian edly involved, Di Maio told Speaking in a conference is designed to undermine
The Foreign Ministry said frigate captain had been ar- lawmakers. Di Maio didn’t call with reporters, Russian our @NATO ally,” he said,
it summoned Russian Am- rested. The Russian observed provide details about the President Vladimir Putin’s retweeting a Di Maio tweet
bassador Sergey Razov to with him, a member of the suspected role of the second spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, announcing the expulsions.
protest the “grave incident” Russian armed forces sta- Russian. said the Kremlin was un-

As tensions ease, Pakistan allows partial trade with India

(AP) — Pakistan on ing body on commerce, said exchanged peace overtures,
Wednesday lifted a two- Hammad Azhar, the minis- saying they wanted peaceful
year ban on the import ter. ties with each other. Pakistan
of sugar and cotton from Azhar told reporters at a news suspended trade with In-
nuclear-rival neighbor- conference that Pakistan may dia in 2019 after New Delhi
ing India, a major move allow the import of more stripped the Indian-con-
aimed at reviving trade Indian items in the future, trolled section of Kashmir of
ties with New Delhi amid according to the country’s its statehood and special con-
easing tensions, Pakistan’s needs. India is believed to be stitutional status.
finance minister said. one of the biggest producers The disputed Himalayan re-
of sugar and cotton in the re- gion is split between Paki-
The decision to partially re- gion. stan and India but claimed
sume trade ties by allowing The minister added that sug- by both in its entirety. The
the import of cotton and 0.5 ar imports from India would archrivals have fought two of
tons of sugar from India was help to reduce the soaring their three wars over Kash-
taken at a meeting of the eco- prices of sugar in the coun- mir since gaining indepen-
nomic coordination council, try. Sugar produced in India pared to sugar produced in The announcement comes dence from Britain in 1947.
Pakistan’s top decision-mak- is about 20% cheaper, com- Pakistan, he said. days after Pakistan and India

Beyond the pandemic: London tourism braces for slow recovery

(AP) — The cobblestones are de- sign of life. Even the storied ra- England’s top paid attraction, which and leisure shopping in a near-total
serted at the Tower of London. A vens are nowhere to be seen. normally draws more than 3 million shutdown, the industry’s contribu-
biting wind blows and there is no visitors a year, has been closed for all tion to London’s economy plunged
but a dozen weeks since the pandem- from 15.7 billion pounds ($21.6 bil-
ic began and international tourism to lion) in 2019 to just 3 billion pounds
London came to an almost-complete ($4.1 billion) in the past year, accord-
standstill. ing to VisitBritain, the national tour-
After three national lockdowns, Lon- ism agency. Even national treasures
don’s tourist attractions and other like the Tower of London have strug-
hospitality businesses are making gled. Historic Royal Palaces, a charity
tentative plans to reopen in mid-May that runs the Tower and other heri-
-- the earliest the government says tage attractions, has said it expected
international travel can resume. But a 100 million-pound ($137 million)
deep uncertainty about COVID-19 shortfall because of COVID-19.
remains. With quarantine require- Many expect a slow recovery, par-
ments and travel restrictions still in ticularly because London always has
place everywhere and Europe battling been reliant on international tourism.
a new surge of infections, many are Over half of all consumer spending
bracing for another bleak year. in the West End — home to the city
For London’s tourism industry, center’s bustling shops, restaurants,
which employs one in seven workers pubs and theaters — typically comes
in the capital, the pandemic has been from European and other overseas
a body blow. With hotels, attractions visitors.