Briefly

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Envoy to return to Teheran within days

The United Arab Emirates said on Sunday that its ambassador to Iran, Saif Mohammed Al Zaabi, would return to Teheran "in coming days", more than six years after the state downgraded ties with the Islamic republic. The move is in line with the UAE's efforts to strengthen relations with Iran "to achieve the common interests of the two countries", the foreign ministry said in a statement. The UAE downgraded its ties with Iran after Saudi Arabia severed its own relations with Teheran in January 2016.

UNITED KINGDOM

Pandemic economic hit worst in 300 years

Britain recorded its biggest fall in output in more than 300 years in 2020 when it faced the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a larger decline than any other major economy, updated official figures showed on Monday. Gross domestic product fell by 11 percent in 2020, the Office for National Statistics said. This was a bigger drop than any of the ONS' previous estimates and the largest fall since 1709, according to historical data hosted by the Bank of England.

IRAQ

7 bodies recovered from collapsed shrine

Up to seven bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a landslide on a Shiite shrine near the holy Shiite city of Karbala, the Iraqi Civil Defense said on Monday. Rescue teams recovered the bodies of a man and a woman from the rubble that fell on the shrine of Qattarat al-Imam Ali, around 110 kilometers south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the Civil Defense said in a statement.

Agencies - Xinhua