Briefly

UNITED STATES

Congressman faces criminal charges

US federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against George Santos, the Republican US congressman who has admitted to lying about his resume but defied calls to step down, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing three sources. Santos was expected to appear as soon as Wednesday in federal court in New York's Eastern District, where charges have been filed under seal, CNN reported. The Associated Press reported that in a brief phone interview, Santos said he was unaware of the charges.

NIGERIA

Boat capsize leaves 17 children dead

At least 17 children have been confirmed dead and many others missing after an overloaded boat capsized in Nigeria's northwestern state of Sokoto, a local government official said on Wednesday. Aliyu Dantani, head of the Shagari local government area of Sokoto, told Xinhua that the incident happened on Tuesday when the boat, which was carrying dozens of teenagers to fetch firewood at a nearby bush, capsized in a river in the area. The boat was overloaded and the weight caused it to capsize in the middle of the river, Dantani said. Rescue operations started shortly after local authorities were informed. Dantani said many others were still missing.

IRAQ

6,000 antiquities recovered from UK

Iraq recovered on Tuesday 6,000 antiquities that Britain borrowed 100 years ago "for scholarly purposes". In a news conference held at the Baghdad airport, Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid told reporters that these antiquities have been in Britain since 1923, and their return resulted from the cooperation with the British Museum. The move came after Rashid visited the United Kingdom to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III.Rashid handed the antiquities over to the Iraqi National Museum. In July 2021, Iraq recovered about 17,000 looted artifacts from the United States.

Agencies - Xinhua