WELLINGTON: Two travel bloggers from New Zealand who disappeared in Iran for almost four months are “safe and well” having fled after secret talks between the two governments, Wellington revealed Wednesday.
Newlyweds Bridget Thackwray and Topher Richwhite crossed from Turkey into Iran in early July, when their social media feeds — usually filled with glamorous and carefully curated shots of them in exotic locations — fell silent.
For months, some of the couple’s 300,000 fans posted increasingly anguished messages asking about their safety, with no reply. At the same time, the New Zealand government refused media requests to comment on their whereabouts.
On Wednesday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern broke her silence, revealing that officials had been “working hard” for several months to “ensure the safe” exit of the couple, who had endured “difficult circumstances.”
The exact details of the couple’s time in Iran remain unclear.
Iranian officials told AFP that the couple had been neither detained nor arrested, and the New Zealand government was careful not to imply any formal captivity.
Westerners are frequently taken into custody by Iran’s hard-line government — which has been at loggerheads with the United States and its allies since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Detainees have languished in jails or been released after intensive behind-the-scenes negotiations.
Many releases have included prisoner swaps, leading to accusations that Tehran is engaged in “hostage diplomacy.”
Most countries advise against any travel to Iran.
“Topher,” short for Christopher, who is in his late thirties and is the son of one of New Zealand’s wealthiest bankers, toured with a band before the couple started their world tour.
His wife Bridget, in her late twenties, founded the fashion website Fashbae in 2017, the year before they began traveling.
They traveled in an American-made Jeep 4x4 named “Gunther” after German traveler Gunther Holtorf, who visited 215 countries in 26 years before his death in 2021.
In a July video post that was later removed from social media sites, Richwhite said the couple had been stopped at the Iranian border, where the vehicle was inspected. They were instructed how to dress and behave in a tense 45-minute meeting with guards.
Canada-based fan Chris Los, a retired teacher, said the couple’s GPS tracker then stopped in the same place for several days.
“They never stay in the same place in the middle of nowhere for this long,” Los told AFP. “Because they share photos and video so openly and often, it was obvious to me that something was wrong.”
This week Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian who spent more than 800 days in Iranian jails before being released, reported that the couple were missing.
Moore-Gilbert hailed confirmation that the couple had exited Iran as “fantastic news.”
The pair’s disappearance echoed the plight of British-Australian travel bloggers who were held in Iran in 2019, on suspicion of spying and circumventing sanctions, but who were later released.
At the same time, Australia halted the extradition of Reza Dehbashi to the United States.
A PhD student at the University of Queensland, Dehbashi had been detained on allegations of “attempting to purchase and transfer advanced American military radar equipment via Dubai to Iran.”
Ardern did not provide details of the negotiations but insisted she had not shied away from criticizing Iran’s recent bloody crackdown on young protesters — many women, objecting to strict Islamic law and authoritarian rule.
“We called in the Iranian ambassador to share our views directly,” she added.
Her government has diplomatic ties with Iran and has had an embassy in Tehran since 1975 making it New Zealand’s longest-standing Middle Eastern outpost.
Iran has repeatedly accused outside forces of stirring up the protests, and in late September announced that nine foreign nationals — including from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands — had been arrested.
New Zealand couple held in Iran leave ‘safe and well’
https://arab.news/zn2gx
New Zealand couple held in Iran leave ‘safe and well’
- Newlyweds Bridget Thackwray and Topher Richwhite crossed from Turkey into Iran in early July
- The exact details of the couple’s time in Iran remain unclear
Uruguay votes for next president in closely fought runoff race
- Final opinion polls suggest the Nov. 24 runoff promises to be razor tight
- Fewer than 25,000 votes potentially separating the frontrunners
MONTEVIDEO: Voters in South America’s laid-back Uruguay, known for its beaches, legalized marijuana and stability, will head to the polls on Sunday in a second-round presidential race between moderates that closes out a bumper year of elections.
The vote in the small nation of 3.4 million people sees opposition center-left candidate Yamandu Orsi take on continuity conservative runner, Alvaro Delgado, who has the backing of a third-placed ally.
Final opinion polls suggest the Nov. 24 runoff promises to be razor tight, with fewer than 25,000 votes potentially separating the frontrunners.
Unlike sharp right-left divides in recent elections in Argentina, Brazil or Mexico, Uruguay’s political arena is relatively tension-free, with significant overlap between the conservative and liberal coalitions vying for office, taking some of the sting out of Sunday’s final result.
Ballot stations open at 8 a.m. (1100 GMT) and close at 7:30 p.m. local time, with first results expected two hours later.
Orsi, who has pledged a “modern left” policy approach, won 43.9 percent of the October vote for the Broad Front and will face Delgado, who secured 26.8 percent but also has the backing of the conservative Colorado Party that together with his National Party made up almost 42 percent of votes. The two parties did the same in 2019, winning the election.
Orsi has sought to reassure Uruguayans that he does not plan a sharp policy shift in the traditionally moderate and relatively wealthy nation.
Delgado meanwhile has asked voters to “re-elect a good government,” seeking to capitalize on the popularity of President Lacalle Pou, who constitutionally cannot run for immediate re-election.
Neither coalition has an absolute majority in the lower house following October’s elections. But Orsi’s Broad Front won 16 of 30 Senate seats. He argues his senate majority places him in a better position to lead the next government.
Both contenders on Sunday are hoping to attract the roughly 8 percent of first-round voters who went for smaller, unaligned parties, as well as those who failed to turn out in October.
But neither has made new pledges in the final weeks to appeal to them, and pollsters say a televised debate on Nov. 17 appears to have had little effect.
“I don’t know who I’m voting for,” said Rosario Gusque, 42, from the region of Canelones where Orsi was previously mayor. “Even less so after seeing the debate.”
One question as the biggest year for elections in history comes to an end is whether Uruguay will buck a global trend of incumbent parties losing vote share compared with the previous election. Voters hurt by inflation and high living costs have punished parties in power, including in Britain, Japan and the United States.
A robust Uruguayan economy though could help Delgado on Sunday: “There are few indications that voters are clamoring for significant political change,” said Uruguayan analyst Nicolas Saldias of the Economist Intelligence Unit.
82 killed in three days of Pakistan sectarian violence: official
Peshawar: Three days of bitter sectarian gunfights in northwestern Pakistan have killed at least 82 people and wounded 156 more, a local official said Sunday.
“Among the deceased, 16 were Sunni, while 66 belonged to the Shia community,” said a local administration official in Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country but Kurram district — near the border with Afghanistan — has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades.
The latest bout of violence began on Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing at least 43 and sparking two days of gunbattles.
“Our priority today is to broker a ceasefire between both sides. Once that is achieved, we can begin addressing the underlying issues,” provincial Law Minister Aftab Alam Afridi said Sunday.
Pakistan partially stops mobile and Internet services ahead of pro-Imran Khan protest
- Sunday’s protest is to demand Khan’s release
- The government is imposing social media platform bans and targeting VPN services, according to monitoring service Netblocks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Sunday suspended mobile and Internet services “in areas with security concerns” as supporters of imprisoned former premier Imran Khan geared up for a protest in the capital.
The government and Interior Ministry posted the announcement on social media platform X, which is banned in Pakistan. They did not specify the areas, nor did they say how long the suspension would be in place.
“Internet and mobile services will continue to operate as usual in the rest of the country,” the posts said. A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry was not immediately available for comment.
Khan has been in prison for more than a year and has over 150 criminal cases against him. But he remains popular and his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or PTI, says the cases are politically motivated.
His supporters rely heavily on social media to demand his release and use messaging platforms like WhatsApp to share information, including details of events.
Pakistan has already sealed off the capital Islamabad with shipping containers and shut down major roads and highways connecting the city with PTI strongholds in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The government is imposing social media platform bans and targeting VPN services, according to monitoring service Netblocks. On Sunday, Internet-access advocacy group, Netblocks said live metrics showed WhatsApp backends are restricted in Pakistan, affecting media sharing on the app.
Last month, authorities suspended the cellphone service in Islamabad and Rawalpindi to thwart a pro-Khan rally. The shutdown disrupted communications and affected everyday services such as banking, ride-hailing and food delivery.
Fire rips through slum area in Philippine capital
- Manila Fire District said around 1,000 houses were destroyed in the blaze
- The structures housed around 2,000 families, according to the fire department
MANILA: Raging orange flames and thick black smoke billowed into the sky Sunday as fire ripped through hundreds of houses in a closely built slum area of the Philippine capital Manila.
Manila Fire District said around 1,000 houses were burned in the blaze that is thought to have started on the second floor of one of the homes.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Drone footage shared online by the city’s disaster agency showed houses in Isla Puting Bato village of Manila razed to the ground.
The structures housed around 2,000 families, according to the fire department.
Village resident Leonila Abiertas, 65, lost almost all her possessions, but managed to save her late husband’s ashes.
“I only got the urn with the ashes of my husband,” a crying Abiertas said.
“I really don’t know how I can start my life again after this fire.”
Fire and disaster services deployed 36 trucks and four fire boats while the country’s airforce sent in two helicopters to help extinguish the fire.
“That area is fire-prone since most of the houses there are made of light materials,” firefighter Geanelli Nunez said.
Turkiye’s Erdogan to discuss Ukraine war with NATO chief
ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will discuss the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday during his visit to Ankara, a Turkish official said on Sunday.
Russia struck Ukraine with a new hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile on Thursday in response to Kyiv’s use of US and British missiles against Russia, marking an escalation in the war that began when Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
NATO member Turkiye, which has condemned the Russian invasion, says it supports Ukraine’s territorial integrity and it has provided Kyiv with military support.
But Turkiye, a Black Sea neighbor of both Russia and Ukraine, also opposes Western sanctions against Moscow, with which it shares important defense, energy and tourism ties.
On Wednesday, Erdogan opposed a US decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to attack inside Russia, saying it would further inflame the conflict, according to a readout shared by his office.
Moscow says that by giving the green light for Ukraine to fire Western missiles deep inside Russia, the US and its allies are entering into direct conflict with Russia. On Tuesday, Putin approved policy changes that lowered the threshold for Russia to use nuclear weapons in response to an attack with conventional weapons.
During their talks on Monday, Erdogan and Rutte will also discuss the removal of defense procurement obstacles between NATO allies and the military alliance’s joint fight against terrorism, the Turkish official said.
