World News Quick Take

A seven-story building in Istanbul yesterday partially collapsed, killing two people, officials said. Emergency crews were trying to reach at least two people that remained trapped inside. The reason for the collapse was not immediately known and an investigation was under way. Rescue teams were working to reach those trapped even as there were warnings of a further collapse of the building. The building’s three lower floors, including a groundfloor shop, caved in before dawn in Maltepe district. Residents from the upper floors were safely evacuated while search teams rescued eight more people from the rubble.

Firefighters and rescue team members work next to a partially collapsed seven-story building in Istanbul yesterday.

Photo: AP

SOUTH KOREA

Seoul to recall Kyiv diplomat

Seoul yesterday said it would recall its ambassador to Ukraine in response to a deepening diplomatic row over the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war. The two countries have been at loggerheads since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last month disclosed the prisoner transfer, sparking anger in Seoul, which said it had placed their families in North Korea at risk. The recall also comes days after a media report alleged more than 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, had been shipped from South Korea to Russia in July and August, sparking accusations Seoul was helping alleviate Russian fuel shortages. “The government has decided to recall its ambassador to Ukraine,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “The government hopes that all outstanding issues between the two countries will be resolved amicably and will continue consultations with the Ukrainian side to that end.”

UKRAINE

Strike on bus kills 30

Thirty people were killed and 18 others wounded yesterday when Russia struck two passenger buses in Kramatorsk near the front line in eastern Ukraine, authorities said. “As of now, the death toll from this morning’s attack on buses has risen to 30. Eighteen people were wounded,” the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office said. The governor’s office gave the same toll and said public transport had been suspended. The National Police said Russia had hit the buses with a glide bomb.

UNITED KINGDOM

Sailor charged with spying

A member of the Royal Navy has been charged with spying for an undisclosed foreign power. Teddy Young, 24, has been charged with two offenses under the National Security Act, including preparing to disclose protected information between November 2024 and May last year, London’s Metropolitan Police Service said. During the same period, Young allegedly obtained, copied, recorded or retained protected information for the benefit of a foreign power. He has been in police custody since he was arrested on Tuesday at his home in Bedfordshire.

MONGOLIA

Bear kills man in capital

A bear killed a man and seriously maimed a woman in their home in the outskirts of the capital, authorities said yesterday, warning that sightings of the animals have rocketed across the country this year. The man, in his 40s, and a woman in her 50s were attacked on Wednesday night in their home in the Bayanzurkh district on the outskirts of Ulan Bator, the city Environment Department head Munkhbayar M told a news conference. The woman, who fled after sustaining injuries and sought help from neighbors, is being treated in hospital, he said. A team of 35 rangers is trying to locate and kill the bear.