UNITED NATIONS
Official: No foul play
Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, who collapsed in his office last month, died from a heart attack, and no foul play is suspected, according to a senior city official briefed by the medical examiner’s office. The official was not authorized to reveal the cause of death and spoke on the condition of anonymity Friday. The State Department asked the city in writing on Feb. 24 not to reveal the autopsy results because Churkin’s diplomatic immunity survives his death.
Iraqi: No sign of attack
Iraq’s U.N. ambassador said Friday there is no evidence that the Islamic State extremist group used chemical weapons in an attack in Mosul, the country’s second-largest city. Mohamed Alhakim said he had spoken to officials in Baghdad and informed U.N. disarmament chief Kim Won-soo of the lack of evidence in advance. The alleged attack occurred last week in Mosul.
VENEZUELA
No payment for Exxon
A World Bank arbitration panel has determined that Venezuela will not have to pay $1.4 billion to Exxon Mobil Corp. for confiscating company assets during a wave of nationalizations. Exxon Mobil asked the bank’s investment dispute panel for $12 billion for the seizure of its Cerro Negro facilities in the Orinoco Basin under then-President Hugo Chavez. The panel awarded $1.4 billion, a decision that was appealed by Venezuela. The Washington-based panel issued a ruling Friday that annulled most of a $1.6 million judgment against Venezuela.
EGYPT
Statue discovered in slum
Archaeologists in Egypt discovered a massive statue in a Cairo slum that may be of Ramses II, one of the country’s most famous and longest-ruling ancient pharaohs. The colossus, a large portion of whose head was pulled from mud and groundwater by a bulldozer, is around 26 feet tall and was discovered by a German-Egyptian archaeological team. Egyptologist Khaled Nabil Osman said the statue was an “impressive find” and the likely has other buried antiquities.
Compiled from wire reports