AUSTRIA: Four Russian diplomats based in Vienna, including two at Moscow’s mission to UN agencies in the city, have been ordered to leave the country, Austria’s government said on Thursday.

The Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement that two diplomats at the Russian embassy had “engaged in acts incompatible with their diplomatic status” and two at the permanent mission to the United Nations in Vienna “committed acts incompatible with the Headquarters Agreement.” It did not elaborate.

UNITED STATES: The Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Thursday to oust Democrat Ilhan Omar from the chamber’s foreign affairs committee, citing her anti-Israel comments.

In a dramatic response to Democrats booting far-right Republicans off committee assignments over incendiary remarks, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was able to solidify Republican support against the Somali-born Muslim lawmaker.

IRAN: An Iranian director, Jafar Panahi, who was arrested last summer, weeks before his latest film was released to widespread acclaim, has gone on hunger strike to protest against his continued detention amid more than four months of anti-government protests.

Mr Panahi, whose films have won numerous international prizes, issued a statement saying he would refuse food or medicine starting Wednesday “in protest against the extra-legal and inhumane behaviour of the judicial and security apparatus.”

GUANTANAMO: United States military officials said on Thursday they released and sent to Belize a one-time al-Qaida courier who had completed his sentence.

The transfer of Majid Khan ended an imprisonment that included torture at clandestine CIA sites and 16 years at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.

Mr Khan, a Pakistani citizen, wound up in Belize under a Biden administration agreement with that government.