Libya oil blockade widens

BENGHAZI: Libya’s oil blockade widened on Wednesday with eastern leaders demanding western authorities back down over the replacement of the central bank governor. On Wednesday, two oil engineers said the Sarir field had almost completely halted its 209,000 barrel per day output after disruption this week at the El Feel, Amal, Nafoora and Abu Attifel fields. Eastern factions have vowed to keep Libya’s oil output shuttered until the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, in the west, returns veteran central bank governor Sadiq Al-Kabir to his post. — Reuters (See Page 8)

Iran charges filmmaker, actress

TEHRAN: Iranian authorities on Wednesday indicted a leading woman filmmaker and her actress daughter with violating the Islamic dress code by appearing in public without the veil, the judiciary said. “The Tehran prosecutor charged filmmaker Rakhshan Banietemad and her daughter, the actress Baran Kosari, after they removed their hijab in public,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported. On Tuesday, pictures of the two without the mandatory head scarf at a film event were posted online and immediately went viral. — AFP

Telegram founder sent to court

PARIS: Telegram boss Pavel Durov was being transferred on Wednesday to see the French investigative judge who was due to decide whether to place him under formal investigation following his arrest as part of a probe into organized crime on the messaging app, a judicial source said. The investigating judge on Wednesday decided to conclude the initial police questioning and see Durov, in police custody since his arrest, to decide whether to take the probe further. Durov is a citizen of Russia, France and the United Arab Emirates, where Telegram is based. — Reuters