IRAN: Iran announced the closure of a Tehran-based French research institute in protest against cartoons of their Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it was “ending the activities of the French Institute for Research in Iran as a first step,” a day after Tehran had warned Paris of consequences.

SPAIN: The Spanish police have dismantled a criminal group in Malaga dedicated to labour exploitation and fraudulent regulation of undocumented mainly Moroccan immigrants.