World Briefs

Norwegian crown princess issues apology over Epstein ties

oslo: Norway’s crown princess issued an apology on Friday to those she has “disappointed” following days of scrutiny of her contacts with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and said she was sorry for the situation she had put the royal family in. Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s communications and contacts with Epstein have put her in the spotlight in recent days, adding to the embarrassment to the royals just as her son went to trial this week for multiple offences including charges of rape. The Epstein files contained several hundred mentions of the crown princess, who said in 2019 that she regretted having had contact with Epstein, Norwegian media reported.

Basic services resume at Syrian camp

al-hol: Basic services at a camp in northeast Syria holding thousands of women and children linked to the Islamic State group are returning to normal after government forces captured the facility from Kurdish fighters, a United Nations official said on Thursday. Forces of Syria’s central government captured al-Hol camp on January 21 during a weekslong offensive against the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, that had been running the camp near the border with Iraq for a decade. A ceasefire deal has since ended the fighting. Celine Schmitt, a spokesperson for the UN refugees agency told The AP that the interruption of services occurred for two days during the fighting around the camp.