Emirati, US, Russian astronauts return to Earth

Almaty: A Soyuz spacecraft carrying three astronauts including an Emirati who became the first Arab to reach the International Space Station returned to Earth Thursday. Footage broadcast by Russia's space agency showed the Soyuz MS-12 capsule carrying Hazzaa al-Mansoori of the United Arab Emirates, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin touch down at 1059 GMT on the steppes of Kazakhstan. AFP

Russian man sues Apple for ‘turning him gay’ 

Moscow: A Russian man has filed a lawsuit against Apple for moral harm claiming that an iPhone app had turned him gay, according to a copy of the complaint. The man filed suit in a Moscow court asking for one million rubles ($15,000) after an incident this summer in which a cryptocurrency called ‘GayCoin’ was delivered via a smartphone app, rather than the Bitcoin he had ordered. “Apple pushed me towards homosexuality through manipulation. The changes have caused me moral and mental harm,” he said. Apple’s representatives in Russia did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment. AFP

NZ mosque attacker drops bid to move trial

Wellington: Gunman Brenton Tarrant, the man accused of murdering 51 Muslim worshippers in March's New Zealand mosque attack, on Thursday dropped a bid to move his trial from the city where the massacre occurred. The High Court held a pre-trial hearing in Christchurch in which judge Cameron Mander announced at the beginning of proceedings that the defence had decided not to pursue the application. His trial will begin on June 2 next year in Christchurch. AP