An Iraqi court on Monday sentenced a British retiree to 15 years' prison for trying to smuggle antiquities out of the country, but acquitted his German co-accused.

The maximum penalty for the offence is death by hanging but the court decided on a lesser sentence for James Fitton, 66, "because of the advanced age of the accused," the judge said.

A Kuwaiti supermarket pulled Indian products from its shelves and Iran became the latest Middle Eastern country to summon the Indian ambassador as a row grew on Monday over a ruling party official's remarks about the Prophet Mohammed.

Workers at the Al-Ardiya Co-Operative Society store piled Indian tea and other products into trolleys in a protest against comments denounced as "Islamophobic".

Thousands of people have attended the annual Jerusalem Pride Parade amid heavy protection by Israeli police, who arrested three people suspected of threatening the event.

Past years have seen religious radicals attack participants. Jerusalem is home to a large ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and other conservative religious groups, and many residents oppose the event.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has sent a letter to the United Nations formally requesting that his country be referred to as "Türkiye," the state-run news agency reported. The move is seen as part of a push by Ankara to rebrand the country and dissociate its name from the bird, turkey, and some negative connotations that are associated with it.

Anadolu Agency said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, confirmed receipt of the letter late on Wednesday. The agency quoted Dujarric as saying that the name change had become effective "from the moment" the letter was received.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have begun a campaign to eradicate poppy cultivation, aiming to wipe out the country's massive production of opium and heroin, even as farmers fear their livelihoods will be ruined at a time of growing poverty.

On a recent day in Washir district in southern Helmand province, armed Taliban fighters stood guard as a tractor tore up a field of poppies. The field's owner stood nearby, watching.

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon with its partner, the Samir Kassir Foundation, have announced the results of the 17th edition of the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, in a ceremony held at Saint George Hotel, Ain El Mraisseh, Beirut.

The ceremony was broadcast live on the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI).

One of the graves had broken open in Kabul's Nader Shah Hill Cemetery, exposing a near-complete skeleton at the bottom of the pit in the hard earth. The boys, who had been playing nearby, were not impressed.

"There's a lot of ruined graves, it's not unusual," one boy, around 10, said with a shrug as they looked down at the bones. The only reason the kids came over, interrupting their soccer game, was to see what an Associated Press photographer was taking pictures of.

Iran on Monday rejected as "biased and political" last week's award at Cannes for a film about a serial killer who targeted sex workers in an Iranian Shiite shrine city.

Egypt on Monday displayed a trove of ancient artifacts dating back 2,500 years that the country's antiquities authorities said were recently unearthed at the famed necropolis of Saqqara near Cairo.

The artifacts were showcased at a makeshift exhibit at the feet of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, 24 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of the Egyptian capital.

British climber Kenton Cool made headlines around the world this week for reaching the summit of Mount Everest for the 16th time, the most of any non-Nepali climber -- but says his title is largely meaningless. 

Mountain guide Cool, 48, first climbed Everest in 2004 and has since had an expedition almost every year taking clients up the world's highest peak.