International news brief: South Korea to pardon Samsung's Lee

Seoul, Aug 12: South Korea's president will pardon Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong with a year left on his sentence for bribing a president as part of a massive corruption scandal that toppled her government, the justice minister announced Friday.

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and two other top business leaders will be pardoned as well, extending South Korea's history of leniency toward convicted business tycoons and major white-collar crimes.

FIFA moves World Cup start in Qatar up 1 day to Nov. 20
FIFA has formally moved the World Cup start up by one day to give host nation Qatar an exclusive Sunday evening slot with a global audience. Qatar will now play Ecuador in Doha on Nov. 20 - just 101 days after FIFA's decision - stretching the World Cup to 29 days from the 28 agreed seven years ago when a June-July tournament was pushed back to avoid the searing desert heat in midsummer. The surprise late switch was signed off by a FIFA committee comprising its president Gianni Infantino and presidents of the six continental soccer bodies. FIFA said the vote was unanimous.

New Zealand welcomes back first cruise ship since COVID hit
New Zealand on Friday welcomed the first cruise ship to return since the coronavirus pandemic began, signaling a long-sought return to normalcy for the nation's tourism industry. New Zealand closed its borders in early 2020 as it sought at first to eliminate COVID-19 entirely and then later to control its spread. Although the country reopened its borders to most tourists arriving by plane in May, it wasn't until two weeks ago that it lifted all remaining restrictions, including those on maritime arrivals. Many in the cruise industry question why it took so long.