Russian shipowners pay fine to free trawlers in Senegal
DAKAR (Reuters) – Russian shipowners have paid a fine of 600 million CFA francs ($1.24 million) to Senegal to free two trawlers seized for fishing illegally off the West African state, in an incident that stoked diplomatic tensions with Moscow.
Italy issues 90 mafia arrest warrants, seizes pizza restaurants
ROME (Reuters) – Italian police on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for 90 suspected members of a Naples mafia clan and seized assets worth millions of euros, including dozens of well-known pizza restaurants in Rome.
Greece offers bounty for guerrilla who failed to return to jail
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece on Wednesday offered a record 4 million euro bounty for help in capturing five fugitives after one of them went on the run during a prison furlough, deeply embarrassing authorities.
South Sudan accuses rebels of massacring 127 hospital patients
JUBA (Reuters) – The South Sudanese government has accused rebel troops of committing atrocities against civilians by killing 127 hospital patients in the town of Bor last month.
China’s Xi to pay first visit as president to Europe in March
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – China’s Xi Jinping is expected to make his first trip as president to Europe in March, to meet the country’s most important export partners after a year of trade tensions, EU diplomats said.
EU warns Israel, Palestinians of the cost of peace failure
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Both sides of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks risk paying a high price in losing European Union trade and aid if negotiations collapse, the EU ambassador to Israel said on Wednesday.
Russian coal mine blast kills two
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Two coal miners were killed in a methane gas blast at a Siberian pit on Wednesday, Russian officials said.
Ally of Mali’s President Keita elected parliament speaker
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Lawmakers in Mali on Wednesday elected a little known politician with family ties to President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to head the West African nation’s parliament.
Russia ex-defence chief’s son-in-law probed in luxury-car scheme
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian authorities said on Wednesday they are investigating former Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov’s son-in-law on suspicion of fraud and embezzlement, adding to pressure on a one-time Kremlin insider fired by Vladimir Putin in 2…
Hungary PM defends contested monument to Nazi victims
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Prime Minister Viktor Orban defended on Wednesday a planned monument to victims of Hungary’s 1944 occupation by the Nazis despite objections by Jewish leaders who say it distracts from the nation’s role in the Holocaust.
