Europe

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - Montenegro is weeks away from securing a deal to either swap or refinance with European and U.S. banks nearly $1 billion in debt owed to China, and hopes to reduce the interest rate on the debt to below 1%, Economy Minister Jakov Milatovic told Reuters.

Montenegro borrowed $944 million from China in 2014 to fund a 41-km (25-mile) stretch of road, which foes of then-Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic dubbed the "Road to Nowhere", saying it typified waste under his rule, an accusation he denied.

TALLINN, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas on Tuesday met here with her Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez to discuss issues concerning bilateral relations, defense cooperation, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and migration policy.

"Never before has there been such close communication between Estonia and Spain. Relationships must be maintained in the future as well," said Kallas, quoted by a government press release.

PARIS (AP) — A French court on Wednesday convicted 11 of 13 people charged with harassing and threatening a teenager who harshly criticized Islam in online posts and ended up changing schools and receiving police protection to preserve her safety.

The verdict came in a trial in Paris that was the first of its kind since France created a new court in January to prosecute online crimes, including harassment and discrimination.

The court sentenced the defendants to suspended prison terms of four to six months and fined them about $1,770 each.

“There is darkness today with the death of Fr. Stan but he is truly a light for thousands of people of India and elsewhere.” This is how Indian Jesuit priest Father Cedric Prakash reacted soon after hearing about the death of jailed fellow Jesuit Father Stan Swamy on Monday. 

Fr. Stan, who championed the cause of indigenous and marginalized people in eastern India’s Jharkhand state, died in Mumbai’s Holy Family Hospital.  He was being treated there for Covid-19, which he contracted behind bars in Taloja jail, near Mumbai.

AMSTERDAM (AP) — One of the Netherlands’ best known crime reporters was shot Tuesday evening in a brazen attack in downtown Amsterdam and was fighting for his life in a hospital, the Dutch capital’s mayor said.

Peter R. de Vries, who is widely lauded for fearless reporting on the Dutch underworld, was shot after making one of his regular appearances on a current affairs television show. It was an unusually brutal attack on a journalist in the Netherlands.

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/: Russia-China relations have reached their highest ever level and will continue to develop further, ex-Russian Prime Minister, Chairman of the ruling United Russia Party and Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said at an online summit of the Chinese Communist Party and other countries’ parties on Tuesday.

THE HAGUE, July 6. /TASS/: The saga over the alleged poisoning of blogger Alexey Navalny continues to raise numerous questions as more inconsistencies, along with unclear and confusing instances keep on surfacing, Russian Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Alexander Shulgin told the 97th session of the OPCW Executive Council on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/: Moscow will not oppose the United States’ joining the Ukrainian settlement if Washington stops imposing its approaches, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said an in interview with the International Affairs journal.

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/: The investigation is looking into three versions of the An-26 plane crash in Kamchatka, which includes bad weather and pilot error, the Investigative Committee told journalists.

"The investigation is currently working on the following versions — bad weather, technical malfunction, and pilot error," the Committee said.

According to the investigation, there were 22 passengers and 6 crew members aboard the crashed plane.

"According to the preliminary information, airplane debris was discovered north of Palana airport," the agency said.

ROME, July 6 (Reuters) - A charity group asked the European Union on Tuesday to find a port where it can dock to disembark hundreds of migrants it has rescued in the central Mediterranean over recent days.

Some 572 people, including 183 minors, are currently onboard the Ocean Viking vessel, the SOS Mediterranee organisation said after it picked them up in six operations in Maltese and Libyan search and rescue areas.

The group said maritime authorities had not helped in the operations and urged the European Union to intervene.