Europe

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Judges at the International Criminal Court on Thursday ruled that an investigation into alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan by the Taliban, Afghan military and U.S. forces may proceed.

The decision, which comes days after the United States agreed to pull its troops from the long-running conflict, overturns a lower court decision and opens the way for prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to launch a full investigation, despite U.S. government opposition.

KASTANIES/LESBOS, Greece (Reuters) - Greece has repulsed nearly 35,000 migrants trying to cross onto its territory illegally since Turkey opened its border nearly a week ago, government sources said on Thursday, as it prepares to deport hundreds of others who made it through.

Thousands of migrants have made for Greece since Ankara said on Feb. 28 that it would let migrants cross its borders into Europe, reneging on a commitment to hold them on its territory under a 2016 deal with the European Union.

VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC ministers are expected to approve on Thursday the outlines of a deal for a significant cut in oil production to shore up prices hammered by the coronavirus outbreak but they are still waiting for Russia to indicate whether it will back such a move.

Saudi Arabia wants OPEC and its allies, including Russia, to cut 1 million to 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) for the second quarter and to keep existing cuts of 2.1 million bpd, which expire this month, in place until the end of 2020.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A court in Russian-controlled Crimea jailed a Jehovah’s Witness for six years on Thursday after finding him guilty of organizing the activities of a banned extremist organization, part of a crackdown rights activists say violates religious freedom.

The court in the Crimean town of Dzhankoi explained in a statement why it had found Sergei Filatov, 47, guilty, saying he had knowingly ignored a 2017 decision from Russia’s Supreme Court which ruled the Christian denomination was an extremist organization and should disband.

ROME (Reuters) - Italy closed all schools and universities and took other emergency measures on Wednesday to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Europe’s worst-hit country as the death toll and number of cases jumped.

The total number of dead in Italy rose to 107 after 28 people died of the highly contagious virus over the past 24 hours, the Civil Protection Agency said.

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia, Mar 5 (NNN-STA) – Slovenian police discovered 30 migrants hidden in sealed wagons of a train.

The migrants included 12 children aged between five and fourteen, and a pregnant woman, police said. They said, they were from Iraq, Syria, Iran and Afghanistan.

The train, with 20 wagons loaded with clay, was travelling to Slovenia from Serbia, when police found the migrants, at the Dobova border-crossing with Croatia. Their destination was reportedly to be Italy, where the cargo train was destined.

ZAGREB, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Croatia, in cooperation with other EU member states and NATO, will do everything to prevent a new wave of migrants, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said here on Wednesday after talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

KASTANIES, Greece (AP) — Greece countered accusations from Turkey Wednesday that it was responsible for the death of a migrant, as its border authorities strove for a sixth day to keep thousands of migrants out by using tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons.

The border tensions followed last week’s decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to declare the country’s gateways to Greece open, in an apparent attempt to pressure Europe into offering Turkey more support in dealing with the fallout from the Syrian war to its south.

ROME, March 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — Italian authorities on Tuesday confirmed 2,263 coronavirus cases, which marked an increase of 428 infections compared to the previous day.

The figure did not include recoveries or fatalities, whose numbers were provided separately.

“We have 160 people today who have recovered, which marks an increase by 11 cases compared to Monday,” Civil Protection Department chief and extraordinary commissioner for the coronavirus emergency Angelo Borrelli told a televised press conference.

MOSCOW, March 4. /TASS/: Terrorists tried to explode several containers with toxic substances in northwestern Syria’s Saraqib, the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides in Syria told reporters on Wednesday.

"In an effort to stop the Syrian government forces from entering western quarters of the Saraqib settlement and further slapping accusations over using chemical weapons on March 2, a group of up to 15 terrorists carried out an attempt to set off high-explosive ammunition with containers filled with toxic chemical substances," the statement said.