Europe

LONDON, Oct 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A man described as one of Britain’s worst pedophiles has been found dead in jail.

Richard Huckle, 33, who claimed to have abused almost 200 Malaysian children, died at Full Sutton prison in Yorkshire, England on Sunday, the UK’s Ministry of Justice confirmed in a statement. UK media reported that Huckle had been stabbed to death.

Huckle received 22 life sentences at the Old Bailey in 2016 for offenses against children aged between six months and 12 years.

LUXEMBOURG, Oct 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The European Union adopted a sanctions framework for Nicaragua over human rights abuses and repression in the Central American country under President Daniel Ortega.

The move, validated in a meeting of EU foreign ministers, does not immediately enact punishment on Nicaragua but allows targeted travel bans and asset freezes to be quickly imposed at a later stage.

MADRID, Oct 15 (NNN-Xinhua) — Judge Pablo Llanera, examining magistrate in the trial of 12 Catalan politicians over events related to the Oct 1, 2017, independence referendum, on Monday reactivated the European arrest warrant for former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.

PARIS, Oct 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A French court sentenced five members of an all-female jihadist cell to between five and 30 years in prison over a failed bid to detonate a car bomb outside Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.

The case is the first to involve a group of women attempting to stage an attack in France, which has been repeatedly targeted by jihadists since 2015, causing the loss of 255 lives.

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — The European Union’s Brexit negotiator says a divorce deal with the United Kingdom is still possible this week but that the British government needs to come forward with a legal text.

Michel Barnier said ahead of a meeting with EU foreign ministers that the main challenge now is to turn British proposals on the complex issue of the border on the island of Ireland into something binding.

Barnier said Tuesday that it is “high time to turn good intentions into a legal text.”

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s security services said Tuesday they’re seeking greater powers to fight the kind of far-right extremism behind last week’s synagogue attack, including requiring internet companies to report illegal hate speech to police.

A 27-year-old German man previously unknown to police confessed to carrying out the attack in the eastern city of Halle in which two people were killed Wednesday.

MADRID (AP) — The Latest on the conviction of Catalan politicians and activists (all times local):

9:00 p.m.

Health authorities in northeastern Spain say 37 protesters have been injured during ongoing clashes with police at Barcelona’s airport.

Tempers flared in Spain’s Catalonia region after the country’s Supreme Court found 12 separatist leaders guilty of illegally promoting Catalan independence. Nine received prison sentences.

MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/: The Russian strategic nuclear forces’ drills Thunder 2019 are defensive and are not aimed against other states, acting Head of the Defense Ministry’s Main Department for International Military Cooperation Major General Yevgeny Ilyin said at a news briefing for foreign attaches on Monday.

BELGRADE, October 14. /TASS/: Russia will give its consent to reinstate flights between Russia and Ukraine if Kiev puts such an initiative forward, Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council (upper chamber) Valentina Matviyenko told reporters.

"We back opportunity for dialogue, particularly through aviation. If Ukraine makes this decision [to resume flights], I am sure we will support it," Matviyenko said answering a TASS question.

BELGRADE, October 14. /TASS/: Russian Federation Council (upper house) Speaker Valentina Matviyenko considers the signing of the agreement on creating a free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Serbia scheduled for October 25 to be a serious step forward.