Europe

GROZNY, January 4. /TASS/. An international coalition’s airstrike targeting the militants of the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) has killed a resident of Chechnya’s Nadterechny District Khava Akhyadova, 35, and a four-year-old boy in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor, Kheda Saratova from the civil society and human rights council under the Chechen president told TASS on Friday.

BERLIN (AP) — Data and documents belonging to hundreds of German politicians have been hacked and posted online via Twitter, a German broadcaster reported Friday.

The leak, which saw the data posted in daily batches before Christmas on a Twitter account that has been active since mid-2017, affects all parties in parliament except the far-right Alternative for Germany, public broadcaster RBB reported.

03 Jan 2019; AFP: One of the leaders of the "yellow vest" demonstrations in France was detained by police in Paris, signalling a harder line from the government that sparked a wave of criticism from opponents on Thursday.

Eric Drouet -- who already faces a trial for carrying a weapon at a previous demonstration -- was arrested late Wednesday for organising an unauthorised protest on the Champs-Elysees avenue. He was released Thursday afternoon.

03 Jan 2019; DW: Berlin-based Sea-Watch said conditions on the boats had become dangerous, with migrants suffering from severe sea-sickness and post-traumatic stress disorder. The vessels were denied access to ports in Malta and Italy.

German migrant rescue ship Sea-Watch 3 sent a desperate plea on Wednesday for a harbor to dock. Conditions aboard the ship have worsened, after 12 days at sea and bad weather conditions on the Mediterranean, Sea-Watch said in a statement posted on Twitter.

03 Jan 2019; DW: Up to 270 containers had fallen off the Panamanian-flagged MSC ZOE, one of the world's biggest cargo ships, in rough weather near the German island of Borkum in the North Sea, the Dutch Coast Guard said on Wednesday.

The containers floated southwest toward Dutch waters and by mid-afternoon on Wednesday, more than 20 containers had washed up on the Dutch islands of Terschelling, Ameland and Vlieland.

MOSCOW, January 2. /TASS/. Russia has allowed consular access to US citizen Paul Whelan detained in Moscow on suspicion of carrying out espionage, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS on Wednesday.

"Russia has granted consular access to Whelan," the diplomat said.

On Monday, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said US citizen Paul Whelan was detained on December 28, 2018 in Moscow while on a spy mission. A criminal investigation was opened against the US citizen on charges of espionage. He might face between 10 and 20 years in jail.

MOSCOW, January 2. /TASS/. Aeroflot will offer free Moscow-Magnitogorsk flights to relatives of the people either killed or injured when a section of an apartment block collapsed in a gas explosion in Magnitogorsk, the Russian major air carrier’s press release said on Wednesday.

"Aeroflot will offer free flights from Magnitogorsk and back to the nearest relatives (spouses, parents, brothers and sisters) of the victims of an explosion and partial collapse of an apartment block in that city," the press release says. "The service starts on Friday, January 4."

LISBON, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's public debt rose by 400 million euros in November last year, compared to the previous month, reaching a new record of 251.48 billion euros, according to the data released by the Bank of Portugal on Wednesday.

The Portugal's central bank said that loans and debt emissions essentially contributed to the increase in the month.

MOSCOW, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- So far 31 people, including four children, were confirmed dead in a household gas explosion in Russia on Monday, the country's emergency ministry said Wednesday.

The body of the 31st person was recovered from under the debris of the partially collapsed 10-story residential building in Magnitogorsk City, the Chelyabinsk Region, the ministry said.

Rescuers are searching around the clock for 10 people who are believed to be still buried in the rubble.

02 Jan 2019; AFP: A British probe into a stabbing at a Manchester railway station on New Year's Eve which injured three people is being treated as "a terrorist investigation", the city's police force said on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old man who was arrested at the scene on Monday night is now being detained under a mental health law, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said late Tuesday.