Europe

STECCATO DI CUTRO, Italy, Feb 26 (Reuters) - At least 59 people died, including 12 children, when a wooden sailing boat carrying migrants from Turkey to Europe crashed against rocks near the southern Italian coast early on Sunday, authorities said.

The incident reopened a debate on migration in Europe and Italy, where the recently-elected right-wing government's tough new laws for migrant rescue charities have drawn criticism from the United Nations and others.

WARSAW, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Russia has halted oil supplies to Poland via the Druzhba pipeline, Poland's leading oil and gas conglomerate PKN Orlen said Saturday.

The company said it is fully prepared for such a situation and that deliveries to its refinery can be made entirely by sea.

"Only 10 percent of the raw material came from Russia, and we will replace it with oil from other directions," Daniel Obajtek, CEO of the Polish refiner, said on Twitter.

VUHLEDAR, Ukraine (AP) — The murky water oh so slowly trickles from the filthy drainpipe into her grimy container — the ticking seconds ramping up the risk that Emilia Budskaya could lose life or limb to Russian artillery strikes torturing her front-line city in eastern Ukraine.

Gaping gashes from deadly shrapnel in the courtyard walls around her testify to the dangers of being outside — exposed and without the body armor that Ukrainian soldiers defending Vuhledar wear when they venture from their bunkers.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast Sunday that Russia has no choice but to take into account NATO’s nuclear capabilities, in remarks justifying Russia’s recent suspension of its participation in the New START treaty.

GENEVA (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will help kick off the latest and longest-ever session of the U.N.’s top human rights body on Monday, with Iran’s foreign minister, a senior Russian envoy, and the top diplomats of France and Germany among scores of leaders set to take part.

ROME (AP) — The Italian coast guard and firefighters have recovered more than 30 bodies after a wooden migrant boat broke apart in rough seas Sunday near the southern coast of Italy’s mainland, authorities reported.

State TV quoted the local prefect’s office as saying that by late morning 33 bodies had been recovered and 58 people were rescued. The Italian news agency AGI said that among the bodies was that of a baby a few months old.

MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/: History repeats itself and Russia is again confronted with an empire of diverse enemies 80 years after the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, Russia’s Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said in an article, Year of Defending Fatherland, published in the National Defense magazine on Saturday.

MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/: The Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs on Wednesday recommended to the lower house the adoption of a bill suspending Russia's participation in the Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START, New START).

BRUSSELS, February 25. /TASS/: The European Union (EU) approved the 10th sanctions package against Russia that blacklists 121 individuals and legal entities, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell announced on Twitter on Saturday. 

The new sanctions package against Russia blacklists 121 individuals and legal entities, imposes new significant import/export restrictions and bans what Borrell claimed are Russian ‘propaganda’ media outlets. 

MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/: Switzerland can no longer claim the role of a mediator in the Ukraine crisis after joining the anti-Russia sanctions, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis earlier stated that Switzerland was ready at any time to organize a meeting between the parties concerned to discuss peaceful settlement in Ukraine.