World

A vessel with around 400 people on board is adrift between Greece and Malta and is taking on water, support service Alarm Phone said on Sunday, after a sharp rise of migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa.

The Russian president's administration has demanded regional vice governors install vending machines, offer free parking in cities and preferential bank loans, as well as provide health insurance for civil servants, according to independent Russian media Verstka.

BELGRADE - Serbia and Guinea-Bissau are brotherly countries and we will continue to build their long-standing relations, Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said in Belgrade on Thursday.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with President of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo in Belgrade on Thursday.

At a press conference with Embalo, Vucic said they had discussed significant matters, including preservation of territorial integrity.

BELGRADE - The Serbian economy has shown resilience in the face of strong headwinds from high food and energy prices, weak trading partner growth, and tight global financial conditions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday after its mission completed the first review under a stand-by arrangement with Serbia.

The Greek and Turkish Defense ministers, Nikos Panagiotopoulos and Hulusi Akar, conveyed a message on Tuesday on the need to keep communication channels between Athens and Turkey open, and, in the long term, to create conditions for cooperation.

"Our initial self-assessment showed that Bulgaria meets OECD standards to a high degree. With maximum internal mobilization, we have the ability to complete the accession process in about three years." This was commented by Caretaker Prime Minister Galab Donev at a joint press conference with OECD Secretary-General Matthias Korman.

Since 2015, when migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa began crossing the Balkans in significant numbers, Trieste has been a hub for those trying to reach bigger Italian cities or continue deeper into Western Europe.

Their soldiers battling and dying across muddy trenches, ruined towns and sprawling minefields, Russia and Ukraine have stepped up recruitment drives to bolster their badly depleted militaries, in another sign that both sides are steeling themselves for a long war.

In an announcement on Thursday, the Union of Greek Shipowners welcomed the Green Deal Industrial Plan initiative, which is part of the European Union's Green Deal for net-zero emissions and the relevant legislative proposals.