Terror case sparks N. Macedonia unrest
SKOPJE, North Macedonia -- Protesters clashed with police in North Macedonia's capital Friday after a court this week upheld the terrorism-related convictions of ethnic Albanian men accused of killings nine years ago that inflamed ethnic tensions in the Balkan country.
At least seven policemen were injured, authorities said. The violence broke out when several hundred ethnic Albanian demonstrators tried to march through Skopje to the main court complex to protest the ruling.
Their way was blocked by police cordons, and some protesters attacked officers with stones and plastic bottles before being repelled with stun grenades. No arrests were immediately reported.
Six ethnic Albanian men initially received life sentences for the 2012 slayings of five ethnic Macedonian fishermen. In a retrial that concluded this week, the life sentences were upheld for three of the defendants, two had their jail terms reduced to 15 and nine years, and a sixth man was acquitted.
U.K. denies return of 2015 ISIS runaway
LONDON -- A woman who ran away from London as a teenager to join the Islamic State group lost her bid Friday to return to the U.K. to fight for the restoration of her citizenship, which was revoked on national-security grounds.
Shamima Begum was one of three east London schoolgirls who traveled to Syria in 2015. She resurfaced at a refugee camp in Syria and told reporters she wanted to return home but was denied the chance after former Home Secretary Sajid Javid revoked her citizenship.
Begum's lawyers appealed, saying her right to a fair hearing was harmed by the obstacles of pursuing her case from the camp. The U.K. Supreme Court disagreed, ruling Friday that the right to a fair hearing does not trump all other considerations, such as public safety.
"The appropriate response to the problem in the present case is for the deprivation hearing to be stayed -- or postponed -- until Ms. Begum is in a position to play an effective part in it without the safety of the public being compromised," said Justice Robert Reed, the president of the Supreme Court.
Javid argued that Begum was Bangladeshi by descent and could go there.
She challenged the decision, arguing she is not a citizen of another country and that Javid's decision left her stateless.
The human-rights group Liberty said the court's ruling sets "an extremely dangerous precedent."
Spain ex-king paid tax debt, lawyer says
MADRID -- A law firm representing Juan Carlos I says that the former Spanish monarch has paid close to $5.33 million to the country's tax authorities in his latest attempt to regularize past undeclared income.
The 83-year-old former king, who has been living abroad for more than half a year after media reports revealed fresh allegations of financial misdeeds, already filed for settlement for another tax debt in December for covert donations made to him between 2016 and 2018. That resulted in the payment of more than $818,000 including interest and a fine.
Carlos' lawyer said in a statement Friday that the latest tax debt relates to the payments that a private foundation, Zagatka, made on behalf of the former king for "several travel expenses and other services."
The lawyer's statement said that the payment of overdue taxes plus interests and "surcharges" was voluntary and that tax authorities had not asked for it. Under Spanish law, confessing to undeclared income and paying the outstanding taxes allows offenders to avoid being charged with tax evasion.
The former king is the target of official investigations in Spain and Switzerland for possible financial wrongdoing. One of them involves possible kickbacks in a high-speed railway contract in Saudi Arabia. Those investigations prompted him to leave Spain in August for the United Arab Emirates.
The Royal Palace declined to comment on the new developments. Felipe and Tax Minister Maria Jesus Montero avoided any comments on the latest development on Friday.
Russians push rail trolley on way home
MOSCOW -- Russian diplomats and their family members returned to Russia from North Korea using a hand-pushed rail trolley on Thursday because the coronavirus pandemic has halted all passenger traffic between the countries, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.
The eight people took a 32-hour train ride, followed by two hours on a bus. They then put their children and luggage onto a rail trolley and pushed it for more than half a mile across the border into Russia.
The ministry posted photos showing embassy employees with their children and suitcases on a trolley. A video showed two people pushing the trolley across a railway bridge.
Russia's Interfax news agency reported Friday morning that the group later took a flight to Moscow from the far-eastern city of Vladivostok.
North Korea has claimed to be coronavirus-free, and sealed its borders and halted passenger traffic with other countries. Outside experts are highly skeptical of the North's claim of having no covid-19 cases.