Emergency crews are battling a fire outside the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, following a huge blast at a fuel depot. On Tuesday people in a 2km (1.24 miles) zone around petrol containers on fire have been evacuated. The blaze broke out on Monday evening, and one worker at the plant died. An explosion on Tuesday morning left three firefighters unaccounted for and another six taken to hospital. The fire spread to at least 16 tanks, most of them storing petrol and next to Hlevakha airbase and near the village of Vasylkiv. The army has been clearing a munitions storage facility, located about 50m (164ft) away, amid fears that the fire could spread. It was not immediately clear what might have caused the blast.
HSBC (HSBA.L) agreed to pay Geneva authorities 40 million Swiss francs to settle a money- laundering investigation at its Swiss private bank, one of a number of probes facing its Geneva-based wealth manager. Leaked files published earlier this year sparked allegations that HSBC's private bank may have enabled clients to conceal millions of dollars of assets and dragged Europe's largest lender into the sights of regulators including Geneva's public prosecutor. Following four months of inquiries, Geneva authorities said they had closed their investigation after HSBC agreed to pay 40 million francs for wrongdoing, the largest such figure imposed by local prosecutors. Olivier Jornot, Geneva's attorney-general, told reporters, ‘This affair shows the weakness of Swiss law in fighting the entry of criminal funds into the financial circuit.’
Online there is a Swedish Prayer Network that provides a global opportunity for the Church to connect and partner with individuals and businesses, to provide answers to any and every need. They desire to agree with the will of God on behalf of anyone seeking to find biblical spiritual help for the problems in life. They are not a counselling service, but are a faith-based prayer service. They receive free-will financial offerings that help support their Affiliate Prayer Partners around the world. They meet people every day looking for someone to encourage them and others looking for someone to encourage. This is the driving force of Open 4 Prayer. Each of their Affiliate Prayer Partners agrees to keep every prayer request confidential. Jesus Prayer Network is working to be the largest Social Prayer network of its kind. It’s their goal to be available in every translatable language and accessible in every country.
An eight-year-old Ivorian boy discovered being smuggled into Spain from Morocco in a suitcase has been reunited with his mother. Adou Ouattara was said to be in a ‘terrible state’ when he was found last month in a bag without air vents at the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. The boy's father was arrested for arranging his son to be smuggled, but is due to be released on bail. The Moroccan woman who carried him in has also been detained. The boy underwent DNA tests before the Spanish authorities would hand him over to his mother, who lives legally on Spain's Canary Islands. The father tried to bring his son into Spain through legal means but his income fell short of the amount required by law. Officials have granted the boy a year to stay in Spain. The incident highlights the often desperate, dangerous means migrants use to try to make it into Europe through Ceuta, and another Spanish enclave, Melilla.
After Slovenia introduced measures to reduce pressure on the mid-term sustainability of the pension system, the European Commission is calling for a reform that would guarantee sustainability after 2020. Trade unions are warning that even an announcement of a new reform could trigger a wave of new retirements. Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, in charge of the euro and social dialogue, said, as he visited Ljubljana on Friday, that the reform should build on intergenerational solidarity. Given the demographic changes, the issue needs to be addressed, he said. ‘The longer you delay with a solution, the harder it will get,’ he pointed out. The effects of the 2012 pension system reform are positive and a bill creating a demographic fund is expected to be passed soon, the Commission said. But the Commission believes additional reforms will be needed to ensure long-term sustainability of the system.
Foreign Christian mission presence has plateaued but more workers could be utilised for both evangelism/church planting and training. The Apostolic Church now sends Slovak missionaries cross-culturally. Pray that mission agencies and local churches cooperate to the best effect, with joy and humility. Ask the Lord to burden Slovaks for world evangelisation. Hungarians make up more than 10% of the population. Tensions persist over minority rights and language use; pray for fair and just solutions. A Hungarian-specific political party enjoys strong support from this community. Most Hungarians are Catholic, but with a number of Reformed congregations and a few evangelical groups. Pray that Hungarian Christians may be mobilised to reach their kin in Slovakia. The Romani (Gypsies) are misunderstood and marginalised and suffer from low education and a high level of poverty - but they are the most responsive people to the gospel in all Central and Eastern Europe.
Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vucic told VOA that his country is ready to accept US calls to reduce dependency on Russian gas. During an interview in Washington, Vucic said Serbia wants to add alternative energy sources and pipelines that would bring gas to the country through Hungary and Croatia. Vucic was on his first official visit to the United States as Serbia's leader, during which he met with US officials. He said, ‘The officials I met want to encourage the EU to open association talks with Serbia. Our better mutual understanding with the US will help us to get into the EU faster. Washington is a destination of extraordinary importance for us.’ Vucic, a former pro-Russian nationalist who has become a pro-EU advocate, has promised painful reforms to help Serbia's economy, which has been ravaged by wars and international sanctions.
Citizens of the Republic of San Marino, police and foreign residents have been heavily involved in an operation called 'Titan' on the Adriatic coast to stamp out drugs counterfeit money-laundering and prostitution. Some 100 agents with dogs and a police helicopter targeted a well-known local seafront in Rimini. They focused on drug dealing and dubious business practices of a popular night club, for which measures will be taken to close it down.They seized cocaine and 23,000 counterfeit euro notes. The squad of Rimini has performed 29 similar precautionary measures against many people belonging to a criminal organisation dedicated to drug dealing on the Adriatic Riviera. The operation came at the end of a year-long investigation. The operation was called 'Titan' because of the location where the first drug dealer was identified.