The World in Brief

People dressed in Santa Claus regalia enjoy some fresh powder Friday during the annual Santa Ski in Whistler in Canada’s British Columbia province.

People dressed in Santa Claus regalia enjoy some fresh powder Friday during the annual Santa Ski in Whistler in Canada’s British Columbia province.


U.S. diplomat's wife faces U.K. charge

LONDON -- An American diplomat's wife who left the U.K. after being involved in a road accident that killed a British teenager has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, British prosecutors said Friday.

The Crown Prosecution Service said it had begun extradition proceedings against Anne Sacoolas.

The decision to charge Sacoolas, who has claimed diplomatic immunity, has caused tensions between the U.K. and the United States. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab welcomed the move, but the State Department called it unhelpful.

British police say 19-year-old motorcycle rider Harry Dunn died in August when he was hit by a car driven by Sacoolas, whose husband was an intelligence officer at RAF Croughton, a military base in central England used by U.S. forces. Sacoolas claimed diplomatic immunity and left Britain after the crash.

Dunn's family has urged her to return and face British justice, and met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington as part of their campaign.

Britain's prosecution service said it had authorized police to charge Sacoolas with causing death by dangerous driving -- which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison -- "following a thorough review of the evidence available."

Sacoolas's lawyer, Amy Jeffress, said her client had cooperated fully with the investigation but "will not return voluntarily to the United Kingdom to face a potential jail sentence for what was a terrible but unintentional accident."

Second victim of Moscow gunman dies

The death toll in the shooting outside the Moscow headquarters of Russia's main security agency has risen to two, officials said Friday as investigators pressed to uncover the assailant's motives.

The Investigative Committee, the nation's top state investigative agency, identified the attacker as 39-year-old Yevgeny Manyurov, who lived in Moscow's suburbs.

It said Manyurov opened fire Thursday just outside the main headquarters of the Federal Security Service, killing one security officer and badly wounding another, who later died in a hospital. Officials previously reported just one death.

Manyurov also wounded five other people, including a civilian, before police shot and killed him.

Investigators are still looking into the attacker's possible motives, the committee said.

The attack came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up his annual news conference. About the same time as the shooting, Putin was speaking at a Kremlin concert honoring the service's officers and other security personnel about a half mile away. That triggered speculation that the attacker was trying to have timed the shooting to embarrass the Kremlin.

Ukrainian charged in money laundering

BERLIN -- Swiss prosecutors have charged a former Ukrainian lawmaker with money laundering as part of an international corruption probe.

Federal prosecutors in Bern said Friday that Mykola Martynenko and an unidentified second Ukrainian are accused of laundering $3.1 million through Switzerland and an offshore company registered in Panama.

The office said the charges came as part of an investigation with authorities in the Czech Republic and Ukraine, where Martynenko has also been charged.

Prosecutors allege Martynenko received kickbacks from Czech engineering company Skoda in return for awarding it contracts to supply equipment to the state-owned operator of Ukraine's nuclear plants, Energoatom.

Martynenko denies the charges.

Martynenko was a top ally of former prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk who had served in parliament from 1998 to 2016 when he stepped down over corruption allegations.

Carnival cruise ship crashes into another

One Carnival cruise ship crashed into another while trying to dock at a port in Mexico on Friday, leaving six injured passengers, a damaged hull and a handful of expletive-laden social media videos in its wake.

The crash happened as the Carnival Glory cruise ship was "maneuvering to dock" in Cozumel, an island off the Caribbean coast of Mexico, and struck the Carnival Legend, which was already docked, Chelsea Stromfeld, a spokeswoman for the cruise line, said in an email.

Stromfeld said six passengers suffered "minor injuries," including one who was hurt while a group of guests were evacuating a dining room on Decks 3 and 4.

"We are assessing the damage but there are no issues that impact the seaworthiness of either ship," she wrote. "We have advised guests from both ships to enjoy their day ashore in Cozumel."

Videos of the crash were captured by bystanders and shared widely on social media. They showed the nose of the Glory striking the back of the Legend, causing a great crashing sound and ripping a hole in the side of the ship.

The Carnival Glory is a Miami-based ship that carries about 1,150 crew members and has a maximum guest capacity of 3,756, but the company did not say how many people were on board at the time of the crash.

The Carnival Legend is a smaller ship. It carries about 930 crew members and can accommodate up to 2,610 guests.

-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports

photo

AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko

Performers wearing traditional Russian carnival masks take part in a procession Friday at Moscow’s Red Square, which was decorated for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.

A Section on 12/21/2019

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