Europe

VATRY, France (AP) — A charter plane grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation departed Monday for India with 276 Indians aboard, authorities said. The passengers had been heading to Nicaragua but were instead blocked inside a rural French airport for four days in an exceptional holiday ordeal.

Associated Press reporters outside the Vatry Airport in Champagne country saw the unmarked Legend Airlines A340 take off after the crew and passengers boarded the plane.

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III reflected his coronation theme of public service Monday in a Christmas message that he connected to the health of the planet and wars that are raging.

In a prerecorded video shot with him standing beside a Christmas tree in Buckingham Palace, the king spoke of the message of Jesus’ life in serving those less fortunate as he honored the “selfless army” that forms the “backbone of our society” helping others.

MOSCOW, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The head of a company that makes navigation systems for Russia's space programme was arrested in Moscow and charged with major fraud, state media reported on Friday.

TASS news agency quoted an unidentified law enforcement official as saying that Yevgeny Fomichev had been interrogated and charged with large-scale fraud, which carries a prison term of up to 10 years and a million rouble ($10,972) fine.

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Russia has bought out another 92 planes from foreign leasing companies, airlines and aircraft leasing company AerCap said.

The planes have been bought out using money from Russia's National Welfare Fund, 190 billion roubles ($2.06 billion) of which has been allocated for the purpose.

Ownership will now pass to Russia's state insurance company NLK-Finance, which will transfer them to the airlines.

LONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova was disqualified on Saturday as a candidate for Russia's next presidential election, preventing her from running against Vladimir Putin on a platform of opposition to the war in Ukraine.

Members of the central electoral commission voted unanimously to reject her candidacy, citing "numerous violations" in the papers she had submitted in support of her bid.

PRAGUE, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- More than two decades after Western Balkan countries embarked on their journey of accession to the European Union (EU), their progress remains slow.

"We -- and I include here Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania -- remain as a kind of hole in the middle of the EU. Because only when you leave Serbia do you see that there are no more borders in the EU, and that we are the ones who are surrounded by walls," Slobodan, a 52-year-old resident of Serbia's capital Belgrade, said.

VATRY, France (AP) — About 300 Indian citizens heading to Central America were sequestered in a French airport for a third day Saturday after a dramatic police operation prompted by a tip that those aboard might be victims of human trafficking, authorities said.

Those aboard included children and families. The youngest passenger is a toddler of 21 months, and among the children are several unaccompanied minors, according to the local civil protection agency.

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian politician calling for peace in Ukraine hit a roadblock in her campaign Saturday, when Russia’s Central Election Commission refused to accept her initial nomination by a group of supporters, citing errors in the documents submitted.

Former legislator Yekaterina Duntsova is calling for peace in Ukraine and hopes to challenge President Vladimir Putin, promoting her vision of a “humane” Russia “that’s peaceful, friendly and ready to cooperate with everyone on the principle of respect.”

LONDON (AP) — Detectives are investigating the alleged theft of a Banksy work of art after witnesses shot photos and video of a man removing a red stop sign adorned with three military drones, London police said Saturday.

The sign was taken less than an hour after the elusive street artist posted a photo of the work on his Instagram page Friday.

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech politicians tend to boast that their country is one of the safest in the world from gun violence. But the worst mass killing in the nation’s history this week — along with other shootings over the last decade — suggest that might not be true.

At the Faculty of Arts department at Charles University, where 14 people were killed and dozens wounded Thursday, the shooter was an excellent student, police said. But the 24-year-old also had a proclivity for firearms, with a license to own eight guns, including two long guns, police said.