5 Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

[rpannier]

1. Ukrainian Tycoons Selling U.S. Property Amid Foreclosure Proceedings, Court Documents Show

Optima Ventures, the U.S. real-estate holding company owned by two Ukrainian tycoons under FBI investigation for money laundering, has filed a motion in a court in the U.S. state of Delaware to sell two more buildings in the city of Cleveland amid foreclosure proceedings.

Optima Ventures, once the largest commercial real-estate operator in the Midwestern city, is seeking to sell 55 Public Square, a 22-story skyscraper, as well as its stake in the Westin Cleveland Downtown hotel, according to court documents filed on December 24.

The holding company, which is controlled by Ukrainian billionaires Ihor Kolomoyskiy and Hennadiy Boholyubov, owes about $50 million on the two properties and has failed to make payments in recent months, according to separate lawsuits filed in Cleveland.

The United States has accused Kolomoyskiy and Boholyubov of buying U.S. assets, including real estate and metals plants, with hundreds of millions of dollars laundered from their Kyiv-based lender PrivatBank.

https://www.rferl.org/a/ukrainian-tycoons-selling-u-s-property-amid-foreclosure-proceedings-court-documents-show/31025294.html


2. Tributes paid to Ethiopian refugee farmer who championed integration in Italy

Tributes have been paid to a 42-year-old Ethiopian refugee and farmer who became a symbol of integration in Italy, her adopted home.

Agitu Ideo Gudeta was attacked and killed, allegedly by a former employee, on her farm in Trentino on Wednesday.

Gudeta had left Addis Ababa in 2010 after angering the authorities by taking part in protests against “land grabbing”. Once in Italy, she tenaciously followed and realised her ambition to move to the mountains and start her own farm. Taking advantage of permits that give farmers access to abandoned public land in depopulated areas, she reclaimed 11 hectares (27 acres) around an old barn in the Mòcheni valley, where she founded her La Capra Felice (The Happy Goat) enterprise.

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In a climate where hostility toward migrants was increasing, led by far-right political leaders, her success story was reported by numerous media outlets as an example of how integration can benefit communities.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jan/01/tributes-paid-to-ethiopian-refugee-farmer-who-championed-integration-in-italy


3. Krakow funds LGBT shelter despite Polish government hostility

Krakow has become the first city in Poland to finance an LGBT support shelter.

The shelter has been run by a charitable foundation, "Glos Serca" ("The Voice of the Heart&quot since 2016, but has been struggling financially.

The organisation offers temporary accommodation and psychological counselling for up to 12 homeless LGBT people at the facility.

The city of Krakow is giving some 184,000 zlotys (€40,000) to give stability and support to the shelter over the next two years.

https://www.euronews.com/2020/12/31/krakow-funds-lgbt-shelter-despite-polish-government-hostility


4. Orban Aide Says Hungary Won't Use Russia's Sputnik-V Vaccine

A senior aide to Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Hungary won't use Russia's Sputnik-V vaccine despite bilateral cooperation on Russian testing of the controversial serum against COVID-19.

Orban chief of staff Gergely Gulyas blamed the reversal on an "inadequate manufacturing capacity" for the vaccine in Russia.

It is the first clear sign that the Russian serum won't be broadly used on Hungary's general population of around 10 million.

Sputnik-V received Russian approval two months ago, despite a lack of large-scale clinical trials and perceived shortcomings in data to support its safety and efficacy.

https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-russia-sputnik-v-vaccine-orban/31028717.html


5. Rescuers use drones to search for 10 people missing after Norway landslide

Rescuers used drones with thermal cameras to search for 10 people still missing after a landslide destroyed more than a dozen homes in southern Norway.

Helicopters and dogs were also deployed as the unstable clay soil made it unsafe for emergency workers to walk in the area in the Gjerdrum municipality about 30km north of Oslo.

The crater left by the landslide has continued to grow as the edges break away and three further houses collapsed on Wednesday afternoon.

Norwegian media reported that a total of nine buildings containing 31 housing units, as well as six garages, had been swept away. Police said they could not rule out that further buildings would also sink into the hole.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/norway-landslide-missing-rescue-drones-evacuation-b1780779.html