LONDON (Reuters) - At least 150 ethnic Rohingya are stranded at sea off Thailand after their boat broke down, activists said on Wednesday, adding that several may have died and urging authorities to rescue the survivors. Each year many Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority, risk their lives boarding rickety vessels to escape oppression and violence in Myanmar and squalor in Bangladesh refugee camps. Many attempt to reach Malaysia. The number attempting the treacherous journey has surged following deteriorating conditions in the camps and last year’s military coup in Myanmar which brought the army back to power.

 

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BARCELONA (Reuters) - Some 28 migrants fled from a plane that made an emergency landing in Barcelona on Wednesday when a pregnant woman faked going into labor during a Morocco to Turkey flight, before police rounded up half of them, the Spanish government said. After landing at El Prat airport, the woman was checked at a hospital and found she had not gone into labor, the government said. Police detained 14 people who were on the plane operated by Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines, while 14 others were still missing, the government said.

 

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BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was convicted and sentenced to 6 years in prison and a lifetime ban from holding public office for a fraud scheme that embezzled $1 billion through public works projects during her presidency. A three-judge panel found the Peronist leader guilty of fraud, but rejected a charge of running a criminal organization, for which the sentence could have been 12 years in prison. It’s the first time an Argentine vice president has been convicted of a crime while in office. The sentence isn’t firm until appeals are decided, a process that could take years. She’ll be immune from arrest meanwhile, as long as she can keep getting elected.

 

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s foreign ministry has slammed what it called Turkish threats of war, after the Turkish foreign minister threatened to “take action” against Greece in the wake of a military exercise in the Aegean Sea. In a statement issued Wednesday, the foreign ministry said that Turkey’s “repeated threats of war” were “completely unacceptable,” and noted that Greece respects international law and the United Nations’ Law of the Sea. Turkey insists the deployment of soldiers or weapons on eastern Aegean Greek islands near its coast violates the islands’ non-military status according to international law.

 

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 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s real estate company was convicted of carrying out a 15-year-long criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities, adding to the legal woes facing the former U.S. president as he campaigns for the office again in 2024. The Trump Organization - which operates hotels, golf courses, and other real estate around the world - was found guilty of paying personal expenses for top executives including former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, and issuing bonus checks to them as if they were independent contractors. The company faces up to $1.6 million in fines after being convicted on all charges, including scheming to defraud tax authorities, conspiracy and falsifying business records. Trump was not charged in the case.