Wednesday, June 20, 2018

The European Union's state aid watchdog is ordering Luxembourg to recover 120 million euros ($139 million) in unpaid taxes from French electricity provider Engie. The watchdog, the European Commission, said Wednesday that Luxembourg allowed two Engie group companies to avoid paying taxes on almost all their profits for about a decade. It said that Luxembourg made tax rulings in 2008 and 2010 in favor of Engie and that this "is illegal under EU state aid rules because it gives Engie an undue advantage.

The Latest on global migration and World Refugee Day (all times local):

Poland goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski has finalized a move to English Premier League club West Ham while on national-team duty at the World Cup        

Poland goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski has finalized a move to English Premier League club West Ham while on national-team duty at the World Cup        

International police agency Interpol says a giant operation against illegal trade in wildlife and timber has resulted in millions of dollars' worth of seizures and the identification of 1,400 suspects across the world. The monthlong operation involved 93 countries in May, the statement said. The 1,974 seizures include 43 tons of wild meat, including bear, elephant, crocodile, whale and zebra, 1.3 tons of elephant ivory, 27,000 reptiles, almost 4,000 birds, 48 live primates, 14 big cats and the carcasses of seven bears including two polar bears. The statement says two flight attendants were arrested in Los Angeles carrying live spotted turtles to Asia in personal baggage, and the interception by Canadian authorities of a container holding 18 tons of eel meat arriving from Asia.

Eritrean diplomats say the reclusive nation's president is sending a rare delegation to neighboring Ethiopia for peace talks days after Ethiopia's new prime minister took a major step toward calming deadly tensions with its decades-long…

A Bavarian ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel is criticizing the German leader's agreement in principle to a eurozone budget, adding to a conflict over migration.

International fans in Russia for the World Cup are discovering a country very different from its gray and hostile image        

Some critics of the forced separation of Latino children from their migrant parents say the practice is unprecedented.

Mike Trout drove in two runs, Kole Calhoun and Ian Kinsler added solo homers and the Los Angeles Angels held on for a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night        

A leading South Korean cryptocurrency exchange says $31 million worth of virtual currencies have been stolen by hackers.

Indonesian officials said that 166 people are missing from a ferry sinking early this week at a popular lake on Sumatra, a much higher number than previously believed, as distraught and angry relatives pleaded Wednesday for a bigger search effort. The boat, overcrowded with passengers and motorbikes, didn't have a manifest and disaster officials have several times raised the number of people it was carrying as family members who rushed to Lake Toba in northern Sumatra provided information. On Wednesday, the local military command released a list of the names of 166 missing people.

Honolulu's mayor has vetoed a bill aimed at setting limits for what ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft can charge during peak demand. Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Tuesday he wants to see new technology blend with old. The bill sought to prevent "surge pricing" rates getting higher than the maximum fare set by the city. Taxi companies say Uber and Lyft face fewer restrictions.

The Latest on primary elections in Washington, D. C. (all times EDT): 9:28 p.m. Washington, D. C., voters have approved a ballot initiative that will restructure the way restaurants and bars pay tipped employees. With 90 percent of the vote reported Tuesday night, Initiative 77 had secured 55 percent. The initiative will eliminate the "tipped minimum wage" — the two-tiered system under which restaurant and bar owners pay servers, bartenders and bussers a lower hourly wage with the expectation that they will be compensated with tips from customers. Currently, these employees can make as little as $3.33 per hour.

Golf Australia says the family of five-time British Open champion Peter Thomson has announced his death        

Tina Charles scored 29 points and the New York Liberty overcame a strong effort from Angel McCoughtry to beat the short-handed Atlanta Dream 79-72        

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross made a trade betting that the stock in a shipping company with Russian-government ties would fall, a transaction coming just days after he learned of a possible negative news story about his investment in the company. Ross reported on a government form released Monday, as required by federal ethics rules, that he shorted stock in Navigator Holdings in October.