Russian Yacht Detained, Then Released by North Korea

On Friday a Russian yacht was detained by North Korean authorities who suspected that the ship was a South Korean vessel. The yacht had been in South Korea for a sailing competition and was returning to Russia when it was captured.

On Sunday via Russian news source RIA, Russia’s consul general in Chongjin announced that the yacht had been detained “by mistake” and the yacht was released shortly thereafter. Russia is one of North Korea’s few allies.

Italy Legally Recognizes Same-Sex Marriage for First Time

On Wednesday, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi signed a bill that would legally recognize same-sex partnerships. The bill had passed through Italy’s lower house earlier on a vote of 372 for and 51 against. The passage of the bill is notable in that it makes Italy the last major Western country to recognize same-sex partnerships.

Though the new law allows homosexual couples some benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples, such as the ability to adopt the same last name and to collect pensions, it only recognizes existing marriages (presumably from outside the country) and does not legalize new marriages. The Catholic Church denounced the law, with Archbishop Bruno Forte calling it, “an impoverishment of democratic life on a question that can have an enormous impact on the future of society,” according to PRI news network, while Archbishop Michele Pennisi, in an interview with La Repubblica, called the law “creeping fascism”.

Vladimir Luxuria, a transgender politician, praised the bill during an interview with PRI news network.

“We’ve been waiting for 30 years to have such a law,” Luxuria said. “Now I feel more proud to be Italian.”

Yellow Fever Present in Angola, Could Spread to Other Countries

On Friday the World Health Organization announced that 277 people had died and over 2000 had been infected by yellow fever in Angola.

Yellow fever is a mosquito-borne disease that causes internal bleeding, according to The Economist. Though a vaccine for yellow fever exists there is a severe shortage of it, and no drugs capable of treating an existing infection currently exist.

Yellow fever currently is present in Africa and South America and kills over 60,000 people per year. However, according to the WHO’s report, the disease has spread to China and could infect and kill many more people.