Slovak crime boss Robert Okolicany fled the country hours after the Supreme Court sentenced him and two of his associates to life for several crimes including murder, Aktuality reported Thursday.

Romania’s recent reforms on criminal procedure and legislative processes lack transparency and the ability to keep corruption in check, said a report from the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body, released on Wednesday.

Austrian and Romanian authorities have arrested 11 suspects of organized migrant smuggling and seized documents, phones and money while searching 25 properties, the EU’s Judicial Cooperation Unit, Eurojust, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Iranian farmers in the city of Isfahan are protesting for the second day in a row over water shortages expected to lead to a cut-off by early May, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported Thursday.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev promised on Monday to help Russian companies targeted by US sanctions with the creation of two jurisdictions with special tax rules in Russia, similar to offshores, Vedomosti reported.

A South-Sicilian clan of the Cosa Nostra planned to use dynamite to kill journalist Paolo Borrometi, who has been investigating the mafia for years, ANSA reported Tuesday.

Ousted Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe was summoned by parliament to answer questions on looting of diamond fields in the country, the Mail & Guardian reported Tuesday.

Colombian authorities arrested a former rebel leader on Monday who allegedly conspired to produce 10 tons of cocaine and import them to the US. The suspect was one of five former rebels with a seat in the lower house of Colombia’s Congress.

Keeping exotic pets, such as reptiles and amphibians, has become increasingly popular over the past two decades but the trend has spawned an enormous illegal trade, the New York Times reported Monday.

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor has begun investigating the wealth of princes, top officials and businessmen who were detained during the kingdom’s anti-corruption purge last year, Al Sharq Al Awsat reported on Sunday.