Russia's "shadow banker" Alexander Grigoriev has been arrested while dining with his girlfriend in the glamourous restaurant he part-owns in Moscow.

On Friday, Oct. 30, agents from Russia’s domestic intelligence body the FSB, along with anti-corruption officers and special forces, raided Sfera restaurant and clapped the 48-year-old in handcuffs as he lay on the ground, reports national newspaper Kommersant.

Romania's prime minister stepped down today after street protests in Bucharest yesterday called for his resignation, outraged by a tragic fire that left dozens dead last weekend.

Alleged thief-in-law Kitaetz, thought to be a member of the powerful criminal group headed by organized crime boss Makena, was finally extradited from Greece on Monday according to Moldova’s Police General Inspectorate.

Australian authorities have arrested two men in Brisbane for an alleged attempt to transfer money stolen from Australian cash machines to Bulgaria.

Prosecutors have detained three owners of a Romanian nightclub where a fireworks accident on Friday killed dozens of people, as officials pointed the finger at each other for failed oversight of the central Bucharest venue.

The president of Moldova appointed an interim prime minister on Friday, after the country’s parliament voted to dismiss a Government led by the Liberal-Democrat Valeriu Strelet.

Shortly after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) issued a largely positive statement praising yesterday's parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan, three of the mission's 28 members took the dramatic step to publish a critical counter-statement.

A Sarajevo court has ordered two men into pre-trial custody after they were accused of finding a novel way to launder their alleged sex trade profits.

Chaos reigned this week in the aftermath of two key polls in Bulgaria in which senior politicians alleged widespread foul play and vote-counters complained of being held hostage for up to 48 hours.

An Azerbaijani journalist will be paid compensation after repressive government practices violated his human rights.