Europe

BUDAPEST, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Hungary will in March host right-wing participants from the United States and Europe including the leader of Spain's Vox party at a conference linked to U.S. conservatives, a leading pro-government think-tank said on Wednesday.

The gathering of American conservatives along with leaders and activists from Europe and Latin America will feature Prime Minister Viktor Orban as a keynote speaker, said Miklos Szantho, director of the Centre for Fundamental Rights think-tank.

BUCHAREST, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Romania is in talks with the United States and France over ways to enhance their troop count in the country and was ready to host an increased NATO military presence, President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Department of Defense said on Monday it put about 8,500 American troops on heightened alert, awaiting orders to deploy to NATO's eastern flank should Russia invade Ukraine. France has also offered to send more troops if needed. 

Jan 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv urged American citizens in Ukraine to consider departing now, saying that the security situation in the country was "unpredictable due to the increased threat of Russian military action."

The security situation in Ukraine "can deteriorate with little notice", the embassy said on its website on Wednesday.

In Washington, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv would remain open but added that Americans in the former Soviet country should "strongly consider leaving."

KYIV, Jan 26 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian film director who was jailed by Russia after opposing Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea said on Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin will wreak chaos and destabilisation further west if Ukraine falls.

Russia arrested Oleg Sentsov in Crimea, his native Black Sea peninsula, and sentenced him to 20 years in a maximum security prison over terrorist charges he says amounted to a political vendetta.

BERLIN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 100 of the 390 planned trade fairs in Germany have already been postponed or canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA) said on Wednesday.

The economic damage to the German trade fair industry already amounted to around 5 billion euros (5.6 billion U.S. dollars) this year, according to AUMA.

"COVID-19 regulations of the federal states, which are valid for four weeks or less, are no basis for business," said Joern Holtmeier, managing director of AUMA.

BERLIN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 100 of the 390 planned trade fairs in Germany have already been postponed or canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry (AUMA) said on Wednesday.

The economic damage to the German trade fair industry already amounted to around 5 billion euros (5.6 billion U.S. dollars) this year, according to AUMA.

"COVID-19 regulations of the federal states, which are valid for four weeks or less, are no basis for business," said Joern Holtmeier, managing director of AUMA.

MOSCOW (AP) — The United States on Wednesday delivered a written response to the Kremlin’s security demands on Ukraine and NATO amid soaring tensions that Moscow is planning to invade its neighbor, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

U.S. Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan handed over the response to Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko.

The U.S. hasn’t made its response public, but already has warned that Russia’s top demands are unacceptable.

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson was braced for the conclusions of an investigation into allegations of lockdown-breaching parties, a document that could help him end weeks of scandal and discontent, or bring his time in office to an abrupt close.

Senior civil servant Sue Gray could turn in her report to the government as soon as Wednesday. Johnson has previously promised to publish it in full and to address Parliament about its findings.

MOSCOW (AP) — The United States on Wednesday delivered a written response to the Kremlin’s security demands on Ukraine and NATO amid soaring tensions that Moscow is planning to invade its neighbor, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

U.S. Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan handed over the response to Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko.

The U.S. hasn’t made its response public, but already has warned that Russia’s top demands are unacceptable.

26 Jan 2022; MEMO: A German federal court has described as "unconstitutional" the city of Munich's refusal to allow a public venue to be used for a debate on its 2017 anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions resolution, The Electronic Intifada has reported. The court ruled that the resolution "violates the fundamental right to freedom of expression."