Europe

KIEV (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo underscored Washington’s support for Ukraine on a visit to Kiev on Friday, as both countries sought to smooth over relations buffeted by the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

Ukraine was thrust center stage in a domestic political battle in Washington last year as Trump faced down allegations he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate the son of his Democratic rival Joe Biden.

PARIS, Jan 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — About 1.4 million children could die from pneumonia over the next decade in Nigeria, according to the UN.

The UN’s children agency Unicef has in its latest forecast said Nigeria could have the world’s highest amount of deaths caused by pneumonia.

Overall, Unicef said its forecast estimates 6.3 million children could die worldwide from pneumonia.

The UN estimates India will be the second worst place for childhood pneumonia deaths and the Democratic Republic of Congo could be the third worst.

GENEVA, Jan 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The new coronavirus has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization, as the outbreak continues to spread outside China.

“The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The concern is that it could spread to countries with weaker health systems.

The death toll now stands at 170 people in China.

LONDON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Amid continuing public concerns over uncertainties, Britain is set to leave the European Union (EU) on Friday after its Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal was given final seal of approval in the European Parliament Wednesday.

There were emotional scenes in the European Parliament as MEPs voted by 621 to 49 in favour of the Withdrawal Agreement and linked hands to sing a final chorus of Auld Lang Syne.

LONDON (AP) — Britain begins the day as a member of the European Union. Its status at the end of the day — as a proud nation that has reclaimed its sovereignty, or a diminished presence in Europe and the world — will still be up for debate.

Britain officially departs the EU at 11 p.m. local time Friday, midnight in Brussels (2300 GMT, 6 p.m. EST). The departure comes 3½ years after the country voted by a margin of 52%-48% to walk away from the club that it had joined in 1973.

MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/: Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has suspended its investigation into Ukrainian Navy sailors detained during the Kerch Strait incident in November 2018 for an indefinite period, the sailors’ lawyer Nikolai Polozov told TASS.

"The investigation has been suspended for an indefinite period because the whereabouts of the defendants are known but investigators are unable to ensure the participation of all the 24 sailors," he pointed out.

MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/: An official ceremony took place in the Republic of Dagestan to hand over the first Bal coastal defense missile system to the Caspian Flotilla, the press office of Russia’s Southern Military District reported on Thursday.

"The first Bal coastal defense missile system has entered service with the Caspian Flotilla. Its official handover has taken place in the Republic of Dagestan," the press office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/: Naama Issachar, the Israeli national sentenced in Russia for hashish smuggling and pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin, did not admit guilt when she filed the pardon plea, says the defense statement.

"There has been no admission of guilt - neither full nor partial, nothing. There is no admission of guilt in the pardon plea. What could she admit if she never crossed the Russian border?" The statement says.

MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/: The Kremlin continues to analyze the US "deal of the century" on the Middle East settlement process after a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held on January 30, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS.

"We continue to analyze [it]," he said when asked whether Putin backed the US initiative.

MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/: The Black Sea Fleet submarine Stary Oskol arrived at the Kronstadt Marine Plant for planned repairs after its deployment in the Russian Navy’s permanent Mediterranean taskforce, a source in Crimean defense circles told TASS on Wednesday.

"Last night, an operation was fulfilled to place the submarine into the dock of the Kronstadt Marine Plant," the source said, adding that the sub’s planned repairs would last up to four months.