Europe

MADRID (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday urged the European Union to “reindustrialize” to end its reliance on energy, microchips and food from outside the bloc and to learn the lessons of shortages provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine.

Shortages triggered by dependence on countries outside the 27-nation EU highlighted “a serious threat to the competitiveness of our companies or to the security and welfare of our fellow citizens,” Sánchez said.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — High winds and a cold snap in Greece halted ferry services and highway traffic and dusted the Acropolis and other ancient monuments in Athens with snow on Monday.

The inclement weather prompted authorities in greater Athens in close schools and courthouses and suspend debates in parliament. Cellphone alerts sent by authorities to the capital’s residents urged the public to remain indoors.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Oil-rich Norway is looking to donate 75 billion kroner ($7.3 billion) to Kyiv as part of a five-year support package that would make the Scandinavian country one of the world’s biggest donors to war-torn Ukraine, the Norwegian government said Monday.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the money would be split evenly between military and humanitarian assistance over five years, broken down to 15 billion kroner ($1.5 billion) annually. The proposed aid package will be put to a vote in parliament.

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti called on Western powers not to pressure his tiny Balkan country into accepting a contentious association of five Serb-majority municipalities that is ramping up tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.

Kurti told The Associated Press that the focus instead should be on making Serbia more democratic and getting rid of what he called Belgrade’s hegemonistic ideas.

LONDON (AP) — A confidential U.N. report into alleged missteps by senior World Health Organization staffers in the way they handled a sexual misconduct case during an Ebola outbreak in Congo found their response didn’t violate the agency’s policies because of what some officials described as a “loophole” in how the WHO defines victims of such behavior.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces are keeping Ukrainian troops tied down with attacks in the eastern Donbas region as Moscow assembles additional combat power there for an expected offensive in the coming weeks, Ukrainian officials said Monday.

Intense fighting that has been raging for weeks continued around the city of Bakhmut and the nearby towns of Soledar and Vuhledar, Ukraine’s presidential office said.

They are located in the Donetsk region, which with neighboring Luhansk region makes up the Donbas, an industrial area bordering Russia.

06 Feb 2023; MEMO: The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has warned that Israel's decision to expand the licensing of firearms for Israelis would lead to further violence with Palestinians, Anadolu reports.

MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/: In the past 24 hours, a total of 9,410 new Covid cases were registered in Russia, making the total case count 21,996,744, with 45 fatalities, which makes the total death toll 395,279.

The number of recoveries has increased by 5,200, making the total recovery count 21,379,874.

A total of 618 patients were hospitalized in the past 24 hours, with 13 regions reporting an increase in this number, 59 reporting a decreased and 13 reporting no change.

MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/: The units of the Southern Group of forces occupied more advantageous lines and positions during the offensive in the Donetsk direction, more than 115 Ukrainian servicemen were killed, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Sunday.

MINSK, February 5. /TASS/: Belarusian and Russian Presidents, Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin, have agreed to appoint a date for their meeting soon, the Belarusian president’s press service said on Sunday after their telephone call.

"They agreed on the following: to appoint a date of their meeting soon. Its key goal will be to control the implementation by the two governments of the instructions issued by the presidents earlier. First of all, in the sphere of import substitution in all areas of anti-sanction cooperation," it said.