Europe

PARIS, January 21. /TASS/: Riots have erupted at a demonstration held by activists of France’s youth movements and political parties protesting against the pension reform, TASS correspondent reported on Saturday.

During the rally, the rioters smashed a shop window of a bank and an ATM machine, and set a bin on fire.

The BFM television channel reported citing the Prefecture de Police in Paris that three individuals had been apprehended and banned objects were seized from them.

PARIS, January 21. /TASS/: RT France will shut down as the TV channel’s accounts have been blocked, Editor-in-chief Ksenia Fedorova wrote on her Twitter page on Saturday.

"The TV channel’s accounts have been frozen at the request of the Directorate General of the Treasury (AFT) under the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance," Fedorova wrote. "Our channel can no longer operate."

BERLIN, Jan 21 (NNN-XINHUA) – After a two-year COVID-19 break, the International Green Week, a leading trade fair for food, agriculture and horticulture, opened to visitors again here yesterday.

Until Jan 29, the Green Week offers a global market overview of the food industry and the “largest range of regional specialties,” according to the organisers. Around 1,400 exhibitors from 60 countries welcome an estimated 300,000 visitors, 100,000 less than in the pre-pandemic years.

MADRID, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Thousands of people packed into central Madrid on Saturday to protest against the Socialist government and accuse it of undermining the constitution, in a rally backed by rightist parties.

Protesters massed in the Plaza de Cibeles in front of City Hall, waved Spanish flags, called on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to resign and shouted out "traitor".

Jan 21 (Reuters) - The head of the Russian private military contractor Wagner published on Saturday a short letter to the White House asking what crime his company was accused of, after Washington announced new sanctions on the group.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that Wagner, which has been supporting Russian forces in their invasion of Ukraine and claiming credit for battlefield advances, would be designated a significant Transnational Criminal Organization.

FERES, Greece (AP) — Greece prevented around 260,000 migrants from entering illegally in 2022 and arrested 1,500 traffickers, an official said Saturday.

Citizens’ Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos was speaking to ambassadors from other European Union countries plus Switzerland and the United Kingdom as he guided them to a still expanding border wall in the country’s northeast.

Theodorikakos emphasized to the 28 envoys that Greece’s border is also the EU’s external border.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Turkey on Saturday canceled a planned visit by Sweden’s defense minister in response to anti-Turkish protests that increased tension between the two countries as Sweden seeks Turkey’s approval to join NATO.

A far-right activist from Denmark received permission from police to stage a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm where he burned the Quran, Islam’s holy book. A separate pro-Kurdish demonstration was held later Saturday in the Swedish capital.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany has become one of Ukraine’s leading weapons suppliers in the 11 months since Russia’s invasion, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz also has gained a reputation for hesitating to take each new step — generating impatience among allies.

Berlin’s perceived foot-dragging, most recently on the Leopard 2 battle tanks that Kyiv has long sought, is rooted at least partly in a post-World War II political culture of military caution, along with present-day worries about a possible escalation in the war.

20 Jan 2023; MEMO: The International Court of Justice, on Friday, confirmed it had officially received a request from the United Nations General Assembly to give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's Occupation of the Palestinian Territories, Reuters reports.

PARIS, January 20. /TASS/: France’s defense budget will be increased by a third, to 400 billion euro, in the period from 2024 to 2030, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.

"Funds allocated to defense will be increased by a third in the period from 2024 to 2030," he said at a meeting with the French army command at the Mont-de-Marsan airbase. The president’s speech was aired on the Elysee Palace’s Twitter account.

According to Macron, the defense budget will reach 400 billion euro.