Europe

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — A trial in absentia opened Tuesday for Belarus’ top opposition leader, who denounced the proceedings as a farce and urged the West to bolster support for the country’s beleaguered opposition.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was the main challenger in the August 2020 presidential election that extended President Alexander Lukashenko’s rule and was rejected by the Belarusian opposition and the West as a sham.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union pushed forward on Tuesday with a major clean tech industrial plan which not only should keep the continent in the vanguard of plotting a greener future but also guarantee its economic survival as it faces challenges from China and the United States.

GRAFENWOEHR TRAINING AREA, Germany (AP) — Monday was just Day Two for Ukrainian soldiers at the U.S. military’s new training program, but the message was coming through loud and clear.

These are urgent times. And the lessons they will get in the next five weeks on weapons, armored vehicles and more sophisticated combat techniques are critical as they prepare to defend their country against the Russian invasion.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The final death toll from a weekend Russian missile strike on an apartment building in southeastern Ukraine reached 44, officials said Tuesday, as the body of another child was pulled from the wreckage. The strike in the city of Dnipro was the war’s deadliest attack since the spring on civilians at one location.

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Ukraine’s first lady scolded world leaders and corporate executives at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in the snowy Swiss town of Davos for not all using their influence at a time when Russia’s invasion leaves children dying and a world struggling with food insecurity.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Alina Kapatsyna often dreams about getting a phone call from her mother. In those visions, her mother tells her that she’s coming home.

Men in military uniforms took 45-year-old Vita Hannych away from her house in eastern Ukraine in April. She never returned.

Her family later learned that Hannych, who has long suffered from seizures because of a brain cyst, is in custody in the Russian-occupied part of the Donetsk region.

16 Jan 2023; MEMO: A major Swedish bank continues to host an active account fundraising for the outlawed and designated terror group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), despite efforts by Sweden's government to limit the influence of the group within the country in agreement with Turkiye.

17 Jan 2023; MEMO: Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed issues related to Ukraine and Syria with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a phone call on Monday, the Kremlin has reported.

Putin is said to have criticised the "destructive" policies of the regime in Kyiv "which relies on the intensification of hostilities with the support of Western sponsors increasing the volume of weapons and military equipment being transferred to Ukraine."

17 Jan 2023; MEMO: Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar met his British counterpart Ben Wallace in London on Monday. The two officials discussed regional defence and security issues as well as bilateral cooperation in the defence industry.

Akar is visiting London at Wallace's official invitation. Prior to the meeting at the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, Akar visited the Turkish Embassy.

BERLIN, January 16. /TASS/: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has accepted Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht’s resignation, Deputy Government Spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said at a briefing on Monday.

"The chancellor respects Lambrecht’s decision and is grateful to her for the great job she did in this complicated and challenging time. The chancellor will soon present his proposal to the president on a potential successor," Hoffmann noted.

When asked if Scholz had accepted the minister's resignation, she answered in the affirmative.