Europe

DONETSK, Ukraine, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Politicians and military sources in Russian-backed breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine say they do not see an imminent risk of full-scale war while attempts are still under way to find a diplomatic solution.

A long-simmering conflict between the Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian army is part of a deeper crisis between the two countries in which Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders, prompting U.S. warnings of a possible attack within days or weeks.

MOSCOW, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Russia launches the active phase of vast military exercises in Belarus on Thursday, a display of strength that shows how Moscow's tightening grip on Minsk has given it enhanced capabilities in its standoff with the West over Ukraine.

The joint Allied Resolve drills that NATO has described as Russia's biggest deployment to ex-Soviet Belarus since the Cold War run until Feb. 20 and are part of a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that has stirred fears of a looming invasion.

LJUBLJANA, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Jansa tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.

Jansa said on his Twitter account that self-tests showed that his two sons were positive yesterday, and he tested positive today.

"All classic symptoms. Mild ones for now. Let it stay that way," he tweeted.

Slovenia's daily number of COVID-19 cases fell to 5,076 on Tuesday from 11,119 a day before and the record 24,178 on Feb. 1, the National Institute of Public Health said on Wednesday.

BRUSSELS, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) has outlined a 15 billion-euros plan to boost its semiconductor industry for a desired green and digital transition, and a leading position in chips manufacturing.

The European Commission will "enable 15 billion euros (17.11 billion U.S. dollars) in additional public and private investment until 2030" in semiconductor production, senior EU officials said here on Tuesday as they presented the Commission's "European Chips Act."

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden has halted wide-scale testing for COVID-19 even among people showing symptoms of an infection, putting an end to the mobile city-square tent sites, drive-in swab centers and home-delivered tests that became ubiquitous during the pandemic and provided essential data for tracking its spread.

08 Feb 2022; MEMO: Two journalists, Palestinian, Maram Salem and Jordanian, Farah Maraqa, have been dismissed from their job by German media network, Deutsche Welle, following allegations of anti-Semitism which the victims have claimed are dubious and baseless.

08 Feb 2022; MEMO: The UK Labour Party has dropped an investigation into 82-year-Jewish woman, Diana Neslen, for alleged anti-Semitism after she threatened to sue the party for unlawfully discriminating against her based on her belief in anti-Zionism.

ADIIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — In the trenches of eastern Ukraine, across the lines from some of the 100,000 Russian troops amassed north and east of the country, Ivan Skuratovskyi’s calm verges on numbness — even after a sniper’s bullet recently killed one of the 50 or so men under his command.

08 Feb 2022; MEMO: The President of Belarus denied on Tuesday reports claiming that his country intends to send 200 soldiers to Syria to serve alongside Russian forces there. Alexander Lukashenko told the Belarusian Security Council that the reports that the Russian government had decided to send Belarus forces to Syria were not true.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that Moscow would not further escalate the Ukraine crisis.

Macron also said it would take time to find a diplomatic solution to the rising tensions, which represent the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War.