Europe

LONDON, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- London has some of the most deprived communities in Britain, the capital's mayor said Wednesday as the British government unveiled the long-awaited plan to level up the country.

LONDON (AP) — The British government set out plans Wednesday for a huge shift in power and wealth to left-behind regions of the country, a long-standing promise to the voters who helped put Prime Minister Boris Johnson in office.

Johnson’s Conservative government was elected in 2019 on a pledge to “level up” one of Europe’s most regionally unequal countries by improving transport links, infrastructure and economic opportunities in swaths of the country hit by shuttered industries and public funding cuts.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A COVID-19 draft law defeated in Poland’s parliament has exposed deep divisions inside the ruling right-wing coalition and a weakening of the country’s most powerful politician, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, analysts said on Wednesday.

PARIS (AP) — France says it will start administering Pfizer’s coronavirus antiviral drug this week, the first pill for treating COVID-19 approved in the 27-nation EU.

The country is still reporting among the world’s highest per-capita daily infections, but virus-related critical care hospitalizations are easing, and the French government on Wednesday started lifting restrictions related to the surge in omicron cases.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United States is bolstering its military presence is central and eastern Europe, a senior official in the Biden administration said Wednesday. The move comes amid fears of conflict erupting in Ukraine sparked by Russia’s huge troop buildup near the border.

The announcement came Wednesday after a leaked document published in a Spanish newspaper suggested the United States could be willing to enter into an agreement with Russia to ease tensions over missile deployments in Europe if Moscow steps back from the brink in Ukraine.

BRUSSELS (AP) — President Joe Biden is sending about 2,000 U.S.-based troops to Poland and Germany and shifting roughly 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania as demonstrations of American commitments to NATO allies amid fears of a possible Russian military invasion of Ukraine, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

In announcing the moves, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said they will happen in coming days and operate under U.S. command.

HELSINKI, February 1./TASS/: The Russian Embassy has delivered a message to the Finnish Foreign Ministry from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov regarding security guarantees, the diplomatic mission reported on Tuesday.

"The embassy has handed over the respective letter to the foreign minister of Finland. We are waiting for the reaction from the Finnish side," it said.

SOFIA, February 1. /TASS/: Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova elaborated on Moscow's demand for NATO to return to its 1997 borders, emphasizing that this does not entail Bulgaria leaving the alliance in an interview with the NOVA TV channel on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/: Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has not confirmed information from the US Department of State that Moscow had submitted its reaction to American proposals on security to Washington. According to him, Russia shared with the US some ideas on a different subject.

MINSK, February 1. /TASS/: An observation mission representing the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has started monitoring a nationwide referendum on amending and expanding Belarus' Constitution after receiving accreditation from the Central Election Commission.

"Today, we accredited the first three representatives of the CIS observation mission," Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Belarus Igor Karpenko noted.