Europe

LONDON, January 25./TASS/: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that he was prepared to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin once again to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

"The truth is that if Russia’s goal is to keep NATO forces away from her borders, then if that is Russia’s goal, then invading Ukraine could scarcely be more counter-productive," the prime minister said as he gave a statement on the situation in Ukraine to the House of Commons.

MINSK, January 25. /TASS/: Belarus needs to create a task force to protect its border with Ukraine where the situation is no more straightforward than at the border with Poland, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday.

BERLIN, Jan 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A German woman who travelled to Syria as a 15-year-old to join the Daesh group goes on trial on Tuesday accused of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity.

Leonora Messing, now aged 21, is in the dock in the eastern German city of Halle on suspicion that she and her Daesh husband enslaved a Yazidi woman in Syria in 2015.

During the course of the trial scheduled to last until at least mid-May and being held behind closed doors, Messing will also face charges of membership of a terrorist organisation and weapons law violations.

MOSCOW, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday it was watching with great concern after the United States put 8,500 troops on alert to be ready to deploy to Europe in case of an escalation in the Ukraine crisis.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Washington of fuelling tensions over Ukraine - repeating Moscow's line that the crisis is being driven by U.S. and NATO actions rather than by its own build-up of tens of thousands of troops near the Ukrainian border.

PARIS, Jan 25 (Reuters) - An Iranian court on Tuesday sentenced French national Benjamin Briere to eight years in prison on spying charges, his Paris-based lawyer said, describing the trial as a politically motivated sham and his client as a "bargaining chip".

Briere, 36, has been held in Iran since May 2020, when he was arrested after flying a helicam - a remote-controlled mini helicopter used to obtain aerial or motion images - in the desert near the Turkmenistan-Iran border. 

ZURICH, Jan 25 (Reuters) - A former top Swiss banker charged with making millions of dollars through fraudulent deals said on Tuesday that a near 200,000 Swiss francs ($217,675) expenses bill for strip club visits was largely business-related.

Pierin Vincenz, once a 'banker of the year', also told a Zurich court that a 700 franc dinner with a woman he met on dating app Tinder was justified because he was considering her for a real estate job and a trip to Australia was made to examine the country's ATMs.

BERLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said he would seek clarification over Russia's intentions towards Ukraine in a phone call with President Vladimir Putin on Friday amid rising fears of an attack by the Kremlin on its former Soviet republic.

Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed their support for Ukraine in a joint news conference on Tuesday in Berlin and reiterated their position that Russia would pay a high price if it attacked its smaller neighbour.

ROME, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Italy's lawmakers began a second round of voting on Tuesday to elect a new head of state, but it looked certain to be inconclusive with the parties apparently no closer to finding a mutually acceptable candidate.

Although Prime Minister Mario Draghi remains the most likely choice, worries that his promotion to president might shatter his coalition government and trigger early national elections have complicated his prospects.

LONDON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- British police said Tuesday they are investigating alleged parties held at Downing Street and Whitehall over the past two years during the country's lockdown, citing "deep public concern."

"I can confirm that the Met (Metropolitan Police) is now investigating a number of events that took place at Downing Street and Whitehall in the last two years in relation to potential breaches of COVID-19 regulations," London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said.

BRUSSELS. Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) is prepared to defend against any possible Russian cyber-attacks or hybrid threats if it invades Ukraine and is "very well advanced" in its preparation for a response to any aggression, the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said here on Monday.

He told journalists following a meeting of the EU member states' foreign ministers that the bloc was united in its approach.