Europe

MOSCOW, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Armenian President Armen Sarkissian tendered his resignation on Sunday, saying he believes the country's constitution does not give him sufficient powers to influence events.

Sarkissian, president since 2018, was in a standoff with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last year over a number of issues, including the dismissal of the head of the armed forces.

The role of prime minister is seen as more powerful than that of president.

MILAN, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is in a Milan hospital for routine checks, his personal doctor said on Sunday, a day after the 85-year-old decided not to run for president.

Berlusconi, a four-times prime minister of Italy, had major heart surgery in 2016 and has also had prostate cancer. He has been repeatedly admitted to hospital over the past year after contracting COVID-19 in 2020.

Alberto Zangrillo said in a statement that Berlusconi was undergoing long-scheduled tests in the hospital.

LONDON (AP) — The British government on Saturday accused Russia of seeking to replace Ukraine’s government with a pro-Moscow administration, and said former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevheniy Murayev is being considered as a potential candidate.

Murayev is head of the small pro-Russian party Nashi, which currently has no seats in Ukraine’s parliament.

Britain’s Foreign Office named several other Ukrainian politicians it said had links with Russian intelligence services.

It’s unclear what means Britain believes Russia might use to install a friendly government in Kyiv.

OSLO, Norway (AP) — A Taliban delegation led by acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Sunday started three days of talks in Oslo with Western government officials and Afghan civil society representatives amid a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

The closed-door meetings are taking place at a hotel in the snow-capped mountains above the Norwegian capital. The first day will see Taliban representatives meeting with women’s rights activists and human rights defenders from Afghanistan and from the Afghan diaspora.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday rejected a British claim that the Kremlin is seeking to replace Ukraine’s government with a pro-Moscow administration, and that former Ukrainian lawmaker Yevheniy Murayev is a potential candidate.

Britain’s Foreign Office on Saturday also named several other Ukrainian politicians it said had links with Russian intelligence services, along with Murayev who is the leader of a small party that has no seats in parliament.

22 Jan 2022; MEMO: Hundreds of protesters demonstrated in front of the Israeli embassy in London yesterday calling for an end to the demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem. The protest in solidarity with residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood was organised by the Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB), Friends of al Aqsa (FOA), Muslim Association in Britain (MAB), CND, Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Stop the War coalition.

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/: Russia’s FSB and law enforcement have detained four members of the Infraud Organization hacking group. Its purported founder Andrey Novak is wanted in the US on the accusations of cybercrime. As a source in law enforcement told TASS, Novak was arrested while three other purported hackers are under a house arrest.

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/: The safety of Russian cosmonaut Nikolay Chub during his mission on the International Space Station (ISS), scheduled for 2023, has been called into question after the United States refused him an entry visa, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos told reporters on Saturday.

"This situation calls into question the very safety of the Russian cosmonaut’s mission on the ISS and the safety of the Station’s US segment due to the unpreparedness of the Russian cosmonaut in case of an emergency," Roscosmos said.

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the prospects of further interaction within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Kremlin press service reported on Saturday. The conversation was held at the initiative of the Armenian side.

"Considering Armenia’s current chairmanship of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the prospects of further interaction within the framework of the CSTO were discussed," the statement said.

MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/: The Russian government has approved a plan on additional measures against the Omicron coronavirus strain, the press service of the cabinet of ministers reported on Saturday.

"The government began to implement a plan on additional measures on fighting the spread of the new Omicron coronavirus strain in Russia and the preparation of the healthcare system for helping those infected with COVID-19," the statement said.