Europe

KYIV, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko won a court ruling on Wednesday allowing him to remain at liberty while being investigated for treason in a probe he says was cooked up by allies of his successor, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Dressed in a traditional embroidered shirt, Poroshenko appeared in court while thousands of his supporters demonstrated outside, chanting and waving flags and briefly scuffling with police before the hearing.

VILNIUS, Jan 19 (Reuters) - A United Nations report into the forced diversion of a Ryanair (RYA.I) jetliner last year has found that a bomb threat that drew the plane to Minsk was "deliberately false" and that Belarus withheld crucial information from its fact-finding team.

The UN's International Civil Aviation Organization set up a specialist fact-finding team in May 2021, days after Belarus diverted the Vilnius-bound jet carrying a wanted opponent to Minsk following what it described as a bomb threat.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Doctors and medical workers in Poland fear the country’s health care system may not be able to cope with the latest surge of COVID-19 infections.

More than 30,000 new cases in 24 hours were reported Wednesday in this nation of 38 million people and health authorities are expecting the figure to almost double in the next week, reflecting the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant.

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to make the European Union more powerful as his country holds the bloc’s presidency for six months — yet he has been accused by rivals and critics of using the position as a springboard toward a reelection bid.

Macron spoke at length Wednesday to European lawmakers in Strasbourg, detailing France’s priorities for the six-month rotating presidency of the bloc.

19 Jan 2022; MEMO: Germany's arms sales have hit a record high after they were bumped up by weapons sales to Egypt, according to government figures.

In 2021 Germany exported 9.35 billion euros worth of arms, $10.65 billion, up 61 per cent from 2020, with most of these exports being authorised by the previous government under former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Washington, Jan 19 (AP) President Joe Biden has rallied European allies to pledge as one that they will take tough measures against Russia if it rolls troops into Ukraine.

But when it comes to what exactly the United States and Europe are willing to do, the allies don't look as ringingly united.

Militarily, for example, the United States, Turkey and Britain have stood out for supplying or agreeing to supply anti-tank missiles, armed drones, naval warships and other weapons, along with money to help Ukraine build its defenses.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a grilling from opponents in Parliament on Wednesday — and a more worrying threat from his own party’s restive lawmakers, dozens of whom are plotting to oust him over a string of lockdown-flouting government parties.

Conservative legislators are judging whether to trigger a no-confidence vote in Johnson amid public anger over the “partygate” scandal. It’s a stunning reversal of fortune for a politician who just over two years ago led the Conservatives to their biggest election victory in almost 40 years.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged western nations Wednesday to remain united in the face of what he called “relentless” Russian aggression against Ukraine and reassured Ukraine’s leader of their support.

Blinken told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to Kyiv that the U.S. and its allies were steadfast in backing his country and its democratic aspirations amid growing fears of a potentially imminent Russian invasion.

MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/: The Russian, Iranian and Chinese navies will hold joint naval maneuvers, Russia’s Pacific Fleet reported on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS, January 18. /TASS/: NATO is ready to engage with Russia to exchange briefings on exercises, discuss arms control and reduce the threat from nuclear weapons, Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance’s secretary general said on Tuesday.

He on Tuesday invited all the members of the NATO-Russia Council to hold a series of meetings to discuss Ukraine and mutual security concerns, he said at a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that was broadcast online.