Europe

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The foreign ministers of France and the Netherlands paid an official visit on Friday to a military base in Romania where both nations station troops as a part of a NATO battlegroup that was bolstered in the wake of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Catherine Colonna of France and Wopke Hoekstra of the Netherlands visited the military base in Cincu, central Romania, along with their Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu.

26 Jan 2023; MEMO: France has promised to speed up the handover of its colonial archives to Algeria, and to clean up the sites where it conducted nuclear tests in the Sahara Desert in the 1960s, the ministry of foreign affairs in Algiers has announced.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more missiles and self-exploding drones at nearly a dozen Ukrainian provinces early Thursday, causing the first war-related death in Kyiv this year and killing at least 11 people overall, according to Ukrainian authorities.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces fired another rash of missiles and self-exploding drones in nearly a dozen provinces of Ukraine early Thursday, causing the first attack-related death of the year in Kyiv and killing at least 11 people in all.

The spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, announced the casualty toll in comments to Ukrainian television. He said the attacks also wounded at least 11 people.

25 Jan 2023; MEMO: France has repatriated 15 women and 32 children from a detention camp in north-west Syria after pressure on the European country from human rights organisations.

The decision follows criticism from a UN committee that said Paris is failing to protect its citizens and is violating the Convention against Torture.

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/: The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) collected a total of 11,053 doping samples from Russian athletes in 2022, a spokeswoman for the agency told TASS on Wednesday.

"The Russian Anti-Doping Agency collected 11,053 doping samples in the period between January and December 2022," she said.

RUSADA Director General Veronika Loginova told TASS in late December that the agency had met its target for 2022 on doping testing of athletes ahead of schedule with the reported figure standing at over 11,000.

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/:  Russian combat aircraft, missile troops and artillery struck over 70 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions in the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Wednesday.

"In the past 24 hours, operational-tactical aircraft, missile troops and artillery of the Russian group of forces struck 79 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 124 areas," the spokesman said.

BERLIN, January 25. /TASS/: First Leopard tanks may be shipped to Ukraine in about 3 to 4 months, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on TV Wednesday.

"This [shipment of tanks] will not happen sooner than in 3 to 4 months," Pistorius said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the German government confirmed that it will send 14 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany’s own stock to Ukraine and will authorize other countries to re-export German-made tanks.

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/: Defending Russia and its people from threats against its historical lands has been the special military operation’s objective, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"The goal [of the special military operation], as I have said many times before, is primarily to protect the people and Russia itself from threats being posed to it on our historical lands bordering our territory. We cannot allow this to happen," the Russian leader said in his speech devoted to Russian Students Day.

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin avoided commenting on Germany's landmark decision on Wednesday to supply tanks to Ukraine during a visit to Moscow State University, instead dispensing career advice to students and fielding questions on other topics.

Germany's announcement that it would send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine after weeks of pressure from its allies prompted a furious reaction from Russia's foreign ministry and its embassy in Berlin, but the president steered clear of the issue.