Europe

MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko began talks in the Kremlin on Wednesday.

The two leaders have met ahead of a session of the Supreme State Council (SSC) of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, scheduled for April 6.

HELSINKI, April 5 (Reuters) - Finland's outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin is stepping down as leader of the Social Democratic party, she said on Wednesday, adding she will serve as a regular lawmaker in the newly elected parliament from next week.

"I will start my work as member of parliament next week and I hope I can also lead a calmer life," Marin told a news conference, adding she would not run for president.

She said she had not received any offers for international positions.

April 5 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin told the new U.S. and EU ambassadors in blunt language on Wednesday that their countries were responsible for a dramatic deterioration in relations since Russia sent its armed forces into Ukraine last year.

The ambassadors were among 17 who presented their diplomatic credentials to Putin at a televised ceremony in the Kremlin.

Putin told new U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy that U.S. support for a revolution in Ukraine in 2014 had led to the current situation where Russia and Ukraine were in conflict.

CHERKASY REGION, Ukraine, April 5 (Reuters) - More than a year into Russia's full-scale invasion, Aleks, a translator with no prior military experience, was advancing through forest with rifle raised, training to ambush enemy forces in one of Ukraine's newest military units.

Border of Steel is one of eight new storm brigades totalling 40,000 soldiers that Ukraine wants to use during a counter-offensive against Russian occupiers in coming weeks or months.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife arrived in Poland Wednesday for a state visit that is meant as a gesture of thanks to the neighboring nation for its crucial support in Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion.

The visit is a rare foray for Zelenskyy out of Ukraine since Russia unleased the war in February 2022. While it follows visits to the United States, Britain, France and Belgium, it stands out from the others because it was announced in advance without the secrecy of past visits.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Mothers burying their sons, children burying their fathers. As the war in Ukraine enters its second year, men and women have been dying in droves on the front lines, fighting off Russia’s invasion of their country.

For them, the fight is over. They paid the ultimate price. But it is their parents, their children, their siblings and their spouses who will carry the pain of war, the tears of the nation.

04 Apr 2023; MEMO: Interim results of a long-awaited, comprehensive study on attitudes of police officers in Germany show that a significant slice of police officers are prejudiced against Muslims, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the interim results released Tuesday, 18 per cent of German police officers said they feel as if Germany is being "overrun" by foreigners.

London, Apr 4 (PTI) The UK on Tuesday imposed a 12.7-million pound fine on Chinese video app TikTok for a number of breaches of data protection law, including failing to use children’s personal data lawfully.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the country's information watchdog estimates that TikTok allowed up to 1.4 million UK children under the age of 13 to use its platform in 2020, despite its own rules not allowing children that age to create an account.

04 Apr 2023; MEMO: Amnesty International on Sunday called for an independent investigation into the Israeli forces' killing of a Palestinian Bedouin citizen of Israel, Dr. Mohammad Al-Osaibi, at the entrance to Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

04 Apr 2023; MEMO: Oil prices soared yesterday by about five per cent after Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ members announced a sudden voluntary cut in crude production.

US crude futures rose 4.85 per cent to $79.34 a barrel, while Brent crude futures rose 5.02 per cent to $83.90 a barrel, according to Bloomberg data.

Saudi Arabia led a coordinated reduction in daily production in a number of major oil countries, despite pressure from the United States to increase production.