Europe

GENEVA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Swiss prosecutors on Friday confirmed that Israeli President Isaac Herzog had been the subject of criminal complaints during his visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, as Israel finds itself accused of committing war crimes in Gaza.

"The criminal complaints will be examined according to the usual procedure," the Office of the Swiss Attorney General said, adding that it would contact the Swiss foreign ministry to examine the question of immunity of the individual concerned.

MOSCOW (AP) — More than 1,000 people rallied in the Russian region of Bashkortostan on Friday, continuing a series of protests triggered by the conviction and sentencing of a local activist and handing a new challenge to the Kremlin.

BUDAPEST, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Sweden has not done anything to boost confidence in its suitability for NATO membership, and has given the impression that joining the alliance is not a priority for the country, an aide to Hungary's prime minister said on Thursday.

Sweden applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in May 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine but the accession process, which requires the approval of all existing members, has been held up by Turkey and Hungary.

BRUSSELS, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The European Parliament on Thursday endorsed a call to punish Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for damaging democracy at home by moving one step closer to suspending Budapest's vote in the bloc.

The lawmakers voted 345 for and 104 against on a resolution condemning the "deliberate, continuous and systematic efforts of the Hungarian government to undermine the founding values of the EU".

Russia Jan 18 (Reuters) - The head of one of Russia's biggest ethnically mixed republics accused what he called extremists and traitors on Thursday of trying to bring about its secession, a day after police used tear gas and batons to break up a rare demonstration.

The clashes took place in a small town in Bashkortostan, a republic of 4.1 million people in the Urals Mountains, where a leading rights activist was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in a penal colony.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is still considering an invitation to become a member of the BRICS bloc of countries after being asked to join by the group last year, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

The group in August invited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, Argentina, and Ethiopia to join starting Jan. 1, although Argentina signalled it would not take up the invitation in November.

BRUSSELS, Jan 18 (Reuters) - NATO is launching its largest exercise since the Cold War, rehearsing how U.S. troops could reinforce European allies in countries bordering Russia and on the alliance's eastern flank if a conflict were to flare up with a "near-peer" adversary.

Some 90,000 troops are due to join the Steadfast Defender 2024 drills that will run through May, the alliance's top commander Chris Cavoli said on Thursday.

ST. PETERSBURG, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Electric vehicles can continue to drive free of charge on federal toll highways in 2024, the Russian government's press service said Thursday.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, who supervises the federal project "Electric and hydrogen car," said that the privilege for electric vehicles will resume on Jan. 19.

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister said on Wednesday that attacks against Israel and its interests by the "Axis of Resistance" will stop if the Gaza war ends, warning that the conflict could heighten tensions across the Middle East.

The Islamic Republic backs Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in its war with Israel, which has devastated Gaza in an aerial and ground offensive, and Tehran accuses the United States of backing what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza.