BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO announced Tuesday that the alliance will hold a virtual meeting of foreign ministers from the 30 member nations this week to assess the situation in Ukraine and upcoming talks with Russia. The extraordinary meeting of the alliance members on Friday will kick off a week of intense diplomacy over the military buildup on Ukraine’s borders and initiatives to ease the tension between the Cold War foes. U.S. President Joe Biden has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that Washington could impose new sanctions against Moscow if it takes further military action against Ukraine. Putin responded that such a U.S. move could lead to a complete rupture of ties between the nations. Putin and Biden have spoken twice over the past month, before scheduled talks between senior U.S. and Russian officials on Jan. 9 and 10 in Geneva. Those talks will be followed by a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council on Jan. 12 and negotiations at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Vienna on Jan. 13.

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JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — A fire that devastated South Africa’s parliament was finally contained on Tuesday after a two-day battle, firefighters said, as a man appeared in court to face charges of starting the blaze. Flames broke out in the Cape Town complex before dawn on Sunday, spreading to the National Assembly, whose roof collapsed, and threatening national treasures housed in an older section. A 49-year-old man, Zandile Christmas Mafe, was arrested in the complex on Sunday. He appeared briefly in court Tuesday to answer charges of breaking into and “setting fire to parliamentary buildings” and intention to steal property, including “laptops, crockery and documents”. No casualties have been reported in the fire, but the damage has shocked the country. Spokesman Jermaine Carelse said such was the devastation that a parliamentary session would not be held there for a long time. Parliament spokesman Moloto Mothapo said “the entire chamber where the members sit... has burned down”.

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BERLIN (AP) — Police in Germany have reported sporadic violence at demonstrations against the country’s pandemic restrictions, with one protester in the eastern town of Lichtenstein biting an officer and another attempting to steal a service weapon. Tens of thousands of people in total took to the streets in scores of German towns and cities for weekly marches that have organizers have labeled “strolls” in an attempt to bypass restrictions on public gatherings. Counter-protests were also held in towns such as Rostock and Trier, the dpa news agency reported. Police in the eastern state of Saxony said the incident late Monday in Lichtenstein, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Chemnitz, occurred when officers tried to pull about 60 rowdy people out of a march to check their identities. Several of the protesters attacked police and sprayed them with chemical irritants.

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ROME (AP) — Italy’s lower chamber of Parliament on Tuesday set Jan. 24 as the start date to begin voting for a new president, officially kicking off a campaign that is expected to see Premier Mario Draghi and ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi vie for the prestigious job. The victor, who is chosen by around 1,000 “big electors” among lawmakers and regional representatives, will replace President Sergio Mattarella, whose seven-year term ends Feb. 3. The voting is expected to last several rounds over several days. The Italian presidency has limited powers and is largely ceremonial. But the president plays a key role in resolving political impasses, which aren’t uncommon in Italy. And this election comes before a new season of campaigning before the 2023 parliamentary election. The center-right Forza Italia has rallied behind founder Berlusconi, the 85-year-old media mogul and three-time premier, though allied right-wing parties would also benefit if Draghi leaves the premiership early, prompting an early election. For good measure, Berlusconi on Dec. 31 tweeted a photo of him with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the two had had a “long and cordial” call to wish one another Happy New Year.

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ALMATY (Reuters) -- Protests have erupted in several Kazakh towns and cities after the Central Asian nation’s government lifted price caps on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and the cost of the popular alternative to gasoline rose. The rallies have involved thousands of people. They began on Jan. 2 - the day after the price caps on LPG were lifted - in the town of Zhanaozen, the site of the deadliest clashes between protesters and police since independence from the Soviet Union.
Protesters in Zhanaozen, an oil industry hub in the western Mangistau province where dozens of people were killed in protests in 2011 after the sacking of oil workers, demanded the price of LPG be halved from 120 tenge ($0.27) per liter to the level at which the fuel was sold last year.

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NIAMEY (Reuters) -- Police in northern Niger have seized more than 200 kg of cocaine worth around $8.7 million that was being transported in the local mayor’s official truck, two police sources said on Monday. The mayor and his driver, who were in the vehicle at the time, were arrested with 199 bricks of cocaine at a checkpoint on the road heading north out of the desert trading hub of Agadez on Sunday, the sources said. A statement from Niger’s Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Drug Trafficking (OCRTIS) confirmed that there had been a record seizure of more than 200 kg of cocaine in Agadez, but did not give details.