Briefly

UNITED STATES

Ex-Trump aide pleads guilty in fraud case

Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon pleaded guilty in New York state court on Tuesday to a fraud charge related to his fundraising campaign for the US president's wall along the US-Mexico border. At a hearing, Bannon, 71, pleaded guilty to one count for scheme to defraud. He was immediately sentenced to three years of conditional release, avoiding jail time. Bannon was charged with money laundering and conspiracy, and accused of deceiving donors in 2019 who contributed more than $15 million to a private fundraising drive, known as "We Build the Wall", during Trump's first term in the White House.

EUROPE

Moscow rejects Kyiv's land swap proposal

Russia on Wednesday rejected swapping territory with Ukraine in any peace deal, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky floated the idea. "This is impossible. Russia has never and will never discuss the topic of exchanging its territory," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Zelensky told The Guardian that he plans to offer Russia a direct territory exchange to help bring an end to the conflict. "We will swap one territory to another," he said.

SYRIA

Damascus to have new govt on March 1: FM

Syria will have a new government next month, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Wednesday, with transitional authorities having ruled the country since the downfall of Bashar al-Assad. "The government that will be launched March 1 will represent the Syrian people as much as possible and take its diversity into account," Shaibani said on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in the United Arab Emirates.

Agencies - Xinhua