Europe

Washington, Feb 17 (AFP/PTI) The United States' ambassador to Germany said Sunday that President Donald Trump had threatened to cut off intelligence-sharing with countries that dealt with Chinese tech firm Huawei.

Washington has been pressing allies to ban Huawei, one of the world's largest tech firms, from next-generation 5G mobile data networks, saying it is a security risk.

LONDON, Feb 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A man died after falling into a river on Sunday as Storm Dennis swept across Britain with the army drafted in to help deal with heavy flooding and high winds.

The man fell into the River Tawe, in south Wales, police said.

The storm also battered much of France, with some 60,000 people suffering power cuts in the northwest of the country.

SKOPJE, Feb 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — North Macedonia’s parliament dissolved itself on Sunday and set April 12 for an early election, eight months ahead of the end of the current term, in what is seen as a major test for the pro-EU policies of former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s Social Democrats.

The move, endorsed by 108 deputies in the 120-seat parliament, follows Zaev’s resignation last month that came after the European Union failed to give his country a date to start talks on joining the bloc.

MUNICH (Germany), Feb 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France has warned Britain to expect a bruising battle with the EU in post-Brexit trade negotiations.

French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian predicted the two sides would “rip each other apart” as they strove for advantage in the negotiations.

He also said it would be tough for the UK to achieve its aim of agreeing a free trade deal by the end of the year.

The UK government said it wanted a deal based on “friendly co-operation between sovereign equals”.

MUNICH, February 15. /TASS/: Disagreements between Moscow and Ankara over Syria’s Idlib will have no impact on the deliveries of S-400 air defense systems, nor on the two countries’ ties in general, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday after his talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

"We cannot change our principled positions and policies due to occasional disagreements with one country or another. We must not allow the problems in Syria to undermine our cooperation and relationship," he said.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/: Russia’s State Commission has set a preliminary date of February 20 for the launch from Plesetsk of the Soyuz-2.1a rocket with a military satellite atop, which was previously canceled, a source in the rocket and space industry told TASS on Saturday.

"The State Commission decided on Saturday to preliminarily fix the launch of Soyuz-2.1a with Meridian satellite atop for February 20," said the source

MUNICH, February 16. /TASS/: Russia will continue searching for ways to resolve crises in the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf area in cooperation with partners in different formats, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the Munich Security Conference.

MUNICH, February 16. /TASS/: Talks between Japan and Russia are making a transition to another phase, when parties discuss key issues in a more positive way, Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said after talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

SIMFEROPOL, February 16. /TASS/: The Kerch City Court has arrested for ten days four Ukrainian nationals, who were detained by Russian border guards in the Sea of Azov over illegal fishing, the Border Service of the Federal Security Service in Crimea said on Sunday.

The Ukrainian nationals were detained on Saturday by the FSB personnel for committing an administrative offense, in particular for defying the security services’ legal demands and violating the rules of catching biological resources.

MOSCOW, February 16. /TASS/: A man attacked worshippers with a knife in a church in downtown Moscow on Sunday, wounding two persons, Russian Interior Ministry Spokeswoman Irina Volk told TASS.

The suspect has been detained. "Police detained in hot pursuit a 26-year-old resident of the Lipetsk Region, who entered a church on Bakuninskaya Street in the morning of February 16 and injured two persons with a knife. The victims have been sent to hospitals to receive medical assistance," Volk said.

Police are investigating the causes and circumstances of the attack, she noted.