Europe

ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss government on Tuesday urged voters to reject a referendum brought by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party to end an accord with the European Union on the free movement of citizens.

Should the party win the binding vote on May 17 in what is being called Switzerland’s “Brexit moment”, the country could lose its privileged access to the EU single market that is the lifeblood of its economy.

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed his chief of staff Andriy Bogdan on Tuesday, cutting ties with a lawyer whose links with a prominent tycoon had made him one of Zelenskiy’s most controversial appointments since taking office last year.

No official explanation was immediately given for the dismissal but it came after reports of a turf war between Bogdan and Andriy Yermak, a senior presidential aide who has now been appointed to replace him.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday that all attacks on Russian and Syrian government forces in Syria’s Idlib province should stop and that agreements it had struck with Turkey on the conflict had to be upheld.

Moscow made its comments, which underscore rising tensions over Syria between Russia and Turkey, after Syrian government forces took control of a highway in northwest Syria for the first time since 2012.

GENEVA (Reuters) - China’s coronavirus outbreak poses a “very grave threat for the rest of the world”, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday in an appeal for sharing virus samples and speeding up research into drugs and vaccines.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was addressing the start of a two-day meeting aimed at accelerating development of drugs, diagnostics and vaccines against the flu-like virus amid growing concerns about its ability to spread.

BRUSSELS, Feb 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Scotland is already taking steps to hold a referendum on independence and believes it is a matter of when rather than if the country separates from the rest of Britain, Scotland’s First Minister said.

“We should agree a process between ourselves and the UK government for a referendum in line with the clear mandate given by the people of Scotland,” Nicola Sturgeon told a news conference in Brussels on her first foreign trip since Britain left the European Union.

LONDON, Feb 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Hundreds of flights and train services were cancelled across northwest Europe as Storm Ciara swept in packing powerful winds after lashing Britain and Ireland, where tens of thousands of homes were left without power.

Swathes of northern France were placed on orange alert with people advised to avoid the coast due to possible storm surges.

Britain, which bore the brunt of the storm Sunday with widespread flooding across the north of the country, remained on alert with the Meteorological Office warning of strong winds, heavy rain and snow.

BERLIN, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) will discuss a theme coined as "westlessness", the loss of the common standing of what it means to be part of the West, according to a report published on Monday.

The Munich Security Report, which is published annually ahead of the MSC, sets the tone for the conference that is known as the "Davos" in global security and political issues. This year's MSC will be convened from Friday to Sunday this week.

BERLIN, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane-force winds and heavy rain swept over Germany and caused severe disruptions to road, rail and air traffic over the past two days.

Germany's National Meteorological Service issued the second highest weather warning level for most parts of Germany on Sunday. Large sporting events were cancelled and many schools remained closed on Monday as a precautionary measure.

The cathedral in Frankfurt was damaged when the jib of a building crane buckled and crashed into the roof of the cathedral.

DONETSK, February 10. /TASS/: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s greed has made him forget all his election promises to stop the Donbass war, adviser to the head of the central executive committee of the ‘Donetsk Republic’ social movement (Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) ruling party - TASS) Andrei Bedilo said Monday, commenting on Kiev’s plans to build military bases in Mariupol and Severodonetsk.

MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/: The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will be finalized despite the "unprecedented" resistance from the United States, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an article in the Energy Policy magazine published on Monday.