French President Emmanuel Macron has said he thinks a deal to avoid full scale war in Ukraine is possible and that it is legitimate for Russia to raise its own security concerns. Before talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, he called for a “new balance” to protect European states and appease Russia. He restated that the sovereignty of Ukraine was not up for discussion. Russia has massed troops on Ukraine’s border but denies planning to invade. Moscow has made a string of demands, including that the Nato defence alliance rule out Ukraine becoming a member, and that it reduce its military presence in eastern Europe. Western countries have rejected this, instead suggesting other areas of negotiation, for example talks on cutting back nuclear weaponry.(BBC)…[+]

Nine people have died following a wave of avalanches in a popular skiing region of Austria. Between Friday and Sunday, more than 100 avalanches have hit the western region of Tyrol, prompting the country’s danger level to be raised. Local authorities said the situation was “unprecedented”, and warned there could be more avalanches to come. There were also two deaths in neighbouring Switzerland, and many people needed to be rescued. With further snowfall and strong winds predicted in Tyrol, Austria’s avalanche warning level, which has a scale from one to five, was increased to level four, meaning “very large avalanches are likely”.