Zika crisis: World Health Organization in emergency talks 

This week there have been developments regarding Zika crisis. WHO officials have described Zika as moving “from a mild threat to one of alarming proportions”. The meeting in Geneva will decide whether to declare a global emergency or not. The link between the virus and babies being born with abnormally small heads and Guillain-Barre syndrome has not been yet proven. Meanwhile in the country, officials have been given permission to break into properties that could be harbouring mosquito breeding grounds. El Nino weather patterns also raise concerns regarding the expected increase in mosquito populations.

Donald Tusk to publish UK-EU ‘settlement’

The president of the European Council says “good progress” has been made in talks with David Cameron, as he prepares to publish a “new settlement” on the UK’s EU membership this week. EU leaders will debate the UK’s bid to reform its relationship with Brussels at a summit on 18 and 19 February. Earlier the UK claimed “progress” had been made but said there was “more work to do” as officials held a “crucial” day of talks with EU counterparts about the UK’s membership. “The timing is in the hands of President Tusk and Prime Minister Cameron,” a Commission spokesman said. Although the referendum does not need to be held until the end of 2017, it has been reported Downing Street favours a poll on 23 June. Uk’s demands:

• Integration/Sovereignty: Allowing Britain to opt out from the EU’s founding ambition to forge an “ever closer union” of the peoples of Europe so it will not be drawn into further political integration. Giving greater powers to national parliaments to block or scrap EU legislation.
• Competitiveness: To extend the single market and cut down on excessive regulation – commonly known by critics as “Brussels bureaucracy”.
• Benefits: Restricting access to in-work and out-of-work benefits to EU migrants. Specifically, ministers want to stop those coming to the UK from claiming certain benefits and housing until they have been resident for four years. But the European Commission, which runs the EU, has said such a move would be “highly problematic” and the focus has now turned to the UK having an “emergency brake” which could stop in-work benefits to EU migrants for four years.
• Eurozone v the rest: Securing an explicit recognition that the euro is not the only currency of the European Union, to ensure countries outside the eurozone are not disadvantaged. The UK also wants safeguards that it will not have to contribute to eurozone bailouts

Sir Terry Wogan dies, aged 77 

Tributes continue to pour in for Sir Terry Wogan, the BBC presenter who died at the age of 77, after what his family described as a “short but brave” battle with cancer. The Limerick-born TV and radio presenter’s career spanned more than 50 years, with highlights including his long-running BBC Radio 2 breakfast show Wake Up to Wogan, TV quiz show Blankety Blank and the annual Children in Need telethon. Sir Terry was also renowned for his sardonic commentary of the Eurovision Song Contest. A dual citizen of Ireland and Britain, he was knighted in 2005 and regularly described as a national treasure. He will be missed but his wit will stay with us forever: “Get on your toes, keep your wits about you, say goodnight politely when it’s over, go home and enjoy your dinner.”

Markets Update: FTSE starts week lower after more weak China data

After having the worst January since 2009, European stocks are softer on Monday, as weak economic data out of China put a halt on a risk-on rally that had sent stocks surging at the end of last week. The FTSE-100 is down 1.1 per cent to 6,018. Among a broad base of top fallers is BP, which is down 3.1 per cent amid reports that its latest results this week will see its profits fall 70 per cent. The weak Chinese data left indices on the mainland and Hong Kong lower. The Shanghai Composite lost 1.8 per cent, while the Hang Seng dipped by a more modest 0.5 per cent. Gold is gaining in the wake of the latest worries over the Chinese – and world – economy, rising above $1,126. Oil is dipping from a high close to $36 as hopes of a supply cut deal fade. Brent crude is a little below $35 in London.

Chechnya’s Kadyrov puts Putin critic Kasyanov in gunsights

Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov has posted an Instagram video showing Russian opposition politician Mikhail Kasyanov in a sniper’s crosshairs.

Mr Kasyanov, a former prime minister, is a high-profile critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the opposition RPR-Parnas party. The Chechen leader said Mr Kasyanov was seeking cash in Strasbourg for the opposition. “Whoever doesn’t get it will get it!” he warned. Last March Mr Kadyrov spoke out on Instagram about the assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow. That message defended one of the Chechens charged over the shooting. A day later President Putin gave Mr Kadyrov a top award. Mr Nemtsov was among several well-known opponents of Mr Putin murdered in the past decade. The new video is the latest in a series of threatening messages from Mr Kadyrov against Kremlin critics, whom he accuses of working for the West. It shows Mr Kasyanov talking to Vladimir Kara-Murza, a journalist who runs the pro-democracy opposition movement Open Russia. The movement was launched by exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Mr Kasyanov says he sees it as a direct death threat and will demand a criminal investigation. Ilya Yashin, who co-chairs RPR-Parnas with Mr Kasyanov, called the video “an open threat to murder Kasyanov”.