Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Jan. 19

ANKARA -- Turkish top general and intelligence chief met their Russian counterparts in Moscow on Thursday as Ankara seeks Russian support for opening Syrian airspace to Turkish military jets, as well as coordination with Russian troops in Turkey's potential military intervention against Kurdish militia in Syria's northern province of Afrin.

"We are talking with both Iran and Russia for the use of the (Syrian) airspace. We have to be in coordination with them for an aerial operation," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview on Thursday. (Turkey-Russia-Syria)

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UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday warned that threats posed by weapons of mass destruction seem to be gathering force in today's world.

Global anxieties about nuclear weapons are at the highest level since the end of the Cold War; trust on nuclear and other issues between the United States and Russia continues to ebb; the Iran nuclear deal is being questioned; the use of chemical weapons in Syria seriously challenges the global taboo against these weapons of mass destruction, Guterres told a high-level debate at the Security Council on weapons of mass destruction. (UN-Weapons-Warning)

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VIENNA -- The Austrian and Swiss air forces have enhanced their cooperation to provide airspace security for this year's World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos beginning next Tuesday.

The Austrian Armed Forces stated in a press release Thursday that the two countries have a history of such cooperation, but through a new agreement, this will an extention for the first time now to allow aircraft to fly over the shared border for counter-terror measures. (Austria-Switzerland-Davos Forum)

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LONDON -- Britain's departure from the European Union should not prevent a high level of cooperation with France, President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday at the end of a British-French summit.

The French president and British Prime Minister Theresa May both spoke after a day of talks and negotiations during which a series of agreements and memorandums of understanding were signed covering a wide range of topics from defense to culture. (Britain-France-Border) Enditem