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MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber Russia said Tuesday its warplanes flew out of an Iranian airbase for the first time to bomb jihadist groups in Syria, as fighting raged for control of the ravaged city of Aleppo. The deployment marks a major switch in the bombing campaign the Kremlin launched in September to support Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, as until now Moscow had only flown raids out of its bases in Syria and Russia. Russia’s defence […]
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) – by Fulya OZERKAN Turkey on Thursday called on Russia to carry out joint operations against Islamic State (IS) in Syria, after crucial talks between President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed at ending a diplomatic crisis. The comments by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu came as a Turkish delegation was in Russia for talks aimed at coordinating actions on Syria and other bilateral issues. “We will discuss all the […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – by Max DELANY with Dmitry ZAKS in Kiev Russia and Ukraine stepped up security around Crimea on Thursday as tensions soared over accusations by Moscow that Kiev had attempted armed incursions into the disputed peninsula. Russia’s FSB security service said on Wednesday it had thwarted “terrorist attacks” in Crimea this week by Ukrainian military intelligence and beaten back armed assaults, but Kiev fiercely denied the claims. The allegations ratcheted up the […]
by Maria ANTONOVA MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A recent anthrax outbreak in the far north of Russia left a child dead, 23 people infected and the government scrambling to deploy hundreds of rescue workers and soldiers to stop any further spread. The source, scientists say, seems likely to have been the long-buried corpses of reindeers on Yamal peninsula uncovered as Russia’s permafrost melts — and then been passed on to grazing herds. The fear now […]
by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber with Karam al-Masri in Aleppo MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s defense ministry on Wednesday said it would hold fire around Syria’s ravaged city of Aleppo for three hours each day to allow humanitarian aid in, an initiative the UN said is insufficient to meet the city’s needs. “To guarantee total security for the convoys to Aleppo there will be humanitarian windows established from 1000 to 1300 local time starting tomorrow during which […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber More than 180,000 Russians have signed an online petition to President Vladimir Putin calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev over his recent comments on teachers’ pay. The petition first posted on the website Change.org on Thursday came after the premier advised a low-paid lecturer to go into business if he wanted to make money. Medvedev’s comments — seen as out-of-touch and uncaring — unleashed a […]
VIRGINIA, United States (Reuters) — U.S. President Barack Obama said Russia’s and Syria’s most recent actions have raised doubts about their commitment to a pause in the conflict Syria, where the United States is exploring options to cooperate with Russia militarily to defeat Islamic State. “I’m not confident that we can trust the Russians or Vladimir Putin, which is why we have to test whether or not we can get an actual cessation of […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) – Russian appeals against Olympic bans were piling up Tuesday as IOC president Thomas Bach slammed what he called the “contemptuous” doping system blamed on the Moscow government. Bach said the Russia scandal along with Brazil’s political and economic crises had made the runup to the first Olympics in South America “challenging”. An investigation by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren which revealed state-organised doping in Russia, has overshadowed the buildup to […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday urged Russia to “restrain” itself and the government in Syria as fierce fighting there continues on the day he had hoped political transition could start. “It is critical, obviously, that Russia restrain both itself and the Assad regime from conducting offensive operations, just as it is our responsibility to get the opposition to refrain from engaging in those operations,” he told journalists. […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) – by Sara Hussein A Russian military helicopter was shot down over Syria on Monday, killing all five people on board in the single deadliest incident for Moscow since it intervened in the war. The attack came as Syrian opposition fighters and their jihadist allies battled government forces outside Aleppo in a bid to ease the regime’s siege of rebel-held parts of the northern city. Russia’s defence ministry announced the downing of the helicopter, […]
by Ludovic EHRET BEIJING, China (AFP) — China and Russia will hold joint naval exercises in the South China Sea in September, Beijing’s defense ministry said Thursday, after an international tribunal invalidated the Asian giant’s extensive claims in the area. The drills will be carried out in the “relevant sea and air of the South China Sea”, defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told reporters at a monthly briefing. With international diplomatic tensions mounting and Washington […]
by Leila MACOR MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump sensationally challenged Russia on Wednesday to hack into Hillary Clinton’s emails as a furious Democratic campaign accused the Republican nominee of inviting foreign spies to meddle in the US presidential election. At a sweeping news conference, the New York billionaire tried to undermine his White House rival, astonishingly implied that Vladimir Putin used a racial slur against President Barack Obama and promised a heyday of […]
