Новости за 17.02.2017

Ankara expects to improve EU-Turkish relations under Malta's presidency of the Council of the European Union, which began on January 1, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday.

Pakistan’s security forces have killed more than 100 militants in past 24 hours during raids across the country in the wake of a deadly bomb attack on a shrine in the southern city of Sehwan, a spokesman of the country's Armed Forces said Friday.

New details of a January raid by US forces against al-Qaeda in Yemen that left 26 people dead are raising new questions about the mission. A tribal leader enlisted by the US-supported Yemeni government to fight Shiite rebel factions was among those killed in the raid, according to local authorities.

The recent BBC documentary about Russian football fans is another attack on Russia and an attempt to discredit the country, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko said Friday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed on Friday the situation in Syria and Russia-Iran relations during a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Despite holding a meeting between the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford and his Russian counterpart, the Pentagon still sees numerous obstacles to restoring military-to-military relations with Russia.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said he was mulling severing ties with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) ahead of the presidential election, in an interview to Sputnik on Friday.

The Syrian government forces have eliminated one of the leaders of the terrorist group Jabhat Fatah al Sham, formerly known as Nusra Front (banned in Russia), in the southwest of the country, Lebanon's Aljadeed TV channel reported on Friday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged on Friday to break the vicious circle of sanctions against North Korea and Pyongyang's retaliation in the form of nuclear tests, calling to resume six-way talks on Korean peninsula denuclearization.

United States President Donald Trump has directed a barrage of criticism at the mainstream media, saying that "false" reporting has complicated his efforts to improve Washington's relationship with Moscow

German Chancellor Angela Merkel famously said there must be "no spying among friends" after it was revealed the NSA snooped on her and other German officials. However, it has been revealed the BND has spied on targets in allied nations for many years - and Merkel was aware of their activities in 2015.

NATO is strongly in favour of dialogue with Russia from the predictable position, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday.

Syrian army units and militia are fighting Daesh terrorists near mountanious area 15 kilometers south-west of Palmyra, a militia source told Sputnik.

Thirty-four US cities and municipalities have filed a friend-of-the-court or amicus brief, seeking an extension of the court issued stay on President Donald Trump's immigration offer, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in a press release on Friday.

New legislation has been introduced in the US Senate to enable transfer of Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) missile systems to allies in response to Russia’s alleged violation of the INF Treaty, Senator Tom Cotton said in a statement posted on his website.

US senators introduced a legislation to impose sanctions on Iran’s aircraft sector for the use of commercial aircraft to "support terrorism," Senator Marco Rubio said in a press release on Friday.

The news of the mysterious death of the North Korean leader’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam took the internet by storm. The media has kept revealing startling new details of the murder. Meanwhile, the basic version of the sudden death of Kim Jong-nam was that he was eliminated by the special services of North Korea.

Nearly 1,400 participants from nine North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations will test efforts to coordinate artillery fire in upcoming exercises in Germany, the US Army announced in a press release on Friday.

US President Donald Trump's moves to deregulate the financial sector are concerning, as they undermine international cooperation and stability, European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis told EurActive news website on Friday.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's plan to make it his "mission" to make Britain rethink its decision to trigger Brexit and leave the European Union has been slammed as "undemocratic" as he is a "busted flush," Sputnik has been told.

Lithuania is expecting US military presence close to Russian borders to grow in the future, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė said Friday.

January became the deadliest month for Israel since June, with a total of 100 terrorist attacks recorded in the month, a recent report issued by the Israeli domestic intelligence agency said.

According to the German finance minister, Europe needs a more common approach to the issue of relations with Russia.

The passport office in Dublin, Ireland has been forced to hire additional staff due to the huge increase in the number of applications from Britain and Northern Ireland due to Brexit.

SAAB has also offered Airborne Electronically Scanned Array fighter sensor package for India's indigenously assembled Tejas LCA MK 1A aircraft.