By Elaine Donnelly
Extending sexual misconduct to combat units
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
The vote is largely symbolic, the outcome nearly assured: The Palestinians and Israelis are closely watching the evolving positions of a few key countries in Thursday's U.N. General Assembly resolution to raise the Palestinians' status from a U.N. observer to a nonmember observer state.
A plane intercepted by Turkish fighter jets on its way from Moscow to Damascus, Syria, was carrying equipment and ammunition destined for the Syrian Defense Ministry, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.
The United States said Tuesday it is ending the U.S. Agency for International Development's operations in Russia after a Kremlin demand that the aid organization leave the country, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's policy of "resetting" relations between Washington and Moscow.
Syrian attack helicopters and warplanes circled overhead in the country's largest city of Aleppo, as fierce fighting continued in the former regime stronghold for a fourth day, and rebel fighters struggled to hold on to ground they gained earlier this week.
Russia chided its longtime ally Syria on Tuesday over its threat to use chemical weapons in case of a foreign attack, but Moscow gave no sign it was abandoning President Bashar Assad's regime, despite growing international condemnation over the violence in the Arab country.
The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Friday extending the 300-strong U.N. observer force in Syria for a final 30 days but leaving open the possibility of an extension if the Syrian government stops using heavy weapons and the civil war's level of violence is reduced.
Saudi Arabia has hit out at a Russian official for his remarks on unrest in the kingdom's east, saying his comments were a "blatant interference" in its internal affairs, a report said.
Members of the U.N.'s top human rights body have voted to condemn Syria over the killing of more than 100 civilians last week.
The dispute between the U.S. ambassador to Russia and the Russian Foreign Ministry is no laughing matter, but it is becoming the butt of jokes in Moscow.
A top Palestinian official said Tuesday that Russia supports his government's bid to seek recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations this fall.
Russia's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday fired back at U.S. and European criticism of the second conviction of jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, telling Western leaders to mind their own business.
North Korea's foreign minister held rare talks in Russia on Monday amid a flurry of diplomatic attempts to ease tensions after Pyongyang's deadly attack on a South Korean island last month.
Is the reset on the rocks? Rumblings in Washington by the resurgent Republican Party against Senate ratification of the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty raise doubts about a fragile U.S.-Russian rapprochement — the "reset" that has been a centerpiece of President Obama's diplomacy.
Thailand extradited accused Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout to the U.S. on Tuesday to face terrorism charges, siding with Washington in a tug of war with Moscow over whether to send him to stand trial or let him go home.
A senior Chechen separatist wanted in Russia for suspected murder, kidnapping and terrorism was arrested Friday in Poland where he was to attend a conference organized by the World Chechen Congress, police said.
