News / News Bulletin

Russia says militants "regrouping" amid Syria truce

Saturday, 17 September 2016 1:06 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 17 September 2016 1:06 PM ]

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to journalists at an airport in Bishkek on September 17, 2016. (AFP)

Here is a round-up of global news developments:

Israeli forces have fatally shot a Palestinian man in the city of al-Khalil also known as Hebron. Israeli sources say the 25-year old Palestinian was targeted after trying to stab an Israeli soldier. Israeli forces killed 3 other Palestinians on Friday amid escalating tensions in the occupied West Bank.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says militants are exploiting the truce in Syria to regroup. He says militants are changing one name for another to keep their military capacity. Putin reminded that this comes as the Syrian army is abiding by the ceasefire and Moscow is holding its part of the truce.
An urgent UN Security Council meeting on Syria is cancelled amid disagreements between Russia and the US over sharing the Syria truce documents. Russia says the US refused to share the documents at the last minute. Washington says it could not agree with Moscow on how to brief the council.
The US has denounced as illegitimate the upcoming Russian parliamentary elections on the Crimean peninsula. The US State Department says Washington won't recognize the results, reiterating that Crimea is not an integral part of Russia. The Ukrainian foreign minister has also said votes cast in Crimea should not be accepted.
Iran’s Hassan Rouhani is to hand over the rotating presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement to Venezuela. President Rouhani has already met with the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in the Latin American country. The 17th NAM summit has brought together heads of state and delegates from all the 120 member states.
The spokesman for Yemen’s Ansarullah movement Mohammed Abdulsalam has slammed Saudi Arabia’s crimes against civilians in Yemen. Abdulsalam described the latest airstrike by Saudi warplanes on a highway in Sana'a province as a massacre. At least ten civilians were killed when their vehicles were struck by Saudi warplanes.
A top EU official says the process of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU could start by February. European Council President Donald Tusk said he had discussed the issue with British Prime Minister Theresa May. She has, however, ruled out the possibility that Brexit negotiations could start any time this year.
At least 38 Boko Haram terrorists have been killed in clashes with troops from Niger and Chad. Niger’s defense ministry said the violence occurred in the country’s south-eastern Diffa region. It added that large quantities of weapons were also seized during the joint operations earlier this week.