Bashar al-Assad's whereabouts not clear, but his key backer Russia said he had resigned from the presidency and left Syria. Crowds loot his home and vandalize the Iranian embassy.

A meeting was expected on the forum's sidelines between Turkey, and Damascus allies Iran and Russia.

The 22-member OPEC+ group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia was due to decide on its 2025 output policy at a ministerial meeting originally scheduled for Sunday.

ran's foreign ministry Tuesday slammed as unjustified the new sanctions by the European Union and Britain against Tehran over its support for Russia's war on Ukraine.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed meets his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss bilateral ties and Middle East. Sheikh Mohamed will also attend BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he expected his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to attend a BRICS summit in Russia next month after Türkiye requested to join the group of emerging economies. Putin said he was due to meet Erdogan on October 23, a day after the start of...

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict grinds on, the West's financial commitment grows, while neither Zelenskyy nor Putin shows interest in peace talks. Zelenskyy, backed by Western support, has postponed elections, and the war allows him to stay in power as well as avoid focusing on Ukraine’s struggling economy.

Paris, France - Russian-born tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov has founded wildly popular social networks, cryptocurrencies, amassed a multi-billion-dollar fortune and locked horns with authorities, in Russia and around the world.Still a few months shy of his 40th birthday, the man once dubbed the "Russian Zuckerberg" after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg now...

"It is India's strong belief that no problem can be resolved on a battlefield," Modi said in Poland, a staunch ally of neighboring Ukraine

Aliyev and Putin will sign joint documents and make statements to the press, said Russian agency Ria Novosti. On Monday, Putin will also lay a wreath on the tomb of Heydar Aliyev, father of the current leader, who was president from 1993 to 2003.

Kuwait: -- The oil and gas sector in Arab countries attracted 610 projects implemented by 356 foreign and Arab companies, with a total investment cost of US$ 406 billion between January 2003 and May 2024.The Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) stated in its first sectoral report on...

The meeting has been requested by Iran and supported by representatives of Russia, China and Algeria, said a spokesman for the Russian presidency, which holds the rotating leadership of the council. Separately, UN chief Antonio Guterres denounced the attacks on Tehran as well as Beirut as a "dangerous escalation".

Moscow, Russia - A NASA astronaut, a Russian cosmonaut and Belarus's first ever space traveler on Saturday returned to Earth safely after a fortnight aboard the International Space Station, Russia's Roscosmos agency reported."Today, at 10:17am Moscow time (0717 GMT), the descent vehicle of Sozuz MS-24 manned spacecraft landed near the Kazakh...

Damascus, Syria - Seven children were killed in southern Syria's Daraa province on Saturday when an "explosive device" detonated, state media reported."Seven children" were killed "and two other people were injured, one of them a woman, when an explosive device planted by terrorists" went off in the city of Sanamayn, state...

Moscow, Russia - The Kremlin on Friday blasted as "unacceptable" French President Emmanuel Macron's claims that Russia was trying to undermine the Paris Olympics through a disinformation campaign.Macron had said Thursday that Moscow was trying to promote the narrative that France was unable to host the Games and that the event...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the country became the world’s fourth-biggest LNG producer last year.The Russian Prime Minister said this in an annual report at the State Duma (lower house of the parliament), TASS reported.“Energy is adjusting gradually as well. A serious adjustment of logistics was required...

After Paris, Blinken will head to Brussels for NATO foreign ministers' talks ahead of the alliance's 75th anniversary summit in Washington. Blinken will also hold a three-way meeting in Brussels with EU leaders and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has been seeking to branch out from his country's historic...

Russia's invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago upended European leaders' sense of unshakeable post-war peace, prompting many countries to gear up weapons production to supply both Kiev and their own militaries. Former European Council president Tusk, whose country has been one of the staunchest supporters of neighbouring Ukraine,...

In Syria, "Israeli strikes" targeted a Hizbollah "rockets depot" in Aleppo province, killing 36 Syrian soldiers, seven Hezbollah members and another pro-Iran fighter, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said. It was the highest Syrian army toll in Israeli strikes since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Russia said on Thursday it had evidence the perpetrators of last week's massacre at a concert hall outside Moscow were linked to "Ukrainian nationalists", a claim that the United States called nonsense.President Vladimir Putin and his security services continue to allege Kyiv and the West were involved somehow...

Geopolitical tensions sent oil prices climbing and weighed on equities as investors also continued to worry about prospects for interest rate cuts amid stubbornly-high inflation. "Heightened tensions between Ukraine and Russia have brought a halt to the rally in equity markets seen last week," said Russ Mould, investment director at...

All 14 other members voted in favor of the resolution which "demands an immediate ceasefire" for Ramadan. The resolution calls for the truce to lead to a "lasting, sustainable ceasefire" and demands that Hamas and other groups free hostages.

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to punish those behind a "barbaric terrorist attack" on a Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133, saying Russia had arrested four gunmen who were trying to flee to Ukraine. Kyiv has denied any connection, and Putin made no reference to the Islamic State...

Meanwhile, the fire at a Moscow concert hall has been "mostly eliminated", the Russian capital's governor said on Saturday. "There are still some pockets of fire, but the fire has been mostly eliminated. Rescuers were able to enter the auditorium," Moscow Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on Telegram.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Russia's central bank held interest rates unchanged on Friday as Moscow's military offensive on Ukraine has led to stubbornly high inflation and labor shortages.The central bank raised rates to 16 percent in a series of hikes last year to cool the pace of price rises.Analysts are waiting for...

The draft resolution, seen by AFP, "demands an immediate ceasefire" for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan that leads "to a permanent sustainable ceasefire" respected by all sides. It also demands both the "immediate and unconditional" release of Israeli hostages.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – US will no longer be able to dictate oil prices in the Middle East, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Chief Sergey Naryshkin said.The Russian official made the statement in the documentary "Oil" on the premier online platform.“The ‘hegemon’ has lost a step. It is no longer...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Russia does not see the risk of trading oil at a loss due to the redistribution of energy flows to the East - growing local markets will be able to "absorb" its supply, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.Lavrov said this in an interview for the documentary...

Brussels, Belgium - A group of EU countries including Germany on Tuesday pushed for a green light to start membership negotiations with Bosnia, but others such as France seemed reluctant to proceed.The EU's 27 leaders will debate at a summit on Thursday a proposal from the bloc's executive to launch the...

Moscow, Russia -- Russia is working to establish a visa-free regime with all Gulf countries, said Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia's deputy foreign minister and special presidential representative for the Middle East and African countries."In principle, such work is going on systematically. Because, of course, I think it is in the interests...

In 2023, the firm demonstrated strong financial results.

If he completes another full Kremlin term, Putin will have stayed in power longer than any Russian leader since Catherine the Great in the 18th century. Allies of the late Alexei Navalny - Putin's most prominent rival, who died in an Arctic prison last month - had tried to spoil...

Last month French president refused to rule out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine, which prompted a stern response from Berlin and other European partners. But the French president has not recanted from his position, but stressed that Western allies would not take the initiative.

Washington, US - G7 countries warned Iran on Friday that they will impose "significant" new sanctions if Tehran transfers ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine."We reiterate our call on third parties to immediately cease providing material support to Russia's illegal and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine or face...

Stockholm, Sweden - Swedish gaming group Embracer, which owns the Borderlands franchise and the Tomb Raider license, announced on Thursday that it was ceasing all Russian operations through the sale of subsidiary Saber Interactive.Beacon Interactive, which is controlled by Saber Interactive co-founder Matthew Karch, will pay $247 million for the unit,...

Washington, United States - Four astronauts splashed down off Florida in the Gulf of Mexico on their return to Earth early Tuesday, following a more than six-month mission on the International Space Station.The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft landed in the waters off Pensacola at 5:47 am (0947 GMT), with a NASA...

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – The Telegram is valued by potential investors at more than US$30 billion, the co-founder of the social network Pavel Durov said.The US$30 billion valuation was made by global technology funds in particular, Durov said in an interview with The Financial Times.“Generally speaking, we see value in (an...

Beijing, China - The navies of China, Russia and Iran are staging joint drills in the Gulf of Oman this week, Beijing said Monday.The military activities -- to be conducted from Monday through Friday -- are aimed at "jointly maintaining regional maritime security", according to a statement published on social media...

Ballots will also be cast in the four Ukrainian regions Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022, as well as the Crimean peninsula, seized in 2014. Moscow is no longer worried about trying to present the vote as a legitimate democratic exercise to the West, or even Russian society.

The oil giant posted a 24.7% fall in net profit to US$121.25bn.

NATO member Turkey has sought to maintain good relations with Moscow and Kyiv throughout the two-year war, with Erdogan pitching himself as a key go-between and possible peace-maker.

New Delhi, India - India's embassy in Moscow has confirmed the death of a citizen recruited by the Russian army, days after a relative told AFP he had been sent to fight in Ukraine.Two years after Russia's invasion began, tens of thousands of its soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and...

Tehran, Iran-- Iran and Russia have agreed to sign new contracts on developing oil and gas fields, according to the oil ministers of the two countries.Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji held talks with Nikolay Shulginov, the Minister of Energy of Russia, on the sidelines of the GECF Summit in Algeria on...

An energy ministry source said Riyadh "will extend its voluntary cut of one million barrels per day, which was implemented in July 2023, until the end of the second quarter of 2024," the official Saudi Press Agency reported. "Afterwards, in order to support market stability, these additional cut volumes will...

Abu Dhabi, UAE-- The UAE and Russia have held talks to enhance the parliamentary cooperation between the two countries.In this connection, a remote meeting was held between Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the Defence, Interior and Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federal National Council (FNC), and Grigory Karasin,...

Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad told a news conference in Sao Paulo that it was "impossible" to reach a final joint statement. The minister said the impasse was over the ongoing conflicts without explicitly mentioning Russia's invasion of Ukraine or Israel's ongoing military campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Iran announced the launch of a remote sensing and imaging satellite into orbit from Russia, according to state media. The launch of "Pars-I" with the Russian Soyuz-2.1b launcher was broadcast live by state television in Iran. The satellite was launched "from Russia's Vostochny launch base", some 8,000 kilometers east of...

Despite being the world's third largest oil producer, Russia has suffered sporadic fuel shortages since last summer amid high demand and repair works on refineries. Wholesale gasoline prices have risen since the start of the year, a problem exacerbated by repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries.

Moscow, Russia -- Moscow is maintaining close contact with officials from the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Russia’s upcoming presidential election, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Tuesday.Bogdanov, who serves as Russian special presidential envoy for the Middle East and Africa, told TASS, "We...

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told the RTL broadcaster that there was "no consensus" on any "official" deployment of ground troops. "But no dynamic can be ruled out. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war," he said, using the same words as Macron...