Moscow

Hopes for a ceasefire in Syria were fading on Feb. 16, after dozens were killed in air strikes on hospitals that France branded war crimes and Syria's president said implementing a truce would prove "difficult."

The United States on Feb. 15 urged Turkey and Russia to avoid any further escalation after the two traded verbal blows over their respective military actions in war-torn Syria.

Public support in Russia for the country's air strikes in Syria has slipped since the Kremlin launched its air campaign more than four months ago, a poll showed on Feb. 15, but a comfortable majority still backs the bombing. 

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) said its suicide bomber had blown up a car in Russia's volatile Dagestan that killed two policemen on Feb. 15, the deadliest attack in the southern republic since 2013.

Russia said on Feb. 15 that Turkey's shelling of Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party(PYD) and Syrian regime positions in the north of the country was a "provocative" action.

Let go of everything. Will the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad take Aleppo? Will the Kurds close the Azaz corridor? 

Pope Francis is under fire in Ukraine after his historic meeting with RussianOrthodox Patriarch Kirill, with the head of the country's Greek Catholic Church saying believers felt "betrayed".

Targets of the People's Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing the self-proclaimed Kurdish governing body in Norther Syria, was bombarded by Turkish artillery, a Turkish daily has reported.

Hürriyet Daily News quotes security sources as telling private broadcaster CNNTürk there were two separate shellings, which were carried out in retaliation to attacks coming from YPG positions.

Bulgaria's Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova said on Friday that Russia is a partner of strategic importance in the area of tourism for her country, TASS reported.

"An extremely frank dialogue has been established between our countries, which favors expanding and deepening of relations in the tourism sector," Angelkova said in an interview with the Russian news agency.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in Moscow on March 9.

Serbian Ambassador to Russia Slavenko Terzic announced this on Friday.