Russia

Spain won their seventh European futsal champions title, after defeating Russia 7-3 (4-1) in the UEFA Futsal Euro 2016 final in Belgrade late on Saturday.

Playing in front of over 8,000 spectators at Belgrade's Kombank Arena, two goals each were scored by Pola, Mario Rivillos i Miguelin, and one by Alex, for Spain.

Russia's largest passenger car manufacturer, Avtovaz, announced a transition to a four-day work week for a period of six months, the company was quoted as saying on Feb. 15 by TASS News Agency. 

Avtovaz possibly switching to a four-day work week was first reported after a meeting of the manufacturer's board of directors on Nov. 30, 2015. 

Obviously, long-time U.S. allies Turkey and Saudi Arabia are extremely unhappy with the U.S.'s policy change over Syria in particular and the Middle East in general. Both countries long refused to face reality and did everything to hinder the new U.S. (and indeed Western) policy that prioritized the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) over regime change in Syria.

Israel voiced doubt on Feb. 14 that an international ceasefire plan for Syria would succeed, suggesting a sectarian partition of the country was inevitable and perhaps preferable.

Bulgaria's wine production industry is working under the conditions of a drop in exports to Russia and a surge to China, Germany, and the UK, Agriculture Minister Desislava Taneva said on Sunday.

It is Russian President Vladimir Putin who can bring the civil war in Syria to an end, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said.

It will depend on "whether the Russians are prepared to use their influence" to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Independent quotes him as saying on The Andrew Marr Show.

Abandoned by France, defied by eastern Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel cuts a lonely figure in her struggle for EU "solidarity" on the refugee crisis ahead of a Brussels summit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed to intensify diplomatic and other cooperation by implementing an agreement on Syria struck at talks in Munich, the Kremlin said on Feb. 14. 

Major powers agreed on Feb. 12 to a temporary "cessation of hostilities" in Syria. The pause was due to begin in a week's time. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed to intensify diplomatic and other cooperation to implement an agreement on Syria struck at talks in Munich, the Kremlin said in a statement following phone talks between the two leaders on Feb. 14.

Donald Trump and Jeb Bush took the gloves off on Feb. 13 in the Republican presidential debate, with the billionaire frontrunner unleashing a tirade of intense and often personal attacks one week before the South Carolina primary.