Putin orders several sanctions against Turkey

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree for sanctions against Turkey on Saturday, days after a Russian warplane was shot down in Turkey.

Turkish Presdient Tayyip Erdogan expressed regret over the warplane incident earlier on Saturday, saying: "We are truly saddened by this incident," Erdogan said. "We wish it hadn't happened as such, but unfortunately such a thing has happened. I hope that something like this doesn't occur again." However, Putin wasn't moved by Erdogan's regret,

instead he put an end to chartered flights from Russia to Turkey, a ban on some goods and bars extensions of labor contracts for Turks working in Russia,he didn't specify what goods are to be banned or give other details and a ban on Russian tourist companies’ vacation packages that include a stay in Turkey. Putin's decree also calls for ending visa-free travel between Russia and Turkey and orders the tightening of control over Turkish air carriers in Russia "for security reasons." The decree was issued "to protect Russian citizens from crimes," a Kremlin statement said. Putin calls what Turkey did as a stab in the back. Meanwhile, addressing supporters in the western

city of Balikesir, Erdogan said neither country should allow the incident to escalate and take a destructive form that would lead to "saddening consequences."

He renewed a call for a meeting with Putin on the sidelines of a climate conference in Paris next week, saying it would be an opportunity to overcome tensions. Erdogan's friendly overture however, came after he again vigorously defended Turkey's action and criticized Russia for its operations in Syria. "If we allow our sovereign rights to be violated ... then the territory would no

longer be our territory," Erdogan said. On Saturday Turkey issued a travel warning urging its nationals to delay non-urgent and unnecessary travel to Russia, saying Turkish travelers were facing "problems" in the country. It said Turks should delay travel plans until "the situation becomes clear."

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Turkey shoots down Russian warplane on Syrian border

Turkey has shot down a Russian warplane on the Syrian border, a senior Turkish official has said. According to Al Jazeerah, the plane was shut down on Syrian territory in Latakia's Yamadi village.

The plane was downed by the Turkish military according to the rules of engagement because it violated Turkish airspace, the Turkish official said.

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Photos: Russian man marries a pizza, say it would not reject or betray you

A 22-year-old Russian man recently got married to a pizza...yes, you read right. Pizza, that round flat bread usually topped with tomato sauce and cheese and baked in an oven. Except that this particular pizza wore a white wedding veil. The ceremony allegedly took place in the city of Tomsk, Russia, in a pizzeria with chefs and managers as witnesses because Russian authorities refused to officially register the marriage and a church also declined. Awon ti won ni she se! Lol

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ISIS executes Chinese & Norwegian hostages, shares pic of bomb used to blow up Russian plane

The barbaric group has executed two hostages, one from Norway and the other, a Chinese. The claim was made in the group's propaganda magazine today November 18 but did not give any details about how, when or where they were executed. In September, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said a Norwegian man was kidnapped in Syria since January.

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Controversial Russian media mogul found dead in Washington

Controversial Russian media mogul Mikhail Lesin, who helped found the RT English-language television network, has been found dead at a Washington hotel. He was 57.
RT, formerly known as Russia Today, said the former minister of media affairs died of a heart attack.
"Lesin died. It's impossible to believe this," tweeted Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT, which is state funded.

ABC News, quoting a Russian and a US official, reported late Friday that Lesin had been found in Washington's Dupont Circle Hotel the day before.
A controversial figure, Lesin had been accused of limiting press freedom in Russia.
In a terse statement, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters late Friday that the "president highly values the enormous contribution Mikhail Lesin made helping establish Russian media."
Washington police would not confirm his death, saying only that they were investigating the death of someone on the block where the hotel is located in a fashionable area of Washington.
US officials notified the Russian embassy of Lesin's death and authorities from both countries are trying to determine the circumstances in which he died.
Lesin was Russia's minister of press, television and radio between 1999 and 2004 and later served as a Kremlin aide.
Lesin was supposed to be probed last year on suspicion of money laundering and corruption, ABC said.
He allegedly amassed millions of dollars in assets in Europe and the United States while working for the government, including $28 million (26 million euros) in real estate in Los Angeles.

"That a Russian public servant could have amassed the considerable funds required to acquire and maintain these assets in Europe and the United States raises serious questions," Wicker wrote, according to ABC.

It said it was unclear whether the FBI had actually opened an investigation.
In 2014, Lesin told Forbes he thought it was okay that most television channels in Russia were state-controlled.

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Russian special forces foil terror attack

Russian special forces have prevented an ISIS terror attack in the south of Russia after uncovering a huge bomb hidden in plastic casks on the side of the road. The terror attack was scheduled to take place in the village of Kantyshevo in south-western Russia's Republic of Ingushetia. Russian security services said the bomb contained 3.5 tonnes of explosives.

 

Members of the crew that worked on the operation stated that all the terrorists that were behind the planting of the bomb have been killed. They named the terrorist leaders as Aslan Byutukaev and Beslan Mahauri, both ISIS militants.

They said they had been following the activities of the two men since they discovered they had joined ISIS in summer 2015, and were unwittingly lead to their location by one of the two wives of Beslan, who had been furious when she found he had married a second woman, although a Muslim is allowed up to 4 wives under Islamic marital law.

Security service insiders said the woman's efforts to find out what he was up to with her love rival, and where the pair were, had led them to his location, and the bomb. The plastic casks were found buried on the side road, in total amounting to 70 separate items with the capacity of 100 litres each.

According to the security services Byutukaev and Mahauri got financial support for their illicit actions in the region directly from ISIS.

In order to prevent the possible attack, Russian special services had to blow up the casks.

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British jet with 189 passengers on board dodged missile while approaching Sharm El Sheikh

A Thomson flight carrying 189 passengers had to dodge a rocket as it approached Sharm El Sheikh, it has been reported. The London Stansted flight was said to have come "within 1,000ft" of the deadly missile and only avoided it after the pilot took evasive action.

It eventually landed safely and the passengers on board were not told about the brush with certain death.
The incident came two months before a Russian airliner crashed after taking off from the Egyptian resort on Saturday killing all 224 on board.

It is thought a bomb planted by terror group Islamic State is the most likely cause of the tragedy prompting the UK to suspend all commercial flights to and from the resort on Wednesday.
The Department for Transport has confirmed the incident involving the British jet which happened on August 23.

A source said: "The first officer was in charge at the time but the pilot was in the cockpit and saw the rocket coming towards the plane.

"He ordered that the flight turn to the left to avoid the rocket, which was about 1,000ft away," reports Mail Online.

It is thought the five members of cabin crew only found out about the incident after landing and were offered the chance to stay the night in Egypt.

However they are said to have chosen to head straight back to the UK.
The source added that the missile that nearly struck the Thomson jet was also spotted by another of the carrier’s planes as it approached Sharm El Sheikh.

It is reported they were told the rocket was from an Egyptian military exercise but now think otherwise following Saturday's incident.

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Graphic pics: Wreckage of Russian cargo plane that crashed in South Sudan yesterday morning

No fewer than 25 people lost their lives after an Australian cargo plane crashed into the White Nile River near Juba International Airport in South Sudan this morning. The crash happened few minutes after taken off from the airport. Cause of the crash is not yet known. All passengers and crew members lost their lives. Sad! See more photos after the cut...

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Pictures of victims of the Russian plane crash in Egypt

Major events so far: The plane was mainly carrying Russian tourists. so far 150 bodies have been found over a 3 mile radius. A criminal investigation has now been launched against the airline. 2 black boxes have been recovered. According to Mirror Online, an ISIS group has claimed it shot down the Russian plane, despite early indications it was a technical problem that caused the disaster and there was no survivors' in the crash. There were 224 passengers on board including 17 children. More photos after the cut..

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First photos of the Russian passenger plane that crashed yesterday, ISIS claims they shut it down

Victoria Sevryukova took and shared this photo on Instagram shortly before take off from Sham el-Sheikh yesterday. Her friend Yevgenia Beryozina said she felt emptiness and couldn't believe the news. "She was my best friend, she had waited for this trip. And now she is gone. Just like that she is gone." ISIS has also claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane. See their statement and see first photos of the crashed plane after the cut...

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Russian Ministry of Sport bans foreign managers from Russian football

A very interesting news came out of Russia on Thursday afternoon after it emerged that the Ministry of Sport had signed a document banning all foreign head coaches. Former Chelsea coach, Andre Villas-Boas who is Portuguese and manages Zenith St Petersburg was reportedly planning to leave at the end of the season but it’s unclear if his tenure will last that long now.

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