Syrian government forces backed by Iranian troops edged closer to a major rebel-controlled highway south of Aleppo Tuesday, pushing further into rebel-held areas supported by heavy Russian airstrikes, Reuters report.
This just tweeted by Turkey's Daily Sabah:
The official account of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi just tweeted that Abadi has spoken with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg regarding the presence of Turkish troops in Iraq.
From our news desk:
Cyprus To Give Russian Warplanes Emergency Landing Rights
Cyprus's foreign minister says the country is negotiating with Russia on a deal to allow Russian warplanes returning from air strikes in Syria to use Cypriot airports in emergency situations.
Ioannis Kasoulides said on December 7 that the agreement being ironed out now will be along the lines of a similar deal permitting French warplanes to land at Cypriot airports if they're in trouble.
Kasoulides said Cyprus was bound by international law to grant such access in cases of emergency and humanitarian crisis.
He said the agreement with Russia will also permit use of Cypriot facilities to ease the possible evacuation of Russian nationals from neighboring countries.
Cyprus' easternmost tip is less than 160 kilometers from the Syrian coast.
Britain is conducting air strikes from its air base on Cyprus against Islamic State group targets in Syria and Iraq.
Russian News Agency Claims To Have Found Su-24 Flight Recorder
Russia's ANNA News, which has reporters embedded with the Syrian Arab Army, claims to have found the "black box" flight recorder from the Russian Su-24 jet downed by Turkey on November 24.
The report has been picked up by Russia's NTV and government daily Rossiskaya Gazeta.
ANNA News published a 54 second video on its YouTube channel today that shows a Russian-speaking man -- presumably one of its reporters -- holding what he claims is the flight recorder.
The reporter says that the video was made on December 7 and that the flight recorder could disprove Turkey's claims that the Su-24 was shot down while in Turkish air space, an allegation that Russia has denied. Russia insists the jet had not strayed from Syrian air space.
According to Rossiskaya Gazeta, the flight recorder is now being examined by Russian specialists but later added that the finding of the flight recorder has not yet been confirmed.
Regardless, Rossiskaya Gazeta goes on to say:
"It should be noted that the transcript will allow [us] to accurately tell whether the Turkish military informed our pilots before they hit them with rockets, or not. In addition, the "black box" records the data from all devices so we can say with certainty whether the Russian bomber crossed the Turkish border."
Turkey's Foreign Ministry says Ankara stopped the deployment of Turkish troops to the Bashiqa region of northern Iraq two days ago after Baghdad complained, Reuters reports.
"It is unacceptable to think that Turkey would take a step that would weaken Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity, over which Turkey has a high sensitivity," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Germany, Italy and France have called on the European Union to crack down on the illegal trade in antiquities used to bankroll attacks by the IS group, according to AFP.
"By taking part directly or indirectly in the trade in cultural artifacts from archaeological digs, museums and libraries finance their (IS's) atrocities in the region and in Europe," the culture ministers for the three countries, Monika Gruetters, Dario Franceschini, and Fleur Pellerin wrote.
Taliban militants have attacked the airport in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar and are engaged in fighting with security forces, regional officials said, Reuters reports.
Reuters quotes Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi as saying that several suicide attackers had entered the airport grounds and were fighting security forces.
White House Communications Director Jen Psaki told Russia's TASS newspaper that the possibility of a combining the efforts of the United States, Russia, and other countries in the war on IS in Syria and Iraq depended on the success of the Vienna peace talks, TASS reports.
Under the Vienna process there should be formal talks between the Syrian government and the opposition by January 1.
TASS also reported that Psaki had emphasized that the United States believed "Assad has no place in Syria's future."
Syria Says It Will Suppy Russia With Citrus Fruits
Russians wondering where their supplies of citrus fruits will come from now that Moscow has banned imports from Turkey need wonder no longer: Syria has said that it will "fill the gap" left by the embargo.
"We are preparing some 700,000 tons of citrus, mostly oranges, to send to Russian markets," Fares Chehabi, head of Syria's Chambers of Industry, told AFP.
AFP notes that:
Samer Debes, head of the Damascus Chamber of Industry, told state news agency SANA the shipments provided "a real opportunity" for Syrian goods in the Russian market.