This just in from Reuters.
U.S. Deploying Special Ops Force To Conduct Raids In Iraq, Syria
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said that the Pentagon is deploying a special operations force that will "over time" conduct raids in Iraq and Syria "to put even more pressure" on IS in Iraq and Syria, The Hill reports.
"These special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture [IS] leaders," Carter told the House Armed Services Committee.
The force would "also be in a position to conduct unilateral operations in Syria," Carter added.
Carter said that in Iraq, the force would carry out operations at the invitation of the Iraqi government.
CNN has tweeted a video of Defense Secretary Carter's announcement that the United States is to deploy a "specialized expeditionary targeting force" to pressurize IS.
There are reports of an explosion and casualties at a metro station in Istanbul.
The explosion at an Istanbul metro station appears to have been caused by a power transformer, local media say.
OnlineTambov, a Russian news site, has published photographs from Aviators Square in Lipetsk, where locals and a delegation from the neighboring Tambov Oblast gathered today to pay their respects to Oleg Peshkov, the Russian pilot shot dead by rebels after Turkey downed his Su-24 jet near the Syrian border last week.
Peshkov is to be buried in Lipetsk tomorrow. He is being hailed as a hero in Russia and has been posthumously awarded the Hero of the Russian Federation medal, the highest honorary title in Russia.
One person has been killed and several others wounded at the explosion at a metro station in Istanbul, Turkey. There appears to be some uncertainty about the cause of the blast.
'Russia, Turkey To Freeze Talks About Turkish Stream Project'
Russia and Turkey are to suspend discussions about the Turkish Stream gas pipeline project in the wake of the Russian government's freezing of the work of the joint Russian-Turkish Intergovernmental Commission, a source familiar with the negotiations has told the TASS news agency.
Russia's Energy Ministry and Russian gas giant Gazprom have so far refused to comment, TASS reports.
However, two Gazprom sources told Reuters earlier today that Russia may freeze work on the Turkish Stream project, which is intended to pump gas from Russia via Turkey into southeastern Europe, bypassing Ukraine.
"We're expecting that the head of state, in all likelihood, could declare a freezing of Turkish Stream, or at least some kind of timeout should be announced," one Gazprom source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Turkish security sources are now saying that a hand made bomb caused the explosion in an Istanbul metro station this afternoon.