APRNEWS - “We are extremely concerned,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said during his daily briefing with reporters. “We believe that the situation should be brought to a peaceful resolution as soon as possible, as the continuation of such a spiral of violence is fraught with further escalation of the conflict,” Peskov said.

In a separate statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said: “Russia is gravely concerned over a sharp escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

APRNEWS - Russia’s donation of arms to Central African Republic (CAR) has cemented the former’s ambition to exert influence and win support on the continent.

When CAR appealed for help against militia groups last year, Russia’s donation of weapons was chosen over former coloniser, France which offered guns it had seized off Somalia.

THEGUARDIAN - Rarely someone to pass up a photo opportunity involving a manly activity and his bare chest, Vladimir Putin has stripped to his swimming trunks and immersed himself in the freezing waters of a lake in northwest Russia to celebrate the feast of Epiphany.

AFP - Regime forces upped the pressure on two of the last rebel bastions in Syria, with air strikes in Idlib province and a move to break a siege near Damascus Monday.

Syrian and Russian aircraft pounded targets in the northwestern region of Idlib, pressing a week-old operation targeting the last province in the country to escape government control.

REUTERS - President Vladimir Putin authorised the resumption of regular civilian flights from Russia to Cairo, according to a document published on the government’s website on Thursday.

The order was effective as of Jan 2.