AFP - Turkey on Thursday said it planned to host in Istanbul a new three-way summit on Syria with the presidents of Russia and Iran aimed at reviving a drive to bring peace to the country.

REUTERS - The Kremlin shrugged off a Syrian opposition decision to boycott a peace conference in Russia this week, saying on Monday the event would go ahead regardless and make a meaningful contribution to a political solution.

AFP - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed to press Turkey's offensive against a Kurdish militia in Syria until "the last terrorist" was killed, as the US ramped up its concerns over the campaign.

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 - Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is seeking to win a fourth term in the Kremlin in March elections, pledged Wednesday to raise the minimum wage this year, benefitting some four million people.

AFP - Drones that attacked Russian bases in Syria last week were sent from Idlib, a "de-escalation" zone controlled by anti-Damascus fighters, the Russian defence ministry's official newspaper said Wednesday.