Abyzemen

A Russian Aeroflot flight SU1515, from Surgut to Moscow, landed at the airport of Khanty-Mansiysk after a man on board reportedly demanded to divert the plane to Afghanistan, TASS reported on Tuesday.

British opposition Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn moved a step closer to paving the way for another referendum on European Union (EU) membership by trying to use parliament to grab control of Brexit from Prime Minister Theresa May. With the clock ticking down to March 29, the date set in law for Brexit, the UK is in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973. After May's Brexit divorce deal was rejected by 432-202 lawmakers last week, the biggest defeat in modern British history, some lawmakers are trying to take control of Brexit from May's weakened minority government. Labor put forward an amendment seeking to force the government to give parliament time to consider and vote on options to prevent a 'no deal' exit - a course May has repeatedly refused to rule out. Among the options, Labor said, should be a permanent customs union with the EU and "a public vote...

Preliminary reports said the 31 are citizens of India and Turkey. Maritime traffic in the Kerch Strait was not affected by the incident and ship movement in the area is proceeding normally, according to local officials.  

Turkey is planning to launch an international investigation into  the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi  and will take further steps in coming days, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by state-owned media. Khashoggi, a royal insider who became a critic of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and began writing for the Washington Post after moving to the U.S., was killed in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate on October 2, 2018. After making numerous contradictory statements about Khashoggi's fate, Riyadh said he had been killed and his body dismembered when negotiations to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia failed. Turkey has previously said it was working with other countries on the Khashoggi investigation, and has  accused Saudi Arabia  of not fully cooperating to uncover the journalist's killing. Cavusoglu said in a speech that some Western countries were trying to cover up Khashoggi's murder, adding that T...

The combined profits of China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) rose by 12.9 percent to 3.39 trillion yuan (about 500 billion U.S. dollars) last year, new data showed Monday. The pace was faster than the growth of 10 percent for total revenues, which stood at 58.75 trillion yuan last year, the Ministry of Finance said on its website. However, the growth was slower than the 23.5-percent rise reported in 2017, amid slowing economic growth. After-tax net profits rose by 12.1 percent to 2.47 trillion yuan, with the net profits attributable to shareholders of parent companies up 10.1 percent to 1.53 trillion yuan. Their operating costs went up 9.8 percent to roughly 57 trillion yuan last year, and their ratio of liabilities to assets edged down 0.2 percentage points to 64.7 percent at the end of December 2018. Companies in crude oil, petrochemical and steel industries saw sharp profit increases, the ministry said. China's GDP growth was 6.6 percent in 2018, above the...

Vandals have thrown paint over the RAF Bomber Command Memorial - the tribute to more than 55,000 personnel who died in its service during the Second World War. The imposing statue of aircrew surrounded by several poppy wreaths was left splattered with white paint after the fourth attack in six years. "This is the worst example of vandalism we have seen at the memorial and it is utterly heartbreaking to see the memory of all those brave airmen disrespected in this way," said David Murray, head of the RAF Benevolent Fund charity. "This despicable act took just moments but will take considerable time and resources to put right." The memorial is in London's Green Park and was unveiled by the Queen in 2012, but has been repeatedly vandalised. We are shocked and saddened to see that the Bomber Command Memorial has once again become a target for vandals, for the 4th time in 6 years. Paint has been splashed across the entire Memorial. 

Clashes broke out between police and a group of masked protesters in Athens on Sunday as tens of thousands demonstrated against a name change deal with neighboring Macedonia that the Greek parliament is due to ratify in days. The violence flared as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras attempts to face down a political storm over his championing of a landmark agreement with Macedonia aimed at ending a 27-year dispute with Athens over the country's name. Twenty-five police officers were hurt in the protests, according to a statement from the Greek citizens' protection ministry, while a first-aid station said two protesters were hospitalized with breathing difficulties. Police estimates put the number of demonstrators at 60,000 while organizers said 100,000 people had arrived for the rally, with hundreds of buses bringing demonstrators, especially from the region of northern Greece that also claims the Macedonia name.  Scuffles broke out after about 30 masked youths trie...