Egypt: Russian civilian airplane crashed over Sinai

Egyptian PM Sherif Ismail and his office members at the crash scene
(Image: Ahram Online)

Russian civilian airplane Airbus A-321 crashed on Saturday, 31 October, over the Central Sinai, killing all 224 people on the board, among them 217 passengers and 7 crew members.

Russian private airplane owned by Kogalymavia was on route from the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh to the city of St. Petersburg, carrying mainly tourists.

An airplane reportedly took off at about 6 a.m. local time and suddenly disappeared from the radars after thirty minutes of flight. Last signal received by the flight control authorities was sent over the mountainous Hasana area, which is nearly 35 km from the city of Al-Arish.

Egypt: 11 conscripts injured in Sinai bombing

Egypt's military forces in Northern Sinai
(Image: Ahram-Online)

Eleven police conscripts were injured in a bomb explosion that occurred on Wednesday, 21 October, near the city of El-Arish in Northern Sinai, according to the MENA news agency.

The bomb detonated when the military vehicle with the army and police conscripts was patrolling the area. An explosion has targeted a tank in the Al-Zohour neighborhood, stated representatives of Egypt's Security Forces.

As a result of the bombing 11 conscripts were injured and transported to the neighboring hospitals. The conscripts sustained minor injuries.

Egypt: low turnout at the parliamentary election may strengthen El-Sisi

Egyptian parliamentary election
(Image: Middle East Monitor)

Reuters - CAIRO: Turnout was so low in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections, that satirist Bassem Youssef derided it as an ingenious strategy to show the world Egypt had rid itself of its notorious overcrowding.

Empty polling stations highlight disillusionment with Egypt's chaotic political transition but could have the surprise effect of bolstering President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's authority by suggesting that, four years after they revolted against one-man-rule, Egyptians still look to the presidency as the main seat of power.

Egypt: Parliamentary election to get underway towards the new Parliament

Egyptian Parliament
(Image: Ahram Online)

Ahram-Online - CAIRO: Competition for seats in Egypt’s parliament with 6,000 candidates – independent and on party lists – starts Saturday, when doors open for foreign-based Egyptians to cast ballots in the first stage of the elections marking the crucial last step of a roadmap that has lasted for over two years.

The roadmap, which was backed by most political forces and state institutions including the army, ended the rule of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and dismantled the Islamist-dominated Shura Council (parliament's upper house and only house operating back then) immediately on 3 July, 2013.

Egypt wins a seat on UN Security Council

UN Security Council
(Image: Egyptian Streets)

Egyptian Streets - CAIRO: Egypt officially locked a two-year, non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council after 179 of the 193 UN member states voted in favor of its membership on Thursday.

Egypt was vying for one of two seats allotted to the Africa Group, while Senegal won the second seat with 187 votes in its favor. Ukraine, Uruguay and Japan also secured the three other available seats on the Council, representing the Eastern European, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Asia-Pacific regions, respectively.

Russia and USA escalate involvement in Syria

Bombed streets of Syrian cities
(Image: ABC News)

CNN: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday his country's involvement in Syria is helping protect the world.

"We are not striving for any kind of leadership over Syria. Syria can have only one leader -- the Syrian people," Putin said at a Moscow investment forum, according to Reuters.

"We aim at making a contribution in the fight against terrorism, which is dangerous for the United States, for Russia and for the European countries, and for the whole world without exaggeration."

Russia surprised the world two weeks ago when it launched its first airstrikes in Syria.

Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight was shot down by a Russian-made Buk-missile, according to the Dutch report

MH17 crash site in Eastern Ukraine, Donetsk region
(Image: Euronews)

Gilze-Rijen, Netherlands - REUTERS: Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded on Tuesday in its final report on the crash in July 2014 that killed all 298 people on board, most of them Dutch.

But the long-awaited findings of the board, which was not empowered to address questions of responsibility, did not point the finger at any group or party for launching the missile.

Syria: Fierce clashes continue in Syria as Assad's regime advances with Russian support

Russian airstrikes in Syria
(Image: Samaa TV)

AFP: Syrian regime forces backed by Russian air strikes advanced in the centre of the country Monday, sparking the fiercest clashes with rebels since Moscow's air campaign began, a monitor said.

Syrian state television said regime forces had captured the village of Kafr Nabuda in Hama province, where they are pressing an operation on both sides of the strategic Damascus-Aleppo highway.

However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said clashes were ongoing after regime forces entered the village.

Turkey: thousands gathered for the anti-government rallies after Ankara deadly twin blasts

Massive anti-government protests in Turkey after Ankara
twin blasts
(Image: Sputnik News)

Thousands of people have gathered in Turkey's biggest cities including the capital Ankara and the city of Istanbul after the deadly twin blast that occurred in Ankara on Saturday and killed at least 97 people.

Protesters were mourning the victims of the bombing and condemning an attack, blaming the current government for it. The rallies later turned into massive anti-government protests that continued on Sunday and Monday as well, as tens of thousands of people have been marching in the center of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and other Turkish cities and protested against the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Turkey: Deadly blast in the city of Ankara left almost 100 people dead

Aftermath of a deadly explosion in Ankara
(Image: ABC 7)

Two explosions hit a capital of Turkey Ankara on Saturday, 10 October. The blasts were reportedly carried out by two suicide bombers and occurred at a peace rally that was about to start when the blasts hit it.

An explosion left at least 95 people killed and at least 245 people injured, many of them critically. TV footage of a blast showed scenes of chaos and panic, as the survived people, mostly youth, were running from the scene of an explosion and trying to help their wounded friends.

Russian airstrikes in Syria killed civilians: Syrian opposition leader

Russian airstrikes in Syria
(Image: Twitter)

Reuters - BEIRUT: Russian air strikes in Syria on Wednesday killed at least 36 civilians and targeted areas where Islamic State and al Qaeda-linked fighters are not present, the head of the Western-backed Syrian political opposition said.

"All the targets in today's Russian air raid over northern Homs were civilians," Khaled Khoja, head of the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition, wrote on his Twitter feed.

Russian military forces begin airstrikes against ISIS in Syria as the war enters new dangerous phase

Russian airstrikes in Syria
(Image: Independent)

Reuters - MOSCOW/WASHINGTON: Russia launched air strikes in Syria on Wednesday in the Kremlin's biggest Middle East intervention in decades, but Moscow's assertion that it had hit Islamic State was immediately disputed by the United States and rebels on the ground.

The air strikes plunged the four-year-old civil war in Syria into a volatile new phase as President Vladimir Putin moved forcefully to assert Russian influence in the unstable region.

The attacks also raised the dangerous specter of Washington and Moscow running air strikes concurrently and in the same region, but without coordination.