Russia

Just 24 hours after the International Olympic Committee was told it should consider banning Russian athletes from the Rio Games, the tournament's governing body said it would be "exploring legal options" over such a move.

Russia came fourth in the medal table at the 2012 Games and the absence of the nation's athletes at Rio would hark back to the Cold War era when the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980 and the then Soviet Union snubbed the Los Angeles Games four years later.

The DNC's computer network was infiltrated in a "serious" incident, said chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

A cyber security firm has been hired to help, she said, to "kick out the intruders and secure our network".

Russia has denied any involvement in the hacking.

"I completely rule out a possibility that the [Russian] government or the government bodies have been involved in this," Dmitry Peskov, a Krelim spokesman, told Reuters in Moscow.

It has begun disciplinary proceedings against Russia - but not England - after "totally unacceptable" scenes at Saturday's England-Russia game.

Footage appeared to show Russia fans rush at England supporters after the Euro 2016 1-1 draw in Marseille.

Charges against Russia are for crowd disturbances, racist behaviour, and setting off fireworks, Uefa confirmed.

There were issues with segregation of fans, the body admitted, promising security would be "strengthened".

He said the Russian intervention had largely achieved its objectives.

The comments come amid fresh peace talks in Geneva aimed at resolving the five-year Syrian conflict.

Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his office said in a statement he had agreed to the move.

The pullout was "in accordance with the situation on the ground", the statement said.

Russia began its campaign of air strikes in Syria last September, tipping the balance in favour of the Syrian government and allowing it to recapture territory from rebels.

"We are brothers," Francis said as he embraced Kirill in the small, wood-paneled VIP room of Havana's airport, where the three-hour encounter took place.

"Now things are easier," Kirill agreed as he and the pope exchanged three kisses on the cheek. "This is the will of God," the pope said.

Francis was having the brief talks in Cuba before heading off on a five-day visit to Mexico, where the pontiff will bring a message of solidarity with the victims of drug violence, human trafficking and discrimination to some of that country's most violent and poverty-stricken regions.

In an escalating war of words, President Tayyip Erdogan responded to Russian accusations that Turkey has been buying oil and gas from Islamic State in Syria by accusing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his backers, which include Moscow, of being the real source of the group's financial and military power.

Russia's competition watchdog ruled in September that Google had broken the law by requiring pre-installation of certain applications on mobile devices running on Android.

"We intend to contest this decision and explain in court why we consider it unfounded," Google said in its official Russian blog.

Google has until Dec. 18 to amend its contracts with smartphone manufacturers in order to comply with the ruling in the case that was launched by local rival Yandex (YNDX.MM).

“The Government of Papua New Guinea extends its condolences on behalf of our people to the Government and people of Russia following this tragic incident,” the Prime Minister said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the men, women and children who were killed.

“The death of people in an air crash is a matter for which there must be answers and we can anticipate a full investigation.”

The statement was made to the Associated Press by Iraqi government officials. 

Carter also said that no collaboration is possible as long as Moscow continues to strike other targets.

He said the U.S. will limit its discussions with Russia to basic, technical talks about efforts to ensure that flights over Syria are conducted safely and, "That's it."