Breaking News, 8th of August, 2018

Major General Alexei Tsigankov, the head of the Russian Center for the reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria, reported that in Idlib and Khama, the territories controlled by the terrorists, dozens of representatives of the Syrian opposition were arrested by the terrorists. According to Alexei Tsigankov — the arrests were organized by the leaders of the terrorist groups «Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham» and «Jabhat Tahrir Suriya», RIA NEWS reports. Alexei Tsigankov underlined that after the arrest of the Syrian oppositionists — the leaders of the radical groups expect to «disrupt the possibility of holding peace talks, between the parties of the conflict, aimed to resolve the situation in the zone of de-escalation in Idlib.»

The terrorists of the Harakat Nur al-Din al-Zenki group fired at the stronghold of the Syrian army in the north of Hama province. In the recent days, the terrorists of the «moderate opposition» have increased the number of their attacks, sabotage raids, and shelling of positions of the Syrian army. They call it ‘preparation for the defense of the territories under their control’.

The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, Fatih Dönmez, said that the second pipeline of the ‘Turkish Stream’ gas pipeline is planned to be put into action on 31st of December, 2019. «The construction work on the sea part of the first branch of the ‘Turkish Stream’ is completed. Gazprom completed this work on their own. Gazprom built a 930-kilometer section and they are currently working onshore. Gazprom continues the laying of the second branch of pipes in the offshore section. 50% of it has been completed. Gazprom told us the date of commissioning — 31st of December, 2019» — RIA NEWS quotes the Turkish minister.

According to the press service of the State Security Committee of South Ossetia — the border of South Ossetia and Georgia has been closed since the evening of 6st of August. The checkpoints will resume their normal work on the morning of 9th of August. «The State Security Committee of the Republic informs that starting from 20:00 of 6th of August — the border with Georgia is temporarily closed in connection with the commemorative events of the 10th anniversary of the Georgian aggression» — the message says. The State Security Committee clarified that the full functioning of the border checkpoints will resume on 9th of August, starting from 06:00.

The official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Rodong Sinmun, criticized Seoul and accused South Korea in trying to resume the confrontation. According to the publication — the recent military talks between South Korea and the United States, as well as the plans of Seoul to carry out military reform, are nothing but «conspiracy» and a «confrontational rally made by South Korean militarists, which contradicts the course of dialogue, peace and improvement of inter-Korean relations» — TASS quotes the message of the publication. Rodong Sinmun underlines that the actions of Seoul contradict the spirit of the Panmunjom Declaration on Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula.

Turkey is not going to abandon their economic ties with Iran after the US decided to restore the sanctions against Iran. This was stated by the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, Fatih Dönmez. According to him — the relations between Turkey and Iran will continue under existing contracts. Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry disapproved the restoration of US sanctions against Iran. The Foreign Ministers of France, Britain and Germany also expressed their regret about the decision of Washington. Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.