Russian Ambassador to Washington Says US-Russia Relations in ‘Ice Age’

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov arrives for a news briefing on the situation in Syria, at the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia, October 7, 2016. (Reuters)
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov arrives for a news briefing on the situation in Syria, at the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia, October 7, 2016. (Reuters)
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Russian Ambassador to Washington Says US-Russia Relations in ‘Ice Age’

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov arrives for a news briefing on the situation in Syria, at the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia, October 7, 2016. (Reuters)
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov arrives for a news briefing on the situation in Syria, at the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia, October 7, 2016. (Reuters)

Russia's ambassador to the United States on Friday compared the state of US-Russia relations to an "ice age", and said that the risk of a clash between the two countries was "high", Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported.

TASS cited Anatoly Antonov as saying that it was hard to say when talks on strategic dialogue between the two sides could resume, but that talks on prisoner swaps had been "effective" and would continue.

US-Russia ties have fallen to their lowest point in decades amid the fallout from Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, and the consequent imposition of Western sanctions.

Two prisoner swaps, in which US Marine veteran Trevor Reed and basketball star Brittney Griner were freed by Russia in return for convicted drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko and arms dealer Viktor Bout, were rare instances of successful US-Russia diplomacy in 2022.



IAEA's Grossi Repeats There is No Indication Iran Nuclear Sites Were Hit

(FILES) Buildings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters reflect in doors with the agency's logo during the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria on June 13, 2025, where the IAEA's head Rafael Grossi briefed board members following Israeli strikes on Iran, including on the Natanz uranium enrichment facility. (Photo by Joe Klamar / AFP)
(FILES) Buildings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters reflect in doors with the agency's logo during the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria on June 13, 2025, where the IAEA's head Rafael Grossi briefed board members following Israeli strikes on Iran, including on the Natanz uranium enrichment facility. (Photo by Joe Klamar / AFP)
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IAEA's Grossi Repeats There is No Indication Iran Nuclear Sites Were Hit

(FILES) Buildings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters reflect in doors with the agency's logo during the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria on June 13, 2025, where the IAEA's head Rafael Grossi briefed board members following Israeli strikes on Iran, including on the Natanz uranium enrichment facility. (Photo by Joe Klamar / AFP)
(FILES) Buildings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters reflect in doors with the agency's logo during the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria on June 13, 2025, where the IAEA's head Rafael Grossi briefed board members following Israeli strikes on Iran, including on the Natanz uranium enrichment facility. (Photo by Joe Klamar / AFP)

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday that his agency stands by its assessment that there is ‌no indication ‌Iran's nuclear ‌facilities were ⁠damaged or hit ⁠in the US and Israeli military strikes on the country.

Iran's ambassador ⁠to the ‌International ‌Atomic Energy Agency said ‌earlier on ‌Monday a nuclear facility at Natanz had been attacked. ‌So far the agency has seen ⁠nothing ⁠comparable to the attacks on Iran's nuclear sites that Israel and the United States carried out in June, Grossi told a press conference.


Indian Police Clash with Pro-Khamenei Protesters in Kashmir

Demonstrators hold a portrait of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Srinagar on March 2, 2026 after restrictions were imposed amid protests over his death by US-Israel strikes. Habib NAQASH / AFP
Demonstrators hold a portrait of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Srinagar on March 2, 2026 after restrictions were imposed amid protests over his death by US-Israel strikes. Habib NAQASH / AFP
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Indian Police Clash with Pro-Khamenei Protesters in Kashmir

Demonstrators hold a portrait of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Srinagar on March 2, 2026 after restrictions were imposed amid protests over his death by US-Israel strikes. Habib NAQASH / AFP
Demonstrators hold a portrait of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Srinagar on March 2, 2026 after restrictions were imposed amid protests over his death by US-Israel strikes. Habib NAQASH / AFP

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir fired teargas on Monday during clashes with thousands of demonstrators protesting the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei for a second day in a row.

The clashes came a day after tens of thousands of people in the Muslim-majority region joined peaceful street demonstrations against strikes by Israel and the United States that killed the Iranian leader.

On Monday, authorities closed schools and colleges for two days and imposed restrictions on public movement by barricading many arterial roads.

The restrictions were imposed "as a precautionary measure" after a group of organizations headed by the region's chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq called for a strike, authorities said.

The protesters clashed with security forces when they were stopped from marching to the main square in the main city of Srinagar, which was sealed off.

Demonstrations were also held in other pockets across the Kashmir valley, with protesters displaying portraits of Khamenei, slain Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Hassan Nasrallah of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

They also shouted anti-Israel and anti-US slogans while waving flags associated with Iran and Hezbollah, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

"Minimum teargas shelling was resorted to when they (the demonstrators) did not heed warnings to stop," a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media.

Kashmir, which has a significant number of Shia Muslims, shares ancient connections with Iran.

Khamenei was given a momentous welcome during his only visit to the territory in the early 1980s.

On Sunday, the territory's chief minister Omar Abdullah -- who does not control the security forces -- said mourners should be "allowed to grieve peacefully" and police should "refrain from using force or restrictive measures".

Khamenei and top military leaders were killed on Saturday, prompting Iranian authorities to retaliate with strikes on Israel and across the Gulf.


MSF Says 26 Staff Missing from South Sudan Violence

(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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MSF Says 26 Staff Missing from South Sudan Violence

(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Monday that 26 of its staff were "unaccounted for" after a surge in violence in South Sudan in recent weeks.

"Twenty-six of the 291 MSF colleagues working in Lankien and Pieri remain unaccounted for following the recent violence, and we have lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity," the NGO said in a statement.

MSF has suspended medical services in Lankien and Pieri, both in Jonglei state which has seen major clashes between government and opposition forces since December, AFP reported.

An MSF facility in Lankien was hit by a government air strike on February 3, the NGO said.

"Many of our staff were forced to flee the violence alongside their families. Several are now displaced, sheltering in remote areas with little access to food, water or basic services," the statement added.

South Sudan, the world's youngest country, has been beset by civil war, poverty and massive corruption since it was formed in 2011.

The United Nations warns of a return to "all-out civil war" as a power-sharing deal between President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, Riek Machar, has unravelled over the past year.

Recent fighting has focused on Jonglei, but the UN said on Sunday that surging violence in Abiemnom, near the Sudan border, had killed "dozens of civilians and some local officials".