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Turkey: Any Meeting between US, SDF Chief Would 'Legitimize Terrorists'

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters on their way to Raqqa, Syria June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters on their way to Raqqa, Syria June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said
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Turkey: Any Meeting between US, SDF Chief Would 'Legitimize Terrorists'

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters on their way to Raqqa, Syria June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters on their way to Raqqa, Syria June 6, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said

Turkey on Friday warned Washington that any meeting with the leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) risked "legitimizing terrorists".

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had talked with Mazlum Abdi, commander of the SDF which fought against extremists in Syria, and that he had "really enjoyed" the conversation.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump thanked Mazlum and said: "I look forward to seeing you soon", raising fears in Turkey of a possible face-to-face meeting between the two men in the United States.

"If you start legitimizing terrorists like this, tomorrow you will end up meeting with Baghdadi as well," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in televised remarks.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the head of ISIS extremist group.

"It is not acceptable for our allies to meet with a terrorist wanted under a red notice," Cavusoglu told reporters in Baku.

"We have informed the US of all of this in a written note," the minister added.

Turkey says there is an Interpol red notice for Abdi, which Turkish NTV broadcaster reported had been issued in 2011.

A group of American senators including Lindsey Graham earlier this week urged the US State Department to expedite a visa for Abdi to enable a visit where he can speak to officials and lawmakers on the situation on the ground in Syria.

Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul earlier on Friday said Turkey will demand that US authorities detain Mazloum as soon as he enters the United States.

He said the foreign ministry had conveyed the extradition request to Washington.

Gul told reporters in the Turkish border town of Akcakale that Turkish diplomats had contacted their US counterparts to remind them that Abdi was a wanted individual.

Relations between Turkey and the US are particularly tense after Ankara launched a cross-border offensive on October 9 against the Kurdish YPG, whose fighters make up the bulk of the SDF.

But there have also been strains over Washington's failure to extradite Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of ordering the 2016 failed coup. which Gulen has denied.

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World

Russia: Man Suspected of Shooting Top General Detained in Dubai

An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
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Russia: Man Suspected of Shooting Top General Detained in Dubai

An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova
An investigator works outside a residential building where the assassination attempt on Russian Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev took place in Moscow, Russia February 6, 2026. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Sunday that the man suspected of shooting top Russian military intelligence officer Vladimir Alexeyev in Moscow has been detained in Dubai and handed over to Russia.

Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, deputy head of the GRU, ⁠Russia's military intelligence arm, was shot several times in an apartment block in Moscow on Friday, investigators said. He underwent surgery after the shooting, Russian media ⁠said.

The FSB said a Russian citizen named Lyubomir Korba was detained in Dubai on suspicion of carrying out the shooting.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the assassination attempt, which he said was designed to sabotage peace talks. ⁠Ukraine said it had nothing to do with the shooting.

Alexeyev's boss, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, the head of the GRU, has been leading Russia's delegation in negotiations with Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on security-related aspects of a potential peace deal.

World

Factory Explosion Kills 8 in Northern China

Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
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Factory Explosion Kills 8 in Northern China

Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo
Employees work on an electric vehicle (EV) production line at the Volkswagen Anhui factory in Hefei, Anhui province, China, February 4, 2026. REUTERS/Florence Lo

An explosion at a biotech factory in northern China has killed eight people, Chinese state media reported Sunday, increasing the total number of fatalities by one.

State news agency Xinhua had previously reported that seven people died and one person was missing after the Saturday morning explosion at the Jiapeng biotech company in Shanxi province, citing local authorities.

Later, Xinhua said eight were dead, adding that the firm's legal representative had been taken into custody.

The company is located in Shanyin County, about 400 kilometers west of Beijing, AFP reported.

Xinhua said clean-up operations were ongoing, noting that reporters observed dark yellow smoke emanating from the site of the explosion.

Authorities have established a team to investigate the cause of the blast, the report added.

Industrial accidents are common in China due to lax safety standards.
In late January, an explosion at a steel factory in the neighboring province of Inner Mongolia left at least nine people dead.

World

Iran Warns Will Not Give Up Enrichment Despite US War Threat

Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Iran Warns Will Not Give Up Enrichment Despite US War Threat

Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Traffic moves through a street in Tehran on February 7, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran will never surrender the right to enrich uranium, even if war "is imposed on us,” its foreign minister said Sunday, defying pressure from Washington.

"Iran has paid a very heavy price for its peaceful nuclear program and for uranium enrichment," Abbas Araghchi told a forum in Tehran.

"Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up even if a war is imposed on us? Because no one has the right to dictate our behavior," he said, two days after he met US envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman.

The foreign minister also declared that his country was not intimidated by the US naval deployment in the Gulf.

"Their military deployment in the region does not scare us," Araghchi said.