According to U.S. President's Barack Obama magazine interview released on Thursday, wars and chaos in the Middle East will not end until Saudi Arabia and Iran can find a way to "share the neighborhood" and make some kind of peace.

The European Union has decided to extend sanctions against 146 Russian individuals and 37 companies for another six months. According to TASS, the asset freeze and travel ban have been extended until 15 September 2016

At least four Russian nationals were injured in an armed attack in Tel Aviv on March 8, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

The Russian Center for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria has registered seven ceasefire violations over the past 24 hours.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a working meeting with Head of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring) Yury Chikhanchin on March 9, Kremlin reports.

Maria Sharapova, former world No. 1 and five-time grand slam champion, announced that she was using a drug banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and failed a recent drug test during the Australian Open in January, VOX informs.

According to The Moscow Times, President Vladimir Putin issued a video address with greetings on International Women's Day celebrated Tuesday, saying that women's “dignity and mercifulness” epitomize Russia’s “soul.”

Former first lady Nancy Reagan's funeral will be held Friday at 2 p.m. ET, said Melissa Giller, spokesperson for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The situation around the Russian embassy in Kiev remains quiet, no more provocations have been fixed, the embassy’s press secretary Oleg Grishin told TASS on Monday.

The founder Russian liberal opposition party Yabloko, Grigory Yavlinsky, told reporters on Friday he expects the presidential elections to take place earlier than currently scheduled and that he hopes to win them.

The Kremlin press office reported Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in a joint telephone conference with European leaders to discuss the partial cease-fire in Syria.

The use of drones by journalists for newsgathering purposes falls under the right of the media to publish news as well as the public’s right to receive information and ideas, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said on March 3 as she presented a set of recommendations on drone journalism.