China has become the 67^th member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Following the completion of all the formalities, the announcement was made after a meeting  between the EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on 15 January.

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
We cordially invite you to attend the Russian Winter Ball will be held at the Grand Connaught Rooms in the heart of Covent Garden on Sunday 17th Jan 2016.

On January 13 and 14, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov held several meetings with the leaders of influential Syrian opposition groups, including Saleh Muslim, the leader of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party; Haytham Manna, the co-president of the Syrian Democratic Council; and Samir Aita, the leader of the Syrian Democratic platform.

The European Union and US are expected to formally lift sanctions against Iran this weekend

One of the best-loved British actorsAlan Rickman died in London aged 69. His death was confirmed on Thursday (January 14) by his family who said that he died “surrounded by family and friends” The Guardian reports. Rickman had been suffering from cancer.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the United States of America Barack Obama on the American side’s initiative. Russian media pay attention that their previous telephone conversation was held in July 2015.

Vladimir Putin had a working meeting with General Director of Aeroflot Russian Airlines Vitaly Savelyev to discuss the company’s performance in 2015 and the situation on the air service market.

The final part of Vladimir Putin's interview to the German newspaper Bild was published on January 12. The interview was recorded on January 5, 2016, in Sochi.

After weeks of mild weather forecasters are predicting Arctic blast after warmest and wettest December on record, MailOnline reports.

«A suicide bomber thought to have crossed recently from Syria killed at least 10 people, most of them German tourists, in Istanbul's historic heart on Tuesday, in an attack Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed on Islamic State», Reuters reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Government members in Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region, January 13.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation confirms that three Russian nationals suspected of links with ISIS were detained by Turkish law enforcement agencies on January 11 in Antalya.