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Image copyright Image caption Russia's President Vladimir Putin appears to have hoped for a reset in relations after Donald Trump won power Russia's decision to significantly reduce the number of US diplomatic staff marks the end of any immediate hope for a fresh start between Moscow and Washington. Indeed, it could usher in a new and uncertain period of competition between the two capitals. Russia's President Vladimir Putin seized upon US President Donald Trump's election victory as offering the potential for a very different relationship. Mr Putin appears to have misjudged what was on offer. Relying upon clear signals from the Trump campaign that a reset in the US relationship was both possible and desirable, Moscow intruded into the US campaign to an extent which US intelligence agencies believe was unprecedented. (Quite how far Russia intruded into the US campaign in actually backing candidate Trump is currently under investigation and this, of course, provid...

Image copyrigh Image caption Sam Shepard wrote more than 40 plays in his career US actor and playwright Sam Shepard has died at the age of 73. Shepard wrote more than 40 plays and won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for Buried Child in 1979. He went on to be nominated for the best supporting actor Oscar for 1983's The Right Stuff and starred in films like Black Hawk Down as well as co-writing 1984's Paris, Texas. He died at home in Kentucky on Thursday, his family have confirmed. Shepard's death came after he experienced complications from motor neurone disease, also known as ALS. Image copyright MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES Image caption Sam Shepard starred alongside Ellen Burstyn in 1980 film Resurrection His first major acting role was in Terrence Malik's Days of Heaven in 1978, in which he starred alongside Richard Gere. Other film credits include Steel Magnolias, The Pelican Brief and The Accidental Husband. Image copyright AFP/GETTY Image caption ...

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said the government will adopt a policy to ban bidi as a harmful product for the human body. After a meeting with the top tobacco companies, including British American Tobacco (BAT), at the Finance Ministry office in Dhaka, he told journalists, “Eighty percent of products in country’s tobacco market are of low price and low quality. Of those, bidi is very much harmful to health.” Speaking of the demands of the tobacco companies to control the low-quality bidi, Muhith said both sides were talking about controlling the low price bidi.

Pakistan is bracing itself for a landmark court verdict that could see Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif forced to resign over corruption allegations. It follows an investigation into his family's wealth after the 2015 Panama Papers dump linked Sharif's children to offshore companies. Sharif denies any wrongdoing, but the case has exposed a divided nation. The Supreme Court will decide if the case is to be dismissed, sent to trial or if he should simply be disqualified. No civilian prime minister of Pakistan has ever completed a five-year term and Sharif himself is serving as Prime Minister for a record third time. He is less than a year away from becoming the first to complete a full term in office. What is the atmosphere in Pakistan right now? This ruling represents the peak of a drama that has fuelled frenzied news coverage and heated social media debates for months, attracting scorn and ridicule as well as trenchant support for the Prime Minister. ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Sunday the staff at US diplomatic missions in Russia will be cut in response to a sanctions bill the US Congress passed last week. Russian state media quoted Putin saying 755 out of "a thousand or so" employees will "have to stop their activities in the Russian Federation." That includes diplomats and technical workers, he said. The Russian President sought to reduce the number of US diplomats operating in Russia to 455, a figure equal to the number of Russian diplomats in the United States, according to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday. The statement gave a deadline of September 1 for the staff cuts. The United States has not identified how many diplomatic employees are in Russia. Russia's state television, First Channel, reported Saturday that 745 of 1,200 people employed at the US embassy and consulates would be affected. The Russian  Foreign Ministry on Friday  demanded that the Un...

Image copyright AFP Unregulated free movement of people after Brexit would "not keep faith" with the EU referendum result, the international trade secretary has said. In  a Sunday Times interview,  Liam Fox said he had "not been party" to widely-reported talks about a "transitional" period when free movement is retained. Chancellor Philip Hammond has said "it will be some time" before full migration controls can be introduced. Mr Fox said border controls had been a key element of the Brexit referendum. He added: "Unregulated free movement would seem to me not to keep faith with that decision. "I am very happy to discuss whatever transitional arrangements and whatever implementation agreement we might want, but that has to be an agreement by the cabinet. "It can't just be made by an individual or any group within the cabinet." On that basis, Mr Fox cast doubt on claims that the free movement of EU citizens wo...

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov described the US bill to sanction Russia as 'weird and unacceptable'. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the US's decision to pass a bill to sanction Russia was 'the last straw' [Reuters] A top Russian diplomat on Sunday lambasted the United States Congress for voting to sanction Russia, and warned of retaliation by Moscow. Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov referred to a bill passed by Congress on Thursday to sanction his country as "weird and unacceptable," and said it was "the last straw." "If the US side decides to move further towards...deterioration, we will answer. We will respond in kind. We will...retaliate," he said. Ryabkov's comments came after Moscow ordered the US on Friday to cut hundreds of diplomatic staff and said it would seize two US diplomatic properties as a response to the new sanctions ...

Four months of protests against Maduro have left more than 100 people dead [Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP] Election to new legislative body turns deadly as candidate and youth opposition leader are killed. A youth opposition leader and a candidate to Venezuela's all-powerful legislative body tasked with reforming the constitution have been shot dead amid the country's controversial election. Ricardo Campos, the 30-year-old regional secretary of the youth opposition party Democratic Action, was shot dead, said an opposition lawmaker Henry Ramos Allup. The circumstances in the death that occurred in the northeastern town of Cumana had yet to be investigated, according to the prosecutors' office said. Earlier, Jose Felix Pineda, 39, the candidate for the new Constituent Assembly in Venezuela's southeastern town of Ciudad Bolivar, was killed from multiple shots fired by assailants who broke into his home overnight, prosecutors said on Sunday. He was the second candidate ...

The US says it has carried out a successful test of its controversial anti-missile system and has flown B-1 bombers over the Korean peninsula. The exercises are a direct response to recent North Korean missile tests. A projectile fired by the US Air Force was intercepted over the Pacific by a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) unit in Alaska. US B-1 bombers also conducted exercises over the Korean peninsula with South Korean and Japanese planes. On Friday, North Korea test-fired a second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which it said proved that the entire US was within striking range. The launch came three weeks after the state's first ICBM test. Despite fierce objections from China, the US military has begun installing the Thaad system in South Korea with the aim of shooting down any North Korean missiles fired at the South. Image copyright REUTERS Image caption The US says it has successfully shot down a ballistic missile in a test of its Thaad sy...