Locked in standoffs with the U.S., Russia and China show a united front as Putin meets Xi in Beijing
CBSN
Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Beijing on Friday to attend the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, but also to meet with China's leader, Xi Jinping. China and Russia have grown much closer in recent years as they've become more estranged from the West, and more at odds with the U.S.
The two leaders met just days after Putin dug his heels in more deeply in his high-stakes standoff with the U.S. and NATO over Moscow's buildup of troops and weapons along Ukraine's borders.
The U.S. accused Putin on Thursday of plotting a so-called "false-flag" operation in Ukraine, alleging that covert operatives were already in place and working to create a fake video depicting an attack that Russia could use as a pretext to invade its neighbor.
Zhytomyr, Ukraine — Exactly 1,000 days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russia's defense ministry accused Ukrainian forces on Tuesday of firing six U.S.-made and -supplied ATACMS missiles at the Russian region of Bryansk. If confirmed, it could be the first time Ukrainian troops had taken advantage of President Biden easing restrictions over the weekend on Ukraine's use of the U.S.-made missiles to strike targets deeper inside Russian territory.
President Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-made and supplied missiles deeper into Russia — a major policy shift announced over the weekend after months of intense lobbying by Kyiv — has drawn a furious response from Moscow. While there was no immediate reaction directly from the man who launched the nearly three-year war on his neighboring nation, lawmakers aligned with President Vladimir Putin in Russia said Monday that the move was unacceptable and warned it could lead to a third world war.
Tel Aviv — After more than a year of bombing and homelessness, Gazans are looking to a new administration in Washington for help. President-elect Donald Trump's election victory has raised hopes and fears among the five million residents of the Palestinian territories — the warn-torn Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Johannesburg — It's often called the forgotten conflict, but the civil war that has torn Sudan apart for 19 months is fueling the world's biggest humanitarian crisis. In just over a year and a half, 13 million people have been displaced from their homes. At least one overcrowded camp for displaced civilians is already dealing with famine, while other parts of the country are suffering though famine-like conditions.