Belarus authorities detained the men last week for allegedly plotting to destabilize the country ahead of the country’s Aug. 9 presidential election. The Kremlin on Friday said the Russian men were “employees of a private security company” who were staying temporarily in Belarus before traveling onward to Istanbul
The Syrian “mini-Hagia Sophia”, according to the promoters of the project, will have to rise in the Hama region. This is what Syrian and Lebanese media reported, citing information released by sources close to the government of Damascus, who present the operation as a sort of Russian-Syrian response to the Turkish choice to reopen Hagia Sophia to Islamic worship.