Lead story
Turkey plays with fire
by our Arab Affairs correspondent
ANGRY protesters hurled stones and eggs at the Turkish embassy in Moscow on Wednesday following the downing of a Russian jet by a Turkish warplane over Syria. The Turks claim the Russian fighter-bomber had strayed into their territory but the Kremlin says their plane was operating against terrorists inside Syria. Vladimir Putin has accused the Turks of a “stab in the back”, branding them “accomplices of terrorists” and warning that “serious consequences” will follow.
Russian tourists are being urged to boycott Turkey. Russia has broken off all military contact with Turkey and despatched a warship with an air defence system to the eastern Mediterranean with orders to destroy “any targets representing a potential danger” to Russian forces in Syria. The Russian Air Force base in Syria will be reinforced with an S-400 surface-to-air missile system and in future all Russian bombers carrying out airstrikes in Syria will now be covered by jet fighters.
In the Duma (Russian parliament) some deputies have now submitted a bill to allow the prosecution of anyone who denies Turkey’s Armenian genocide during the First World War; others are calling for a complete break in diplomatic relations. But this is being opposed by Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov.
Read the full story here >>
Turkey plays with fire
Striking doctors defy dirty tricks
FORTY thousand junior doctors last week voted for strike action, with a majority of 98 per cent on a 76 per cent turnout, in protest at Government plans to impose new working conditions and pay structures.
The proposed changes would remove enhanced wage levels for weekend working and could lead to junior doctors being forced to work for long hours that would leave them too tired to make safe decisions about patient care.
They now plan to walk out on the 1st, 8th and 16th of December. They will be on standby to return to work if there is an emergency but they will not do any routine work.
Read the full story here >>
Striking doctors defy dirty tricks