A pair of 16-year-old skaters, their mothers, and two Russian coaches were among the passengers on board an aeroplane that hit a helicopter above Washington DC on Wednesday evening, the group's skating club in Boston says.

The first Russian official delegation to visit Syria since the toppling of long-term Moscow ally Bashar al-Assad has arrived in Damascus, Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday. The visit comes with Moscow keen to secure the fate of two military bases there and after Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that Moscow had suffered a strategic "defeat" in the Middle East following the fall of Assad.

Syria’s new leaders said Wednesday they had discussed “transitional justice” with the first Russian official delegation to visit Damascus since the toppling of long-term Moscow ally Bashar al-Assad. The visit came with Russia keen to secure the fate of two military bases in Syria and after Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that Moscow had suffered

Syria’s ruler Ahmad Al Shara has demanded that Russia hand over former president Bashar Al Assad and an estimated $2 billion dollars in liquid assets held by the Assad family in Russian banks, during a meeting in Damascus,