The ringleader of the Paris attacks was planning more strikes and mocked the EU's open borders.
The ringleader behind the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris had plans to strike Jewish targets and to disrupt schools and the transport system in France, according to sources close to the investigation.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian national of Moroccan origin, also boasted of the ease with which he had re-entered Europe from Syria via Greece two months earlier, exploiting the confusion of the migrant crisis and the continent's passport-free Schengen system, the sources said on Friday.
Their comments, confirming excerpts from a confidential police witness statement leaked to a French magazine this week, fleshed out a picture of the Islamic State militant who spearheaded the Nov. 13 attacks targeting cafes, a concert hall and sports stadium in Paris in which 130 people were killed.
The witness statement, quoted in the Valeurs Actuelles weekly magazine, describes how Abaaoud approached his cousin Hasna Ait Boulahcen two days after the killing spree asking her to hide him while he prepared further attacks.
Both Abaaoud and Boulahecen died on Nov. 18 in a shootout with police in St. Denis north of Paris at an apartment where the militant Islamist had been staying.
Russia has the "right to a military response" to Turkey's downing of its warplane, according to the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament.
Russia has the right to make a military response after the downing of a Russian warplane earlier this week by NATO member Turkey, lower house speaker Sergei Naryshkin said on Friday.
Speaking in an interview with Romanian television station Digi24, Naryshkin, who spoke in Russian and was translated by the broadcaster, said: "This is intentional murder of our soldiers and this deed must be punished."
The shooting down of the Russian warplane by the Turkish air force on Tuesday was one of the most serious clashes between a NATO member and Russia, and further complicated international efforts to battle Islamic State militants.
"We know those who did this and they must be judged. At the same time, the response from the Russian side will surely follow, in line with international law. And aside from this, Russia has also the right to military response," added Naryshkin, who was attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) in Bucharest.
Naryshkin, who said economic measures against Turkey might be on the cards, said Moscow had allocated additional military resources on Thursday to boost the security of Russian warplanes.
"Even yesterday, military resources were allocated, (for) the S400 Triumph, which is the most advanced missile defense system, with the role to maintain flight safety of Russian planes, of our military and air forces whose task is to destroy terrorist infrastructure of the so-called Islamic State and other organizations operating in Syria."
The war of words between Russia and Turkey rumbles on, as our news desk reports:
Russia says it will suspend visa-free travel with Turkey, as tensions between Moscow and Ankara continue to escalate after the downing of a Russian warplane by a Turkish fighter jet.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on November 27 that Moscow would suspend its visa-free regime with Turkey starting on January 1.
In explaining the move, Lavrov accused Turkey of becoming a conduit for terrorism and of doing little to help Moscow track down Russian citizens accused of taking part in terrorist acts.
Turkey's shooting down of a Russian military jet near the Syrian border on November 24 has drawn a harsh response from Moscow. It has also proved a distraction for the West, which is looking to build support for a U.S.-led fight against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria.
The nearly five-year-old Syrian civil war has been complicated by Russian air strikes in defense of President Bashar al-Assad.
Since the shooting down of its military jet, Russia has restricted tourist travel, left Turkish trucks stranded at the border and begun preparing broader economic sanctions.
Russia's Agriculture Ministry has already increased checks on food and agriculture imports from Turkey, one of the first visible signs of a curb in bilateral trade.
An association of Russian defense factories -- which includes the producers of Kalashnikov rifles, Armata tanks, and Buk missile systems -- has recommended its members suspend buying materials from Turkey, according to a letter seen by the Reuters news agency. That could impact contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Turkish government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said on November 27 that Turkey's Council of Ministers was also discussing what measures Ankara might take, but added he hoped they wouldn't last long.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Russia on November 27 not to "play with fire," citing reports Turkish businessmen had been detained in Russia.
Erdogan has refused to apologize for the plane's downing, saying it is Moscow that had to answer for violating Turkish airspace.
At the same time, Erdogan said he has tried in vain to speak by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the deadly incident and expressed hope they could meet on the sidelines of a climate summit in Paris on November 30.
The incident was an "automatic response to the airspace violation," Erdogan said in a speech on November 27.
Ankara says that the bomber entered Turkish airspace and ignored multiple warnings, while Moscow says that the Turkish forces fired at the aircraft above Syria, without warning.
Putin has accused Ankara of a "planned provocation," and a "stab in the back."
Putin has ordered the deployment of S-400 air-defense missile systems to a Russian air base in Syria just 50 kilometers south of the border with Turkey to help protect Russian military jets. The Russian military also has moved the missile cruiser Moskva closer to the shore to help cover Russian bombers on combat missions. (AP, Reuters)
Turkey's Foreign Ministry advises against all nonurgent travel to Russia:
Turkey's foreign ministry on Saturday advised people to postpone all non-urgent travel to Russia, the latest move in an escalating row between Moscow and Ankara over a Russian jet downed by Turkey on Tuesday.
NATO member Turkey's foreign ministry said in a statement that following difficulties faced by Turkish visitors and residents in Russia, it advised Turks to postpone all non-urgent travel.
Turkey's president has said he is 'saddened' by the Russian plane's downing, our news desk reports:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed sadness at the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkish forces.
Addressing supporters on November 28, Erdogan again defended Turkey's move and criticized Russia for its actions in Syria before expressing his regrets.
He renewed a call for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a climate conference in Paris next week.
Turkey's shooting down of a Russian military jet near the Syrian border on November 24 has drawn a harsh response from Moscow.
A Kremlin spokesman said on November 28 that the incident had caused damage to bilateral relations that was hard to repair.
Earlier, Turkey issued a travel warning urging its nationals to delay non-urgent and unnecessary travel to Russia.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry said on November 28 it was issuing the warning because Turkish travelers were facing "problems" in Russia.
It said Turks should delay travel plans until "the situation becomes clear." (AP, dpa)
Syrian army advances against IS, our news desk reports:
The Syrian Army is reported to have made advances against Islamic State (IS) militants.
According to Syrian state TV on November 28, the army has captured territory east of Aleppo, including several kilometers of the highway linking the city with the militants' de facto capital of Raqqa.
Also reported taken back by the Syrian Army were areas east of the Kweires air base, which was seized from IS control with support from Russian air strikes.
A headline flashed on state TV said the army had captured the two villages of Kaskis and Akula and wide areas of agricultural land, seizing tunnels and fortifications built by the IS militants, and were demining areas mined by the group.
The villages are about 60 kilometers east of Aleppo. (Reuters, AFP)
The Kremlin has ordered sanctions against Turkey, our news desk reports:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered sanctions against Turkey, including a ban on some goods and prohibiting the extensions of labor contracts for Turkish citizens working in Russia.
The decree, which was published on the Kremlin’s website on November 28, doesn’t specify which goods will be banned.
It also calls for ending chartered flights from Russia to Turkey and calls on Russian tour operators to stop selling vacation packages to Turkey.
The decree comes after Turkey shot down a Russian military jet near the Syrian border on November 24. The incident has drawn a harsh response from Moscow. (AP, Reuters)