Syrian ceasefire threatened by fresh clashes near Damascus

There are concerns about the durability of a nationwide ceasefire in Syria after government forces and their allies clashed with rebels.

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The fresh fighting could put the truce - brokered by Russia and Turkey and agreed between President Bashar al Assad's regime and opposition fighters - under pressure.

Helicopter gunships were reportedly used to attack groups, including the Fateh al Sham Front, in Wadi Barada, a rebel-held valley northwest of the capital Damascus.

The government said the al Qaeda affiliate, previously known as al Nusra Front, was excluded from the truce, which came into force at midnight on Thursday.
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But the opposition said it believed the ceasefire applied to all of Syria, including areas where Fateh al Sham was present.

A spokesman for Fateh al Sham Front criticised the ceasefire for not declaring the fate of Syria's president Bashar al Assad.

In a statement, the unidentified spokesman said: "The solution is to topple the criminal regime militarily".











Video:Syrian government agrees ceasefire with rebels
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Islamic State and the Kurdish YPG militia have also been excluded from the ceasefire deal.

It is not clear which side started the latest clashes in a country where repeated international efforts towards peace have failed.

The army began an offensive last week to retake Wadi Barada, which provides most of Damascus' water supplies.

The military has accused rebels of deliberately targeting the infrastructure there.

Government warplanes have also carried out airstrikes in the central province of Hama, according to monitors.

Meanwhile, Russian fighter jets have hit three IS targets around the northern town of al Bab over the past 24 hours, according to Turkey's military.











Video:Ceasefire agreement is 'fragile' and needs 'special attention'

The action could be the first Russian support for Turkish army operations in the area.

The ceasefire, backed by Assad ally Moscow and opposition-supporting Ankara, has appeared to have mostly held elsewhere.

It is designed to pave the way for a political solution to a conflict that has claimed more than 310,000 lives since it began with anti-regime protests in March 2011.

Despite backing opposing sides in the war, Moscow and Ankara are pushing for talks between Damascus and the rebels to begin next month in Kazakhstan.

Farewell to lorry driver Lukasz Urban killed in Berlin attack

Hundreds of mourners have gathered at a small Polish church to bid farewell to the truck driver killed in the Berlin Christmas market attack.
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Lukasz Urban, 37, had been waiting to deliver steel in the German capital when his truck was hijacked by a man believed to be Tunisian Anis Amri.

Amri is suspected of using the truck in the 19 December attack, which killed a total of 12 people.

He was killed in a shoot-out with police in Italy days later.
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Mr Urban was shot on the night of the attack and his body was found in the truck's cab.

Among the mourners at the church in Banie, near the border with Germany, was Poland's president Andrzej Duda, several other Polish political officials and a representative of the German embassy to Poland.
Image Caption:Mourners stand around the coffin of Lukasz Urban

A letter was also read out from Poland's Prime Minister, Beata Szydlo, describing her "great pain and sadness" at Mr Urban's death and expressing her sympathy to his family.
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Bishop Henryk Wejman described Mr Urban as a man open to others and conscientious in his work, adding: "His willingness to work and serve others won him the trust of other people and the openness to fellow man".

Mr Urban's coffin was taken out of the church and driven in a hearse through the village to a cemetery.

Before the funeral, truck drivers had honked their trucks' horns in a tribute to Mr Urban.

Trump: Putin 'smart' not to retaliate against Obama's sanctions

Donald Trump has praised Vladimir Putin for holding off on plans to expel US diplomats from Russia in a tit-for-tat retaliation against Washington.

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He said the Russian President's decision to delay any expulsion of American officials was a "great move", and tweeted: "I always knew he was very smart!"

On Thursday, President Barack Obama ordered 35 suspected Russian spies to leave America, and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking political groups prior to November's election.

Russia was expected to retaliate by expelling 35 US officials from Moscow and St Petersburg.

But in a surprise announcement, Mr Putin said he would not "create problems for American diplomats" and invited their children to visit the Kremlin instead.
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Mr Putin has said he reserves the right to retaliate in future, but will wait and see how Donald Trump acts following his inauguration in less than three weeks' time.

The President-elect's complimentary tweet to Mr Putin, when combined with the cabinet nominations of some people seen as friendly towards Russia, has the potential to anger Republicans who have been calling for a tougher stance against the one-time Cold War foe.











Video:What are the possible repercussions for Donald Trump?

On Thursday, Mr Trump appeared to brush aside allegations from US intelligence agencies that Russia was behind a series of cyber attacks, saying: "It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things."
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It's also possible that the new president could reverse Mr Obama's decision to expel the Russian diplomats once he enters office on 20 January.

The diplomats affected by the expulsion are based in Washington and San Francisco, and include a consulate chef.

The US also plans to shut Russian compounds in New York and Maryland, with the FBI publishing "wanted" posters of alleged Russian hackers.

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that Russian hackers had successfully penetrated an electric utility in Vermont but did not disrupt its operations - a development which would suggest a serious vulnerability in the nation's electrical grid.

Mr Putin said the latest sanctions were a "provocation aimed to further undermine Russian-American relations" and that he regretted that Mr Obama's administration would end in this way.
Image Caption:Relations between Russia and the US under Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama are at a post-Cold War low

The Russian embassy in the UK tweeted that "everybody, incl (the American) people, will be glad to see the last of this hapless Adm", together with a picture of a "lame duck".

But The Kremlin has said that, with Mr Obama only in office for three more weeks, it will refrain from acting like a "bull in a china shop".

In a statement announcing the measures, President Obama said they were a "necessary and appropriate response" after repeated warnings to Russia over "efforts to harm US interests".

He said the alleged hacking "could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government", adding: "All Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions."