Briefly

RUSSIA

Whistleblower seeks dual citizenship

Fugitive US whistleblower Edward Snowden said on Monday that he had applied for Russian citizenship but would keep his US nationality. The former US intelligence contractor, who revealed in 2013 that the US government was spying on its citizens, has been living in exile in Russia since the revelations. Snowden's tweet came weeks after he was granted permanent residency in the country, and just days after his partner Lindsay Mills announced she was pregnant. US authorities have for years wanted Snowden returned to the US to face a criminal trial on espionage charges brought in 2013. Moscow has relaxed its strict citizenship laws to allow individuals to hold Russian passports without rejecting their original nationalities.

IRAN

Military begins annual air force drill

Iran's air force began an annual drill on Monday, state television reported, with its fleet of US-made and Russia-made jet fighters taking part alongside locally made drones and other aircraft. The drill will see forces from eight air bases take part over two days in exercises that include missile firing and midair refueling. This is the second drill Iran has held since a decadelong Western arms embargo on Iran that barred it from purchasing foreign weapons like tanks and fighter jets expired earlier in October. Iran reportedly is interested in purchasing new aircrafts, as it still flies US F-14 Tomcats alongside F-4s and F-5s dating back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The embargo expired as planned under historic 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, despite objections from the United States.

FRANCE

Schools reopen after teacher's beheading

French schools reopened under tight security on Monday for the first time since the beheading of Samuel Paty, a teacher who opened a class debate on free speech by showing students caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. At schools throughout the country, students read the letter of Jean Jaures, a 19th century French thinker and politician, to instructors urging them to teach the country's children to "know France, its geography and its history, its body and its soul". Paty was killed on Oct 16 outside his school in suburban Paris by an 18-year-old refugee to punish him for showing the caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which triggered a newsroom massacre by extremists in January 2015.

Agencies - Xinhua