Briefly

SYRIA

Syrians vote for new parliament amid war

Syrians voted on Sunday to elect a new parliament as the Damascus government grapples with international sanctions and a crumbling economy after retaking large parts of the war-torn country. More than 7,400 polling stations opened across government-held parts of Syria, including for the first time in former opposition strongholds, the electoral commission said. President Bashar al-Assad's ruling party and its allies were expected to take most of parliament's 250 seats in the third such polls to be held since the war started nine years ago. On the eve of the polls, one person was killed and another wounded in a blast in Damascus, the state news agency SANA said, but the cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. The elections, twice postponed from April due to the coronavirus pandemic.

RUSSIA

Envoy denies Moscow helped hackers

Russia's ambassador to London has denied accusations by the United Kingdom and its allies of helping hackers target laboratories conducting coronavirus vaccine research, in a UK television interview. Andrei Kelin said the allegations on Thursday by Britain, the United States and Canada that a hacking group called APT29 was behind the online attacks, and "almost certainly" linked to Russian intelligence, made "no sense". Kelin, who was appointed Moscow's top envoy in Britain last November, also rejected a separate claim by London that "Russian actors" sought to disrupt last year's UK general election. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Thursday that the perpetrators had circulated leaked trade documents between Britain and the US.

Agencies Via Xinhua