Briefly

RUSSIA

US envoy heads home for consultations

US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said on Tuesday that he will leave the country temporarily to discuss bilateral ties with colleagues in Washington. The envoy said he will return to Moscow "in the coming weeks" before a possible in-person meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sullivan is leaving following an exchange of harsh sanctions between the two countries, including mutual expulsions of 10 diplomats. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov has been summoned back to Moscow for a month amid the deteriorating ties. "This extremely tense situation objectively requires the ambassadors of our countries to be in their respective capitals to analyze developments and hold consultations," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

CHAD

Reelected president dies on battlefield

Chad's President Idriss Deby Itno has died on the battlefield, the army said on Tuesday. The shock announcement came only the day after the 68-year-old was proclaimed the winner of a presidential election that had given him a sixth term in office. The army said Deby had been commanding the army at the weekend as it battled against rebels who had launched a major incursion into the north of the country on election day. The army said a military council led by the late president's 37-year-old son Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno would replace him. On Monday, the army claimed a "great victory" in its battle against the rebels, saying it had killed 300 fighters, with the loss of five soldiers during eight days of combat.

Xinhua - Agencies