Russian president to fight extremism in Middle East

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a fight against extremism in Libya, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Afghanistan without using the dual-standard policy. Commenting on problems of the Middle East and Northern Africa, the president spoke for respect of the international law and avoidance of provocations.

The lower chamber of Russia's parliament will consider a bill on punishments of people for offending religious feelings of people with 5 years of prison and fines increased 100-fold

Putin criticized attempts to use force neglecting the UN Charter, RIA Novosti reports.

New York is hosting the UN General Assembly where the Syrian problem is among the topics. The Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani said that the UN Security Council had failed to settle the problem.

The conflict in Syria has been ongoing for over 1.5 years. The UN says that over 20,000 people have died. Syrian authorities say that they face well-armed militants supported by foreign states.