- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
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- Wallabies lament All Blacks' fast start
- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
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- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli strike kills top commanders
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- One dead, 7 missing as heavy rains trigger floods in central Japan
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
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- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
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- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
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- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
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- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
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Russian plane lands in US to remove diplomats expelled for alleged espionage
A Russian plane landed at Washington's international airport Saturday to pick up about a dozen diplomats from Moscow's UN mission who are accused by Washington of espionage, authorities said.
The United States closed its airspace to all Russian aircraft after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
The Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft was allowed, however, to land at Dulles International Airport. The landing was confirmed by the FlightAware website, which tracks all air movement.
"The US government approved a flight chartered by the Russian government to facilitate the departure of Russian UN Mission personnel who were expelled for abuse of their privileges of residence," a State Department spokesman told AFP.
"This special exception was done... to ensure Russian mission personnel and their families departed by the date we had instructed," the spokesman added, speaking on background.
The United States had called on Monday for the expulsion of 12 members of Russia's UN mission by March 7.
A day later, again citing alleged espionage, the US ordered the expulsion of a Russian national working for the UN secretariat.
"This is a hostile move against our country," Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoli Antonov said in a Facebook message, adding that Moscow "totally rejected" the US claims.
The Russian mission employs about 100 people, according to a Russian diplomatic source.
F.Müller--BTB