Air Pollution 'Kills 7 Million People Worldwide'

Air pollution killed an estimated seven million people worldwide in 2012, the UN health agency has said.

Pollution over Amritsar in northern India

New research by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found pollution, ranging from cooking fires to car fumes, was linked to one in eight deaths in 2012.

Maria Neira, the WHO's public and environmental health chief, said the figure was "shocking and worrying".

Paris, where there has been a recent health scare

"Air pollution, and we're talking about both indoors and outdoors, is now the biggest environmental health problem, and it's affecting everyone, both developed and developing countries," she said.

The biggest pollution-related killers were heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease and lung cancer, the WHO said.

Moscow, Russia

The research found indoor air pollution was responsible for 4.3 million deaths in 2012, mostly people cooking inside using wood and coal stoves in Asia.

And the outdoor pollution death toll was put at 3.7 million, with sources ranging from coal heating fires to diesel engines. Nearly 90% of those deaths were in developing countries.

Lianyungang, eastern China

Many people are exposed to both indoor and outdoor pollution, and due to that overlap the separate death tolls cannot simply be added together, the WHO said.

The WHO said the hardest-hit regions were Southeast Asia, which includes India and Indonesia, and the Western Pacific, ranging from China and South Korea to Japan and the Philippines.

Beijing, China

Those regions combined accounted for 5.9 million deaths.

The new estimates are more than double previous figures and based mostly on modelling, but the WHO has changed its research methods so it is difficult to make a comparison with past estimates.

Smog in Manila, the Philippines, after fireworks on New Year's Eve

Ms Neira said: "The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes.

"Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution.

"The evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe."

Dumai in Indonesia's Riau province

Majid Ezzati, chair in global environmental health at Imperial College London, said more research was needed to identify the deadliest components of pollution in order to fight it more effectively.

"We don't know if dust from the Sahara is as bad as diesel fuel or burning coal," he said.

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Ukraine: 'No G8 Summit In Russia' Over Crisis

G7 Leaders Release Russia Statement

Updated: 8:32pm UK, Monday 24 March 2014

A statement from leaders of the G7 following an emergency meeting in The Hague on Monday as been published by the European Council.

It reads:

1. We, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission met in The Hague to reaffirm our support for Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

2. International law prohibits the acquisition of part or all of another state's territory through coercion or force.

To do so violates the principles upon which the international system is built.

We condemn the illegal referendum held in Crimea in violation of Ukraine's constitution.

We also strongly condemn Russia's illegal attempt to annex Crimea in ontravention of international law and specific international obligations. We do not recognise either.           

3. Today, we reaffirm that Russia's actions will have significant consequences.

This clear violation of international law is a serious challenge to the rule of law around the worldand should be a concern for all nations.

In response to Russia's violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to demonstrate our determination to respond to these illegal actions, individually and collectively we have imposed a variety of sanctions against Russia and those individuals and entities responsible.

We remain ready to intensify actions including coordinated sectoral sanctions that will have an increasingly significant impact on the Russian economy, if Russia continues to escalate this situation.

4. We remind Russia of its international obligations, and its responsibilities including those for the world economy.

Russia has a clear choice to make. Diplomatic avenues to de-escalate the situation remain open, and we encourage the Russian Government to take them.

Russia must respect Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, begin discussions with the Government of Ukraine, and avail itself of offers of international mediation and monitoring to address any legitimate concerns.

5. The Russian Federation's support for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine is a step in the right direction.

We look forward to the mission's early deployment, in order to facilitate the dialogue on the ground, reduce tensions and promote normalisation of the situation, and we call on all parties to ensure that Special Monitoring Mission members have safe and secure access throughout Ukraine to fulfill their mandate.

6. This group came together because of shared beliefs and shared responsibilities.

Russia's actions in recent weeks are not consistent with them. Under these circumstances, we will not participate in the planned Sochi summit.

We will suspend our participation in the G-8 until Russia changes course and the environment comes back to where the G-8 is able to have a meaningful discussion and will meet again in G-7 format at the same time as planned, in June 2014, in Brussels, to discuss the broad agenda we have together.

We have also advised our Foreign Ministers not to attend the April meeting in Moscow. In addition, we have decided that G-7 Energy Ministers will meet to discuss ways to strengthen our collective energy security.

7. At the same time, we stand firm in our support for the people of Ukraine who seek to restore unity, democracy, political stability, and economic prosperity to their country.

We commend the Ukrainian government's ambitious reform agenda and will support its implementation as Ukraine seeks to start a new chapter in its history, grounded on a broad-based constitutional reform, free and fair presidential elections in May, promotion of human rights and respect of national minorities.           

8. The International Monetary Fund has a central role leading the international effort to support Ukrainian reform, lessening Ukraine's economic vulnerabilities, and better integrating the country as a market economy in the multilateral system.

We strongly support the IMF's work with the Ukrainian authorities and urge them to reach a rapid conclusion.

IMF support will be critical in unlocking additional assistance from the World Bank, other international financial institutions, the EU, and bilateral sources.

We remain united in our commitment to provide strong financial backing to Ukraine, to coordinate our technical assistance and to provide assistance in other areas, including measures to enhance trade and strengthen energy security.

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Turkey Shoots Down Syrian Military Jet

Turkey has shot down a Syrian fighter plane which it claims "violated its airspace" near the border between the two countries.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "Our F-16s took off and hit this plane. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, our slap after this will be hard."

Speaking at a political rally, Mr Erdogan congratulated his military for defending the border.

The Syrian regime condemned the action as "blatant aggression" and said the jet was battling rebel fighters within its own territory.

Turkey said two MIG-23 fighters were picked up at around 11am GMT and warned four times they were too close to the border

One of the planes then crossed at Yayladagi, east of the Kasab border crossing, and was downed by a rocket from a Turkish F-16.

Prime Minister Erdogan congratulated his forces for protecting the border

The pilot reportedly managed to eject but the aircraft crashed around 1.2km into Syrian territory. Amateur footage claims to show the aftermath of the crash.

Syrian rebels have been fighting pro-Assad fighters since Friday for control of the Kasab crossing in the northwest of the country.

The regime has lost control of most border crossings to Turkey but has been using air power to try to hold on to Kasab, the gateway to Latakia province, an Assad stronghold.

Syria this week accused Turkey of firing shells into Syria to give the rebels cover.

The downing of the plane comes six months after Turkey shot down a Syrian helicopter which crossed into airspace in the same area.

Turkey's Mr Erdogan is a fierce critic of President Assad's actions in Syria's civil war and has sheltered and supported rebel Islamist fighters.

More than 140,000 people have been killed in the three-year Syrian conflict, with some 2.5 million fleeing to neighbouring countries.

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Russian Troops Try To Seize Ukraine Base

Russian troops have been attempting to seize a Ukrainian naval base in Crimea, according to reports.

The base, in Feodosia, is one of the few military facilities still flying a Ukrainian flag after Russia's annexation of Crimea.

A Ukrainian military spokesman told Reuters that the Russian forces were trying to force their way in to with the help of helicopters.

A soldier inside the base confirmed they were under attack.

There are fears Russian forces are eyeing Ukraine's Transdniestria region

Russian troops violently flushed out the remaining pockets of Ukrainian military influence in Crimea on Saturday, smashing armoured vehicles through the walls of Belbek air force base in a swift takeover.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week signed papers making Crimea part of Russia at a ceremony in Moscow, saying it was complying with international agreements and had no plans to invade.

It has also called the soldiers who took over Ukrainian bases in Crimea "self-defence forces".

General Breedlove is concerned about the size of Russia's troop build-up

Today leaders of the G7 nations will hold emergency talks on the crisis on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit.

The US and European Union have already targeted some of Mr Putin's closest political and business allies with personal sanctions and have threatened broader economic sanctions if his forces encroach on other parts of Ukraine with large Russian-speaking populations.

Germany, which has close trade ties with Moscow, said the EU was united in its readiness to impose sanctions on Russia if necessary.

"None of us wants to escalate, but if Russia changes things unilaterally, then it must know that we won't accept it and that relations will be bad," German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

Prime Minister David Cameron has even suggested that Russia could be expelled from the G8 bloc of nations.

Armoured carriers smashed their way into the Belbek air base

With the G7 due to meet at the Hague, Nato's top commander in Europe warned that the Russian military force massing on the border was "very, very sizeable and very, very ready".

General Philip Breedlove said he was worried the Russian military could make a move for Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region.

"There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome," he said.

Transdniestria, a narrow strip of land to Ukraine's southwest, already has a Russian military presence and most people there favour a union with the country.

Crimea landgrab 'cannot be won back', say experts

White House deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken echoed the suggestion that President Putin could be plotting further action.

"It's deeply concerning to see the Russian troop build-up on the border," he told CNN.

"It creates the potential for incidents, for instability. It's likely that what they're trying to do is intimidate the Ukrainians. It's possible that they're preparing to move in."

Speaking to Sky News, Ukraine's Ambassador to the UK, Volodymyr Khandogiy, said European powers had not done enough to help his country.

"The US is more resolute in their actions and words. We appreciate what Europe is doing (but) we would have liked a more aggressive approach," said Mr Khandogiy.

"If I'm asked if Europe has done enough I would say no."

Most experts agree there is no way of winning back Crimea.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, accepted that Crimea was now "de facto" a part of Russia, but said the annexation set a "bad precedent".

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Missing Plane: Cockpit Conversations Revealed

A transcript of the final conversations between the crew of flight MH370 and air traffic control has been revealed two weeks after the aircraft vanished from radar.

The transcript, between the co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid and the control tower, includes conversations as the aircraft was taxiing at Kuala Lumpur airport up until the final exchange with Malaysian air traffic control at 1.19am.

It also includes a repeated message about the aircraft's altitude at the same time as the plane's Acars signalling technology sent its last transmission before it was apparently disabled.

Excerpts from the cockpit conversations

At 1.01am it reads: "MH370 remaining in flight altitude 350 (35,000ft)."

Six minutes later, the co-pilot said: "MH370 remaining in flight altitude 350."

The final conversation in the documents, published in The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mirror, was at 1.19am as the plane left Malaysian airspace, and reads: "All right, good night."

But former pilot Alastair Rosenschein told Sky News too much could be read into the repetition of the plane's altitude.

He said: "You make a radio call confirming your altitude and then a few minutes later you think 'gosh did I make that call?', you don't know, the easiest thing is to make it again.

"So no it's not suspicious, at least I don't see it as suspicious.

Relatives of missing passengers shout for answers in Beijing on Saturday

"If he wanted to hijack the aircraft then this was an ideal spot because it lies between Malay air space and Vietnamese air space. So you've got that handover - the Malaysians are no longer interested in the aircraft because it's left them, they've handed it over, and the Vietnamese don't yet expect a call.

"Quite frankly if you wanted to take an aircraft and didn't want anyone to know, you wouldn't have done it on a Beijing flight - you're covered by radar the whole way.

"You would have done it on a flight from Kuala Lumpur say to London where you've got plenty of fuel."

Peter Marosszeky, an aviation expert at the University of New South Wales in Australia, added: "I've sat through many thousands of flights myself and it's not something that would really strike me as unusual.

"Without being able to hear the inflection in the pilots' voices, it's very difficult to determine whether anything said is truly noteworthy.

"I'd love to hear the actual voice level of communication to see if there's any level of anxiety that might have been driving the pilot to say what he did."

It comes after the search for debris spotted on satellite in the south Indian Ocean resumed on Saturday for a third day.

Six aircraft took off from Perth to search seas around 1,550 miles southwest of the city after two large objects were spotted earlier this week.

More aircraft and shipping is expected to join the operation over the next few days.

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'Increasing Hope' Of Solving Plane Mystery

There is "increasing hope" of finding out what happened to the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, according to Australian PM Tony Abbott.

"It's still too early to be definite, but obviously we have now had a number of very credible leads and there is increasing hope, no more than hope, no more than hope, that we might be on the road to discovering what did happen to this ill-fated aircraft," he said.

Mr Abbott said there had been three "significant" developments in the search for flight MH370, which disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur more than two weeks ago with 239 passengers.

The first was the release by the Chinese government of a new satellite image showing a large floating object in the southern Indian Ocean which could be debris from the Boeing 777.

The search in the southern Indian Ocean is entering a fourth day

The object, measuring 22.5 metres by 13 metres, (74ft by 43ft), was photographed just 75 miles from where two other potential pieces of debris were spotted by a satellite. China has said further analysis is needed to determine if this is related to the plane.

Mr Abbott said this "does seem to suggest at least one large object down there consistent with the object that earlier satellite imagery discovered".

He also cited the sighting of a number of small objects in the southern Indian Ocean, including a wooden pallet, by a civilian jet on Saturday as a source of optimism.

The final development is the increased resources being deployed in the search of the zone 1,500 miles southwest of Perth. Two Chinese aircraft and two planes from Japan have now joined the hunt.

The two objects spotted by satellite

Eight aircraft are currently searching two areas covering 59,000sq km (22,700sq miles).

"The more aircraft we have, the more ships we have, the more confident we are of recovering whatever material is down there and obviously, before we can be too specific about what it might be, we do actually need to recover some of this material," Mr Abbott added.

The "really big international" search effort was praised by the PM, who said: "It is a very important humanitarian exercise.

"We owe it to the almost 240 people on board the plane, we owe it to their grieving families, we owe it to the governments of the countries concerned, to do everything we can to discover as much as we can about the fate of MH370."

The southern corridor and the area of ocean being searched

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is overseeing the hunt in the region, said searchers would keep trying to determine whether the objects spotted on Saturday are related to the lost plane. So far, only clumps of seaweed have been found.

The wing of a Boeing 777-200ER is approximately 27 metres (88ft) long and 14 metres (45ft) wide at its base, according to estimates taken from scale drawings. The fuselage is 63.7 metres (208ft) long and 6.2 metres (20ft) wide.

But bad weather could affect the operation, after a cyclone warning was declared for Tropical Cyclone Gillian, which is forecast to move into the southern search corridor.

Tropical Cyclone Gillian

Countries in the northern search corridor, which includes China, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Laos, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, said there have been no sightings of the aircraft on their radar.

The search for the plane was narrowed to these two areas based on faint signals picked up by a satellite, which also suggest the plane flew on for six hours after it disappeared from air traffic control screens in the early hours of March 8.

Investigators believe it was deliberately diverted by someone on board.

The three most plausible explanations for the plane's disappearance are: hijacking, pilot sabotage and a crisis that incapacitated the crew and caused the plane to fly on auto-pilot, run out of fuel and crash.

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Putin Signs Crimea Annexation As Russia Warned

Vladimir Putin has completed legislation for taking control of Crimea, as David Cameron warned Russia it faces international isolation and tighter sanctions over the move.

As the Russian President signed the final annexation document in a Kremlin ceremony broadcast live on state television, Mr Cameron and other EU leaders imposed sanctions on 12 more people to punish Moscow for its takeover of the Ukrainian territory.

The EU also agreed to step up moves to reduce the bloc's reliance on Russian energy. Mr Cameron said EU members needed to do more to develop their own reserves, as well as their ability to use gas from overseas producers, including the US. 

Moscow celebrates the annexation of Crimea with a fireworks display

The Prime Minister said: "Our message to Russia is clear: choose the path to diplomacy and de-escalation or face increasing isolation and tighter and tighter sanctions.

"It was very important that the European democracies represented here should send a strong and united message that Russia should face further consequences, and that is what we have done.

"We have subjected 12 more individuals to travel bans and asset freezes, bringing the total to 33. We have cancelled the EU-Russia summit, agreed not to hold bilateral summits and we'll block Russian membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Energy Agency.

"We have agreed to rapidly implement economic, trade and financial restrictions on occupied Crimea. We will only accept Crimean goods in the EU if they come from the Ukraine and not Russia."

Mr Cameron also refused to rule out further sanctions against several oligarchs, including Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

Pro-Russia supporters celebrate the annexation in Simferopol, Crimea

Beyond punishing Russia, the EU leaders also showed backing for Ukraine by signing an agreement which aligns the new administration in Kiev more firmly with Europe.

It came as the White House announced US President Barack would be embarking on a six-day trip to Europe on Monday, including The Hague for a nuclear security summit and a meeting of the G7, then to Brussels for a summit of European leaders and a meeting with the NATO secretary general.

He will also be going to Rome and the Vatican to meet Pope Francis, before leaving the continent to head to Saudi Arabia.

US National Security Adviser Susan Rice said: "What will be clear for the entire world to see is that Russia is increasingly isolated and the United States is leading the international community in supporting the government of Ukraine and the people of Ukraine and the imposing costs on Russia."

The EU measures come a day after the US decided to slap sanctions on Mr Putin's inner circle of money men and security officials.

Russia was accused by Ukraine of invading Crimea during recent unrest

US President Barack Obama said 20 individuals linked to the Russian government and a bank - Bank Rossiya - supporting those individuals would be targeted.

Moscow immediately responded by banning nine US officials and politicians from entering Russia. It has yet to take retaliatory action against the EU.

On Friday morning, Mr Putin mocked the planned Western sanctions against his country over its annexation of Crimea.

He was reported to have claimed he planned to open a bank account at the sanction-hit bank and steer clear of allies on a list of people facing sanctions as they were "compromising us".

The Russian takeover of the Black Sea peninsula has been largely bloodless, though one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and two others wounded in a shooting earlier this week.

But Ukraine's Acting President has vowed that the country will never accept Russia's seizure of Crimea.

Russia and other members of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe have agreed to send a six-month monitoring mission to Ukraine.

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Pope Tells Mafia: Repent Or Prepare For Hell

Pope Francis has warned members of the mafia that they will go to hell if they do not repent and renounce evil.

Speaking at a prayer vigil for relatives of victims of organised crime, the Pontiff said: "The power, the money, that you have now coming from so many dirty businesses, so many Mafiosi crimes, it's blood-stained money, blood-stained power, you can't bring it with you to your next life. Repent.

"There's still time to not end up in hell, which is what awaits you if you continue on this path."

His appearance marked the first time a pope has attended the annual event - now in its 19th year - which is held on the first day of spring.

At the vigil held in Rome's San Gregorio church, Francis met around 900 relatives of people murdered by the mafia.

After expressing his solidarity with the family members, he said that he could not leave the service without speaking to those not present: the "protagonists" of mafia violence.

The Pope shakes hands with victims' families as he leaves the church

"I feel that I cannot finish without addressing those who are greatly absent today, the protagonists who are not here, the men and women who are part of the mafia. Please, change your lifestyle, convert, stop doing evil," he said.

"Convert, you still have time not to end up in hell, that is what awaits you if you continue on this path. You too had a father and a mother, think of them, cry a little and convert."

The brutality of Italy's gangsters was highlighted this week following the death of Domenico Petruzzelli, a two-year-old killed along with his mother and her companion in a suspected mob hit in the southern city of Taranto in which assailants opened fire on their car. 

In January, after the charred body of a three-year-old boy was found in a burned car alongside his grandfather and another woman, Francis urged the suspected mafia killers to "repent and convert to the Lord".

The Pope has spoken out frequently about the evils of corruption, and wrote a short booklet on corruption and sin in 2005 when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires.

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US-Russia Spat: Faces At The Heart Of The Feud

The fresh wave of US sanctions against Russia include banning some of the country's richest and most influential businessmen - and President Vladimir Putin's closest friends - from entering America.

Among the individuals targeted with and travel bans and freezing of US assets are billionaire brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg.

The co-owners of SMP Bank and SGM Group, a major supplier of construction services to Russian gas giant Gazprom, were judo sparring partners with Mr Putin.

The pair - friends of Mr Putin since childhood - also made billions in Sochi Olympics-related contracts.

Financier Yuri Kovalchuk, the largest shareholder of Bank Rossiya, is a personal banker for senior Russian officials - including, reportedly, Mr Putin. He is another close friend - and a neighbour - of the president.

They have known each other since the early 1990s when Mr Kovalchuk was deputy mayor of St Petersburg.

The bank - also on the hit list - serves some of the country's wealthiest officials and controls two big insurance firms - Sogas and SK Transneft.

Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko

High-level Kremlin officials including Mr Putin's chief of staff Sergei Ivanov and deputy chief of staff Alexei Gromov are also targeted, as well as Vladimir Yakunin, chairman of the board of the Russian state-owned company Russian Railways and a close confidant of the president.

Gennady Timchenko, a prominent businessman and owner of the private investment group, Volga Group, which specialises in investments in energy, transport and infrastructure assets is also named by the US.

President Putin's spokesman said some of the names on the list caused "nothing but extreme bewilderment" - and Russia immediately responded with its own list of sanctions on American officials.

These included Obama aides Caroline Atkinson (deputy assistant and deputy national security adviser for international economics), Daniel Pfeiffer (senior adviser and assistant ), and Benjamin Rhodes (assistant and deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and speechwriting), as well as senators Mary Landrieu, John McCain and Daniel Coats.

Mr McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, and Mr Putin have long been engaged in a bitter personal feud.

During their last war of words in September 2013, the US senator accused Mr Putin of corruption, repression and self-serving rule in an opinion piece for a Russian website in response to a letter Mr Putin wrote in The New York Times, urging America not to use military force in Syria.

White House staff Daniel Pfeiffer and Caroline Atkinson

In an opinion piece headlined "Russians Deserve Better Than Putin", Mr McCain also accused the president of being "a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed" for siding with Syria's President Bashar al Assad.

Back in December 2011, Mr Putin let his views be known on Mr McCain after the US politician tweeted "Dear Vlad, The #ArabSpring is coming to a neighbourhood near you" at a time of huge protests across Moscow.

When pressed about the tweet during a televised phone-in, the Russian president hit back, calling the senator "nuts".

"Mr McCain fought in Vietnam. I think he has enough blood of peaceful citizens on his hands. It must be impossible for him to live without these disgusting scenes anymore," he said.

Mr Putin added: "Mr McCain was captured and they kept him not just in prison, but in a pit for several years. Anyone [in his place] would go nuts."

Earlier this month, Speaker of the House John Boehner, also on the Russian list, called Mr Putin a "thug" over its actions in Crimea, according to The Enquirer.

The Republican told the Cincinnati newspaper it was "time to stand up to Putin", adding: "At what point do you say enough is enough? We are at that point."

He, and Senators Landrieu, McCain and Coats hailed their inclusion on the Russian list as a "badge of honour", while the White House refused to comment.

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Ukraine Crisis: EU Sanctions For More Russians

Faces Caught In The Middle Of US-Russia Spat

Updated: 8:45pm UK, Thursday 20 March 2014

The fresh wave of US sanctions against Russia include banning some of the country's richest and most influential businessmen - and President Vladimir Putin's closest friends - from entering America.

Among the individuals targeted with and travel bans and freezing of US assets are billionaire brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg.

The co-owners of SMP Bank and SGM Group, a major supplier of construction services to Russian gas giant Gazprom, were judo sparring partners with Mr Putin.

The pair - friends of Mr Putin since childhood - also made billions in Sochi Olympics-related contracts.

Financier Yuri Kovalchuk, the largest shareholder of Bank Rossiya, is a personal banker for senior Russian officials - including, reportedly, Mr Putin. He is another close friend - and a neighbour - of the president.

They have known each other since the early 1990s when Mr Kovalchuk was deputy mayor of St Petersburg.

The bank - also on the hit list - serves some of the country's wealthiest officials and controls two big insurance firms - Sogas and SK Transneft.

High-level Kremlin officials including Mr Putin's chief of staff Sergei Ivanov and deputy chief of staff Alexei Gromov are also targeted, as well as Vladimir Yakunin, chairman of the board of the Russian state-owned company Russian Railways and a close confidant of the president.

Gennady Timchenko, a prominent businessman and owner of the private investment group, Volga Group, which specialises in investments in energy, transport and infrastructure assets is also named by the US.

President Putin's spokesman said some of the names on the list caused "nothing but extreme bewilderment" - and Russia immediately responded with its own list of sanctions on American officials.

These included Obama aides Caroline Atkinson (deputy assistant and deputy national security adviser for international economics), Daniel Pfeiffer (senior adviser and assistant ), and Benjamin Rhodes (assistant and deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and speechwriting), as well as senators Mary Landrieu, John McCain and Daniel Coats.

Mr McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, and Mr Putin have long been engaged in a bitter personal feud.

During their last war of words in September 2013, the US senator accused Mr Putin of corruption, repression and self-serving rule in an opinion piece for a Russian website in response to a letter Mr Putin wrote in The New York Times, urging America not to use military force in Syria.

In an opinion piece headlined "Russians Deserve Better Than Putin", Mr McCain also accused the president of being "a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed" for siding with Syria's President Bashar al Assad.

Back in December 2011, Mr Putin let his views be known on Mr McCain after the US politician tweeted "Dear Vlad, The #ArabSpring is coming to a neighbourhood near you" at a time of huge protests across Moscow.

When pressed about the tweet during a televised phone-in, the Russian president hit back, calling the senator "nuts".

"Mr McCain fought in Vietnam. I think he has enough blood of peaceful citizens on his hands. It must be impossible for him to live without these disgusting scenes anymore," he said.

Mr Putin added: "Mr McCain was captured and they kept him not just in prison, but in a pit for several years. Anyone [in his place] would go nuts."

Earlier this month, Speaker of the House John Boehner, also on the Russian list, called Mr Putin a "thug" over its actions in Crimea, according to The Enquirer.

The Republican told the Cincinnati newspaper it was "time to stand up to Putin", adding: "At what point do you say enough is enough? We are at that point."

He, and Senators Landrieu, McCain and Coats hailed their inclusion on the Russian list as a "badge of honour", while the White House refused to comment.

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