The US and Russian military will hold talks ‘as soon as possible’ to avoid clashing in Syria, top diplomats say. Russian aircraft carried out about twenty missions against the so-called Islamic State group on Wednesday. But the US expressed fears that the targets were non-IS opponents (see this week’s Syria article in World section). The strikes plunged the four-year-old civil war into a volatile new phase. Washington and Moscow are both aware of the risks of pressing ahead with rival, unco-ordinated air campaigns over Syria. To avoid an incident, last-minute decisions might have to be made by the forces on the scene. ‘There’s no time to raise it to a presidential level when two planes are closing at twenty miles a minute,’ said one US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The two countries need to carry out talks to explore ways to keep their militaries apart. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34408120