This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Nick Miles, and in the early hours of Sunday the 29th of December, these are our main

stories. President Putin has issued a rare apology after the Azerbaijan Airlines crash on

Wednesday, but stopped short of confirming that Russian missiles brought down the plane.

Lebanon has expelled dozens of former Syrian military figures

who'd fled across the border as the new authorities in Damascus pursue supporters of the deposed

president, Bashar al-Assad.

An influential Sufi religious leader has been kidnapped in northern Mali.

Also in this podcast, Magnus Carlson certainly shifted the image of chess grandmasters,

and at the rapid chess tournament in New York, he refused a demand to wear smart trousers.

A problem at a major chess event, the wearing of jeans.

The Russian president Vladimir Vladimir Putin, has apologized to Azerbaijan's president for the crash

of an Azerbaijan airline's plane, describing it as what he called a tragic incident in

Russian airspace. It's been widely claimed that Russia accidentally

shot the plane down as it tried to land in Grozny on Wednesday, but Mr Putin did not accept

direct Russian responsibility, according to Kremlin reports of the conversation. Mr Putin

added that there needed to be an objective and transparent investigation.

From Moscow, our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg reports.

According to the Kremlin readout of their conversation,

President Putin apologized to President Alev for what the Kremlin calls

a tragic incident in Russian airspace and expressed condolences to the families of the dead.

38 people were killed when Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243, having failed to land at Grozny Airport

...