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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Russian ambassador to Poland has sparked outrage for putting some of the blame for World War II on Poland, creating a new spat amid deepening tensions between the Slavic nations. Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreev on Friday described the Soviet's 1939 invasion of Poland as an act of self-defense, not aggression.

"We’re not Bolivia for God’s sake"...

Donald Trump accused his Republican presidential rivals on Friday night of wanting to "start World War III over Syria," and suggested that the United States should instead let Russia deal with the problem. Trump has recently faced criticism for not providing details on what sort of foreign policy positions he would take as president. That lack of specifics is purposeful and strategic, Trump said during a 50-minute speech at the Great State Fair of Oklahoma on Friday night. He said Republicans who publicly share their strategic foreign policy plans are "crazy."

WASHINGTON (JTA) – The Republican Jewish establishment is watching the surge of political outsiders — like Donald Trump and Ben Carson — in the presidential primaries with dismay. “It’s like we have a conference call every morning, and we ask, ‘What can we do to screw ourselves up today?’” said Fred Zeidman, a longtime fundraiser for Republican presidential candidates. Zeidman’s exasperation pervades the Jewish Republican world: A party that has, in recent years, established a cozy relationship with Jewish conservatives seems to be careening — at least since the presidential race began. Donald Trump, the billionaire reality show star, has...

This spring, many Syrian Christians rejected protestors' demands for embattled president Bashar al-Assad to resign. But Christians did broadly endorse democratic reforms that would bring an end to dictatorship. "We do not support those who are calling for the fall of the regime, simply because we are [for] the process of reform and changes," said Yohanna Ibrahim, Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, at a religious summit in France. In late May, International Christian Concern, an evangelical ministry to the persecuted church, released to Christianity Today an anonymous open letter from a "trusted Syrian source" that explains why many Syrian Christians...

https://www.trunews.com/russian-marines-join-hizballah-in-first-syrian-battle-a-danger-signal-for-us-israel/ Russian marines join Hizballah in first Syrian battle – a danger signal for US, Israel Capture Before dawn on Thursday, Sept. 24, Russian marines went into battle for the first time since their deployment to Syria, DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources reveal. Russian Marine Brigade 810 fought with Syrian army and Hizballah special forces in an attack on ISIS forces at the Kweiris airbase, east of Aleppo. This operation runs contrary to the assurances of President Vladimir Putin to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sept. 21 – just three days ago – that Russian forces in Syria were only...

'Coordinating' with the Russians over Syria doesn't seem to be so much fun after all. According to this story (translated from an Arabic original here), the Russians have, in essence, threatened to shoot down any IAF jets targeting weapons convoys moving from Assad forces in Syria to Hezbullah in Lebanon. “Moscow imposed on Tel Aviv a military coordination in advance for any military operation carried against Syrian military targets or against Hezbollah in Syria, to prevent any fatal accident. Senior military officers on both sides will maintain regular meetings and contacts to allow a smooth Russian military presence in...

Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah on Friday welcomed Russia's military buildup in Syria in support of common ally President Bashar al-Assad, saying it was the failure of a U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State that had forced Moscow's hand. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a three-hour interview with the group's al-Manar TV that increased Russian support for Assad included highly advanced weapons systems, warplanes and helicopters. Russia has stepped up its military involvement in Syria while pressing for Damascus to be included in international efforts to fight Islamic State, a demand Washington rejects. By raising the stakes in Syria's four-year conflict,...

EXCLUSIVE: Russian, Syrian and Iranian military commanders have set up a coordination cell in Baghdad in recent days to try to begin working with Iranian-backed Shia militias fighting the Islamic State, Fox News has learned.  Western intelligence sources say the coordination cell includes low-level Russian generals. U.S. officials say it is not clear whether the Iraqi government is involved at the moment.  Describing the arrival of Russian military personnel in Baghdad, one senior U.S. official said, "They are popping up everywhere."  The Russians already have been building up their military presence in Syria, a subject expected to factor prominently in...

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad must go but it might be necessary to talk with him as part of a deal on a transition of power, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in an interview published by French daily Le Monde on Friday. Departing from a strict U.S. and Western policy of not talking with Assad, Hammond expressed concerns over Russia's role in the country, which has been torn apart by four years of civil war. "Assad must go, he can't be part of Syria's future," Hammond said, according to Le Monde's French translation of the interview. He added: "If we...

Thu Sep 24, 2015 11:19am EDT Related: World, Russia, Syria Syrian army uses new Russian jets to strike Islamic State: monitor Syrian government forces used newly arrived Russian warplanes to bombard Islamic State insurgents in Aleppo province in northern Syria, a group monitoring the civil war said on Thursday, in an attempt to break a siege on a nearby air base. Russia is bolstering its ally Damascus against rebels with military aid that U.S. officials say has included fighter jets, helicopter gunships, artillery and ground forces. The air strikes, which began earlier this week, were accompanied by ground attacks near...

Two days after the disbandment of the second U.S. backed “moderate” rebel militia in six months, the Syrian Al-Qaeda branch “Jabhat Al-Nusra” (Al-Nusra Front) seized a large cache of TOW (wire-guided anti-tank) missiles inside Regiment 46 Base in southwestern Aleppo after defeating Harakat Hazzm (Movement of Steadfastness) in a short battle. Images of Jabhat Al-Nusra fighters with the U.S. supplied TOW missiles surfaced on Monday morning, as they paraded around the captured Regiment 46 Base, posing for pictures in front of boxes with the U.S.’ insignia. The growing fear of hardline Islamist groups getting ahold of these potent weapons has...

U.S. envoy in anti-ISIS coalition to step down Karen DeYoung, Washington Post Posted: Wednesday, September 23, 2015, 1:07 AM WASHINGTON - Retired Marine Gen. John Allen has told the White House he will resign later this fall as the Obama administration's envoy to the international coalition against the Islamic State, according to U.S. officials. Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20150923_U_S__envoy_in_anti-ISIS_coalition_to_step_down.html#p8sKBwG6zcVZYQKh.99

World | Wed Sep 23, 2015 3:40pm EDT Related: World Syria says would welcome Russian army base in Latakia: Interfax MOSCOW The Syrian ambassador in Moscow said on Wednesday Damascus would welcome the deployment of a Russian military base in the city of Latakia (Lattakia) if Moscow decides to build one there, Interfax news agency reported.

The recent arrival of the Russian Marines and Air Force to the Syrian port-city of Tartous has generated a significant amount of interest around the world, as the possibility of Russia’s direct military intervention becomes the focal point of the war on ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham). [....] Instead, the Russians appear to have a contingency that involves another world power that was absent from the U.S. led Anti-ISIS Coalition: China. On Tuesday morning, a Chinese naval vessel reportedly traveled through Egypt’s Suez Canal to enter the Mediterranean Sea; its destination was not confirmed. However, according to a...

A Ukrainian website has created a comprehensive list of Ukraine's supposed 'enemies'. The eclectic list naturally includes a slew of Ukrainian and Russian statesmen and public personalities, but also, more surprisingly, nearly two dozen foreign figures, from Xi Jinping and Nicolas Sarkozy to Steven Seagal and even Donald Trump. After quickly gaining widespread media attention in Ukraine, the highly stylized website, which had a kyiv.ua domain, was quietly taken down, but not before internet archive Wayback Machine managed to index some of its content. Ukrainian media reported that the comprehensive list was prepared on the basis of an anonymous survey...

While the tweeted images have no landmarks on the ground as reference points, the Iranian state-sponsored FARS news agency released a report that Syrian aircraft bombed opposition forces in Idlib, including al-Nusra fighters on Wednesday. The possible sighting of Russian aircraft in Syrian skies comes just two days after the Jerusalem-based newspaper YNET released a report indicating that Russian pilots and aircraft would be arriving in Syria in “the coming days” with the purported mission of flying airstrikes against the Islamic State and opposition forces that are threatening the Assad regime.

This past weekend, the Russian Air Force was given full access to the Hmaymat Military Airbase inside the Latakia Governorate’s western countryside after the Syrian Arab Army’s Central Command approved the Russian Navy’s recent delivery of Sukhoi fighter jets through the Syrian port-city of Tartous. The Hmaymat Military Airbase is located inside the Bassel Al-Assad International Airport, which sits just east of the densely populated coastal city of Jableh in western Latakia. With full access to the Hmaymat Military Airbase’s airfields, the Russian Air Force possesses a temporary airbase to begin their aerial operations above the Islamic State of Iraq...

BOGUCHAR, Russia (Reuters) – Russia is planning a second major military base near the border with Ukraine, where NATO accuses Russian troops of helping pro-Moscow separatists fight Kiev’s forces.The new base will house 5,000 soldiers and heavy weaponry, according to public documents and people working at the site.It is further east than one under construction in Belgorod region reported by Reuters earlier this month but still close to the border with separatist-held parts of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region, where there has been heavy fighting.The bases are part of a Russian military buildup along a new line of confrontation with the...

RUSSIA to send 95,000 troops, 170 bombers and 700 tanks to Syria to crush anti-Assad opposition - Official Iran TV reports.