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CINCINNATI (AP) — FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday the recruitment of potential homegrown terrorists by the Islamic State group is widespread and goes on “24 hours a day” across the United States. Hundreds of people are “consuming” social media efforts to either draw them overseas to join the extremists “or if you can’t come, kill where you are,” Comey said. “And that is a two-pronged siren song that goes out through social media.” He said Twitter, other instant messaging, and encrypted communications have made the recruiting efforts of extremists easier and pervasive over the past two years. “So we...

Two weeks of air and missile strikes in Syria have given Western intelligence and military officials a deeper appreciation of the transformation that Russia’s military has undergone under President Vladimir V. Putin, showcasing its ability to conduct operations beyond its borders and providing a public demonstration of new weaponry, tactics and strategy.

The Russian Bear is Cutting off the Serpent's Head Here:Many Equations are Going to Change!by Hala Homsi Beware the bear, namely the "Russian bear". For those who know Russian affairs, "when it rises up, it doesn't just shake the inside of the house, but the entire world," president of the Open University: Dialogue of Civilizations in Moscow, member of the Russian Academy of Education and Professor of Western Thought and Philosophy of Civilizations at Lebanese University, Dr Suheil Farh, tells an-Nahar. For the Russian bear to rise up finally and be active militarily in Syria in the air and on...

Many in the West have criticized Russia's intervention in Syria for not targeting IS. But Russia does not view 'moderate' rebels as any better than their ISIS counterparts. The videos posted almost daily by the defense ministry show Russian strike fighters in action over Syria, hammering "terrorist infrastructure" with precision-guided munitions. Meanwhile, Russian media reports speak of major gains by Syrian armed forces advancing behind a firestorm of Russian air support. But there is growing controversy over what the Russians are actually accomplishing with their two-week-old intervention in Syria's bitter and multi-sided civil war, and what their actual war objectives...

A new report finds that the largest oil companies are set to cut spending on exploration by at least half, potentially leading to very few new oil discoveries in the years ahead. The report from investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Hold & Co., and reported by Fuel Fix, estimates that exploration budgets among the oil majors will drop to $25 billion in 2016, down from $50 billion from just a few years ago. Obviously, low oil prices are taking their toll, forcing deep spending cuts in a desperate attempt to shore up profitability. But the cuts have large implications for the...

The Kremlin has launched an incredible volte-face in economic policy and turned to traditional industries like farming in the face of tumbling oil prices ___ Russia has abandoned hopes for a lasting recovery in oil prices, bracing for a new era of abundant crude as US shale production transforms the global energy market. The Kremlin has launched a radical shift in strategy, rationing funds for the once-sacrosanct oil and gas industry and relying instead on a revival of manufacturing and farming, driven by a much more competitive rouble. "We have to have prudent forecasts. Our budget is based very conservative...

Russia is deliberately targeting US-backed rebel forces in Syria. 150 CIA-backed Syrian rebels have been killed by Russian airstrikes. FOX News reported: Moscow is “deliberately targeting” U.S.-backed forces in Syria as part of a military campaign that has killed up to 150 U.S.-trained rebels, a U.S. official told Fox News. The claim comes as the U.S. and Russian militaries try to reach an agreement about flight safety in the skies over Syria. Officials from both countries are holding their third videoconference on the issue Wednesday, as U.S.-led coalition and Russian aircraft look to avoid collisions as they launch airstrikes into...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday Moscow was helping the fight against Islamist insurgents in Iraq with the consent of the Baghdad government. "It is necessary to support the cooperation between the Iraqi government and the Iraqi Kurdistan in the fight against terrorism, but we are doing it with the consent of the government," he said. Lavrov, speaking at the Barents Euro-Arctic Council in Oulu, Finland, also said a new intelligence center in Baghdad currently staffed by Russian, Iraqi, Iranian and Syrian officials remained open to all interested parties. "These events show that all those who oppose terrorism...

The Syrian army and allied Iranian and Hezbollah forces are preparing for a ground offensive against insurgents in the Aleppo area backed by Russian air strikes, two senior regional officials familiar with the plans said on Tuesday. The offensive would expand on a ground attack launched by the same alliance last week that is targeting rebels in Hama province further west. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said thousands of Iranian troops had arrived to take part in the ground offensives in support of President Bashar al-Assad. A big government offensive in the area near the Turkish border is...

China said on Wednesday it had no plans to send military ships to Syria to fight with Russian forces after reports in overseas media that it was planning to do so. Chinese media has picked up Russian and Middle Eastern news reports that China would fight alongside Russia in Syria, and that China's sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, could participate too. Chinese media has also described these reports as speculative nonsense. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, when asked if China had or would send forces to Syria, told a daily news briefing that she had also noticed the reports. "I...

Kurdish forces have carried out a wave of forced displacement and mass house demolitions - amounting to war crimes - in northern Syria, a rights group says. A report by Amnesty International accuses the Popular Protection Units (YPG) of razing entire villages after capturing them from Islamic State (IS). This appeared to be in retaliation for residents' perceived sympathies with or links to the jihadist group, it says. The YPG has consistently denied accusations of forced displacements. However, the YPG - a key ally of the US-led international coalition against IS - and its political parent the PYD have admitted...

Turkey has warned the United States and Russia it will not tolerate Kurdish territorial gains by Kurdish militia close to its frontiers in north-western Syria, two senior officials said. "This is clear cut for us and there is no joking about it," one official said of the possibility of Syrian Kurdish militia crossing the Euphrates to extend control along Turkish borders from Iraq's Kurdistan region towards the Mediterranean coast. Turkey fears advances by Kurdish YPG militia, backed by its PYD political wing, on the Syrian side of its 900 km (560-mile) border will fuel separatist ambitions among Kurds in its...

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded on Tuesday in its final report on the crash in July 2014 that killed all 298 people on board, most of them Dutch. But the long-awaited findings of the board, which was not empowered to address questions of responsibility, did not point the finger at any group or party for launching the missile.

Data from black boxes, satellite imagery and photos from the crash site were expected to feature throughout the report and findings would be “based on objective analysis of available evidence”, the briefing note said. “The purpose of the report is to determine the cause of the accident, not identify who was responsible,” it said. The online sharing tool was launched in April, giving airlines up to date information about the airspace status of countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, Egypt, Yemen and Mali. Other recommendations by the taskforce regarding conflict zone risk, included a comprehensive review of existing requirements...

Jewish groups and Holocaust scholars say Ben Carson’s claims that Nazi gun control laws contributed to the Holocaust are offensive and inaccurate, but Carson is not backing down. . The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which was founded to combat anti-Semitism and other forms of prejudice, derided Carson’s theory – which he first raised in his new book “A Perfect Union” – as “historically inaccurate.” . But the ADL wasn’t the only major organization to weigh in: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum also took issue with Carson’s decision to inject his claims into America’s gun debate.

Rami ‏@RamiAlLolah · 2h2 hours ago Double extremely huge explosions rocked #Baghdad a while ago.. Casualties unknown yet.. #Iraq بهرامpirzadGeddy DavisIntifadahFdeStVمتفائل من العراقarbaramziDaniele MonigattiErcenk Rami ‏@RamiAlLolah · 2h2 hours ago Extremely huge explosion rocked #Baghdad a while ago.. #Iraq

Rami ‏@RamiAlLolah · 3h3 hours ago Leaflets dropped by #Russia|ns: 40 types of bombs awaiting you. No escape (above/underground/bunkers/shelters) #Syria

As Europe seeks to diversify its sources of natural gas as an alternative to the politically sensitive Russian supply, a massive off-shore gas source in the Mediterranean is ready for exploration and drilling. There are game-changing stakes at play. Unfortunately, the Turkish leadership has threatened to use force to stop this from happening. Last October, Turkey sent the BARBAROS, its geophysics exploration ship, accompanied by naval vessels, into the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone waters. In November 2014, Turkish naval commander Admiral Bülent Bostanoğlu threatened the use of force against Greece, while speaking on board a Turkish naval corvette in Greek...

U.S. military cargo planes gave 50 tons of ammunition to rebel groups overnight in northern Syria, using an air drop of 112 pallets as the first step in the Obama Administration's urgent effort to find new ways to support those groups. Details of the air mission over Syria were confirmed by a U.S. official not authorized to speak publicly because the details have not yet been formally announced. C-17s, accompanied by fighter escort aircraft, dropped small arms ammunition and other items like hand grenades in Hasakah province in northern Syria to a coalition of rebels groups vetted by the US,...

Oct 12, 2:55 PM EDT Amid Russian airstrikes, a Putin craze takes hold in Mideast ZEINA KARAMVIVIAN SALAMA Associated pressAssociated press BEIRUT (AP) -- Amid the ornate walls of Damascus' famed Omayyad Mosque, preacher Maamoun Rahmeh stood before worshippers last week, declaring Russian President Vladimir Putin a "giant and beloved leader" who has "destroyed the myth of the self-aggrandizing America." Posters of Putin are popping up on cars and billboards elsewhere in parts of Syria and Iraq, praising the Russian military intervention in Syria as one that will redress the balance of power in the region. The Russian leader is...