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In three days of operations, the Russian aviation group in Syria has hit 258 targets belonging to the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terror groups, the Defense Ministry said. "Over the past three days, the warplanes of the Russian air group have carried out 164 sorties, hitting 285 targets,” Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said Monday. In the past 24 hours, 59 sorties were carried out, targeting 94 terrorist sites in the provinces of Hama, Idlib, Latakia, Damascus, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor. Konashenkov said a large ammunition dump belonging to the Jabhat al-Nusra terror group has...

Iraqi parliament approves Russian air strikes against ISIL October 26, 2015, Monday/ 17:34:04/ TODAY'S ZAMAN WITH REUTERS / ISTANBUL After weeks of political wrangling, the Iraqi parliament finally agreed to allow Russia to launch air strikes against the terrorist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq, paving the way for the involvement of a powerful new combatant in an already complex battleground in a move that will likely incense the US. Russia now has official permission to strike ISIL in Iraq, following the launch of an air campaign to degrade and defeat the militant group in Syria...

Russia says it is ready to help US-backed rebels in Syria in their battle against militant organisations like the Islamic State group. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Russian air force could support the Free Syrian Army provided the US shares information about rebel positions. The FSA has so far been among the rebel groups targeted by Russian strikes which have drawn Western criticism. Russia is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It has been bombing targets in Syria since last month and says it is primarily hitting IS positions. But Western powers say most of the air...

A nuclear weapons command exercise by NATO in November 1983 prompted fear in the leadership of the Soviet Union that the maneuvers were a cover for a nuclear surprise attack by the United States, triggering a series of unparalleled Soviet military re­sponses, according to a top-secret U.S. intelligence review that has just been declassified. “In 1983, we may have inadvertently placed our relations with the Soviet Union on a hair trigger,” the review concluded.

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If oil stays around $50 a barrel, most countries in the region will run out of cash in five years or less, warned a dire report from the International Monetary Fund this week. That includes OPEC leader Saudi Arabia as well as Oman and Bahrain. Low oil prices will wipe out an estimated $360 billion from the region this year alone, the IMF said.

Poland's eurosceptic Law and Justice party (PiS) is on course to unseat the ruling Civic Platform (PO) after eight years in power, an exit poll showed on Sunday …

It would have been bad enough for Washington if Moscow had simply intervened in Syria and left it to the media to speculate and report on the progress made by Iranian ground troops operating under the cover of Russian airstrikes. But subtlety isn’t really Putin’s style and besides, the conflict in Syria represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to lay bare the West’s deplorable strategy of funding and arming extremists on the way to destabilizing recalcitrant regimes. ... We are of course not attempting to trivialize the death of Joshua Wheeler by writing this off as some kind of...

I am wearing my asbestos underwear for this one.

Russian warplanes are conducting dozens of sorties in Syria to target terrorist forces in the country. The airstrikes are being conducted day and night, keeping militants under constant pressure. The aircraft launch their combat missions from an airbase south of Latakia. The jet flames pierce the Arabian night’s sky as Su-24M bombers prepare for take-off. Meticulous reconnaissance and advanced instruments make sure the airstrikes undertaken at night are as precise as those in day. Advanced Su-34s find it just as easy to drop their devastating cargo into the dark night’s sky. The jihadists have to sleep with one eye open...

Greener by miles 03/06/2007 Conscientious consumers are being urged to buy locally sourced food in the battle against climate change. But, as Richard Gray discovers, produce from the other side of the world can actually have a smaller carbon footprint Take a look in the average supermarket trolley and the food there will probably have travelled farther than most people clock up in a decade. A selection of just 26 items can have covered a total of 150,000 miles before reaching the British kitchen. With beef from Brazil, beans from Kenya, apples from New Zealand, chicken from Thailand and strawberries...

The MI6 spy who was found dead inside a holdall bag in his bathtub in London hacked into secret data held on former U.S. President Bill Clinton, The Sun newspaper has sensationally claimed today. Gareth Williams was 31 years old when he was found naked, dead in his own bathtub in Pimlico, just a few minutes walk away from Britain’s Houses of Parliament. Speculation has been rife ever since his death in September 2010 about the circumstances surrounding his death. A Metropolitan Police investigation revealed predictably, though suspiciously, that Mr Williams’ death was “probably an accident”. This was despite an...

ew York (AFP) - Russia's dramatic entry Wednesday into the Syrian war put the United States on the back foot once again and left Washington struggling to regain the military and diplomatic initiative. As US Secretary of State John Kerry was in New York trying to coordinate with his Kremlin opposite number Sergei Lavrov, a Russian officer contacted the US embassy in Baghdad. His message was simple: Russian jets are about to launch air strikes in Syria, please stay out of their way. Kerry quickly protested to Lavrov that this was not in the spirit of Moscow's promise to agree...

Once it became clear that Moscow and Tehran had jointly planned the incursion in Syria with Russia promising full air support and Iran pledging ground troops from Hezbollah, its various Shiite militias, and the IRGC, we immediately suggested that Iraq was next on the agenda after the Assad regime is restored. For those unfamiliar with the situation on the ground, we encourage you to read “Who Really Controls Iraq? Inside Iran's Powerful Proxy Armies,” in which we outline the extent to which Tehran effectively controls both the Iraqi military and the politicians in Baghdad.The US allows this because i) there’s...

Two members of the Turkish parliament gave a press conference this week saying that they have wiretapped recordings and other evidence showing that Turkey supplied the sarin used in Syria. As reported by Turkey’s largest newspapers, Today’s Zaman:

On this week's Jacki Daily Show, Jacki speaks with Pam Villarreal of the National Center for Policy Analysis about other options besides college. She also talks with the Car Coach, (www.laurenfix.com )about how bad E15 ethanol is for your cars. She is also joined by the CEO of Nouveau Inc, Brigham McCown, to discuss federal transportation safety and energy infrastructure policy.

Syria’s Kurds have incorporated a mixed town they captured from ISIS group into territory they claim in the country’s north, a leading party said Wednesday. The move to bring the border town of Tal Abyad into the autonomous administration led by Kurdish forces in the country’s north and northeast comes as the Kurds work increasingly closely with Arab forces against President Bashar al-Assad's regime. According to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), Tal Abyad’s local council agreed Wednesday their town would be ruled by “autonomous administration, formally part of the autonomous administration in the Kobane canton.”

The new offensive launched by Syrian government forces in the countryside south of Aleppo has shed light on Iran's growing role in Syria's civil war. Officially Iran denies it has deployed any combat troops in Syria, but a week before the offensive began, it was reported that hundreds of Iranian troops had arrived in Syria in preparation for an imminent assault on rebel-held areas. Iran also announced the deaths of four high-ranking officers from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in Syria. At least one of them, Brig Gen Hossein Hamedani - the most senior Iranian military officer to have...

Mark ‏@markito0171 2h2 hours ago #Syria Mosques in all #IslamicState controlled towns calling for blood donations -from eastern #Aleppo to #Raqqa -Looks like final battle-

Already Happened ‏@M3t4_tr0n 35m35 minutes ago Reports that a small number of #MANPAD's (probably Stingers) entered #Syria & are now in the possession of the mujahidin. @Saeed_alHalabi0 1:24 PM - 21 Oct 2015 · Details