Free Republic

Fierce battles continue around the strategic city of Deir Ezzor in northern Syria between regime forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), according to human rights groups. Hundreds of combatants and civilians have been killed over the past week, and Russian aircraft have been dropping supplies to beleaguered army units.

Turkey alarmed by 'Russian build-up' on Syria border AFP By Dilay Gundogan and Burak Akinci in Ankara 42 minutes ago Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday expressed alarm over reports of a build-up of Russian troops in northern Syria near the Turkish border, saying such movements would not be tolerated. "We have said this from the beginning: we won't tolerate such formations (in northern Syria) along the area stretching from the Iraqi border up to the Mediterranean," Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul. Britain-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had said that...

Russia appears to be making preparations to establish a new airbase in Syria, this time along the border with NATO-member Turkey, a senior U.S. official tells Fox News. The move is bound to anger the Turkish government months after the downing of a Russian jet by the Turks. A handful of Russian military personnel, including engineers, has been seen in the vicinity of a largely abandoned airfield in Qamishli, a city in northeast Syria along the border with Turkey. The area is largely controlled by Syrian Kurds, with pockets of regime-controlled territory including the airport.Russia and Syria’s Kurds have a...

To celebrate the New Year, the Russian government gave hundreds of high-ranking officials a special gift: a 400-page book of “prophetic” quotes by President Vladimir Putin. The book, titled Words That Change the World, includes 19 of the most important speeches and interviews Putin has given during the last 12 years. Hundreds of short, tweetable passages are bolded in the text. Anton Volodin, who spearheaded the book’s publication, said Putin’s words are valuable to Russian leaders largely because they tend to be prophetic: “We noticed that everything Putin says, to varying degrees, comes true,” he said. “In this book, we...

One of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's most high-profile allies has accused the opposition of trying to exploit the economic crisis to destabilize the country, using Stalin-era rhetoric to suggest unnamed individuals be put on trial for sabotage. Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, called the liberal opposition, which has only one lawmaker in the 450-seat parliament, enemies of the people, a phrase recalling language used during the reign of terror unleashed by Soviet leader Josef Stalin in the 1930s. ...

New details about Russian president Vladimir Putin’s latest military plans. Will those plans destabilize one of the United States’ most important military alliances? Putin appears to be flexing his muscle and his missiles. In a briefing with the Russian news media, Putin’s defense minister boldly declares his military will create three new divisions on Russia’s western flank with Europe, and will make five nuclear missile regimens ready for combat duty this year. U.S. and NATO officials tell CNN they’re monitoring this, assessing the impact on western security.

aroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), played down a European Union investigation into recent legislation, saying Poland has to go its own way and not yield to any pressures. The EU began an unprecedented inquiry on Wednesday into whether Poland's new conservative, Eurosceptic government has breached the EU's democratic standards by taking more control of the judiciary and public media. Kaczynski, who holds no formal government post, but is widely believed to be in overall charge of the EU's largest eastern member state, said "there is no sense in being concerned about this". "We have...

Ed Schultz, the progressive talk radio host and former MSNBC personality, has landed at RT America -- the Kremlin-backed cable news channel that has been criticized for advocating a pro-Russian agenda.

Below are the key figures for Russian Federation population in 2015: 1,932,227 live births 1,907,361 deaths Natural increase: 24 866 people Net migration: 76 060 people

It's said that some people will believe anything. And that's what Guardian editors must be thinking, based on their latest story on the Litvinenko affair. It's titled "Fresh Evidence Suggests Litvinenko Was Killed to Keep Him Quiet." Here's what the Guardian wants its readers to believe: 1. Some bad actor (widely expected to be the Russian state according to the Guardian) wanted to "prevent [Litvinenko] from testifying about Vladimir Putin’s links with Russian organized crime." 2. That there is now added "credence to the theory that eliminating Litvinenko was a matter of utmost urgency for the Kremlin." 3. "Amateur killers"...

A stunning new Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) report circulating in the Kremlin today states that one of the United States Navy’s top commanders was relieved of his command a few hours ago after he sent out an “email/posting” revealing that President Barack Obama was in the process of purchasing a multi-million dollar seaside luxury villa in the United Arab Emirates city (UAE) of Dubai. According to this report, the Commander of the US Navy’s Carrier Strike Group 15, Rear Admiral Rick Williams, posted a “pointed” query on 8 January [since deleted] to the US Naval Institute’s “Readiness Kill Chain” “recipients/responders”...

At least five people have been killed in a missile strike on a Medecins Sans Frontieres medical facility in Yemen. The organization 'strongly condemns this', while adding that 10 people have been injured in the attack. 'We can confirm five dead people; we have transferred several injured to our other hospital in Sanaa, some of them are in critical condition,' MSF director of operations Raquel Ayora told RT. "The hospital is no longer functioning. It's been decreasing its services to the civilian population over the last months, only running life-saving and essential services. And right now there is no capacity...

Republican primary front-runner Donald Trump says North Korean communist dictator Kim Jong-un deserves "credit" for the cutthroat efficiency with which he disposes of his political foes. "If you look at North Korea, this guy, he's like a maniac, OK?" Trump said at a rally in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Saturday. "And you've got to give him credit: How many young guys - he was like 26 or 25 when his father died - take over these tough generals and all of a sudden, you know, it's pretty amazing when you think of it. How does he do that?" he added. “Even...

The Navy released a video Saturday showing an Iranian military ship firing a rocket last month near U.S. and French military vessels and commercial ships in the Persian Gulf. The Dec. 26 incident appears to be the latest in a series by Iran that are raising concerns about the rogue nation, as the United States and other world powers prepare to lift crippling economic sanctions in exchange for Tehran curtailing its pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The most recent incident occurred in the Strait of Hormuz, which is the only nautical passage for oil-laden ships going to and from the...

Obama Plans Takedown of Another U.S. Ally Cliff Kincaid President Obama failed to take out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but now he’s going after Canada’s Conservative Party Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a big supporter of Israel and opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It’s a story the U.S. media won’t cover. But Judi McLeod of the Canada Free Press has been documenting how Obama is planning the “fundamental transformation” of Canada by taking down Harper’s government and bringing to power a progressive majority assembled from Canada’s Liberal Party and New Democratic Party (NDP), an affiliate of the Socialist International....

OWEN SOUND, Ont. — A Conservative MP has apologized for telling a radio station that Muslim women who want to wear a niqab while taking the oath of citizenship should "stay the hell where you came from." Larry Miller, who represents the riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, made the comment Monday in the wake of a Federal Court ruling that struck down a ban on face coverings during citizenship oaths. "I think most Canadians feel the same. That's maybe saying it a little harshly, but it's the way I feel," Miller told 560 CFOS AM. "I'm so sick and tired of...

Justin Trudeau will tell his “life’s story” in a memoir to be published this fall — one year before he goes to the polls asking Canadian voters to make him prime minister. The Liberal leader’s book will be published by HarperCollins Canada, the publisher announced Tuesday. The “personal memoir” will appear in both English and French. “Mr. Trudeau’s candid memoir will reveal to its readers the experiences that have shaped him over the course of his life and show how his passion for Canada and its people took root,” the publisher said in a news release. “Covering the years from...

The federal Liberals officially named Justin Trudeau their new leader Sunday. He won the support of about 80 per cent of Liberals who voted. Trudeau, 41, secured an overwhelming first-ballot victory, 45 years to the month after his father took the same position.

Widespread corruption destroys empires. By way of example, corruption was one of the main causes of the collapse of the Roman Empire: The Praetorian Guard—the emperor’s personal bodyguards—assassinated and installed new sovereigns at will, and once even auctioned the spot off to the highest bidder [and see this]. The political rot also extended to the Roman Senate, which failed to temper the excesses of the emperors due to its own widespread corruption and incompetence. As the situation worsened, civic pride waned and many Roman citizens lost trust in their leadership. The Ottoman Empire started its decline when the sale of...

An Islamic State militant carried out a public "execution" of his mother because she asked him to leave the group, activists say. Ali Saqr, 21, killed his mother, Lena al-Qasem, 45, outside the post office in Raqqa, Syria, eyewitnesses said.