The Russian military has launched airstrikes against the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria with cruise missiles from their ships in the Mediterranean Sea, France’s Le Monde newspaper said, citing a French official. The information that Russia has struck Islamic State positions in Raqqa has been also reported by a senior French government source, cited by Reuters. [...]

The Russian plane crash in Sinai, Egypt, was caused by a terrorist attack as traces of explosives have been found in the wreckage of the plane, Federal Security Service director Aleksandr Bortnikov told President Vladimir Putin. “We can say that that [Sinai plane crash] was a terror act,” Bortnikov told Putin. According to the FSB chief, experts analyzed passengers’ belongings as well a [...]

In a rare interview with Russian media outlets, RT among them, Syrian leader Bashar Assad spoke about global and domestic terrorism threats, the need for a united front against jihadism, Western propaganda about the refugee crisis and ways to bring peace to his war-torn nation. [...]

President Vladimir Putin says he’s shared Russian intelligence data on Islamic State financing with his G20 colleagues: the terrorists appear to be financed from 40 countries, including some G20 member states. During the summit, “I provided examples based on our data on the financing of different Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) units by private individuals. [...]

France has carried out a massive airstrike on an Islamic State stronghold in Raqqa, Syria. It struck dozen’s of targets including a command and control center, training camp and munitions warehouse, the country’s defense ministry announced. Twelve French aircraft, including 10 fighter jets, took part in the country’s biggest air raid in Syria, the statement from the defense ministry read. [...]

In response to the deadly Paris attacks, the French military has deployed a further 1,000 troops to ensure safety on the capital’s streets. The military deployment comes amid French Defense Ministry’s promises to revise national security strategy. [...]

Coping with the terrorist threat and assisting refugees is only possible by combined efforts, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during an informal meeting of the leaders of the BRICS countries, which is running on the margins of the G20 summit in Antalya. "We all understand perfectly well that coping with the terrorist threat and helping millions of people who have lost their homes, is poss [...]

A day after the devastating terror attacks in Paris, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said his country’s intelligence services had warned governments of three countries, including France, that terrorists had chosen as primary targets. “Information has been obtained from Iraqi intelligence sources that the countries to be targeted soon are Europe in general, specifically France, as [...]

Europe is close to reintroducing border checks throughout the continent after emergency talks on the refugee crisis collapsed when EU members and Shengen area states failed to reach agreement. European Council President Donald Tusk warned on Thursday time was running out to save the Schengen area – the open borders zone encompassing much of Europe. [...]

The world is mourning with France, the victims of Friday’s terror assaults in Paris that claimed the lives of at least 129 people. Security has been tightened up globally as Islamic State, who claimed responsibility for the massacre, threatened more violence. A second person who was reportedly involved in the Paris massacre is “very likely” to have entered European Union via Greece, sourc [...]

In the aftermath of the slew of horrific terror attacks in Paris last night, European nations must come to admit that, with their continuous and blind support of US foreign policy, they are sowing the seeds of their own demise. For more than a year and a half, Washington, with little concern for consequences, has used Europe as a tool in its futile attempts to batter Russia into submission. [...]

Aeroflot subsidiary Pobeda will start flying to Vienna and Bratislava from December 19. Tickets are on sale from Thursday with prices starting from 999 rubles ($15) including taxes and fees. The $15 promotional tickets will be offered to loyal customers, with one or two tickets available per flight, Russian business media RBK reported last week. [...]

Microsoft is building two new data centers to hold the data of its German and EU customers, the company has announced. EU courts recently ruled a previous data-transfer treaty with the US invalid, following the Snowden revelations of NSA data collection. Starting in late 2016, Microsoft’s cloud offerings will be hosted from the new data centers in Magdeburg and Frankfurt, CEO Satya Nadella an [...]

As Syrian peace talks pick up speed, should we hope for any progress in ending the war? This conflict is a riddle, surely - as years go on, it becomes more and more difficult to sort out who’s fighting whom and for what purpose. And over that boiling pot of violence and blood, major powers – Russia, America, Gulf States, Iran – play their own game, no less convoluted, with goals and forces u [...]

The death of Helmut Schmidt genuinely marks the end of an era. The 96-year-old former German Chancellor and celebrated media pundit was a voice of reason in an increasingly self-destructive Europe. In a country renowned for both conjuring and vigorously applying rules, Germany’s smoking laws have been a modern day aberration. [...]

Elite Syrian army units have broken the siege of Kweires airbase, following weeks of intense fighting against Islamic State and other jihadist forces. The base, which opens up routes for offensives against Raqqa and Aleppo, had been encircled for nearly two years. [...]

Amid intensifying U.S. military operations in Iraq and Syria, a group of 35 bipartisan House lawmakers issued an open letter on Friday calling for Congress to fulfill its responsibility by voting "as quickly as possible" on whether to authorize a war that is well over a year old. [...]

At no time in history has the persecution of Christians been as intense and widespread as it is at the moment. There is a global war on Christians, which has escalated in scale and intensity since the US invasion of Iraq. After the deliberate destruction of nation states and government structures all over the Middle East, Islamist groups have seized the opportunity to wage war on and persecute [...]

A Belgian court has given Facebook 48 hours to stop tracking the online activities of non-Facebook users in Belgium unless they have their explicit consent or face a daily fine of €250,000. The internet giant has pledged to appeal the decision. [...]

I think there is no ‘love lost’ between Netanyahu and President Obama: they dislike each other at a personal level. But for reasons of politics they will shake hands and smile, says Professor James Petras of Binghamton University. [...]

The US is not interested in defeating ISIS but would want to control its movements to create a geopolitical balance on the ground and provide the US-led coalition with leverage at the Vienna talks, said Middle East geopolitics analyst Sharmine Narwani. [...]

Media claiming Russian airliner attack likely an "inside job" Alex breaks down the "inside job" and the Orwellian language culture surrounding the mainstream media's use of the term. /* */ [...]