Brutal monster, tyrant and sadist or modernizer, victor and reformer - it's hard to find a more controversial figure in Russian history than Joseph Stalin. And while successive Russian leaders have approached his legacy differently, it remains as divisive today as ever. Can Russia come to terms with its dramatic past and is it possible to achieve closure, considering the mark this towering fig [...]

Ankara is worried about possible Kurdish-American collaboration after the backing the Kurds got from Moscow, says Dr. Jamal Wakim, Professor of History and International Relations at Lebanese University. Turkey says it will carry out a military operation against ISIS in the near future, without specifying when. [...]

In an interview with Swedish media, whistle-blower Edward Snowden opened up about CIA torture, ISIS, and mass surveillance. Two-and-a-half years after revealing the NSA’s mass surveillance tactics, he says he’s “very comfortable” with his choices. [...]

Solar provides 100 percent of electricity to airport, with excess power sold to the grid and bought back at night. Cochin International Airport in southern India’s Kerala state may be best known as the gateway to the tourist beaches and houseboats of the region’s famous backwaters. Now it has a new claim to fame: world’s first solar airport. Since August, the airport has used 46,000 so [...]

One month after the U.S. bombing of a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Afghanistan killed at least 30 people and wounded dozens more, the Obama administration refuses to submit to an independent inquiry while the aid group charges that the lack of global outcry over the incident has become deafening. [...]

President Vladimir Putin has agreed with the Federal Security Service to halt all Russian flights to Egypt following an October 31 passenger plane crash in Sinai that killed all 224 people on board. [...]

Transparency International warns: "Corruption has fueled political unrest, extremism, and formed a narrative for violent extremist groups" Western nations—led by the United States—are selling large quantities of weapons to governments in the Middle East and North Africa, providing little oversight for how these arms are used, and thereby fueling corruption and conflict in countries from Sau [...]

When I was a kid, three presidents told us we had to fight in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, because if we didn’t fight them over there, we’d have to fight them on the beaches of California. We believed. It was a lie. I was a teenager during the Cold War, and several presidents told us we needed to create massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons, garrison the world, invade Cuba, fight in odd litt [...]

Newly acquired documents show the Pentagon spent nearly $400 million, or $2 million per fighter, on its failed train-and-equip program, according to USA Today. The Pentagon claims the actual cost was $30,000 per trainee. [...]

Damascus is opposed to having US troops on its soil, thus the US is committing aggression and international crimes against the nation of Syria, says Daniel McAdams, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute. [...]

DOHA - Amidst the wilderness of mirrors surrounding the Syrian tragedy, a diamond-shaped fact persists: Despite so many degrees of separation, the Saudis are still talking to the Russians. Why? A key reason is because a perennially paranoid House of Saud feels betrayed by their American protectors who, under the Obama administration, seem to have given up on isolating Iran. [...]

The devaluation of its currency opens up new possibilities for the Russian economy, says Birgit Hansl, World Bank lead economist for Russia. “For the first time in decades, “Made in Russia” might have a chance to become again a global trademark. [...]

A Russian fighter jet was forced to enter Turkish airspace in early October while performing an evasive maneuver against a surface-to-air missile system, the commander of Russia’s Air Force said. “Our fighter jet was on a combat mission in Northern Syria in very dense cloud conditions.  [...]

An EU panel on Ukraine has slammed Kiev’s investigation into the May 2014 violence in Ukraine’s southern city of Odessa, saying it lacks independence. It also added there's evidence that police were complicit in the disorder. [...]

For the third year in a row, Forbes has ranked the Russian President as the most powerful person in the world, putting Vladimir Putin above Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama. “Putin continues to prove he’s one of the few men in the world powerful enough to do what he wants,” the magazine said. [...]

Until recently, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was considered to be the most powerful politician in Europe. But now, her approach to the refugee crisis has her under fire at home and in Brussels. Can she survive? For almost three quarters of an hour, it was as though there was no refugee crisis in Germany. [...]

To be part of the European Union means you have to shed your national identity and be part of everybody. It is no longer acceptable to be yourself. This agenda serves the 1 percent and Washington, Paul Craig Roberts told RT in an interview.   [...]

Let's remind ourselves to one of the classic Putin moments, exemplifying his leadership skills. Once the richest man in Russia, the aluminum magnate suffered the indignity of a dressing down from Putin broadcast on state TV (05/06/2009) "You made thousands of people hostages to your ambitions, to your professionalism, and, maybe, simply to your greed," Putin announced. "Where is business's socia [...]

Facing a record influx of refugees, the Austrian government has proposed measures toughening requirements for asylum seekers and reunification with their families. The UN refugee agency has denounced the move, saying it will lead to more suffering. [...]

Russian and US air forces have staged joint drills to practice air safety measures in the skies over Syria, according to the Russian General Staff, which also reported that its military has begun to coordinate with Syria’s moderate opposition forces. In the course of the drills, both the air crews and ground services of Russian and US forces drilled procedures aimed at avoiding problems in ca [...]

"United We Fall" A film by Bryan Law and Dan Dicks is a documentary about the North American Union that is being developed right now between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. For years this topic has been debated in the news and in political circles as being a possible future for North America. In recent years, the mood has shifted and a rift is developing between those who want a Deeply In [...]

Russia, what a nerve they have! How dare of them to move their country so close to out military bases. Those bad Russians should not get away with that! The US needs to cancel Healthcare, Social Security and increase the debt ceiling to have all the budget to chase the Russians to the moon. Then... there will be piece on earth! [...]