This has to be seen to be believed. The Young Turks really need to get a non-progressive on to bring some reason to their echo chamber.   /* */ [...]

Republican Virginia state Senator Dick Black said Saudi Arabia and Turkey are the greatest threats to world peace in an interview with RT, adding that Saudi Arabia’s “absolute barbarity” is overlooked because of its long-standing relationship with the US. [...]

A video of a well-built male doctor knocking out a patient in a hospital in the Russian town of Belgorod has emerged online. The man died, while his companion, who tried to stand up for him, was also brutally beaten by the doctor. The incident happened on December 29 last year in municipal hospital of Belgorod in southwestern Russia. The violent attack was captured by the hospital security came [...]

There is a longstanding tradition of EU leaders turning a blind eye to the behavior of the Ukrainian leadership even though it doesn’t correspond to what is called Western values, said French economist Jacques Sapir. Moscow has accused President Poroshenko's advisor Yuri Biryukov of using Nazi rhetoric. In his post on Facebook Biryukov said he was “squeamish” about Russians and compared [...]

In a volatile world, predictions are a risky business. But they are required in the intelligence community where analysts are called on not only to assess what happened but to anticipate what will happen, a process that ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller continues as he assesses his last year’s accuracy. [...]

In 2016, the United States and Europe's long-term relationship will turn into a "hollow" alliance, with the Old World opting to cooperate with Russia and China, the world's largest political risk consultancy Eurasia Group asserted in its forecast for the year. "The transatlantic partnership has been the world's most durable and significant alliance, underpinning the global economic order and bo [...]

Russia would make a much better ‘world gendarme’ than the US, according to Austrian media. During the course of human history Russia often acted as a force of righteousness, according to Austrian author Thomas Roth. And as today many people across the globe turn to Russia for assistance, it's possible that level-headed Moscow would make a better ‘world’ gendarme than egotistical Wash [...]

Crimea's authorities are ready to assist Limp Bizkit's vocalist Fred Durst finding somewhere to stay on the peninsula, according to Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea Dmitry Polonsky. Earlier Durst expressed his desire to own a house in Crimea, and also said that he "wouldn't mind getting a Russian passport." [...]

The Ukraine crisis represents just another failure of neocon-driven "regime change," strikingly similar to those orchestrated by Washington in the Middle East and North Africa, US investigative journalist Robert Parry notes, warning that Ukraine may soon become the next failed state. Two years after the US-fomented coup, Ukraine continues "to wallow in graft and cronyism" while the living stand [...]

The 12th annual Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Russia's Sochi has focused on international armed conflicts. Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking part in its final plenary session devoted to the crisis in the Middle East. Russian President Vladimir Putin says a number of "mistakes" committed by the US, Russia and NATO following the break-up of the Soviet Union has led to the current det [...]

Russia has started supplying the southern Ukrainian city of Henichesk with natural gas at the request of local authorities amid severe frosts in the region, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said Monday. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Henichesk Mayor Alexander Tulupov, in view of cold weather conditions in the region, has addressed the Russian side with a request to supp [...]

Last week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met for six hours with Polish political patriarch Jaroslaw Kaczynski at Niedzica Castle in southern Poland. With virtually no details available on the meeting, journalists were quick to speculate, some suggesting that the two political outsiders were hatching a conspiracy. In his analysis, recently published on the website of independent Russian [...]

The European Union follows the United States when it comes to foreign policy, and isn't using any pressure to make Ukraine implement the terms of the Minsk Agreements despite its claims, a political analyst told RIA Novosti. The European Union isn't using its influence on Kiev when it comes implementing the Minsk Agreement to resolve the conflict in the south-east of the country, the deputy dir [...]

Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro lashed out against European Digital Economy & Society Commissioner Gunther Oettinger’s criticism of the recent changes to Poland’s legislation. Earlier, Oettinger had criticized a new law signed by Polish President Andrzej Duda that tightens government control over the media. [...]

The Ukrainian authorities' drive to further spoil relations with Russia is fraught with disastrous consequences for Kiev, according to Radio France International. Kiev's determination to continue to spoil ties with Moscow may have a "disastrous impact" on Ukraine in the end, Radio France International (RFI) reported. [...]

Russian combat aircraft carried out over 300 missions in Syria since the beginning of 2016, hitting about 1,100 terrorist targets in ten provinces, the Russian General Staff said Monday. "With the help of the Russian aviation the Syrian Democratic Forces under the command of Ayman Flyat al-Ganim continue the advance on the Daesh capital — Raqqa. They have taken control over al-Salhiya, Rdzhem [...]

The brittle insecurity of the Saudi rulers will have been shattered even more this past week, with Washington’s political establishment openly calling into question the historic alliance between the two countries. Saudi Arabia was denounced in the main editorial pages of both the New York Times and the Washington Post – the US’ two leading newspapers – for its “dangerous sectarian pol [...]

Step-by-step Russia, China and other emerging economies are taking measures to reduce their dependence on the US dollar, F. William Engdahl notes, referring to Russia's crude oil benchmark initiative; the move could deal a dramatic blow to the "petrodollar's" dominance. [...]

Fed up with the ongoing conflict and seeing no light at the end of the tunnel, the people of Mali have started a petition asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to save their country from the ongoing crisis, the newspaper Actusen.com reported. "France isn't for peace in Mali," the committee that started the petition campaign believes, according to Actusen.com. [...]