BRICS states should support their IT-companies and open their markets to each other in order to challenge the US monopoly in the sphere, Russia’s minister of Communications and Mass Media said at the first meeting of the BRICS Communications Ministers. [...]

Israel wanted to send commandos to break into the Fordo nuclear facility in Iran and sabotage it from the inside, WSJ reports. The US considered it a suicide mission and refused to sell Israel military hardware that could be used in such a raid. [...]

Russia’s intervention in Syria amid the EU migrant crisis has possibly prevented a NATO induced crisis similar to the one in Kosovo, where refuges where used as an excuse for bombing, suggests international affairs commentator Marco Gasic. [...]

The Middle East’s biggest economy, Saudi Arabia may run out of financial assets within the next five years if the government maintains its current policies, warns the International Monetary Fund. The conflicts have given rise to large numbers of displaced people and refugees, on a scale not seen since the early 1990s, according to the report. [...]

Russia and Jordan agreed to create a coordination center in Amman, which will be used by the two countries to share information on the counter-terrorism operations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. Russia is already in touch with Iran, Iraq and Syria through a Baghdad-based center used for the same purpose. [...]

There can be no "moderate" terrorists, President Putin said, speaking about the situation in the Middle East at the Valdai discussion forum. "Why play with words dividing terrorists into moderate and not moderate. What's the difference?" Putin told the forum. [...]

Turkey is pressuring Germany to create “safe zones” inside Syria as a “price” for alleviating the EU’s refugee crisis. It’s a Faustian bargain that could escalate the Syrian conflict, where NATO forces could end up pitted against Russia’s military. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hot-footing to Istanbul last weekend was capped with a U-turn regarding Turkey’s much sought-aft [...]

The approval rating of President Vladimir Putin is now higher than ever at 89.9 percent and pollsters say the fresh surge in the Russian leader’s popularity is due to the successful anti-terrorist operation in Syria. “Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has set a new record at 89.9 percent refreshing the previous maximum set in June 2015 [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin plays a key role in fighting global terrorism, his Argentinian counterpart Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner told RT, after speaking with the Russian leader on Wednesday. The two presidents held a video conference to mark 130 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and discussed Russian-Argentinian partnership in a number of fields. [...]

Another certified moron bites the dust! JOHN SIMPSON, BBC: Western countries almost universally now believe that there’s a new Cold War and that you, frankly, have decided to create that. We see, almost daily, Russian aircraft taking sometimes quite dangerous man oeuvres towards western airspace. That must be done on your orders; you’re the Commander-in-Chief. It must have bee [...]

Iraq's ruling alliance has written to the country’s prime minister, requesting Russian help in the fight against ISIS terrorists. An Iraqi politician told RT that the public wants Russian involvement and there is breakdown in trust with the Americans. [...]

Human rights groups have condemned Saudi Arabia after the beheading of five foreigners this week. Experts warn 2015 will mark a dramatic increase in public executions, as 80 people have already been killed, compared to 88 in the whole of 2014. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar Assad held talks in Moscow on Tuesday. The Syrian leader said Russia’s actions have prevented the terrorists from seizing larger areas in his country. “Yesterday evening Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Moscow for a working visit,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. [...]

The whole Global South is now informed about how the Russian campaign in Syria has swiftly smashed all of ‘Exceptionalistan’s’ elaborate plans for a “Greater Middle East.” These plans span everything from the Wolfowitz Doctrine to Dr. Zbig “Grand Chessboard” Brzezinski’s categorical imperative of preventing the emergence of a strategic competitor across Eurasia. [...]

Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner has agreed to look into a complaint filed by an Austrian law student claiming that Facebook has made his personal data available to US intelligent services and doesn’t guarantee a sufficient level of security. [...]

US-led airstrikes have killed 52 Syrian civilians in one day, a monitoring group reports. There was fighting in the vicinity, but the strike allegedly failed to kill even a single Islamist fighter. The US military, however, denies the report.   [...]

Russia and the US have signed an agreement regulating the operations of the two countries' air forces in Syria. The deal is aimed at preventing incidents and providing for the smooth operation of the two nations' aircraft, and for mutual aid in critical situations. [...]

The unearthing of classified memos, revealing that Tony Blair committed Britain to following the US into the war in Iraq, regardless of its legality, suggests the net may finally be closing in on a man whom many consider a war criminal. The UK tabloid, the Mail on Sunday, has published damning memos that show the former British PM had agreed to the invasion of Iraq a full year before it had be [...]

The French Ambassador to Russia has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry after a French Air Force warplane allegedly came dangerously close to a Russian aircraft carrying State Duma speaker Sergey Naryshkin. [...]