The upper chamber of the Russian parliament has unanimously given a formal consent to President Putin to use the nation’s military in Syria to fight terrorism at a request from the Syrian President Bashar Assad. Consent was necessary for use of the country's military for foreign combat missions under the Russian constitution. [...]

The Pentagon is reportedly reviewing and updating its contingency plans for a war with Russia for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with a defense official telling US media that Russia's “actions” prompted the assessment. “Given the security environment, given the actions of Russia, it has become apparent that we need to make sure to update the plans that we have in r [...]

Sustainable development, global security and efforts to diffuse ongoing conflicts, many of which have resulted in explosive global refugee crises, top the agenda of the 70th anniversary UN General Assembly session that has begun its work in New York. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) speech marathon will see more than 160 leaders in attendance at the 70th anniversary. [...]

Europe could not host all refugees, the Dalai Lama has said, adding that the real solution to the current refugee crisis lies in the Middle East. The Tibetan Buddhist leader has called for the ending violence in the refugees’ home countries. The Dalai Lama addressed the issue of the ongoing refugee crisis in his speech at the opening of the Dalai Lama Centre for Compassion in Oxford, which is [...]

The UN special peace envoy to Syria has urged the international community to take advice from Russia to resolve the four-year-long civil war that has claimed 210,000 lives and left 1.5 million Syrians with injuries and disabilities. “Russia has influence on Damascus, and it’s very important that they get involved," Staffan de Mistura, who was challenged by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-mo [...]

Syrian Girl on the monumental media deception behind the crisis Syrian Girl explains how the crisis is being exploited by both governments and economic migrants who aren’t even refugees. [...]

Transparent effort to demonize sound money and gold standard. A video purportedly released by Al Hayat, said to be the Islamic State’s media center, extols the gold standard and Austrian economics. Video has been removed! The video, featuring a perfect English voice over, denounces the Federal Reserve: …as history repeated itself, one of the great forms of corruption that the earth cam [...]

There is much the ancient world can still teach us, and one of the key lessons today is that mass migration - motivated by war, societal collapse, and poverty - is capable of destroying even the mightiest of empires. At the height of its power, the Roman Empire was so vast and omnipotent that it was run on the basis of the dictum: "Roma locuta est. Causa finita est" (Rome has spoken. The cause [...]

Nearly one in every hundred people on Earth today has been forced to flee their home in search of safety elsewhere. The vast majority are running from entirely man-made disasters that have unfolded under the watch of an increasingly lethargic UN Security Council. According to the UN’s own High Commissioner for Refugees nearly ten million people have been displaced by the conflict in Syria, wh [...]

In the latest atrocity in Yemen, Saudi warplanes bombed a residential area, killing at least 65 people. Most of the victims are reported to be civilians from the Salah district of Taiz, Yemen's third largest city. The apparent war crime committed has tragically become an almost daily occurrence during five months of relentless aerial bombardment of Yemen by a Western-backed coalition of foreign [...]

Parliament should not vote on military action against Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Syria until the Chilcot Inquiry’s report into the 2003 invasion of Iraq has been published, a senior Tory MP has warned David Cameron. David Davis MP, a vocal opponent of intervention, said the report should be published urgently in light of calls for extending airstrikes from Iraq into Syria. [...]

The US Air Force said its F-22 Raptor stealth fighters will be sent to Europe to show “commitment to the security and stability” of its allies. The Air Force Secretary tied the move to the US’ “approach to Russia,” linking it to the crisis in Ukraine. The deployment, slated to occur “very soon,” was described as part of the “European Reassurance Initiative,” Air Force Secretar [...]

Washington's refusal to declassify documents that could inform the UK probe into the 2003 invasion of Iraq is a major scandal in London. Yet the State Department spokesman says he has never heard of the Chilcot Inquiry. Convened in 2009, the British probe into the Iraq War was named after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot. [...]

Kiev has been deploying anti-personnel mines in Donbass in breach of Ukraine’s own laws as well as international treaties, claims a former high-ranking Ukrainian officer and chief of the engineering service, who refused to obey the “illegal” and “inhumane” order. In February 2014 Vadim Yatsulyak served as chief of the engineering service of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine, before bei [...]

Calls are increasing for the prosecution of George W. Bush administration officials tied to the CIA torture program. On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch called on Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor who would investigate the crimes detailed in the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the program. On Monday, The New York Times editori [...]

An Israeli ex-IDF soldier fighting alongside rebels in eastern Ukraine has told the Jerusalem Post that she is battling against “pro-Nazi activists” who torture and murder civilians and soldiers alike. Ina Levitan, 37, a Tel Aviv resident who was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, said she has been in the conflict zone near the city of Lugansk since late 2014. [...]

The US didn’t interfere with the rise of anti-government jihadist groups in Syria that finally degenerated into Islamic State, claims the former head of America’s Defense Intelligence Agency, backing a secret 2012 memo predicting their rise. An interview with retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), given to Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan, [...]

The US and Turkey have come to a tentative agreement in Syria, whereby Ankara is opening its territories to American troops in an attempt to defeat terror. Or is it that terror needs military backing to depose Syrian President Bashar Assad? It is difficult to tell these days. America's neocons simply will not tolerate peace to drive the global narrative! [...]

Deputy head of the Federation Council’s committee for foreign affairs has said an international court must look into all US wars, in particular the Vietnam campaign that killed thousands of civilians and caused significant damage to many innocent people. Russian senator urges international tribunal into US-Vietnam war Deputy head of the Federation Council’s committee for foreign affairs ha [...]

We express our deepest condolences to the relatives of all 283 passengers and 15 crewmembers – victims of the dreadful tragedy, the downing of MH17 one year ago. We condemn the destruction of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 by unidentified individuals and confirm our position in favor of the inevitability of punishment for having committed this criminal act once the investigation is complet [...]

The leader of the Ukrainian far-right group Right Sector has called on the National Guard, army and security forces to stop obeying Kiev's orders amid the ongoing standoff between their armed nationalists and police in western Ukraine. “Nobody can take away our right to a last fight,” Yarosh wrote on his Facebook page, calling the Ukrainian government “traitors.” [...]

With debris of Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 still covering the crash site in eastern Ukraine, the investigation of the July 17, 2014 tragedy is surrounded by secrecy. RT talked to international experts and the victims’ families, still waiting for answers. He was a good man, a good brother. He promised to take me one day on board of his plane... He wanted to take me to Europe, but instead I br [...]