The host of RT's InTheNow show asked the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman some tough questions during a 26-minute interview. Anissa Naouai wanted to know if Russian media are following a narrative from the Kremlin to counter BBC and CNN [...]

Russo-Syrian military actions on the ground indicate that Syria is not heading toward a "quagmire" or a low-intensity guerrilla war, but rather to a clear military outcome, former British intelligence (MI6) official Alastair Crooke notes. [...]

A Syrian military source said the battle for Aleppo, a major prize in a war which has killed a quarter of a million people, would continue in "all directions." World powers pressed Russia on Wednesday to stop bombing around Aleppo in support of a Syrian government offensive to recapture the city and a Western official said Moscow had presented a proposal envisaging a truce in three weeks' time. [...]

BEIRUT -- Late in the night on Feb. 2, the news hit: "all communication and supply line[s]" between Turkey and Aleppo had been severed, according to a Elijah Magnier, a renowned Arab war correspondent with Alrai Media Group. It seems to be so: the Syrian army and allied militias, backed by Hezbollah and Russian air power, took control of a tendril of territory that cuts off Aleppo-based rebels fro [...]

The dramatic success of the Syrian Army's operation to liberate Aleppo province and to surround the jihadist-held section of the key city of Aleppo has left Washington scrambling to find ways to "delay or derail" the operation "and avoid the impending collapse of US policy in Syria," writes independent US journalist Mike Whitney. [...]

NATO keeps backing Turkey, one of its members, despite its aid to the Islamic State and other jihadists fighting Syria’s secular government — and even though Turkey’s erratic President Erdogan may be leading NATO into a risky showdown with Syria’s Russian allies, writes Jonathan Marshall. [...]

The European Commission says going back to internal border controls on a long-term basis is likely to cost €18 billion. This is just the direct cost and excludes possible secondary effects. “If a process is set in motion putting at risk the depth of economic integration, including the proper functioning of economic and monetary union, the medium-term indirect costs may be dramatically highe [...]

Google’s European boss told MPs he does not know his own salary during a grilling over the tech giant’s controversial tax affairs. Matt Brittin appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday to answer questions regarding a deal struck between Google and the government, whereby the internet company paid a mere £130 million (US$185 million) in tax in the last 10 years. [...]

NATO and its allies talk about sending forces into Syria not to defeat ISIS but out of fear the Syrian government in alliance with Russia, Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards may defeat ISIS, political analyst Caleb Maupin told RT. The Western media is reporting that Russia is to propose a ceasefire in Syria starting March, 1 as part of a growing frenzy over Moscow's involvement [...]

In an angry tirade Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Washington of causing the bloodbath in Syria by not recognizing as terrorists the Kurdish forces fighting against Islamic State in the region. Bringing a new level of pressure to bear on its NATO ally, the Turkish president questioned Washington’s commitment as a fellow coalition member. [...]

When western media makes up stories about Russia, it's no big deal. When Russian media get things wrong, it's "hybrid war." Last week, British state-controlled TV created hysteria with a documentary about a putative Russian invasion of Latvia. [...]

Kiev risks returning the country to an uncontrolled economic crisis if reforms and tight fiscal policy are not continued, Ukraine’s Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko said on Wednesday. Last year Ukraine's GDP contracted 10.5 percent while inflation hit more than 45 percent, the second-worst after Venezuela. [...]

NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels have agreed to form an “enhanced” rotational force in Eastern Europe and step up military exercises there. The move comes despite multiple Russian appeals to the alliance to avoid provocative steps. “NATO Defense Ministers agreed on an enhanced forward presence in the eastern part of our Alliance,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said [...]

The premier of the German state of Bavaria has lashed out at Chancellor Angela Merkel's handling of the refugee crisis, calling the current policy a “rule of injustice” – a term typically used to describe dictatorships or oppressive regimes. [...]

Two US Air Force A-10 warplanes carried out airstrikes on Aleppo Wednesday, destroying nine facilities, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported. The same day, the Pentagon accused Moscow of bombing two hospitals, despite no Russian flights over the city. [...]

The neocons and liberal hawks who dominate the U.S. foreign policy and media establishment are pushing the world toward a nuclear showdown with Russia as few people hear a comprehensive response from the other side, an imbalance that a new Russian documentary addresses, writes Gilbert Doctorow. Without mincing words, the new Russian documentary World Order is a devastating critique of U.S. glob [...]

Clear evidence that the Syrian conflict has reached a critical stage comes with the Saudi announcement that it is willing to send troops to Syria – along with the UAE and Bahrain – to help try and overthrow Assad under the pretext of fighting ISIS. Just four months ago, the fate of the Assad government appeared all but sealed. [...]

Moscow provided the Netherlands with radar and other data on the MH17 crash but it has all been ignored, a Russian aviation official said, responding to the relatives of Dutch victims who recently wrote to President Vladimir Putin. Oleg Storchevoy, the deputy head of Rosaviatsia, the agency representing Russia in the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash investigation, has personally addressed th [...]

Prominent US linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky has lashed out at Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who has accused him of being “dark” and having “mentality of colonialism” for signing an open letter protesting Ankara’s military op against the Kurds. [...]

Many Middle Eastern countries have repeatedly expressed their desire to purchase large shipments of Russian T-90 tanks. If not a direct opposition from Washington, this machine possibly would have become indispensable in Arab East and in Iran. [...]

Riled by a meeting between a US official and members of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which controls the Syrian town of Kobane, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Washington to choose between Turkey and, as he put it, the “terrorists.” [...]

The Saudi plan to send ground troops into Syria appears to be just a ruse. But this is precisely the kind of reckless saber-rattling that could ignite an all-out war, one that could embroil the United States and Russia. Saudi rulers have reportedly amassed a 150,000-strong army to invade Syria on the alleged pretext “to fight against terrorism” and to defeat the so-called Islamic State (a [...]