Perhaps proving Egypt is “ruled by lunatics,” as the child’s defense lawyer put it, a four-year-old boy has been sentenced to life in prison on multiple counts of murder for crimes allegedly committed when he was just two years old.   [...]

While Russia has presented a draft resolution to the United Nations asking all parties to respect Syria’s right to sovereignty, the United States and France have criticized the move as a mere distraction. This is unsurprising given that the US and France are both currently violating Syria’s sovereignty. [...]

The risk that the multi-sided Syrian war could spark World War III continues as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and U.S. neocons seek an invasion that could kill Russian troops — and possibly escalate the Syrian crisis into a nuclear showdown, amazingly to protect Al Qaeda terrorists, reports Robert Parry. When President Barack Obama took questions from reporters on Tuesday, [...]

The European Union cannot handle another year of the refugee crisis, the prime minister of Denmark said on Friday, stressing that the burden cannot be the responsibility of just a few countries. “We need to find solutions that work. [...]

The chief Dutch prosecutor investigating the downing of flight MH17, in Ukraine in July 2014, has reportedly told victims’ families that experts hope to gather evidence on the type of missile and spot it was fired from “by the second half of the year.” [...]

China has signed a contract to buy 24 Sukhoi Su-35 multipurpose fighter jets from Russia, becoming the first foreign buyer of the advanced warplane, according to manufacturer Rostec. The deal, estimated to be worth $2 billion, is a significant boost to Russia’s arms exports. [...]

President Obama has a bee in his bonnet about Putin and he keeps denying the reality, Professor Stephen F. Cohen, who wrote The Nation article ‘The Obama administration recklessly escalates confrontation with Russia’, told RT’s Ed Schultz. [...]

The Western powers don’t care about Syria, they don’t care about Lebanon; those countries are expendable. The goal is to destroy the modernizing countries in the region, political writer Diana Johnstone tells RT. Five years ago a day of rage was proclaimed in Libya with anti-government protesters pouring onto the streets across the country. [...]

A protest by French farmers has taken place in Paris. Large crowds gathered to decry the low prices of agricultural produce. Prices are being driven down by the sanctions exchange with Russia, which has caused domestic produce to flood the French market. [...]

Instead of being happy the Americans seem to be in a sort of melancholy stage. They are upset the Russians and the Syrian government are working together and are able to push back the terrorists, says Brian Becker, of the anti-war ANSWER coalition. Speaking at the US-ASEAN summit in [...]

Talking to journalists gathered at the Pentagon, the US command has blamed “brutal dictatorship” for the human suffering in Syria, claiming that the Russian op has only caused further “tremendous damage” – yet again offering no proof to back the assertions. “Let’s be clear: the human suffering on the ground [in Syria] is the result of the Assad regime’s brutal dictatorship,”  [...]

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. [...]