Germany's foreign ministry said that it considers the blackout of Crimea by extremist groups a criminal act. The blackout in Russia's Crimea peninsula is a criminal act that must be investigated, a German Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday. The Crimean blackout began on Sunday, after Ukrainian extremist groups blew up power line pylons on the Ukrainian side of the border. [...]

Ankara says the Russian Su-24 frontline bomber was downed after it violated Turkish airspace for 17 seconds. Russian military says the jet never entered Turkish territory and the F-16 fighter itself breached Syrian airspace. The Russian Su-24M tactical bomber performing a combat sortie over the territory of Syria in the vicinity of the Turkish border was brought down by a Turkish Air Force figh [...]

Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian jet shows the utter desperation currently sweeping through the regime change camp as Russia closes in on the death squads in Syria. At 9:30am, a Russian SU-24 jet was shot down by a Turkish fighter plane. The pilots were then allegedly killed by Syrian Turkmen anti-government militias, with the body of one being paraded on camera in a video that was immedia [...]

Turkey appears to have deliberately shot down a Russian warplane as a provocation designed to escalate tensions between NATO and Russia, a ploy that seems to have sucked in President Obama as he tries to look tough against Russia to appease his neocon critics, writes Robert Parry. President Barack Obama – always sensitive to neocon criticism that he’s “weak” – continues to edge the wo [...]

With today's shooting down of a Russian SU24 by Turkey, the war in Syria just took a new twist - and one that sends a powerful message to the UK as it contemplates joining in bombing raids on Islamic State militants. And for those who are hard of hearing, that message is: 'keep well out!' Up until now, the war in Syria has looked complicated. On the one side the Syrian state led by President Basha [...]

Offering a dramatic window into the fractious and complex geopolitics that are now swirling around the war against the Islamic State inside Syria and Iraq, the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey on Tuesday was also followed by the release of footage showing a Russian military helicopter being destroyed by Syrian rebel forces armed with U.S.-supplied anti-tank missiles. [...]

Turkey has been consistent in pursuing its own agenda: to pretend to be fighting ISIS while settling scores with one of the two parties that are actually capable of fighting ISIS on the ground – the Kurds, says Foreign Affairs Editor Srdja Trifkovic. As a Russian Su-24 fighter jet operating over Syria was shot down, RT discussed with experts the reasons and possible consequences of this incid [...]

Turkey has taken responsibility for shooting down a Russian fighter jet near the border with neighboring Syria on Tuesday, as both Moscow and Ankara put forth conflicting narratives about what led to the incident which has sparked an emergency meeting of NATO allies and strong rebuke from Russian President Vladimir Putin. [...]

A Russian warplane has gone down near the Turkish-Syrian border after an apparent attack. Turkish and Russian sources have given conflicting reports about the incident, which has the potential to escalate the tension between Russia and NATO member Turkey.   [...]

The Russian-led anti-terrorist campaign in Syria has taken center stage at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Tehran, where President Putin met with Iranian leaders and praised their country’s role in rooting out terrorism in the region. [...]

'Another destructive bombing campaign is no solution whatsoever,' anti-war campaigners warn. 'It risks intensifying and widening what is already a catastrophic war.' As British Prime Minister David Cameron declared from Paris on Monday his desire to escalate the UK's military campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS) in both Iraq and Syria, campaigners are looking to Jeremy Corbyn to see whethe [...]

The process of delivery of Russian S-300 anti-missile rocket system to Iran has started, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow said in an interview. Iran is getting one of the latest versions of the air defence complex. The delivery has gotten underway, ambassador Mehdi Sanaei told Etemaad Persian-language daily, as cited by Tasnim news agency. [...]

Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk is responsible for numerous war crimes committed by the Ukrainian military and law enforcement and sooner or later will face a trial, the spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee has said. “Yatsenyuk was among many well-known persons, including top military officers, who personally issued orders to fire upon the civilian population of Donbass,” Vladim [...]

The Ukrainian government has suspended the movement of cargo between Crimea and Ukraine, citing an initiative put forward by PM Arseny Yatsenyuk. The suspension will be active until a list of goods allowed to be delivered to the peninsula is compiled. The decision was preceded by a request from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday which wanted to look into the possibility of a tempora [...]

Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev has blamed the strengthening of terrorist group Islamic State on “irresponsible” US policies in the Middle East, calling for all nations to stop attempting to destabilize the situation in sovereign countries for their own purposes. “Instead of concentrating their common efforts on fighting terrorism, the United States and their allies have started to oppose Syri [...]

Austria’s highest court will rule on whether a case filed against Facebook over its privacy policies could be regarded as a class action lawsuit. Austrian law student Max Schrems, who launched the case against Facebook over the way it handles personal information in July 2014, has claimed 500 euros ($532) on the behalf of more than 25,000 people who took up his idea and signed up to the lawsu [...]

These days the media are overflowing with comments and analyses of last Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris. One particular angle is consistently ignored – or banished: religion. This is a curious omission since the terrorists themselves issue statements that indicate that religion is their motivation. [...]

US policy in Syria should shift from ousting President Bashar Assad to siding with other powers who share a common interest in fighting ISIS, former US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in an interview with CNN. Combating Islamic State (former ISIS/ISIL) is not about making an alliance with Moscow, former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told CNN's Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree lifting the ban on supplying Iran with uranium enrichment equipment. It is linked to Russia importing enriched uranium from Iran, according to the official government website. The Russian President is visiting Tehran to take part in Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit, and is holding talks on Monday with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and [...]

Britain has once again been forced to call in foreign help after it says it spotted a Russian submarine off the west coast of Scotland. Despite the presence of French and Canadian patrol planes and Royal Navy ships, no trace of the sub has been found. The alleged Russian vessel is believed to have been seen at least 10 days ago in the area, and the search to find the sub has been taking place e [...]

Russian airstrikes have torched more than 1,000 tankers taking stolen crude oil to Islamic State refineries. This blow against the jihadists comes as the Russian Air Force has hit 472 terrorist targets in two days in Syria, making 141 sorties. All Russian aircraft have successfully returned to the Khmeimim airbase near Latakia, Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense M [...]

Apparently being unable to find any footage of the US Air Force strikes against Islamic State’s oil infrastructure, PBS NewsHour spliced Russian Defense Ministry’s video into their report – but it did not go unnoticed. he PBS report last week used two objective control videos made by Russian drones while Sukhoi bombers based at Khmeimim airfield in Latakia bombed out an oil storage facili [...]