Over 50 companies from 20 countries, including Turkey, US and the Netherlands, have produced, sold or received hundreds of components, such as detonators, cables and wires, used by Islamic State terrorists to build improvised explosive devices (IEDs), a major study has found. [...]

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for the introduction of an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia over its operation in Yemen, The Greens political group reported on its website. The resolution calls for an EU-wide arms embargo against the country, until alleged breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen have been investigated, the group wrote. [...]

Moscow is not discussing alternative plans for a political settlement in Syria, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has said. The Russian-American peace initiative is going to be formalized through a UN Security Council resolution. “We’re perplexed by our Western partners, the US included, mentioning the existence of some kind of ‘Plan B,’ Nothing is known on that one, we are consi [...]

Bernie Sanders on Tuesday praised President Barack Obama's proposal to close Guantánamo Bay, noting in a statement that he has supported closing the U.S. military prison in Cuba for years—unlike Hillary Clinton, his rival for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. "I am encouraged to see that the president is sending Congress a plan to shut down the Guantánamo Bay prison. As I have sa [...]

Capitalism is falling out favor with Britons, while the popularity of socialism is on the rise, a new YouGov survey has revealed. The survey found that a small majority of British people preferred socialism, with 36 percent responding that they held a favorable view of the ideology, compared with 32 percent who said that they viewed it negatively. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held phone talks on the ceasefire plan brokered by Moscow and Washington with the Syrian president and Saudi king, as well the leaders of Israel and Iran. Vladimir Putin and Bashar Assad held a phone conversation on Wednesday and “discussed various aspects of the Syrian crisis in the light of realization of the Russian-American declaration on cessation of [...]

Jeb Bush is a nice guy. So is his brother, George W. Bush. Their father, George Herbert Walker Bush, is a particularly nice guy. It’s a nice family. But at the presidential level, they all have been failures. Much of what’s wrong with the country today—and some of what’s wrong with the world—can be placed at their feet. [...]

The US media coverage of the Syrian war is completely divorced from reality, award-winning American author and foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer writes, adding that much of the US press is reporting the opposite of what is actually happening on the ground. Americans have almost no real information about what is going on in Syria, and much of the blame for this lies with US mainstream media, [...]

US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said that the United States encourages opposition groups in Syria to take part in ceasefire agreed on under US-Russia deal on Monday. The United States encourages opposition groups in Syria to take part in ceasefire agreed on under US-Russia deal on Monday, US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a press release. [...]

While terrorists rage in Syria and beyond, with many countries trying to unite their efforts in the fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), Ankara's blame game looks more like an untimely joke, Moscow says. "Mr. Davutoglu [Turkish Prime Minister], are you serious or is it just the way you joke? [...]

The Syrian ceasefire accords, signed in Munich, have laid bare the impotence of Washington regarding the ongoing civil war, and have proved that resolving the almost five-year conflict depends on Russian interests in the region, international affairs observer Marc Champion wrote, in an opinion column for Bloomberg View. [...]

During a telephone conversation with Shinzo Abe, US President Barack Obama urged the Prime Minister of Japan to refrain from visiting Russia in May, but Abe has refused his request. Obama and Abe spoke by telephone February 9, discussing North Korea. Two days earlier the northern state had launched a long-range rocket, violating UN resolutions and alarming the international community. [...]

Presented below are five global corporations that are at the forefront of serving their countries in times of war and peace. BOEING The American corporation Boeing is one of the largest international industrial groups, specializing in the production of aviation, space and defense technology. The corporation was founded in the early twentieth century by William Boeing. [...]

The Ukrainian government is working on adding extra security at administrative buildings due to protests and clashes between police and radicals that have started once again in Kiev. "Right now even motorcades have been reinforced with armed men. In the back of the Cabinet [of Minister] and inside of the building armed national guardsman are on duty. [...]

Turkey's Erdogan should come to terms with the "stark reality" that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not fall anytime soon, former senior CIA official Graham E. Fuller notes, stressing that Erdogan's personal interests are not synonymous with Turkey’s national interests. Ankara is faced with the dilemma of choosing between pursuing its present foreign policy and returning to the more pea [...]

President Bill Clinton’s Kosovo war of 1999 was loved by neocons and liberal hawks – the forerunner for Iraq, Libya, Syria and other conflicts this century – but Kosovo’s political violence and lawlessness today underscore the grim consequences of those strategies even when they "succeed," writes Jonathan Marshall. [...]

Critics charge that the plan 'offers no viable solution to ending what Guantánamo represents, any more than it offers either freedom or justice for remaining prisoners.' President Barack Obama on Tuesday outlined his long-awaited plan to close the Guantánamo Bay military detention center in Cuba, [...]

A part of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) will not participate in the ceasefire deal unless al-Nusra Front is involved, a commander of Ahrar ash-Sham militants said Tuesday. On Monday, Russia and the United States announced an agreement on cessation of hostilities between the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad and the armed opposition factions had been reached. The agreement will come into [...]

The era of the US global sea dominance – ensured by its 10 giant aircraft carriers – may come to an end, a study by respected Washington-based think tank warns. Russia, China and Iran can make the mammoth vessels useless by new weapons, tech and tactics. Aircraft carriers are at the heart of the US Navy's global reach capabilities, and a symbol of American military might. [...]

By adopting terms for a cessation of hostilities together with Russia, the US showed Turkey it is not going to support Ankara’s efforts to send troops into Syria and NATO won’t come to rescue them later, former US diplomat Jim Jatras told RT. How confident can we be that this new agreement will hold?   [...]

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign has received more than $4 million in bundled lobbyist contributions from those who lobby on behalf of industries she claims to be her “enemies,” according to FEC documents. Clinton, who officially launched her presidential campaign in April 2015, [...]

Further proof of ties between the Turkish military and Islamic State fighters operating on the Syrian-Turkish border has been revealed in the Cumhuriyet newspaper, which published more transcripts of telephone calls between the jihadists and officers. The documents are said to come from an ongoing court case on Islamic State at the Ankara 3rd High Criminal Court. [...]