Senior US government representatives on Wednesday and Thursday finally addressed the terrorist organization's smuggling of oil via Turkish territory. Two senior US officials have conceded to Turkey's role in the Daesh oil trade, having previously supported Ankara's denials that it enables the terrorist group to profit by selling stolen Syrian oil. [...]

New investigative reporting from McClatchy has exposed the hidden legacy—and "enormous human cost"—of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, providing "an unprecedented glimpse of the costs of war." The reporting, which comes as the nation prepares to upgrade its aging nuclear arsenal to the tune of $1 trillion over the next 30 years, reveals the abundant health and safety risks from radiation e [...]

Jihadists in Syria pose a direct threat to Russia, Putin has told a defense meeting in Moscow, adding that any targets threatening the country's military there should be destroyed. Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said Islamic State’s influence in Syria continues to expand. [...]

George Stephanopoulos, ABC News: “You’re increasingly being compared to Hitler. Does that give you any pause at all?” Donald Trump: “Because what I’m doing is no different than what FDR [did]. FDR’s solution for Germans, Italians, Japanese many years ago. [...]

It must be difficult to be Syrian today. Not only are you seeing your country crumble before your very eyes and overrun by foreigners intent on imposing a system you never requested, but when you attempt to say what your aspirations are, you are ignored. [...]

urkey should not become an EU member, said Czech President Milos Zeman, adding that Ankara sometimes behaves like an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) ally, even though Turkey is part of NATO. "I think Turkey is indeed a member of NATO, but sometimes behaves as if it’s more an ally of Islamic State. [...]

In the muddled midst of last week’s mass killing in San Bernardino, California, a few words skittering across my Twitter feed gave me pause. “On this awful shooting: Is U.S. culture evil? Enemy of our civilization? Must all Americans apologize? Should we bar U.S. tourists as dangerous?” asked Simon Kuper, a columnist with the Financial Times. [...]

Wearing white lab coats, workers with the international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders and their supporters on Wednesday delivered boxes and boxes of petitions to the White House gates bearing the signatures of more than half a million people who are reiterating the call: "Even war has rules." [...]

In the one year since the Senate Intelligence Committee released its account of the Central Intelligence Agency's brutal torture regime, the perpetrators have gone unpunished and the report remains unread, while—at least for some presidential candidates—torture still remains a topic for discussion. [...]

Just days ago, the mainstream Western press was so concerned about the “possible breach of Turkish airspace” for a few seconds by a Russian airplane, that it was ready to justify not only the downing of the jet, but even the murder of one of the pilots. London’s The Daily Telegraph wrote: “Should Turkey produce evidence to show that the Su-24 was in its airspace then NATO must send th [...]

Turkey’s “incursion” into Iraq is a cold, calculated move. And once again, the name of the game is – what else? – Divide and Rule. Turkey sent to Iraqi Kurdistan – which is part of the state of Iraq - no less than a 400-strong battalion supported by 25 M-60A3 tanks. [...]

The Iraqi parliament's Security and Defense Committee has called for a review and cancelation of the agreement with Washington on security, a committee member has stated. Iraq needs either to overhaul the terms of the agreement on security or annul it, Hamid Mutlak, an Iraqi Parliamentarian and member of the Defense and Security Committee told Sputnik. [...]

Italy has delayed an EU decision to extend economic sanctions against Russia, demanding the measure is discussed further within the bloc. The surprising move came at a meeting of EU envoys in Brussels on Wednesday. "We have asked for a discussion on the matter," said Tiziana d'Angelo, a spokeswoman for the Italian mission to the EU, Reuters reports. [...]

The downing of a Russian Sukhoi bomber by the Turkish Air Force was sufficient reason to start a war, but Moscow chose not to respond symmetrically, says Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. “What did 20th-century countries used to do in a similar situation? A war began,” Medvedev said on the ‘Talk to the Prime Minister’ TV program. [...]

Four Western coalition warplanes were spotted over the Deir az-Zor area in Syria on December 6, when a Syrian Army camp came under attack. No Russian warplanes were in the region, says the Russian Defense Ministry. “Russian aircraft were not on a mission in that area. [...]

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is taking a bold step against biotech giant Monsanto and genetically modified seeds at large. In a new address to the Russian Parliament Thursday, Putin proudly outlined his plan to make Russia the world’s ‘leading exporter’ of non-GMO foods that are based on ‘ecologically clean’ production. [...]

President Obama admits the rise of Islamic State was never properly addressed by the U.S. intelligence. Vice-President of the States puts all the blame on America’s allies, saying it were they who funded jihadists. Terrorists threaten direct attacks on American soil. Is the U.S. ready to respond with more than just airstrikes? Was it really unaware of the growing threat? [...]

The International Monetary Fund has agreed to change its policy on lending to countries that are in arrears to other governments. With Ukraine being among the states that asks for financial aid while owing Russia, the move has angered Moscow. "The IMF's Executive Board met today and agreed to change the current policy on non-toleration of arrears to official creditors," according to the IMF's C [...]

In his novel 1984 George Orwell introduced the lexicon of Big Brother’s Doublespeak in which “War is peace, freedom is slavery, and ignorance is strength.” In today’s Western political circles and mainstream media coverage of Palestine/Israel and political Zionism, one may add a host of other phrases to this Orwellian Newspeak. Expressions that would fittingly describe this coverage might [...]

Calling on the Scottish government to reject the undemocratic TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), 21 grassroots organizations on Tuesday joined tens of thousands of petitioners in demanding the Scottish National Party (SNP) take a tougher stand against the controversial trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union. [...]

An advanced Kilo-class submarine has appeared near the Syrian coast, according to a source within the Russian MoD. The Rostov-on-Don sub is equipped with modern Russian Kalibr cruise missiles. In mid-November, there were reports of the same submarine striking targets in the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. [...]

Following the serious violation of Iraq’s sovereignty by Turkish ground troops, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi has accused its neighbor of being a hub for the “majority” of illegal oil smuggled by ISIS terrorists. During a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Abadi stressed the importance of stopping oil smuggling from jihadi-controlled parts of Iraq and Syri [...]