Russia and Jordan agreed to create a coordination center in Amman, which will be used by the two countries to share information on the counter-terrorism operations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. Russia is already in touch with Iran, Iraq and Syria through a Baghdad-based center used for the same purpose. [...]

Anxiety is growing in the bond market as the US gets closer to a potentially catastrophic default if Congress does not raise the $18.1 trillion debt ceiling by November 3. Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate have offered a bill which would allow Washington to escape disaster. [...]

There can be no "moderate" terrorists, President Putin said, speaking about the situation in the Middle East at the Valdai discussion forum. "Why play with words dividing terrorists into moderate and not moderate. What's the difference?" Putin told the forum. [...]

The whistleblower organization WikiLeaks has published a second set of documents obtained from CIA Director John Brennan’s personal email account. The first set of documents published on Wednesday contained reports on Afghanistan and torture, and ideas for US policy towards Iran. [...]

A surveillance bill that is the third attempt by lawmakers to institute controversial internet security reforms has cleared a crucial vote in the Senate. A vote of 83-14 to end debate on a bundle of amendments to the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) went through the Senate on Thursday. [...]

President Barack Obama has vetoed the military funding bill passed by Congress, envisioning almost $1 billion in aid to Syrian rebels and the Ukrainian government. As the primary reason for vetoing the House Resolution 1735, as the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act is known, Obama cited the allocation of $38 billion into a war fund not subject to budget caps, [...]

Turkey is pressuring Germany to create “safe zones” inside Syria as a “price” for alleviating the EU’s refugee crisis. It’s a Faustian bargain that could escalate the Syrian conflict, where NATO forces could end up pitted against Russia’s military. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hot-footing to Istanbul last weekend was capped with a U-turn regarding Turkey’s much sought-aft [...]

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified before the 17-month-old House Select Committee on Benghazi for the first time. The daylong hearing often turned into shouting matches between lawmakers, while Clinton looked on bored or amused. [...]

The approval rating of President Vladimir Putin is now higher than ever at 89.9 percent and pollsters say the fresh surge in the Russian leader’s popularity is due to the successful anti-terrorist operation in Syria. “Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has set a new record at 89.9 percent refreshing the previous maximum set in June 2015 [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin plays a key role in fighting global terrorism, his Argentinian counterpart Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner told RT, after speaking with the Russian leader on Wednesday. The two presidents held a video conference to mark 130 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and discussed Russian-Argentinian partnership in a number of fields. [...]

Another certified moron bites the dust! JOHN SIMPSON, BBC: Western countries almost universally now believe that there’s a new Cold War and that you, frankly, have decided to create that. We see, almost daily, Russian aircraft taking sometimes quite dangerous man oeuvres towards western airspace. That must be done on your orders; you’re the Commander-in-Chief. It must have bee [...]

Iraq's ruling alliance has written to the country’s prime minister, requesting Russian help in the fight against ISIS terrorists. An Iraqi politician told RT that the public wants Russian involvement and there is breakdown in trust with the Americans. [...]

Human rights groups have condemned Saudi Arabia after the beheading of five foreigners this week. Experts warn 2015 will mark a dramatic increase in public executions, as 80 people have already been killed, compared to 88 in the whole of 2014. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar Assad held talks in Moscow on Tuesday. The Syrian leader said Russia’s actions have prevented the terrorists from seizing larger areas in his country. “Yesterday evening Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Moscow for a working visit,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. [...]

The whole Global South is now informed about how the Russian campaign in Syria has swiftly smashed all of ‘Exceptionalistan’s’ elaborate plans for a “Greater Middle East.” These plans span everything from the Wolfowitz Doctrine to Dr. Zbig “Grand Chessboard” Brzezinski’s categorical imperative of preventing the emergence of a strategic competitor across Eurasia. [...]

The Liberal party’s victory in the Canadian general election is raising questions about the new government’s commitment to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Keystone XL pipeline, projects of interest to the US championed by the outgoing cabinet. [...]

Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner has agreed to look into a complaint filed by an Austrian law student claiming that Facebook has made his personal data available to US intelligent services and doesn’t guarantee a sufficient level of security. [...]

US-led airstrikes have killed 52 Syrian civilians in one day, a monitoring group reports. There was fighting in the vicinity, but the strike allegedly failed to kill even a single Islamist fighter. The US military, however, denies the report.   [...]

Russia and the US have signed an agreement regulating the operations of the two countries' air forces in Syria. The deal is aimed at preventing incidents and providing for the smooth operation of the two nations' aircraft, and for mutual aid in critical situations. [...]

The United Nations is on the verge of calling for governments around the world to end the “war on drugs” by decriminalizing the use and possession of illicit narcotics, according to businessman Sir Richard Branson. In a surprise post on the website of his company, Virgin, the entrepreneur and drugs campaigner said the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is about to announce a “refreshing [...]

The unearthing of classified memos, revealing that Tony Blair committed Britain to following the US into the war in Iraq, regardless of its legality, suggests the net may finally be closing in on a man whom many consider a war criminal. The UK tabloid, the Mail on Sunday, has published damning memos that show the former British PM had agreed to the invasion of Iraq a full year before it had be [...]

The French Ambassador to Russia has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry after a French Air Force warplane allegedly came dangerously close to a Russian aircraft carrying State Duma speaker Sergey Naryshkin. [...]