A coalition of cyber activists and advocacy groups from 42 countries on Monday released a letter defending encryption and calling on governments to end efforts at undermining such digital privacy tools. A coalition of cyber activists and advocacy groups from 42 countries on Monday released a letter defending encryption and calling on governments to end efforts at undermining such digital privac [...]

Groups allying themselves with Islamic State are breeding faster than Al Qaeda affiliates ever did, a former CIA boss told Congress following the latest attack in Turkey, which officials say was carried out by a bomber connected with the terrorist group. [...]

The US and UK fear some kind of an arrangement between the EU and Russia, and are attempting to use Poland and Hungary as a wedge to prevent an understanding between Moscow and, in particular, Berlin, says independent journalist and commentator Martin Summers.   [...]

Inciting preemptive pushback from advocacy groups, organized labor, and some Democratic lawmakers, President Barack Obama is expected to beat the drum for the corporate-friendly Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in his State of the Union (SOTU) address on Tuesday night. [...]

China’s Wanda Group announced on Tuesday it will buy Hollywood film studio Legendary Entertainment. The studio produced the Dark Knight Batman trilogy, ‘Inception’ and ‘Interstellar’, and has grossed more than $12 billion worldwide at the box office. [...]

Monitoring group Airwars has presented Britain’s defense secretary with evidence that could link multiple civilian deaths in Iraq to British airstrikes. The group’s director Chris Woods, an investigative journalist with expertise in conflict studies, has written to Defence Secretary Michael Fallon requesting an investigation into the allegations. [...]

Russian activists are requesting permission to install a monument near the US embassy in Moscow dedicated to the genocide of American Indians. A member of the Russian Public Chamber says the move could soon get official support. The activists have launched a petition in support of the monument on the change.org website. [...]

This has to be seen to be believed. The Young Turks really need to get a non-progressive on to bring some reason to their echo chamber.   /* */ [...]

Republican Virginia state Senator Dick Black said Saudi Arabia and Turkey are the greatest threats to world peace in an interview with RT, adding that Saudi Arabia’s “absolute barbarity” is overlooked because of its long-standing relationship with the US. [...]

A video of a well-built male doctor knocking out a patient in a hospital in the Russian town of Belgorod has emerged online. The man died, while his companion, who tried to stand up for him, was also brutally beaten by the doctor. The incident happened on December 29 last year in municipal hospital of Belgorod in southwestern Russia. The violent attack was captured by the hospital security came [...]

There is a longstanding tradition of EU leaders turning a blind eye to the behavior of the Ukrainian leadership even though it doesn’t correspond to what is called Western values, said French economist Jacques Sapir. Moscow has accused President Poroshenko's advisor Yuri Biryukov of using Nazi rhetoric. In his post on Facebook Biryukov said he was “squeamish” about Russians and compared [...]

In a volatile world, predictions are a risky business. But they are required in the intelligence community where analysts are called on not only to assess what happened but to anticipate what will happen, a process that ex-CIA official Graham E. Fuller continues as he assesses his last year’s accuracy. [...]

In 2016, the United States and Europe's long-term relationship will turn into a "hollow" alliance, with the Old World opting to cooperate with Russia and China, the world's largest political risk consultancy Eurasia Group asserted in its forecast for the year. "The transatlantic partnership has been the world's most durable and significant alliance, underpinning the global economic order and bo [...]

Russia would make a much better ‘world gendarme’ than the US, according to Austrian media. During the course of human history Russia often acted as a force of righteousness, according to Austrian author Thomas Roth. And as today many people across the globe turn to Russia for assistance, it's possible that level-headed Moscow would make a better ‘world’ gendarme than egotistical Wash [...]

Crimea's authorities are ready to assist Limp Bizkit's vocalist Fred Durst finding somewhere to stay on the peninsula, according to Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea Dmitry Polonsky. Earlier Durst expressed his desire to own a house in Crimea, and also said that he "wouldn't mind getting a Russian passport." [...]

The Ukraine crisis represents just another failure of neocon-driven "regime change," strikingly similar to those orchestrated by Washington in the Middle East and North Africa, US investigative journalist Robert Parry notes, warning that Ukraine may soon become the next failed state. Two years after the US-fomented coup, Ukraine continues "to wallow in graft and cronyism" while the living stand [...]

The 12th annual Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Russia's Sochi has focused on international armed conflicts. Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking part in its final plenary session devoted to the crisis in the Middle East. Russian President Vladimir Putin says a number of "mistakes" committed by the US, Russia and NATO following the break-up of the Soviet Union has led to the current det [...]

Russia has started supplying the southern Ukrainian city of Henichesk with natural gas at the request of local authorities amid severe frosts in the region, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said Monday. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Henichesk Mayor Alexander Tulupov, in view of cold weather conditions in the region, has addressed the Russian side with a request to supp [...]

Last week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met for six hours with Polish political patriarch Jaroslaw Kaczynski at Niedzica Castle in southern Poland. With virtually no details available on the meeting, journalists were quick to speculate, some suggesting that the two political outsiders were hatching a conspiracy. In his analysis, recently published on the website of independent Russian [...]

The European Union follows the United States when it comes to foreign policy, and isn't using any pressure to make Ukraine implement the terms of the Minsk Agreements despite its claims, a political analyst told RIA Novosti. The European Union isn't using its influence on Kiev when it comes implementing the Minsk Agreement to resolve the conflict in the south-east of the country, the deputy dir [...]

Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro lashed out against European Digital Economy & Society Commissioner Gunther Oettinger’s criticism of the recent changes to Poland’s legislation. Earlier, Oettinger had criticized a new law signed by Polish President Andrzej Duda that tightens government control over the media. [...]

The Ukrainian authorities' drive to further spoil relations with Russia is fraught with disastrous consequences for Kiev, according to Radio France International. Kiev's determination to continue to spoil ties with Moscow may have a "disastrous impact" on Ukraine in the end, Radio France International (RFI) reported. [...]