For only third time during his two terms in office, President Obama delivered a live televised address from the Oval Office on Sunday night devoted to what is often called "national security" following announcements from U.S. law enforcement they are treating a mass shooting in San Bernadino, California last week as a possible example of "international terrorism." [...]

As a way to improve living standards and boosts its economy, the nation of Finland is moving closer towards offering all of its adult citizens a basic permanent income of approximately 800 euros per month. The monthly allotment would replace other existing social benefits, but is an idea long advocated for by progressive-minded social scientists and economists as a solution—counter-intuitive [...]

During a televised address, President Obama emphasized that ISIL is an existential threat, but at the same time refused to admit that the US has no responsibility for the conflicts it fuelled in the Mideast, Brian Becker of the Anti- war coalition told RT. On Sunday President Obama a speech on how to defeat ISIS, while adding that the recent San Bernardino shooting was a terrorist act, calling [...]

In two weeks we have seen two apparent acts of war by the US-led NATO military alliance in Syria. First, the Turkish shoot-down of a Russian warplane inside Syrian airspace; now this week the Syrian army is hit in a deadly airstrike. Despite absurd denials, the grim conclusion is that NATO is at war in Syria. [...]

The Turkish lira is facing its biggest annual fall since 2008 and is nearing new record-lows, as foreign investment continues to leave the country. Investors from abroad have withdrawn $7.6 billion in assets this year, according to Bloomberg. This includes $1.4 billion in November, the month President Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (JDP) managed to win back the majority. [...]

France wants to introduce new security measures following the deadly November 13 Paris attacks, which could outlaw the use of encrypting software for anonymous connections and public Wi-Fi. Critics say the authorities are using the tragic event to clamp down on internet use. The French government is pondering whether to introduce measures which could make the use of Tor, the free anonymizing so [...]

France's mainstream political parties were scrambling for a way to stop the rise of the far-right National Front (FN) on Monday after it emerged with an historic first-round lead in regional elections. Boosted by fears over the Islamic State attacks that killed 130 people in Paris on Nov. 13, by record unemployment and worries about immigration, Marine Le Pen's party secured 27.7 percent of the [...]

Germany has publicly warned Saudi Arabia against further financing religious radicals globally. German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel’s demand to cut money flowing to the Wahhabis comes as some lawmakers are growing weary of Saudi-funded radical mosques. Gabriel stressed that the Saudi regime has been funding mosques known for radicalizing the Muslim population, including in various communiti [...]

Britain must join forces with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin to defeat Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL), London Mayor Boris Johnson wrote in his weekly newspaper column. Johnson has also said the government’s claim there are 70,000 moderate rebel ground troops willing to work with British armed forces may be “exaggerated.” These troops, he wrote, ma [...]

The Mexican Supreme Court has ruled by a 4 to 1 vote that banning the consumption and cultivation of the cannabis plant violates fundamental human rights. The world is slowly but surely turning the page on one of the most fundamental rights we have on this Earth — the right to consume, cultivate and possess a plant. [...]

London's air operation against Islamic State in Syria is illegal and therefore will not be successful, like the bombing of the US-led coalition in the country over the last year, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview with The Sunday Times newspaper. The support of the British parliament for the air operation in Syria advocated by Prime Minister David Cameron cannot change the fact [...]

What is the connection between the US Empire’s contempt for law and truth-telling and neo-liberalism? And how is it that citizens can be so passive in the face of evident government prevaricatio… Deciphering the meaning of Neo-liberalism as a historical force and societal form requires the energies and know-how of a sagacious sleuth like Hercule Poirot. Wendy Brown, a philosophy professor a [...]

"According to information we've received, the senior political leadership of the country—President Erdoğan and his family—are involved in this criminal business." Upping the tensions between Ankara and Moscow following the downing of a Russian military jet by Turkey last week that left two Russian pilots dead, the Kremlin on Wednesday claimed it has "proof" that the president of Turkey and [...]

Major defense contractors Raytheon, Oshkosh, and Lockheed Martin assured investors at a Credit Suisse conference in West Palm Beach this week that they stand to gain from the escalating conflicts in the Middle East. Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President Bruce Tanner told the conference his company will see “indirect benefits” from the war in Syria, citing the Turkish military’s rece [...]

Russia is determined to file a lawsuit against Ukraine if Kiev does not repay its state debt to Moscow by December 20, the Russian Ministry of Finance has said, adding that the US has officially refused to give financial guarantees for Ukraine’s debt. “This week, we have received an official rejection from the US government to provide guarantees for Ukraine’s obligations. [...]

Russia’s Defense Ministry has slammed Washington’s reaction to the outing of the secret oil trade between Turkey and Islamic State terrorists, calling it a “theatre of the absurd” and saying it looks rather like “direct patronage.” “Finally, our colleagues from the State Department and the Pentagon have confirmed that the photo-proof, which we presented at a briefing [on December [...]

Since Russia stepped up to the plate, suddenly western countries can’t wait to bomb ISIS. Are they now there to get the job done? Or are they there to stop Russia increasing its influence, and to make sure it doesn’t succeed where they failed? The world is falling over itself to bomb Syria. [...]

A gold-backed ruble and gold-backed yuan could start a 'snowball exit' from dollar F. William Engdahl notes, adding that it will diminish America's ability to use the reserve dollar role to finance Washington's perpetual overseas wars. The irony of the situation is that the central banks of China, Russia, Brazil and other countries "diametrically opposed" to US foreign policy course are forced [...]

Obama’s promise not to send any boots on the ground goes against the actions that the US government wants to take. Scott Bennett - former US Army officer and counterterrorism analyst spoke in an exclusive interview with Sputnik regarding this manifestation. “If the US sends its troops on the ground then that is a declaration of war, bypassing around the US Congress which means it’s uncons [...]

Prime minister David Cameron’s argument in the Commons for permission to bomb Syria was not based on any new or coherent strategy. As he himself pointed out, it merely follows the logic of a previous vote to bomb Iraq. Even so, like Tony Blair before the Iraq invasion of 2003, he had to rely on abusing his opponents, scaring the public and disseminating dubious intelligence. [...]

Unlike state armies that exist to protect the integrity of the nation, NATO has no defined purpose other than to continuously engage in conflict. This explains the organization’s desire for conflict , when diplomacy is the best answer. Imagine a kitchen fully equipped with the latest cooking gadgets, stocked up with the freshest and best quality produce and staffed with the most highly traine [...]

On November 22, thousands gathered at the gates of Fort Benning, GA at the 25th annual protest of the School of the Americas to memorialize the tens of thousands of people who lost their lives at the hands of the U.S. Empire’s brutally repressive juntas it used to rule Latin America by force. The dictators and death squad leaders, who committed acts of genocide, were trained within the gates [...]