Transparency International warns: "Corruption has fueled political unrest, extremism, and formed a narrative for violent extremist groups" Western nations—led by the United States—are selling large quantities of weapons to governments in the Middle East and North Africa, providing little oversight for how these arms are used, and thereby fueling corruption and conflict in countries from Sau [...]

Protesters took to the streets in hundreds of cities around the world for the 2015 Million Mask March on Thursday, with police arresting dozens in London and activists storming the doors of biotech giant Monsanto in Washington, DC. [...]

When I was a kid, three presidents told us we had to fight in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, because if we didn’t fight them over there, we’d have to fight them on the beaches of California. We believed. It was a lie. I was a teenager during the Cold War, and several presidents told us we needed to create massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons, garrison the world, invade Cuba, fight in odd litt [...]

Brace yourselves. Honoring a perhaps questionable tradition dating to 1898, a marble bust of warmonger, murderer, liar and despised cretin Dick Cheney will be installed in the Capitol's Emancipation Hall (sic). [...]

Seeking to find out exactly what Exxon knew, and when the oil giant knew it, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has issued the corporation an 18-page subpoena seeking four decades of documents, research findings, and communications related to climate change, according to news reports on Thursday. [...]

"Worse than anything we could've imagined." "An act of climate denial." "Giveaway to big agribusiness." "A death warrant for the open Internet." As expert analysis of the long-shrouded, newly publicized TransPacific Partnership (TPP) final text continued to roll out on Thursday, consensus formed around one fundamental assessment of the 12-nation pact: It's worse than we thought. [...]

News headlines this week of epidemic drug abuse and mortality among Americans confirm what many observers have already noted – America is in bad, bad shape. But despite the media coverage, there was little commentary on the backdrop to the malaise. American society is collapsing because of an epic failure in the economy. [...]

Newly acquired documents show the Pentagon spent nearly $400 million, or $2 million per fighter, on its failed train-and-equip program, according to USA Today. The Pentagon claims the actual cost was $30,000 per trainee. [...]

Damascus is opposed to having US troops on its soil, thus the US is committing aggression and international crimes against the nation of Syria, says Daniel McAdams, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute. [...]

DOHA - Amidst the wilderness of mirrors surrounding the Syrian tragedy, a diamond-shaped fact persists: Despite so many degrees of separation, the Saudis are still talking to the Russians. Why? A key reason is because a perennially paranoid House of Saud feels betrayed by their American protectors who, under the Obama administration, seem to have given up on isolating Iran. [...]

The devaluation of its currency opens up new possibilities for the Russian economy, says Birgit Hansl, World Bank lead economist for Russia. “For the first time in decades, “Made in Russia” might have a chance to become again a global trademark. [...]

A Russian fighter jet was forced to enter Turkish airspace in early October while performing an evasive maneuver against a surface-to-air missile system, the commander of Russia’s Air Force said. “Our fighter jet was on a combat mission in Northern Syria in very dense cloud conditions.  [...]

An EU panel on Ukraine has slammed Kiev’s investigation into the May 2014 violence in Ukraine’s southern city of Odessa, saying it lacks independence. It also added there's evidence that police were complicit in the disorder. [...]

For the third year in a row, Forbes has ranked the Russian President as the most powerful person in the world, putting Vladimir Putin above Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama. “Putin continues to prove he’s one of the few men in the world powerful enough to do what he wants,” the magazine said. [...]

Until recently, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was considered to be the most powerful politician in Europe. But now, her approach to the refugee crisis has her under fire at home and in Brussels. Can she survive? For almost three quarters of an hour, it was as though there was no refugee crisis in Germany. [...]

To be part of the European Union means you have to shed your national identity and be part of everybody. It is no longer acceptable to be yourself. This agenda serves the 1 percent and Washington, Paul Craig Roberts told RT in an interview.   [...]

Cultural oppression in the name of multiculturalism, making people homeless in the name of helping refugees, intolerance in the name of tolerance. TCultural oppression in the name of multiculturalism, making people homeless in the name of helping refugees, intolerance in the name of tolerance. These are the fruit of open borders created by the EU & UN. But there’s more coming. As jihadi [...]

Let's remind ourselves to one of the classic Putin moments, exemplifying his leadership skills. Once the richest man in Russia, the aluminum magnate suffered the indignity of a dressing down from Putin broadcast on state TV (05/06/2009) "You made thousands of people hostages to your ambitions, to your professionalism, and, maybe, simply to your greed," Putin announced. "Where is business's socia [...]

Facing a record influx of refugees, the Austrian government has proposed measures toughening requirements for asylum seekers and reunification with their families. The UN refugee agency has denounced the move, saying it will lead to more suffering. [...]