How can U.S. respond to Russia's military presence in Syria?
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As Russia appears to beef up its presence in the war-torn country, former CIA deputy director Michael Morell explains what the United States and NATO can do
The giant head of a statue of Russian revolutionary Lenin has been unearthed, 24 years after it was buried in a German forest. Report by Cara Legg.
On the eve of the anniversary of the 2001 attacks, the former president of Afghanistan expressed doubt that the terrorist group was responsible
Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, has questioned the existence of al-Qaida, and denied that the 9/11 terror attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people were planned in Afghanistan.
On the eve of the anniversary of the 2001 attacks, Karzai, who left office last year after 12 years,used an interview with al Jazeera to express his doubt that the terrorist group led by the late Osama bin Laden was responsible for the operation which prompted the invasion of Afghanistan.
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Bin Laden's dream of a caliphate in lands cleared of Western influence is being reshaped by the Islamic State, which exercises terror very differently.
 The Globe and Mail |
AP PHOTOS: Migrants Face the Elements as Their Numbers Grow
ABC News The massive wave of refugees and migrants heading toward Western Europe surged Thursday even as torrential rains played havoc with travelers from Greece to Hungary. In Hungary, migrants darted across the border from Serbia, sneaking around the ... Police investigating woman who kicked migrants on videoCBS News Hungary could finish Serbian border fence by early October: governmentReuters Hungary readies fence, emergency measures to stem influxChannel News Asia CBC.ca -Hungary Today all 1,000 news articles » |
 Reuters |
Obama wants US to prepare for 10000 Syrian refugees next year: White House
Reuters WASHINGTON President Barack Obama has directed his administration to prepare to take in at least 10,000 Syrian refugees next year, a White House spokesman said on Thursday. The number reflects a "significant scaling up" of the U.S. commitment to ... Obama Seeks Admission for 10000 More Syrian Refugees Wall Street Journal Obama Asks Administration to Accept at Least 10000 Syrian Refugees in 2016ABC News White House: Obama wants to admit more Syrian refugeesWashington Post The Guardian- The Week Magazine - Jerusalem Post Israel News all 1,438 The Economist (blog)-Washington Post-Haaretz (blog) all 1,374 news articles » |
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 USA TODAY |
More than 40 police agencies to get $79M to test rape kits
USA TODAY Vice President Joe Biden and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. on Thursday announced they will devote a combined $79 million to combat the accumulation of untested sexual assault kits held by police agencies across the country. The combined ... Announcing Funds to Test Rape Kits, Biden Recalls a History of Advocating for ...Observer Nearly $80 million set aside to help cities, counties clear stockpiles of ...OregonLive.com White House, NYC prosecutor pledge $79M to test rape kitsCBS News CBS Local -BuzzFeed News -cleveland.com all 124 news articles » |
William Bratton, the New York City police commissioner, says he is concerned about the level of force former tennis player James Blake was treated with when he was mistakenly identified and arrested on Wednesday. Bratton also issued an apology for the incident in a press conference on Thursday. Robert Boyce, the chief of detectives, also emphasised that the detainment was in error
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Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson, stepped aside on Thursday, deepening a crisis in the U.K. province’s power-sharing government.
A UK-bound plane which burst into flames at Las Vegas Airport suffered multiple breaches of the engine case, investigators have found.
Guest who accidentally fired his gun at a lavish wedding - causing the reception to be called off - is suing the hotel for cancelling the ceremony, for which he has been charged by the couple
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Russia refuses to help Syrian refugees by Telegraph Staff
Russia refuses to join any scheme to help Syrian refugees and blames Western powers for Europe's migration crisis
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 The Guardian |
Syria blames Europe for flow of migrants out of the country
Washington Post DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria's information minister says Europe should bear full responsibility for the flood of Syrian refugees streaming into the continent. The minister, Omran al-Zoubi, says in a rare comment from Damascus that the migrants are mostly ... Syria rejects British proposal for Assad to lead transitional governmentThe Guardian Happy Bday Bashar: Syrian leader turns 50 as US remembers 911Al-Arabiya all 27 news articles » |
Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Washington for a visit with President Obama later this month at a moment of danger for U.S. relations with China. There’s a real risk that things are about to get worse between these governments, and it’s not clear either leader is as worried by that as he should be.
Obama can feel a bit bolder these days. He has secured a deal on Iran’s nuclear program that opponents in Congress lack the votes to override and established a breakthrough in relations with Cuba. Those accomplishments are controversial, but this famously cautious man is close enough to the end of his term to ignore complaints and condemnations from the usual critics and to press ahead on what he sees as points of principle.
Xi, on the other hand, has had a rough summer. Since assuming power in 2012, he has used a broad anti-corruption to sweep aside opponents of his economic reform drive within the leadership. In recent weeks, though, poor economic data, a stock market down about 40 percent since May and international criticism of a decision to weaken China’s currency have put Xi on the defensive.
But now is not the time for China’s leader to project uncertainty. Both Xi and Obama are likely to be more assertive on foreign policy—Obama, because he feels he can afford to, and Xi, because he may feel he can’t afford not to.
The first sign of Obama’s tougher line: Targeted U.S. sanctions on Chinese companies accused of conducting cyberespionage on U.S. firms. The administration will also limit access of some Chinese companies to U.S. markets. China’s alleged hack into the U.S. Office of Personnel Management earlier this summer has stiffened spines across Washington.
Obama hopes that sanctions targeting individual companies will draw a proportionate response from Beijing. For the moment, that looks to be the case. The Chinese government will retaliate against U.S. companies operating in the same sectors as Chinese firms facing new sanctions, but probably won’t up the ante, at least for now.Xi also plans to travel to Washington state during his visit to host a “tech forum” of US and Chinese firms. While there, he’ll meet with Bill Gates and other U.S. tech leaders, and Obama administration officials aren’t happy about it.
But at a time when Obama and Xi should be announcing progress toward a bilateral investment treaty, they’ll instead be debating how best to limit damage from the latest point of confrontation. The world needs these two governments to find common ground. These are the two largest economies and two largest trading nations. China is the world’s largest creditor state, and the United States has become the world’s largest debtor. They are the world’s two largest polluters. There is no way to maintain stability in the world economy, breathe life into global trade, tackle climate change, and manage other transnational problems without coordinated leadership and burden-sharing from America and China.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be sending troops and hardware to Syria. But will it be enough to save embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad? Brian Whitmore, host of RFE/RL's Power Vertical Podcast, and Mardo Soghom, RFE/RL’s regional director for Southwest Asia and the Middle East, discuss Russia’s buildup in Syria.
Syria's Armenians look to ancient homeland
Russian troops already in Syria, Israel saysby By JOSEF FEDERMAN and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Russia has been sending military forces into Syria in recent days, Israel's defense chief announced Thursday, as Moscow hinted at broader action to bolster President Bashar Assad's embattled army following a string of battlefield losses....
A new plan to upgrade China’s People’s Liberation Army includes details about setting up a “celestial military” to expand the country’s capabilities in space warfare, according to a Japanese newspaper.
Sources say that, under the plan, the Chinese military’s strategic missile branch, the Second Artillery Corps, would combine with a “celestial military” to bolster its potential ability to conduct space warfare.
The Asahi Shimbun reported:
President Xi Jinping announced the reduction of the nation’s military strength by 300,000 troops during the Sept. 3 ceremony dubbed the “70th Anniversary of the Victory of Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.” This cutback is part of the reformation plan. The plan also includes the set up of a “joint operation command system” in the hopes of ridding the military of its rigid administrative structure.
The plan to upgrade the People’s Liberation Army, which would represent the most significant reformation of Chinese forces since the 1949 birth of the People’s Republic of China, is reportedly a move to push Chinese forces to rival the U.S. military.
Currently, five military regions in addition to Beijing and Shenyang make up the People’s Liberation Army, but the reorganization plan would rearrange them into four or five “combat regions.”
The army is comprised of ground, navy, and air forces as well as the Second Artillery Corps. Sources say that the cuts announced by the Chinese president earlier this month will primarily affect ground and non-combat forces, while the navy, air force, and strategic missile force would grow under the plan.
Later this month, President Obama will welcome President Xi Jinping to the White House for a state dinner.
The post China Plans ‘Celestial Military’ To Expand Space Warfare Capabilities appeared first onWashington Free Beacon.
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Chinese NASA Scientist Being Investigated By FBI After Disappearance
Daily Caller A former professor at Ohio State University with access to sensitive Department of Defense information is being investigated by the FBI after the University uncovered ties to China he had previously denied, reports The Columbus Dispatch Tuesday ... |
In the years since “Zero Dark Thirty” became a box-office success and an Oscar contender, inquiring minds (not to mention the Senate Intelligence Committee) have wondered how close director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal got with the CIA. So who was playing who?
The directors of the FBI, CIA and NSA said Thursday that U.S. intelligence officials have not identified any specific or credible threat to the American homeland in connection with Friday's 14th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Speaking together during a rare public appearance at an intelligence community ...
Defense Department labs under fire for mistakenly shipping live anthrax samples to all 50 states and nine foreign countries also shipped samples of the potentially infectious plague bacteria, the Pentagon conceded Thursday.
 Washington Times |
FBI, CIA, NSA all say no 9/11 terror threat
Washington Times Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, right, with CIA Director John Brennan, center, and FBI Director James Comey, left, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015, before the House Intelligence Committee hearing on ... and more » |
CAIRO (AP) - Russia's deployment of military advisers and troops to Syria to back President Bashar Assad in the country's civil war is a rare direct intervention by Moscow in the Middle East, a sign of how vital its alliance with Damascus is for it in the region.
During the ...
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A House committee said Thursday that Iran will continue to support rogues, terrorists and criminals in the Middle East region despite its new nuclear deal with the Obama administration.
The House Armed Services Committee said, "Iran's support of rogue regimes, proxies, terrorists, and criminal organizations is one of its main ...
Iranian Combat Unit Deploys in Defense of Assadby Abraham Rabinovich
JERUSALEM – For the first time in the four-year-old civil war raging in Syria, an Iranian combat unit has deployed in defense of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Several hundred members of the elite Revolutionary Guard have taken position on high ground close to the Lebanese border near the village of Zabadani northwest of Damascus, according to Israeli defense sources.
Briefing Israeli reporters Thursday, the sources said the Iranian move is coordinated with the Russians who have also been beefing up their presence in Syria in recent weeks although not yet with combat troops.
Asked last week by reporters whether Russia had sent troops to Syria, President Vladimir Putin termed the question “premature.” Said Putin: “We are looking at various options but so far what you are asking is not on the agenda.” A senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Gen. Qassem Soleimani, visited Moscow last month and met with Putin in what is seen as an effort to coordinate moves to prevent the downfall of the Assad regime.
The influx of outside troops shows the desperate situation of the Syrian army, which has been unable to suppress the uprising in more than four years. It has been plagued by desertions, and many young men eligible for the draft have fled the country. Many are presumably part of the surge of Syrian refugees flooding Europe.
Until now, the Hezbollah militia from Lebanon has been serving as a prime strike force for Assad and suffering heavy losses. The direct intervention of Iranian troops suggests that this has not been enough.
Iran was a principal backer of the Assad regime even before the outbreak of the civil war. It was through the Damascus Airport that Tehran was able to funnel tens of thousands of rockets to its Hezbollah proxy in Lebanon. Those rockets, and other armaments provided Hezbollah, are aimed at deterring Israel from attacking Iran’s nuclear installations.
During the fighting between the Syrian army and rebel groups, Iranian involvement increased steadily, from strategic guidance to tactical input. Tehran has been a key financial backer of the Syrian regime and, together with Russia, has supplied it with weapons.
IRGC officers served as military advisers to Syrian units and, as such, had an active role in the fighting. Six Iranian generals have reportedly been killed in Syria. At least one was killed in an Israeli airstrike last January along with five other members of the Revolutionary Guard when they were reconnoitering the Golan border from inside Syria.
Iran also recruited thousands of fighters of Afghan origin and other “volunteers” to fight alongside Syrian troops and Hezbollah units in Syria. Despite these efforts, the Damascus regime has been hard pressed to withstand the rebels, which includes jihadists and members of the Islamic State (IS).
For decades, Syria has been Moscow’s principal foothold in the Middle East as a customer for its weapons and a strategic asset. American officials said last week that Moscow has sent a military advance team to Syria along with pre-fabricated housing units that may portend a large-scale buildup and the establishment of a Russian base. The build-up is occurring along the northern Syrian coast near the port of Latakia, an area which is an enclave controlled by the Alawite sect to which Assad belongs.
The Israeli news website, Ynet, reported last week that the Russians have begun to rehabilitate a Syrian airbase from which Russian warplanes will launch strikes against IS. There has been no confirmation of this report. Analysts say that Russia regards it as a supreme interest to reduce the influence of IS on radical jihadists in Islamic regions of the former Soviet Union
Israel is not particularly concerned by the increased Russian presence in Syria, given the good relations between the two countries.
“Russia’s policy in Syria does not pose any threat to Israel,” says Zvi Magen, a former Israeli ambassador to Moscow.
The presence of Iranian troops is another matter. Should they become involved in fighting rebel groups near Israel’s Golan border the situation could become explosive.
The post Iranian Combat Unit Deploys in Defense of Assad appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.
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The Hill |
House to weigh drone privacy
The Hill The House Judiciary Committee's Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Subcommittee is meeting on Thursday afternoon to discuss the privacy protections that will need to be put in place to go along with a large increase in nonmilitary drone use. and more » |
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