Planet Watch
Doomsday Clock: 2.5 minutes of midnight
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the minute hand of its symbolic Doomsday Clock from three minutes to two-and-a-half minutes to midnight.
Tag: Syria
Syria
Syria: first joint US-Russian air-strikes?
The Pentagon denied Moscow’s claims of joint US-Russian air-strikes against ISIS, but the White House signalled its willingness to cooperate with Russia in Syria.
Europe
Greece: thousands of refugees confined to islands
More than 14,000 asylum seekers currently confined to five Greek islands in the Aegean Sea are facing dire circumstances due to unusually harsh winter conditions.
Iran
Iran’s land-grab in Syria
Iran's government and companies close to the elite Revolutionary Guards have signed major economic contracts with Syria, gaining control of large areas of the country.
Syria
Russia signs pact for long-term Syria bases
Russia signed a long-term pact to greatly enlarge its military presence in Syria, more than doubling the space for warships at Tartus, Russia’s only Mediterranean port.
North America
Human Rights Watch: Trump portends ‘tyranny’
In its yearly report, Human Rights Watch warns that the rise of populist leaders "poses a dangerous threat to basic rights"—particularly naming Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Syria
Russia ‘withdraws’ from Syria —not
Despite misleading media accounts, Moscow has only withdrawn its aircraft carier from Syria’s coast, and is in fact beefing up forces at its bases within the country.
Watching the Shadows
Obama’s final year: a CounterVortex scorecard
With a Trump despotism looming, CounterVortex offers its final assessment of Barack Obama's record in addressing the oppressive legacy of the Global War on Terrorism.
Syria
Great Power betrayal to re-unite Syrian revolution?
Now abandoned by all the Great Powers, Syria’s popular resistance is again emphasizing internal unity against the Assad dictatorship, bridging Arab and Kurdish forces.
Syria
‘Factually Incorrect’ with Bill Weinberg: episode 2
Bill Weinberg calls out Ben Swann of the ironically named “Reality Check” vlog for spewing lies and propaganda on behalf of the genocidal dictatorship of Bashar Assad.
North America
Yes, the Russians. Wake up and smell the vodka.
Amid disingenuous demands for the "evidence," all the political logic points to Russia being behind the hacks in an intentional strategy to throw the US election to Trump.
Inner Asia
Russian blogger jailed for protesting Syria war
A Russian court sentenced blogger Alexei Kungurov to two-and-a-half years in prison for "justification of terrorism" over a post criticizing Moscow's military intervention in Syria.