The Russian ceasefire monitoring center near Latakia says it is verifying reports of an attack on the Kurdish town Tell Abyad in northern Syria carried out by militants coming from Turkey. The reports came overnight and claim that the forces coming from Turkey are using heavy artillery, according to Lt. Gen. Sergey Kuralenko, who heads the center for Syrian reconciliation. "This information was verified through multiple channels, including representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), [a rebel alliance that includes Kurds, Arabs and other ethnic groups and operates in the region]," he said.

Russia has requested clarification from the US-run counterpart of the center based in Amman, citing its influence on Turkey, a member of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State terrorist group, the general said. The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet cited military sources as denying that the Turkish military were involved in any cross-border shelling on Sunday.

Leading world powers have brokered a shaky ceasefire in some parts of Syria, which is expected to be observed by all parties except hardcore Islamist fighters of IS and Nusra Front.

Turkey is currently leading a crackdown on Kurdish militias from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which it considers a terrorist organization. While the crackdown is focused on predominantly Kurdish regions in south-eastern Turkey, the clashes occasionally spill across the border into regions of Syria and Iraq held by Kurds.

Kurdish militias in Iraq and Syria are one of the few forces that successfully opposed the spread of Islamic State and have been supported by the US. Ankara criticized Washington's attitude, saying America should chose between the Kurds and the Turks.

A twin suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State killed 70 people in a Shia district of Baghdad on Sunday in the deadliest attack inside the capital this year, as militants launched an assault on its western outskirts.


Police sources said the suicide bombers were riding motorcycles and blew themselves up in a crowded mobile phone market in Sadr City, wounding more than 100 people in addition to the dead.

A witness saw pools of blood on the ground with slippers, shoes and mobile phones at the site of the blasts, which was sealed off to prevent further attacks.

In a statement circulated online, Islamic State said it was responsible for the blasts: "Our swords will not cease to cut off the heads of the rejectionist polytheists, wherever they are," it said, using derogatory terms for Shia Muslims.

Iraqi forces backed by airstrikes from a US-led coalition have driven Islamic State back in the western Anbar province recently and are preparing for an offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul.

At least 40 people were killed and 70 others injured in two bombings in southcentral Somalia on Sunday, media reported.

According to the CNN network, the incident took place in the town of Baidoa. One of the attacks was carried out by a suicide bomber at a restaurant, while the other one was a car bomb explosion near a pharmacy.

The al-Shabaab militant group has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Friday, al-Shabaab reportedly carried out a car bomb explosion followed by gunfire in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, killing an unknown number of people.

Al-Shabaab is al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, fighting to overthrow the country's internationally recognized government.

Al-Masdar News has published a brief but compelling article highlighting the Syrian army's achievements since Russia entered the conflict back in September. The Russians have only been in Syria for five months, but they've completely changed the course of the war:

Exactly 5 months ago, on 30 September 2015, the Russian airforce began its bombardment on ISIS fighters and various Islamist rebel groups across Syria. Subsequently, government forces have been able to gain considerable ground in especially the provinces of Lattakia, Daraa and Aleppo. The latter governorate quickly witnessed a change of momentum and upper hand as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) launched three different offensives in separate directions from the provincial capital itself.

The future of Syria is still uncertain, but one thing is absolutely clear: Russia has saved the Syrian people from western-backed slaughter. Moscow's ability to prevent a US-imposed "no fly zone" over Syria quite literally saved the entire country: As a Russian diplomat revealed, western powers predicted that a "no fly zone" would allow ISIS to take Damascus by October. And you can bet they weren't planning on doing anything about it.

Ireland's largest opposition party, Fianna Fáil, will respect a "political ceasefire" to allow Fine Gael's Enda Kenny to continue as Taoiseach, sources inside the party said on Sunday night after most of the votes had been counted in the most indecisive Irish general election for decades.

Fianna Fáil will not enter a coalition with its rival but will avoid bringing down a minority Fine Gael-led administration in the short to medium term, the Guardian has learned, after an election that has produced no possibility of any coalition holding a majority.

This would allow Kenny to remain as prime minister for the centenary commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising and for Fine Gael to govern for at least a year, thus avoiding another election in the next few weeks or months.


The Dáil will meet on 10 March to elect a new Taoiseach but no new government, not even an minority one, is expected to be formed until the end of the month.

In return Fianna Fáil would reform the Irish parliament, allocating more powers for members of the Dáil, or TDs, to scrutinise government legislation and crucially allowing the opposition to have some input into the shape of this year's budget.

The Pentagon is pointing fingers in advance because it is unhappy with having the brakes put on some of the things it wanted to do in Syria, Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired US Air force Lieutenant Colonel, told RT.

RT: The relationship between Russia and the US has often been very strained but recently we have heard positive steps being taken on both sides. Why is the American media still trying to vilify Russia?

Karen Kwiatkowski: I think there is an atmosphere of malaise to some extent in the American public, so stories that are sort of fear-mongering are stories that are picked up quite a bit. And I think you can see this from looking at what our candidates for president are all saying. They are very militaristic-leaning in terms of their rhetoric and I think that's what people in America want to hear, there is an audience for it. And the real driver though is that the Pentagon needs and wants Russia to be the next big enemy that they are arming against it, budgeting against it, that they are targeting.

Certainly, we have talked for a long time about China and China plays an important role as the enemy of choice for the US military. But Russia is ideal in part, because we don't import a lot of things from Russia, in part because we don't have the debt relationship with Russia that we do with China. So, Russia makes for a very convenient enemy for the Pentagon in terms of its mission, its budgeting and its intelligence organization.

The Syrian army, following a request from the Russian center on reconciliation, did not return fire after Damascus was shelled Saturday from the regions of Ghuta and Jobar, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Sunday.

According to the statement, the Syrian capital of Damascus was shelled six times on Saturday morning from the regions of eastern Ghuta and Jobar, where the so-called "moderate opposition" is stationed.

"The Syrian government troops did not return fire, upon the request of the Russian center on reconciliation," the statement read.

A ceasefire between Syrian government and rebel forces that entered its second day is largely holding, the head of Russia's ceasefire monitoring center at the Hmeymim airbase in Latakia said Sunday.

Twitter's decision to censor the trending #WhichHillary hashtag is the latest example of the corporate media's collusion with Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton has used every dirty trick in the book in order to steal votes and delegates from Bernie Sanders. But this is just the tip of the soulless, power-hungry, blood-drenched iceberg that is Hillary Clinton (Okay, we understand we're stretching our imagery here, but work with us).


The latest Hillary scandal reveals the rot in our political system: The corporate media has chosen its candidate, and it will do everything it can to ensure she is victorious.

First, some background:

Black Lives Matter activist Ashley Williams interrupted Hillary Clinton on Wednesday night at a lavish private fundraiser in South Carolina. The young woman accused the presidential candidate of hypocrisy for supporting "tough on crime" laws that led to mass incarceration of black Americans.

Syria entered a truce Friday set to last a whole two weeks, allowing for a much needed humanitarian reprieve. The question on everyone's lips: will it hold, and more importantly - what kind of resolution will it achieve for the Syrian people? Following months of political and diplomatic wrangling between Washington and Moscow, whose governments have rather radically different visions for the Middle East, as far as self-governance and the rule of law are concerned, finally came to a tentative understanding over Syria by way of a military truce this February.

While few thought any bridge would ever be raised between Damascus and the so-called opposition, as embodied by the High National Committee (HNC), Syrian President Bashar Assad demonstrated once again his willingness to negotiate Syria a way out of war - I don't believe the same could be said of those rebel factions which pro-democracy agenda has proven as fallacious as their taste for bloodshed has been pronounced.

The agreement, which evidently does not apply to those factions which have overtly declared their allegiance to terror, provides for a complete cessation of hostilities, as well as all territorial pursuits. A news report prepared by RT this Friday noted: "Participants are obligated to 'cease attacks with any weapons, including rockets, mortars, and anti-tank guided missiles' and 'refrain from acquiring or seeking to acquire territory from other parties to the ceasefire.' They must also allow 'unhindered and sustained' access to humanitarian assistance missions and employ only 'proportional force in self-defense against those not party to the agreement.'"

So far I would say that Syria's ceasefire is pretty standard - after all no outlandish demands were made against Damascus, thus allowing for its government the space it still needs to pursue its counter-terror efforts. So what's wrong with this picture? On paper, it looks as if the US and its allies are finally giving in to diplomacy, while somewhat recognizing Damascus's authority, if not overtly, at least implicitly. So why the sinking feeling?

For one, I believe this ceasefire to be a sham - a blanket pulled over the world community's eyes to offer a resemblance of security before the kill. Don't get me wrong here, both Damascus and Moscow are acutely aware of the manipulation. I actually think they are playing into it, eyes wide open. Welcome to the beautiful world of Sun Tzu and how to get your enemy tangled up on its own deceit.

Kadyrov is a close Putin ally and a major player in Russia's fight against ISIS and other extremist groups

Ramzan Kadyrov, perhaps Russia's most "colorful" (to put it modestly) leader, has announced that he will step down as President of the Chechen Republic once his term expires in April. Even his announcement had a unique "Kadyrov" quality to it -- he referred to himself in the third person:

"My time is past. Every human has a limit. I believe Kadyrov has passed his peak," the Chechen leader said, referring to himself in the third person, in an interview on Saturday.

Kadyrov has been the president of Chechnya, a southern Russian republic with a turbulent and violent history, since 2007. Before that he served for two years as republic's prime minister and held several other significant posts related to security and governance before that.

Speaking to NTV television, Kadyrov refused to speculate who could become president of Chechnya after him, saying his team had plenty of strong candidates. He said would not seek a position in the Russian federal government.