President Vladimir Putin has ordered free land handouts in Russia's Far East to be provided with minimal infrastructure. On Monday, he signed a law offering land plots of 1 hectare (2.5 acres) to citizens for free.

"We should work with regional authorities, so that land plots are allocated in areas with at least minimal infrastructure," Putin said on Wednesday while meeting with Russia's Far East Development Minister Alexander Galushka.

According to the minister, the infrastructure could be provided to a group of 20 land owners. He said that since the ministry has announced the idea of land development, people have started applying.

They suggest cooperation of about 200-300 people, said Galushka, adding that then the provision of infrastructure becomes possible, even if it's not a highly-developed one.

At least 12 people have been killed and 45 injured, some of them seriously, in twin suicide blasts in the Syrian city of Homs, SANA News reports, citing the city's governor.

A car and a motorcycle exploded in the Mukharram al-Fawqani area in the eastern part of the city, Homs Governor Talal al-Barazi told the agency.

"The number of victims can rise, due to serious injuries," he added.

According to the governor, the blasts targeted crowded places and unconfirmed reports said the death toll may be as high as 12, while some 60 others may have sustained injuries.

Russia will reply to Sweden's entry into NATO by increasing the numbers of its military forces, in particular on its northern and northwestern frontiers, the deputy head of the upper house Committee for Defense and Security says.

"We are talking not only about some technical measures, we are talking numbers as well. Russia will increase the strength of its military forces on the northern and northwestern borders if Sweden becomes a NATO member, this also includes the North Sea Fleet," RIA Novosti quoted Senator Evgeny Serebrennikov as saying on Friday. He added that Russia might reply to NATO expansion by deploying to its northern regions the newest missiles that NATO systems cannot intercept.

The comment came shortly after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a press interview that Russia would respond to Sweden's decision to join NATO by military-technical steps.


In January this year, Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper quoted its sources in the Defense Ministry as saying that the Army and Navy will deploy additional forces and modern weapons to its southwest in reply to NATO's plans to boost its presence in the Black Sea region. The sources added that the military had plans to test the fresh forces, infrastructure and weapons during the Caucasus-2016 war game scheduled for September.

In March, Russia's envoy to NATO, Aleksandr Grushko, promised a "totally asymmetrical" response if the alliance stands by a plan to deploy new armored units to Eastern Europe. He did not elaborate on his statement, but said Russia's actions would correspond to its "understanding of the extent of the military threat, would not be extremely expensive, but also highly effective."

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced he will not stand for his party's chairmanship vote, and will therefore be replaced as prime minister, Anadolu news agency reports. It follows a reported rift between Davutoglu and President Erdogan.

Speaking at a news conference in Ankara following a meeting of the AK party's Central Executive Board (MYK), Davutoglu said he will not be part of the vote, which is due to take place on May 22.

"I decided that for the unity of the [ruling party] a change of chairman would be more appropriate. I am not considering running at the May 22 congress,'' Davutoglu said.

"I do not intend to be a candidate in an absence of consensus," he continued.

"I have no sense of failure or regrets in taking this decision." He added that the resignation was not "my choice but a necessity."

Israel will accept the invitation to open a permanent mission at the block's headquarters in Brussels, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli PM has said. The move became possible after Turkey reportedly lifted its veto on Jerusalem's cooperation with the bloc. "I declare that Israel will accept the invitation and open an office in the near future,"Netanyahu said during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The reasons for NATO's interest in cooperation include Israel's "determined fight against terror, our technological know-how, our intelligence network and other things," Netanyahu said. Upgrading ties with the 28-member NATO block was "something we worked on for many years," he added. Netanyahu also confirmed that the decision to allow Israel to open a permanent mission at NATO HQ was made after Turkey, a member of the alliance since 1952, lifted its veto on Israeli activity within the bloc, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

Unanimous consent of all NATO members is required for collaborating with unaffiliated countries, such as Israel.

Israel views the decision to lift the veto as another sign of Ankara's desire to normalize relations with Jerusalem, a senior Israeli source told Haaretz. Israel's Ambassador to the EU, David Walzer, will be heading the country's permanent mission in Brussels, Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told The Times of Israel.

Previously, NATO issued a statement, saying that "the North Atlantic Council has agreed ‎to accept the request that an official Israeli Mission be established at NATO headquarters. Israel is a very active partner of the Alliance as a member of NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue, established in December 1994," the statement said.

It was pressure by other NATO members on Turkey that allowed for the invitation of Israel, Tommy Steiner, from the Institute for Policy and Strategy near Tel-Aviv, told AFP. "Since the introduction of the new [NATO] partnership policy in 2014 Israel was formally invited. But Israel never did that because there was a Turkish veto on such a measure," he said.

According to the NATO-Israeli relations expert, it is "not on the cards" for Israel to become a full member of NATO.

Turkey cut ties with former ally, Israel, and imposed veto on its cooperation with NATO after the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, when Israeli special forces killed 10 Turkish activists aboard a vessel that tried to breach the naval blockade on Gaza.

After years of mutual accusations, Ankara and Jerusalem held two rounds of secret talks in December and February. Another round of negotiations is expected to take place in mid-May, with the sides expected to settle most of their disputes. Israel even agreed to scale back on the blockade of Palestine's Gaza Strip, allowing Turkey to build power and desalination plants in the area.

The main unresolved issue is the Turkish offices of Hamas, which Israel views as a terrorist organization, according to Haaretz. Last week, both Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that reconciliation with Jerusalem was near.

NATO's new chief military commander in Europe, Curtis Scaparrotti, vowed to continue his predecessor's policy of opposing Russia. In Moscow he is seen as an even bigger warmonger by some officials.

US Army General Scaparrotti assumed command of the NATO Allied Command Operations from Air Force General Philip M. Breedlove, who is retiring after a 39-year military career.

Speaking at a ceremony at NATO's HQ in Brussels, Scaparrotti praised his predecessor's vision and leadership for the alliance.

NATO is facing a "resurgent Russia striving to project itself as a world power," Scaparrotti said, as cited by the Pentagon. Other concerns for NATO are terrorism, as well as a refugee crisis "being driven by instability in North Africa and the Middle East," he said.

Russia Defense Report: Who Is Afraid of Iskander-M?

Russian and US military have managed to find an "effective mechanism" to maintain the cessation of hostilities in Syria, the head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation at Khmeimim airbase said, adding that the level of violence in the country has dropped significantly since February.

"The American side is working with opposition groups and has been able to convince them that the 'regime of silence' should be observed," Lieutenant General Sergey Kuralenko told journalists.


He stressed that no shelling has been recorded in the area of the eastern Ghouta, Rif Dimashqin province in southwestern Syria, the recent days. "These tasks are fulfilled by both American side and [Syrian] government forces," he added.

US-NATO is not prepared to let go in Syria.

While the US sponsored Al Qaeda and ISIS rebels have largely been defeated, with the support of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, the Obama administration is now intent upon replenishing so to speak its "moderate opposition" brigades inside Syria with a new influx of jihadist fighters.

Following the decimation of Daesh-al Nusrah positions throughout the country, thousands of Islamic militants have fled amidst the outflow of refugees.

The Western military alliance has responded to this defeat of "moderate" rebel positions by replenishing its proxy army, - ie. recruiting and training a new horde of mercenaries and jihadists with the support of Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

In this regard, the ongoing Battle for Aleppo is absolutely crucial. "Thousands of terrorists" were reported to have crossed the Turkey-Syria border in early May. No doubt, they will be deployed against government forces in Aleppo:

On April 28, the New York Times was blasting "Clampdown in China Restricts 7,000 Foreign Organizations". A perfect reason for demonizing China for infringing on the liberties of foreign NGOs - NGO's that try to help and do good in China. The 'doing good' is a concerted effort by foreign agents, including international and national organizations and NGOs that receive foreign training and funding to influence public opinion and eventually to cause civil unrest. Imagine, foreign agents teaching and influencing students at Chinese universities with western interests of, for example, privatizing China's public and social services; or directly interfering in sovereign state affairs, by for instance attempting to rig the Shanghai stock exchange.

Let's put this Chinese 'clampdown' in perspective. What would Washington say and do, if thousands of Chinese and Russian 'NGO's were to infiltrate US territory under all sorts of philanthropic pretexts, but in reality to subvert the US population against their government? - Well, there is no need to speculate with the answer. It's very clear, they would simply be banned. So, this is not even a game on equal footing. It's as usual - Washington pretends making the rules.

When China announced in March 2015 a planned reduction in GDP growth from 12%-14% of the past years to 6%-7% for at least 2016 and possibly beyond, it was a well-calculated move by the Chinese Central Bank. The past more than 10% growth was not sustainable - not for Chinese internal equality and stability, nor for the stagnant western export markets.