© Sputnik/ Dmitriy Vinogradov
"All services are carrying out tasks in normal operation mode," ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, adding that Hmeimim has enough power generators to ensure the uninterrupted work of the airbase.
Puppet Masters
"All services are carrying out tasks in normal operation mode," ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said, adding that Hmeimim has enough power generators to ensure the uninterrupted work of the airbase.
Yet, accession to the bloc remained the top policy objective for Serbia, which began formal accession talks last year, the newswire quoted Vucic as saying at a conference at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London on Monday.
"The EU that all of us (Balkan countries) are aspiring to, it has lost its magic power. Yes, we all want to join, but it is no longer the big dream it was in the past," Vucic said.
In the course of the last 24 hours, by the mediation of the Russian Federation, peacemaking agreement with elders of Marzaf (Hama province) has been signed. More than 600 citizens of Marzaf, representatives of the Muslim religious leaders, Syrian and foreign journalists attended the agreement signing.
Yesterday, leaders of a Jaish al-Islam grouping, which controlled Ruheiba (Damascus province) made a decision to join the ceasefire agreement.
Total number of reconciliation agreements has reached 44.
Comment: This is what Sheikh Ahmed Mubarak, the local leader in Maarzaf where reconciliation talks were held, had to say about the agreement:
"The work is very meticulous and delicate, everything here is based on religious and national matters, but overall about 30 communities have signed an application form to join the peace process and negotiations," Lt.-Col. German Rudenko told reporters.Not only are rebel groups agreeing to cease fire; entire communities are accepting to return to official Syrian governance. It looks like this cessation of hostilities has been a great way of separating the wheat from the chaff so far.
He added that the application forms include a clause on accepting the return of state power in the region.
Comment: Today, all provinces in Syria reported a "complete blackout" of electricity (the Russian airbase in Latakia was not affected; they use their own generators). While the investigation into the cause is still ongoing, the Syrian Ministry of Electricity told Sputnik that the Al-Zara power plant of in Hama province came under rebel fire. In Iraq, Kurds are reporting that they have shot down a Turkish helicopter that was shelling them (Turkish government have refused to comment, and Turkish media are ignoring the incident).
Meanwhile, despite the success so far of the U.S.-Russia ceasefire deal in Syria, the U.S. is continuing its irrational and schizophrenic demonization of Russia. Obama has extended sanctions for another year, and the US House Foreign Affairs Committee has passed a resolution accusing Syria, Russia and Iran of war crimes, including widespread torture, rape, massacres, chemical weapons, cluster bombs, barrel bombs, deliberate targeting of bakeries, hospitals, markets and schools. Looks like the hardcore Republicans aren't very happen that the cessation of hostilities is working so far! When in doubt, just blame Putin and Assad for everything that Daesh and the moderate rebels do!
© sputniknews.com
Funeral of fallen SU-24 pilot.
Funeral of fallen SU-24 pilot.
"The captured terrorist was among the first group of militants who arrived at the Su-24 crash scene on November 24, killing one of the pilots and stealing his personal belongings," the Arabic service of Russia Today news channel reported.
Russia's Su-24 bomber with two pilots onboard was shot down by the Turkish Air Force on November 24, 2015. The crew of the Su-24 bomber managed to eject but one of the pilots, Oleg Peshkov, was killed by gunfire from the ground. The second pilot, Konstantin Murakhtin, was rescued and taken to the Russian air base.
In late December, leader of the Turkish nationalist organization, the Grey Wolves Alparslan Celik claimed responsibility for killing the pilot of the downed Russian bomber. In an interview with Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper in late December, Celik openly admitted that he had directly taken part in the murder of the Russian pilot. Moscow had repeatedly called on Ankara to find and detain Celik.
Ankara made no moves to detain Celik, Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrey Karlov said at the time. "Turkish authorities have taken no steps to detain him (Celik). He appears in TV programs and a number of newspapers have published his interview so Mr. Celik walks freely in Turkey," Karlov told the Rossiya 24 TV channel.
© Collage
Switzerland applied to join the European Union in May 1992, but despite several referendums in Switzerland declining to take the application forward, the Swiss government has never formally withdrawn the application — until now.
The National Council — the lower house of the Swiss parliament voted through a proposal that Switzerland should no longer be seen as a country preparing to join the EU. The withdrawal motion will now go to the upper house, Council of States.
The document passed on Wednesday claims that the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad is guilty of "widespread torture and rape," and its forces "massacred civilians, including through the use of chemical weapons, cluster munitions, and barrel bombs."
Comment: The truth is that the US and it's 'moderate opposition' forces have been behind the atrocities blames on Assad:
- OPWC report: U.S.-backed rebels used chemical weapons, not Bashar al-Assad
- Miserable failure: Western media are lying about Syria
- U.S. starves Syria, media covers it up by blaming Assad
Moscow is accused of "violations of international law by leading deliberate bombing campaigns on civilian targets including bakeries, hospitals, markets and schools."
The resolution introduced by Republican Chris Smith (R-NJ), and co-sponsored by other two senators, reads that "vast majority of the civilians who have died in the Syrian conflict have been killed by the Government of Syria and its allies, specifically the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Iran's terrorist proxies including Hezbollah."
Comment: The US is continuously attempting to deflect blame for their own deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure by pointing the finger at Russia and the Syrian government, without any proof whatsoever.
- War crimes: US airstrikes destroy Syrian hospital and schools
- Accusations of Russia "bombing" Syrian hospitals: The incredible expanding lie
- How telling! Russia targets ISIS, U.S. targets power stations
- As Russia and Syria continue to win the war against ISIS, the West now tries a new narrative of Russia bombing civilians to justify their war of aggression
© AFP 2016/ AMER ALMOHIBANY
The number of local ceasefire agreements in Syria has reached 44, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.
"The total number of ceasefire agreements has reached 44," the ministry said in a statement on its website.
"Moreover, Jaish al-Islam leaders controlling the town of Ruhhaybah [Damascus region] decided yesterday to join the cessation of hostilities," the statement reads.
General Breedlove is seen speaking about choking the life out of a refugee child
Gen Philip Breedlove, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe and the head of the US European Command, said that President Putin and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad had "weaponised" migration through a campaign of bombardment against civilian centres.
"Together, Russia and the Assad regime are deliberately weaponising migration in an attempt to overwhelm European structures and break European resolve," Gen Breedlove told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"These indiscriminate weapons used by both Bashar al-Assad, and the non-precision use of weapons by the Russian forces, I can't find any other reason for them other than to cause refugees to be on the move and make them someone else's problem," he said.
Comment: The sheer scale of the lies in the above by the pusillanimous Gen. Breed-hate is almost astounding. It's the West that has caused the people of Iraq, Syria, Libya, etc. to seek refuge in Europe due to their imperial warmongering. The US has engineered the refugee crisis to destabilize Europe and demonize Muslims. Russia and Syria are working to stop the Empire from being able to continue their barbaric imperial ways and help stabilize the situation in the Middle East, and Breed-hate has the audacity to project all the Empire's actions onto them?!?!
Russia's ambassador to London, Alexander Yakovenko, acknowledged the link, writing on social media that the ceasefire in Syria involving Russian forces "will help alleviate the migration crisis in the EU".
© Larry Downing / Reuters
"The actions and policies addressed in the Executive Orders continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States," he said. "Therefore, I am continuing for one year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13660."
Sanctions were initially introduced in 2014 because of Russia's alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis and the accession of the Crimean Republic into the Russian Federation. They restrict economic activity between US citizens and companies with a number of Ukrainian and Russian businesses and individuals.
"I found that the actions and policies of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to Ukraine undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine; threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets," said Obama.
Keith Forsyth, one of the people who broke in, explained on Democracy Now!:
I was spending as much time as I could with organizing against the war, but I had become very frustrated with legal protest. The war was escalating and not de-escalating. And I think what really pushed me over the edge was, shortly after the invasion of Cambodia, there were four students killed at Kent State and two more killed at Jackson State. And that really pushed me over the edge, that it was time to do more than just protest.
Comment: History matters! Learn more about COINTELPRO:
- How COINTELPRO really works and destroys social movements
- COINTELPRO: The FBI war on Tupac Shakur & black leaders
- How to Spot COINTELPRO Agents
Comment: From the EU being the US lapdog in all things political to Russia showing it can withstand the Western sanctions and keep their composure in light of the taunting actions of the West, other countries are seeing that being friends with Russia is probably a better idea than cozying up to the West. It should only be a matter of time until other countries change their alliances as well.