Report: Turkish Ship Interrupts Russia Hijacking Ukrainian Oil Platform
Turkish media outlets have reported that a Russian warship fired at a Turkish fishing boat because the boat interrupted the ship attempting to hijack Ukrainian oil platforms.

Turkish media outlets have reported that a Russian warship fired at a Turkish fishing boat because the boat interrupted the ship attempting to hijack Ukrainian oil platforms.

Contents: Japan and South Korea leaders attempt to rewrite history textbooks; China and Ukraine develop closer ties, as Russia looks on

Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Moscow to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin. He placed the Syrian civil war and Ukraine crisis at the top of his list of topics to discuss.

The Ukrainian Parliament broke out into a fistfight after one member approached Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and physically hoisted him from the podium.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his country that Turkey could face more sanctions as a consequence for its forces shooting down a Russian warplane over Syria on November 24.

Ukraine is ready to move into the Turkish economic markets after Russia passed numerous sanctions against Turkey for downing one of its warplanes over Syria.

Contents: Russia and Turkey exchange vitriolic accusations about ISIS oil sales; Russia cancels Turkey gas pipeline, prepares for Bosporus closure; Turkey’s grievances against Russia, and the road to war; San Bernardino mass shootings

The U.S. provided Ukraine with outdated and obsolete equipment to use in their fight against pro-Russians and Russian soldiers in 2015, according to a report from The Washington Post.

Contents: France demands that Russia target only ISIS in Syria; Putin’s Syria intervention hobbled by weak Russian economy

President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin met privately in Paris where both are attending a climate change summit.

Contents: Russia’s military buildup makes Syria into a Russian no-fly zone; Russia ends food imports from many countries; Turkey’s Erdogan ‘saddened’ by downing of Russia’s warplane

TEL AVIV – News reports in the Arab world claim Russia is planning to escalate its military involvement in Syria by sending in ground troops and increasing airstrikes, according to translations provided by the Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI).

The Russian government began steps to push through economic sanctions against Turkey for downing a warplane on Nov. 24.

Contents: Russia accuses Turkey of ‘industrial scale’ oil purchases from ISIS; Russia escalates retaliation against Turkey for downing warplane; European Union to end visa restrictions on Turkey’s citizens

Contents: Russia and Turkey move closer to the brink of war; Turkish analysis of downing of Russian warplane; Quote without comment

France said EU sanctions against Russia could be lifted if Moscow fulfils its pledges to bring peace to Ukraine, hours after Kiev closed its airspace to its neighbour’s airlines and Russia said it would stop delivering gas. Speaking on the

Contents: Putin calls Turkey’s downing of Russian plane a ‘stab in the back’; Turkmen in Syria versus Russians in occupied Crimea; Russia – Turkey crisis evokes memories of centuries of Crimean wars

Contents: Migrants blocked at Macedonian border sew their mouths shut; Ukraine suspends all commercial trade with occupied Crimea; Ukraine and Russia in tit-for-tat escalating sanctions; Steel and other commodity prices continue to plummet

Contents: China blocks Miss World Canada from attending Miss World pageant; ASEAN leaders harshly criticize China over South China Sea actions; Occupied Crimea declares state of emergency after electricity is cut

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears ready to cooperate with the European Union to remove economic sanctions–after having gained enormous international leverage through his surprise military intervention in Syria.

Contents: US Navy to challenge China in the South China Sea today; What was the purpose of Russia’s Caspian Sea cruise missile attack on Syria?; Insurers taking increasingly risky investment bets

The Russian government is operating close to undersea cables, setting off alarms of American officials who believe the Kremlin could cut the lines if tensions continue to escalate.

A man disguised as the Star Wars character Chewbacca was arrested in Ukraine for breaking election laws after he drove “Darth Vader,” the Internet Party candidate for mayor of Odessa, to vote in local elections.

Contents: Eurosceptic party in Poland wins election overwhelmingly; European Union nations in crisis agree on a migration plan for refugees; Hey kids, what time is it? In Turkey, it’s Erdogan Time!

Residents in Odessa, Ukraine, traded one dark lord for another. A Vladimir Lenin statue has been transformed into an homage to Darth Vader.

South Ossetia President Leonid Tibilov announced he is ready to unify the Georgian breakaway region with Russia.

Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Uruguay, and Ukraine have received a non-permanent spot on the United Nations Security Council.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Russian “aggression” in Europe and now the Middle East is a “new reality” for the United States that is “here to stay,” said U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter.

Contents: Dutch report confirms that Russian missile shot down airliner over Ukraine; Russia launches its massive disinformation campaign; ‘Lone wolf’ violence by ‘Oslo generation’ of Palestinians grows; Android apps: Xenakis MathGame and Professional Debt Calculator

The Dutch Safety Board has published a report on the destruction of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, concluding that the plane was brought down last July by a missile launched from eastern Ukraine.

GILZE-RIJEN, Netherlands (Reuters): Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board said on Tuesday in its final report on the July 2014 crash that killed all 298 aboard. The
Contents: India Muslims attacked and lynched by Hindus over cow slaughter; Cow slaughter cases surging in India’s state of Uttar Pradesh; Garry Kasparov’s analysis of Vladimir Putin’s strategy in Syria

Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine when she won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature for her work that portrayed the cruel reality of living in the Soviet Union. She documents experiences of between 500 and 700 people for each book.

Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst announced the band will play in Donetsk and Luhansk, two areas in war-torn east Ukraine. In early September, the singer stated he wanted to gain Russian citizenship as well.

An American archbishop who served as Vatican nuncio to Ukraine until several weeks ago warned that the country is in dire straits and risks becoming “a kind of Somalia in the middle of Europe.”

Russian “volunteers” fighting in Ukraine might travel to Syria to fight with President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. However, the Kremlin insists the government has no plans to deploy ground troops.

The Baltic nations used their platforms at the UN Security Council to protest Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the past 20 months, Russia has threatened the three former Soviet republics repeatedly, which has forced the governments to amp up security.

A Pentagon official revealed that Evelyn Farkas, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Russia, will depart at the end of October. The news comes during the UN General Assembly, where President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin had what was described as a “candid” meeting regarding their relationship.

Russian President Vladimir Putin described his evening meeting with President Barack Obama as “very constructive” and “surprisingly open.” It was their first formal meeting in two years.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko demanded action from the United Nations in his General Assembly speech today, accusing Russia of “open and unprovoked” aggression against his country.
