'Friday night massacre': Sondland follows Vindmans as Trump cleans house of 'traitors/heroes' following failed impeachment
rt.com | 2020-02-08
The recall of US ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland seems to indicate that President Donald Trump is dismissing from service the officials who testified against him in the abortive impeachment proceedings. | "I was advised that the president intends to recall me effective immediately," Sondland said in a statement on Friday evening, adding he was grateful to Trump for the opportunity to head the US mission in Brussels. | Wow

Five YPG/PKK terrorists surrender to Turkish forces
yenisafak.com | 2020-02-08
Five YPG/PKK terrorists surrendered to Turkish security forces in southeastern Turkey, the country's National Defense Ministry said on Saturday.In a statement, the ministry said that the terrorists fleeing the terror group's shelters in northern Syria came to border posts in Suruc, in the frontier province of Sanliurfa, as well as Nusaybin in Mardin.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK

Russia, Turkey Discussed Situation in Syria's Idlib – Turkish Foreign Ministry
sputniknews.com | 2020-02-08
ANKARA (Sputnik) – Russia and Turkey held talks in Ankara, discussing the situation in Syria's Idlib and steps to advance the political process in Syria, a spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
sputniknews.com/middleeast/202002081078263127-russia-turkey-discussed-situation-in-syrias-idlib/

Break-up of Astana Partnership Was Inevitable. The Turkey-Russia Relation in Jeopardy?
Michael Jansen | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-07
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered his forces to strike Syrian army positions in retaliation for targeting a Turkish military convoy bound for the Saraqeb in Syria's north-western Idlib province. His forces obeyed on Monday and allegedly struck a …
globalresearch.ca/break-up-astana-partnership-inevitable/5703037

Russia Says Israel Used Civilian Plane as Human Shield During Syria Strikes
Middle East Eye | theantimedia.com | 2020-02-07
Russia accused Israel of "making a total mockery of the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians."

Russia Says Israel Used Civilian Plane as Human Shield During Syria Strikes

ISIL still at 'centre' of terrorism threat, Security Council hears
news.un.org | 2020-02-07
Despite the loss of its last stronghold in Syria and the death of its leader, ISIL "remains at the centre of the transnational terrorism threat", a senior UN official told the Security Council on Friday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/02/1056912

Syria and Turkey Face War as Syrian Arab Army Poised to Take Idlib
Steven Sahiounie | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-07
Tensions between Damascus and Ankara have never been higher over the past nine years. Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan threatened on February 5, to declare war on Syria if the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) does not withdraw from the territory liberated …
globalresearch.ca/syria-turkey-face-war-syrian-arab-army-poised-take-idlib/5702988

Israeli Attack Endangers Civilian Aircraft in Damascus
telesurenglish.net | 2020-02-07
A civilian aircraft flying from Tehran to Damascus narrowly avoided fire from Syria's air defense systems, which were activated in response to an Israeli missile attack on Friday. | RELATED: | Palestinian Killed, Two Wounded in Israel Strikes on Gaza | Due to the Israeli strike, the aircraft, an Airbus A320, was unable to land at Damascus Airport and had to divert to Russia's Khmeimim airbase, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. | The surprise attack, which was made by four Isra…
telesurenglish.net/news/misinformation-or-negligence-israeli-attack-endangered-civilian-flight-20200207-0004.html

Child Suicide Is a Symptom of Our Traumatised World
Belén Fernández | commondreams.org | 2020-02-07
A Syrian refugee hugs her children following their arrival on an overcrowded dinghy in rough sea on the Greek island of Lesbos, October 2, 2015 (Photo: Dimitris Michalakis/Reuters) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/kids_10.jpeg …
commondreams.org/views/2020/02/07/child-suicide-symptom-our-traumatised-world?cd-origin=rss

Russia and Iran's Clashing Visions for Syria's future
Agha Hussain | mintpressnews.com | 2020-02-07
Rivals of the West in their own right, Iran and Russia today are major power players in the Syrian imbroglio. Their convergence of interests in helping eradicate extremist terrorist proxies utilized by an array of rival states against their mutual Syrian ally has allowed them both a significant degree of say in Syrian affairs and how that country's future will pan out | However, their cooperation against the terrorist threat has often been the pivot of inaccurate portrayals of Russia-Iran ties and the extent of their shared interests versus their many highly divergent objectives in Syria, many of which are rooted…
mintpressnews.com/syria-energy-dominance-russia-aligning-with-israel-against-iran/264661/

Expansion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Tehran Wants to Build "the Golden Ring"
Andrew Korybko | globalresearch.ca | 2020-02-07
BRI-led Eurasian integration processes are one of the defining characteristics of contemporary International Relations, and the Golden Ring could eventually become the centerpiece of these efforts if Ambassador Hosseini's W-CPEC+ proposal succeeds, especially if it's done in parallel with N-CPEC+….
globalresearch.ca/iranian-ambassador-pakistan-wants-build-golden-ring/5703034

Syria: 'Massive waves of civilian displacement and loss of life must stop now': UN Special Envoy
news.un.org | 2020-02-06
Air and ground strikes in the region of Idlib, northwest Syria, are causing "massive waves of civilian displacement and major loss of civilian life", causing unacceptable human suffering which must stop now, Geir Pedersen, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, told the Security Council on Thursday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/02/1056892

Turkey Gives Assad Deadline to Pull Back or Face Military Action
Middle East Eye | theantimedia.com | 2020-02-06
Turkey has given the Syrian government until the end of this month to withdraw from recently seized territory in Idlib province.

Turkey Gives Assad Deadline to Pull Back or Face Military Action

HuffPost UK editor works with gov't censorship program while smearing anti-war scholars as tools of Russia
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2020-02-04
HuffPost UK ran yet another hit piece smearing academic critics of the dirty war on Syria as Russian stooges. The…
thegrayzone.com/2020/02/03/huffpost-uk-editor-censorship-dsma-russia-jess-brammar/

ACLU: Trump Is Expanding His Racist Travel Ban, This Time Targeting Africans
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-02-03
The Trump administration has expanded its contested travel ban to six additional countries

Why aren't Americans rising up like the people of Chile and Lebanon?
Medea Benjamin | zcomm.org | 2020-02-02
The tinder for a revolutionary movement is everywhere…
zcomm.org/zmagazine/why-arent-americans-rising-up-like-the-people-of-chile-and-lebanon/

Headlines for January 31, 2020
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-01-31
Senate Poised to Acquit President Trump in Impeachment Trial, World Health Organization Declares International Public Health Emergency, U.S. Special Envoy Warns of International Crisis in Idlib, Syria, Britain Formally Withdrawing from European Union Tonight, Pentagon Deploys 1st Low-Yield Nuclear Warhead-Armed Submarine, Trump Admin Poised to Loosen Restrictions on Use of Landmines, Human Rights Groups Condemn Mexico for Crackdown on Central American Migrants, Mexican Butterfly Conservationist Found Dead, Bolivia's Movement for Socialism Candidate Luis Arce Returns to Bolivia, U.S. Pushes EU to End Ban on Chemic…
www.democracynow.org/2020/1/31/headlines