BY JAMES M. DORSEY Words but no actions. That is Amnesty International’s evaluation of promised Qatari labor reforms on the fifth year of the awarding of the 2022 World Cup hosting rights to the Gulf state. Qatar’s failure to enact wide-ranging reforms heightens the risk of its hosting …

Russians are more convinced than at any time in recent history that their country is a great power, as enthusiasm over military campaigns in Ukraine and Syria seems to outweigh worries about a deep economic slump. Sixty-five percent of Russians surveyed by the independent Levada Center pollster said …

The pilot of the downed Russian Su-24 bomber was saved in a joint rescue operation supervised by the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, Major General Qasem Soleimani.  Iranian journalist and political analyst Emad Abshenas talked to a friend of his, a Syrian …

Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces will receive more than 50 modern pieces of weaponry in 2015, including intercontinental ballistic missiles and launch platforms, Strategic Missile Forces’ press spokesman Col. Igor Egorov said Tuesday. “More than 50 modern pieces of weaponry, military and special equipment, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, autonomous launch platforms, mobile command centers …

The strategic hilltops in south-western Syria’s Daraa province have reportedly been seized by the Syrian Army and the National Defense Forces during their ongoing advance on Al-Nusra Front militants. The Syrian Army, jointly with the country’s National Defense Forces, have managed to capture the strategic hilltops of Koum Aqre, located in south-western …

Russia is actually building an all-over air defense zone in Syria, according to Russian Zvezda TV channel. The Hmeymim air base, Russian jets and also pilots will be protected by the most advanced Russian weapons. After a Turkish jet shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber over Syria, the Russian Defense …

The Syrian army has taken control of key areas in northern Syria, and is near to completing the encirclement of a key town in the Latakia province still under the control of the Islamic State (ISIL) jihadist group, an army spokesperson said Monday. “We have cleared the 1122 height and virtually completed surrounding the Salma …

The mere hope that NATO membership could give Turkey carte blanche to do anything it wants is profoundly wrong; even though the alliance has publicly supported Erdogan’s version of how the downing of the Russian bomber happened, its rhetoric in private could be the polar opposite, according to …

Three important events influenced the course of the Syrian war in the course of last month: the Metrojet flight 9268 crash in Sinai October 31, the Paris attacks on Friday November 13 and the downing of a Sukhoi 24 on November 24, 2015. The Metrojet The Metrojet crash was not …