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Russia has sent a dozen or more warships to patrol waters near its naval base in Syria, a buildup that US and European officials see as a newly aggressive stance meant partly to warn the West and Israel not to intervene in Syria's bloody civil war, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. On Thursday, Syria's official news agency SANA reported that five Russian warships had crossed the Suez Canal and entered the Mediterranean Sea. A Russian Navy spokesperson said this was the first time in decades that Pacific Ocean Russian warships sail in the area.

Iran persuaded Syrian President Bashar Assad to allow Hezbollah to open "a new front" from which to attack Israel in the Golan Heights, Israel Radio reported Wednesday citing a report by the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat. According to the report, an Iranian source told the newspaper that Tehran is determined to prevent the fall of Assad's regime in Damascus, because the Syrian president has been convinced to open the Golan to all Arabs and Muslim wanting to fight Israel.

WASHINGTON - In the midst of the Cold War on several occasions, nuclear missiles at US Air Force bases were mysteriously shut down, according to US servicemen who said they witnessed the failure of the heavily guarded missile systems. But they don't blame America's Cold War enemy, the Soviet Union; they say aliens from space did it. "This was something Russia could have developed, but it turns out they didn't develop this and we don't have it either - to be able to shut down nuclear weapons with a beam of light," David Scott, a former sergeant in the US...

A pilot who died when his light aircraft crashed just a few metres away from a house was reportedly a US Air Force general.

A former CIA spy who had once been embedded inside the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and maintains contacts within the regime today says that a highly placed source inside the Iranian intelligence apparatus has said that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the bombings at the Boston Marathon that took the lives of three people and injured 176 more (many of the injured suffering traumatic amputation.)

Pyongyang warned that Tokyo would be its primary target if war broke out on the Korean Peninsula, if Japan maintains its "hostile posture." It also threatened a nuclear strike against the island nation if it intercepts any North Korean test missiles. In the comments, carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday, Pyongyang lambasted Tokyo's standing orders to shoot down any North Korean missile heading towards Japan, Seoul-based Yonhap news agency reports.

A B-52 bomber took part in training exercises over South Korean airspace on Tuesday simulating bombing raids on North Korea. The symbol of brute American power during the Cold War took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam and "successfully completed a four-hour training exercise," according to a military source here.

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin has signed a government-sponsored law banning foreign banks from opening branches in Russia, PRIME reported on Friday, citing a post on the government legal information website.

When he visits Israel next month, US President Barack Obama will tell Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a "window of opportunity" for a military strike on Iran will open in June, according to an Israeli TV report Monday evening. Obama will come bearing the message that if diplomatic efforts and sanctions don't bear fruit, Israel should "sit tight" and let Washington take the stage, even if that means remaining on the sidelines during a US military operation, Channel 10 reported. Netanyahu will be asked to refrain from any military action and keep a low profile, avoiding even the mention of...

Russia's controversial Liberal leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, has blamed Americans for today's meteorite scare, local media report. "Those were not meteorites, it was Americans testing their new weapons," Mr. Zhirinovsky confessed to journalists. "[US Secretary of State] John Kerry wanted to warn [Russia's Foreign Minister] Lavrov on Monday, he was looking for Lavrov, and Lavrov was on a trip. He meant to warn Lavrov about a provocation against Russia," he said.

United Nations agricultural experts are reporting confusion, after figures show that China imported 2.6 million tons of rice in 2012, substantially more than a four-fold increase over the 575,000 tons imported in 2011. The confusion stems from the fact that there is no obvious reason for vastly increased imports, since there has been no rice shortage in China. The speculation is that Chinese importers are taking advantage of low international prices, but all that means is that China's own vast supplies of domestically grown rice are being stockpiled. Why would China suddenly be stockpiling millions of tons of rice for...

North Korea still intends to conduct the country's third nuclear test later this month, despite intense pressure from the United States and the international community. Seemingly unconcerned about threats of new sanctions, Kim Jong-un and his Generals stunned most sane human beings by releasing a YouTube Video that shows New York City engulfed in flames after a missile attack. The video was uploaded to YouTube on Saturday by North Korea's official website, Uriminzokkiri, which is responsible for distributing news, information and propaganda for all state run media. While YouTube users shook their heads in astonishment over the video, North Korean...

Pro-regime Syrian newspaper Al Diyar reported Friday that the army has loaded four Scud missiles, each with an explosive head of 500 kilograms, and is ready to strike Israel. The newspaper also stated that the Syrian army command held a meeting Thursday evening to discuss a response to Israel, including striking research centers in Tel Aviv. Mohammed Dirar Jammu, head of political and international relations at the World Organization of Arab expatriates, said to pro-Syrian regime TV channel Alakhbarya that "the Syrian military response to the Israeli bombing of the research center, in Damascus, will be earthshaking and staggering to...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has unveiled the country's newest fighter jet, which officials claim can evade radar. Ahmadinejad said at a Saturday ceremony broadcast on state TV that Qaher-313, or Dominant-313, showed Iran's will to "capture peaks." Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi says Qaher is "fully indigenous," designed and built by Iranian aerospace experts. The domestically designed and developed Qaher-313 is similar to the US-built F/A-18, the report said. Photos released by the official IRNA news agency shows Qaher as a single-seat jet, described as a fighter-bomber that can combat both other aircraft and ground targets.

Syria and Iran have threatened to retaliate for an Israeli air raid near the capital Damascus. Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul-Karim Ali said Damascus has "the option and the surprise to retaliate." He said he cannot predict when the retaliation will be, saying it is up to relevant authorities to prepare for it. In Iran, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Thursday as saying the raid on Syria will have significant implications for the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

After threatening that Ankara could set off "World War III" if it allows the U.S. to deploy Patriot missiles on its border with Syria, a report Sunday said that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would not be visiting Turkey, as had been scheduled. Turkey's Hurriyet daily newspaper said that the cancellation of Ahmadinejad's visit had raised Turkish-Iranian tensions to new heights.

BRUSSELS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Several Scud missiles fired at rebels by Syria have landed "fairly close" to the Turkish border, NATO's top military commander said on Friday in a blog explaining why Patriot anti-missile batteries are being deployed to Turkey. The comments by U.S. Admiral James Stavridis, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, were the first to confirm that Scuds have come down near the border of Turkey, a NATO member state. Stavridis also described the situation in Syria as "chaotic and dangerous".

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified Congress that it intends to sell Israel some 6,900 tail kits which can turn "dumb" bombs into satellite-guided "smart bombs," including bombs capable of penetrating hardened targets, Bloomberg Business Week reported. Some of the hardened targets one would immediately think about are those underground nuclear plants the Iranian government has been so chatty about this past decade or so. According to BBW, the sale will includes 1,725 all-weather satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM tail kits with BLU-109 bombs, which are 2,000-pound, hard-target penetrators. Bombs delivered this way are among the most...

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood government is set to receive more tanks and fighter jets from the U.S. These include 200 M1A1 Abrams battle tanks and "a squadron of F-16 Falcon" fighters. Besides the obvious problems associated with sending weaponry to a government run by the Muslim Brotherhood, one must also consider the precarious position the U.S. will find itself in should war break out between Israel and Egypt. This concern becomes paramount when one considers how the billions in aide provided annually by the U.S. have enabled Egypt to develop "far and away the largest army in Africa." Egypt is also...

IDF Special Forces are operating inside Syria to track chemical weapons, the London Sunday Times reported. The Israeli government has not commented on the report. The report from London comes hours after Syrian opposition forces released a video showing that Syrian President Bashar Assad has used chemical weapons in the commercial center of Aleppo. The newspaper stated that the IDF operations across the border are part of new secret operations to locate non-conventional weapons and to sabotage them to prevent their use.