Russian Strikes Destroy 1,600 Terrorist Targets in Syria Since Sept. 30

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The Russian air group in Syria has carried out 1,391 sorties over the past month, the General Staff said Friday.
Since the beginning of its operation in Syria on September 30, Russian Aerospace Forces have carried out 1,391 sorties in Syria, destroying a total of 1,623 terrorist targets, the Russian General Staff said Friday.

In particular, Russian warplanes destroyed 249 Islamic State command posts, 51 training camps, and 131 depots, Andrey Kartapolov, head of the Russian General Staff Main Operations Directorate said.

Kartapolov added that Islamic State has retained positions in a number of areas, having turned them into fortified zones complete with underground tunnels and shelters.

Latin America SITREP October 28th, 2015 by Jack

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1) Latin American Left: the Pink Tide: 1999-present?
Two recent pieces on the status and prospects of the progressive governments, social movements and multilateral institutions collectively known as the ‘Pink Tide’.
Raúl Zibechi: Taking stock of ‘Progresismo’ in Latin America [source]
Immanuel Wallerstein: The Latin American Left Moves Rightward [source]
(NB I have the utmost respect for both these writers, but the optimist in me has to say that it is surely too early to mark the high water of the ‘Pink Tide’.)

Putin blasts the US at the Valdai Club Conference

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As always, the Kremlin translation service is pathetically slow in translating Putin’s speeches.  In the first half already published, there are some amazingly blunt statements by Putin.  See for yourself:

Today, unfortunately, we have again come across similar situations. Attempts to promote a model of unilateral domination, as I have said on numerous occasions, have led to an imbalance in the system of international law and global regulation, which means there is a threat, and political, economic or military competition may get out of control.

What, for instance, could such uncontrolled competition mean for international security? A growing number of regional conflicts, especially in ‘border’ areas, where the interests of major nations or blocs meet. This can also lead to the probable downfall of the system of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (which I also consider to be very dangerous), which, in turn, would result in a new spiral of the arms race.

We have already seen the appearance of the concept of the so-called disarming first strike, including one with the use of high-precision long-range non-nuclear weapons comparable in their effect to nuclear weapons.

Big meeting in Moscow !

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Big meeting in Moscow:

By now everybody has seen the photo of Putin and Assad shaking hands.  What has received less attention is whom Assad actually met.

Putin, of course.  And Lavrov and Shoigu.  They spoke for a total of three hours.  Then  Medvedevjoined them for a private dinner.   Guess who else joined them?  Mikhail Fradkov, Head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, and Nikolai Patrushev, Head of the Russian Security Council.

Guys, this is most definitely a power-meeting my any standard, something which only happens very very rarely in the presence of a foreign head of state (only Xi had that kind of access, if I remember correctly).  And that tells me that majo

WikiLeaks Releases CIA Director John Brennan's Hacked Email Contents

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WikiLeaks obtained and released the hacked contents of CIA director John Brennan's AOL account on Wednesday.

The organization released a statement saying:

"Today, 21 October 2015 and over the coming days WikiLeaks is releasing documents from one of CIA chief John Brennan's non-government email accounts.  Brennan used the account occasionally for several intelligence related projects."