Syrian frontier guards are battling militants who have infiltrated from Turkey, as the army deploys troops to quash hostile forces trapped in the mountains. The clashes highlight claims outside forces are actively fueling the conflict in Syria. ­North to the Syrian city of Aleppo (340 kilometers from Damascus) frontier guards have eliminated several subversives, captured some and sent others fleeing... 

Iran says only European companies with 2 to 5 year contracts can but Iranian crude. A top Iranian oil industry official has said some European states have started negotiations with Tehran in order to purchase Iran’s crude oil. “Only European companies with a 2- to 5-year contract with Iran can purchase the country’s crude, otherwise [Tehran’s] relations with those companies will be reconsidered,”... 

The EU has suspended the ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and referred the text to the European Court of Justice to investigate possible rights breaches. The European Commission decided on Wednesday to ask the EU’s top court “to clarify that the ACTA agreement and its implementation must be fully compatible with freedom of expression and freedom of the internet.” The... 

Pat Buchanan Islamic wars have brought questionable benefit to the US over the last 20 years, former US presidential advisor Pat Buchanan, author of Suicide of a Superpower, shared with RT. ­A new war in the Middle East will be a disaster for the US and for the world economy, he says. “I opposed the Desert Storm operation in 1991 cleaning Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait because, I said, ‘This would... 

U.S. politicians are rapidly losing faith in the dollar, with more than a dozen states proposing legislation to legalise gold and silver as a currency. Politicians in Colorado concerned about the nation’s financial stability are the latest to push a bill to legalise gold and silver coins as usable currency. But from a consumer angle the conservative bill would not lead to people carrying gold... 

Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko. Stricter European sanctions against Belarus will be powerless, says the country’s president Aleksandr Lukashenko. “Please understand that it’s only for the time being that we are tolerating the sanctions you are threatening us with. But as soon as you cross the red line, we’ll respond tough,” the Belarusian leader said on Monday, accepting credentials... 

US and its allies are pushing Syria into civil war by backing the armed opposition, the newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party writes. The article insists Beijing must stick to opposing any attempt to intervene or regime change in Damascus. ­”If Western countries continue to fully support Syria’s opposition, then in the end a large-scale civil war will erupt and there will... 

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has expressed confidence that relations between Iran and Europe will be restored as the two sides are ‘complementary’ to each other. Neither European countries nor Iran can disregard the need for mutual cooperation because we are both complementary to each other, Salehi told reporters on the sidelines of... 

The move was confirmed by the country’s Oil Ministry, with the spokesman saying that Iran will be “selling its oil to new customers”. The decision is not expected to have a big impact, as France only bought three percent of its oil − 58,000 barrels a day − from the Islamic republic last year, and Britain buys less than 1 per cent. But it was seen as a warning shot to other EU nations that... 

Russian warships arrived at the Syrian port city of Tartus on Sunday, January 8. A senior Iranian lawmaker says the presence of Iranian and Russian naval forces in Syria’s coastal waters is a clear warning to the US to refrain from any possible military adventurism. “The United States should take Iran’s warning about [refraining from any possible] military intervention in Syria seriously,”... 

French former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is seen upon arrival at his lawyer's office in Paris. Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Khan is to be question as a suspect for his participation in an alleged illegal prostitution ring in northern France. Police will question Strauss-Kahn on Tuesday for allegedly participating in a ring that organized sex parties at restaurants... 

There are no signs of an end to the violence in Syria, Iran’s key ally in the region, with the West keen to change the Tehran-friendly regime. A noose is being drawn, but experts fear it may leave Iran compelled to act. ­Since the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, Iran and Syria have developed all sorts of ties. The Islamic Republic supplies arms, ammunition and military technology to the Syrian security... 

Iran’s decision to halt oil exports to some European Union member states has caused serious concern among major European consumers of Iranian crude such as Italy, Press TV reports. Tehran threatened to halt oil shipments to EU states after the bloc reached a decision on January 23 to ban Iranian oil imports for its members. The EU decision came after Washington imposed similar sanctions against... 

An unmanned Hawk drone. A new report reveals that the US military has dispatched a number of unmanned military and intelligence drones for operations in Syrian skies. US drones are monitoring “the Syrian military attacks against opposition forces and civilians,” NBC News reported citing unnamed US defense officials. According to the report, Washington hopes to use the overhead evidence and communications... 

Iranian Warship An Iranian flotilla has arrived in a Syrian port to provide maritime training to the country’s navy, media reports. It’s only the second time Iranian warships have sailed through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean. The ships have docked in the Syrian port of Tartus some 220 kilometres from the capital. They are due to take part in a joint training exercise with Syrian navy which...