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Rolling back the Empire: Washington’s proxy-army faces decisive defeat in Aleppo

by Mike Whitney Syrian Army helicopters dropped leaflets on parts of eastern Aleppo on Sunday warning anti-government fighters to surrender while they still had the chance. Hundreds of jihadists have already laid down their weapons and surrendered while a hardline corps of deadenders continue to fend off the rapidly advancing army. The situation is looking increasingly hopeless for the ragtag group of insurgents that have lost more than half the territory they held in just the last week. Every attempt they’ve made to break through Syrian Army lines has been repelled leaving them to defend a few shrinking districts where they will either surrender or die. On Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov delivered an ultimatum to the remaining militants that clarified the position of the Syrian government and its allies. he said: “ Those groups which refuse to leave eastern Aleppo will be treated as terrorists. By refusing to walk out from eastern

Russia says it's working on a drone that can imitate any sub

A famous Russian submarine design bureau is working on a drone that imitates submarines. The drone, tentatively named "Surrogat," could be a useful decoy in baiting a trap…or escaping one. The Rubin Design Bureau of St. Petersberg, designer of Cold War Soviet missile submarines including the enormous Typhoon class, is working on this drone for the Russian Navy. According to Russian state media, "Surrogat" will have a deployable trailing antenna, allowing it to " realistically reproduce the physical fields of the enemy—the acoustic and electromagnetic. " The antenna will allow Surrogat to broadcast, for example, the sound made by a particular class of ballistic missile submarine, as well as the sub's active sonar signature. Surrogat will be 55 feet long and, thanks to lithium-ion batteries, capable of operating for 15 to16 hours at a time. It will weigh approximately 50 tons with a maximum diving depth of 600 meters and a maxim

Child malnutrition rates up 200% in Yemen since 2014

As the world focuses on the crisis in Syria, a U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition continues its war on Yemen, targeting the civilian population with starvation and the destruction of infrastructure crucial for survival. At least 10,000 people have died in the conflict, mostly civilians, but a looming hunger crisis could drive that toll far higher. “ An entire generation could be crippled by hunger ,” declared Torben Due, country director for the World Food Program, in a Oct. 25 report from the U.N. News Service. According to a WFP investigation into hunger carried out in June, some 14.1 million Yemeni, or 51 percent of the population, are food insecure, many of them children. The WFP estimates it will need to care for about 700,000 children under five, pregnant women, and nursing mothers in order to prevent “ moderate acute malnutrition. ” Also known as wasting, this condition can cause severe, long-lasting effects on children’s cognitive and physical devel

UK police officers sexually abused vulnerable people

Hundreds of British police officers and other employees of the police force have used their power to sexually abuse vulnerable people, a new report shows, the latest in a string of institutional abuse accusations in the country. The royal Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), which independently assesses policing in the UK, revealed the extent of the issue in its latest report on Thursday. The report said the police abuse was an egregious breach of officers’ roles as guardians and protectors. The HMIC’s initial findings showed that at least 436 crime victims had been subjected to sexual abuse by officers. The organization warned that the number could be much higher than that. Of the total of 334 police personnel involved in the abuse cases, 306 were officers; 20 were Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and eight belonged to other ranks of the force. Nearly 40 percent of the charges were brought by victims of domestic violence, which is a prevalent issue a

Syrian army forces liberate 85% of eastern Aleppo

The Syrian army troops and their allied forces are now in control of about 85 percent of militant-held eastern part of Aleppo as they press ahead with an all-out offensive to fully dislodge foreign-backed terrorists from the northwestern city. On Thursday, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy clashes between government troops and militants in the occupied areas of eastern Aleppo, including Bustan al-Qasr, Saif al-Dawla, Zibdiya, Sukkari and Kallaseh. Intense bombardment has been reported on militant positions in the embattled city while Syrian armed forces are also conducting clean-up operations in the liberated areas. The intensity of the Syrian army’s offensive has cornered the militants in a shrinking enclave in Aleppo’s southeast on the defensive, forcing them to demand five-day ceasefire, in a call viewed as an attempt to rebuild their ranks. According to the Observatory, some 80,000 civilians have fled from the milit