For the second year in a row, Russian President Vladimir Putin has left it until the end of the year to make a surprising decision concerning a major political opponent. In 2013, he suddenly let former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky out of prison and allowed him to fly to Germany -- because, Putin explained, Khodorkovsky's mother was dying in a Berlin hospital and they needed time together. Today, a Moscow court handed corruption-fighting lawyer Alexei Navalny a surprisingly lenient 3 1/2-year suspended sentence -- but sent his brother, Oleg Navalny, to prison for the same term.
ew doubt the horrific scale of atrocities committed by the Islamic State since it captured large areas of Syria and Iraq earlier this year. What may be more surprising is that even some of the group's own members may have experienced that brutality. According to a new report from the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR), at least 120 members of the Islamic State have been "executed" since the group proclaimed its caliphate in June. - See more at: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2014/12/30/ISIS-May-Be-Executing-Its-Own-Fighters#sthash.8rHEHyVk.dpuf
Read Full Article »