For the past two weeks recurring flashing red headlines of an agreement, or at least a meeting, between Russia and Saudi Arabia - the world's two largest oil producers - have led to aggressive short-covering rallies in oil on just as recurring hopes that the Saudi strategy of flooding the market with excess supply (by its own calculations as much as 3 million barrels daily) adopted during the 2014 Thanksgiving Day OPEC meeting, will come to an end.

Syrian Kurds known as the YPG, backed by the Russian Air Force captured the strategic city of Tel Rifat in northern Aleppo from ISIL on Monday. The highly strategic city close to the Turkish border is a loss for the terrorists and lays the road open for an advance eastwards into ISIL/ISIS/Islamic State territory. Fars News English reports: The People’s Protection Units (YPG) who enjoyed the Russian air backup prevailed the terrorists’ positions from the Western direction and shook hand with other Kurdish troops who entered the town from the North.

Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

According to financial research firm ICI, total retirement assets in the Land of the Free now exceed $23 trillion.

$7.3 trillion of that is held in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).

That’s an appetizing figure, especially for a government that just passed $19 trillion in debt and is in pressing need of new funding sources.

An Israeli police officer pushed a disabled Palestinian man out of his wheelchair on Sunday in the West Bank city of Hebron. Footage captured on a mobile phone shows the officer knocking 53 year old Majed al-Fakhouri backwards and sending him sprawling into the street as a crowd looks on. The incident happened after a 14 year old girl was shot, after she had allegedly tried to stab an Israeli policeman. Mr al-Fakhouri said he had been trying to reach the girl to attempt first aid.

Syria is preparing to protect its sovereignty via military force in the event of an invasion by Turkey or Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Ambassador to Russia, Riad Haddad has said.