A father of two suffocated his youngest son to death as punishment for not going to bed on time during Christmas Eve. The 19-stone dad sat playing computer games, as he used his weight to pin down and smother his six year old son against the couch, according to police. The Mirror reports: James “Rick” Dearman, 31, carried on playing games with his live-in girlfriend at the same time he was squeezing the life from his child, according to cops. Sarasota County Sheriff’s Deputies say the dead boy’s 7-year-old sibling watched the horrific incident.

Earlier today, Saudi Arabia announced it had staged its largest mass execution in 25 years. 

43 al-Qaeda conspirators were killed along with 4 Shiites accused of shooting policemen in the anti-government protests which broke out during the Arab Spring. Among the Shiites killed: prominent cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

The neocons and liberal hawks who dominate the U.S. foreign policy and media establishment are pushing the world toward a nuclear showdown with Russia as few people hear a comprehensive response from the other side, an imbalance that a new Russian documentary addresses, writes Gilbert Doctorow. By Gilbert Doctorow Without mincing words, the new Russian…

For some American abolitionists, President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of Jan. 1, 1863, was a long time coming, but it was a moment for rejoicing among a racially mixed force in Kansas that included veterans of John Brown’s anti-slavery uprisings, writes William Loren Katz. By William Loren Katz Only the skies were gloomy as Emancipation Day…

Early last month, Donald Trump shocked the American electorate by “calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until [the] country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

While it wasn’t entirely clear what Trump meant by “until lawmakers can figure out what is going on,” the message was unequivocal: the GOP frontrunner was calling for the nation to filter those entering the country based on religion.