Syria’s ruling Ba’ath Party and its allies have won the majority of the votes in the recent parliamentary elections in the country, official results show.

The Syrian electoral commission announced late Saturday that the National Unity coalition, comprising the ruling party and its allies, had won 200 of the 250 seats at the People’s Assembly (Majlis al-Sha’ab).

“Out of 8,834,994 eligible voters, more than five million cast their votes,” commission head Hisham al-Sha’ar was quoted as saying. The figure was equal to 57.56 percent.

About 3,500 candidates took part in the elections. A total of 7,300 polling stations were set up in government-controlled areas across the country. In the capital, Damascus, alone, there were about 1,500 polling centers in addition to 540 polling stations for people from the provinces of Dayr al-Zawr, al-Raqqah, Idlib, Aleppo, and Dara’a, where foreign-backed militants have certain parts under their control.

The vote is the second parliamentary ballot since the beginning of the war in 2011. The last parliamentarian elections were held in 2012.

Parliament members are elected for a four-year term. The foreign-backed opposition in Syria had boycotted the recent and the last elections.

Western countries and the United Nations (UN) have said they do not recognize the election results, claiming that the prevailing militancy across the country does not allow fair elections.

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From Russia Today

US took advantage of EU by forcing it to sanction Russia – European MP

Published time: 16 Apr, 2016 18:03

© Toby Melville / Reuters

Washington tricked the EU by forcing it to impose disadvantageous sanctions against Russia, a European lawmaker told RT at an International Economic Forum in Crimea. Other MEPs attending the forum said the restrictive measures must be lifted.

“The US was pushing the EU, especially, Germany to sanction Russia. What happened is when we put sanctions on Russia the US business stepped into Russia,” German MEP Markus Pretzell, told RT.

Pretzell, who is a member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, slammed EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, for her recent comment that there would be no “business as usual” with Moscow.

“She’s a puppet of the EU and US establishment,” the European Parliament member said of Mogherini.

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From Russia Today

US can’t keep pace with Russian submarine deployments – top Navy official

Published time: 16 Apr, 2016 07:47

© Igor Zarembo / Sputnik

The US Navy is facing better and more numerous Russian submarines capable of taking out aircraft carrier groups. The service can’t ensure full awareness of Russian sub activity, CNN reported, citing American admiral.

“The submarines that we’re seeing are much more stealthy,” Adm. Mark Ferguson, commander of US Naval Forces in Europe, told the news channel. “We’re seeing [the Russians] have more advanced weapons systems, missile systems that can attack land at long ranges, and we also see their operating proficiency is getting better as they range farther from home waters.”

Russian deployments of attack and ballistic missile submarines are currently at levels unseen since the Cold War, he said. The US has 53 submarines in service and the number will drop to 41 by the late 2020s due to budget constraints, Ferguson added.

Even with the current numbers, the Pentagon can’t monitor all Russian subs, according to retired Adm. James Stavridis, a former NATO supreme allied commander.

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From Russia Today

Russia more dangerous than ‘non-existential ISIS threat’ – Polish FM

Published time: 16 Apr, 2016 05:08

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski © Kacper Pempel / Reuters

Islamic State and other terrorist groups do not represent an existential threat to Europe, unlike Moscow and perceived aggression on its part, claimed foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski in the latest round of anti-Russian “nonsense” coming from Polish politicians.

“By all evidence, Russia’s activity is a sort of existential threat because this activity can destroy countries,” said Witold Waszczykowski, while visiting annual Globsec security forum in Bratislava.

When asked specifically about the threat of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), when compared to Russia, the minister said that while being a very serious one, “this is not an existential threat for Europe.”

“We also have non-existential threats like terrorism, like the great waves of migrants,” he added.

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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Refugees bring anti-Semitism to Europe, warns senior Hungarian minister