In Lebanon, a victim of one of the most recent attacks, almost every person surveyed who gave an opinion had an unfavorable view of ISIS, including 99% with a very unfavorable opinion. Distaste toward ISIS was shared by Lebanese Sunni Muslims (98% unfavorable) and 100% of Shia Muslims and Lebanese Christians.

Israelis (97%) and Jordanians (94%) were also strongly opposed to ISIS as of spring 2015, including 91% of Israeli Arabs. And 84% in the Palestinian territories had a negative view of ISIS, both in the Gaza Strip (92%) and the West Bank (79%).

Six-in-ten or more had unfavorable opinions of ISIS in a diverse group of nations, including Indonesia, Turkey, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Malaysia and Senegal.

Russia warns of 'serious consequences' after Nato country downs Russian military jet for first time since 1953

Two pilots were reportedly shot dead by Syrian rebels as they parachuted from burning Sukhoi Su-24 warplane

Third Russian said to have died when rescue helicopter was hit with anti-tank missile by another rebel group

Russia denied plane had been in Turkish airspace but Nato secretary-general says assessment showed it had

A warship has been deployed to the Mediterranean Sea to destroy potential threats to Russian forces in Syria

Britain has declared military back-up is on standby to support Turkey in any revenge attack by Putin's forces

This image released by the Turkish Army reportedly shows the flight radar tracking the movement of the downed Russian Sukhoi Su-24 jet (in red), showing where it entered Turkish air space and where it went down. The blue line illustrates the Turkish border with Syria

U.S. President Obama and Erdogan spoke by phone yesterday about the need to de-escalate tensions with Russia after Turkey, the White House said.

Obama expressed 'U.S. and NATO support for Turkey's right to defend its sovereignty,' a statement read.

The Russian Air Force base in Latakia will be reinforced with S-400 SAM system, which will soon be deployed there, Russia's Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Wednesday.

"S-400 will be deployed on Khmeimim airbase in Syria," Shoigu said at a Defense Ministry meeting.

The S-400 is Russia's most advanced anti-aircraft defense system. It is as an upgrade of the S-300 Growler family, designed and developed by Almaz Antei. The S-400 is employed to ensure air defense using long- and medium-range missiles that can hit aerial targets at ranges up to 400 kilometers. The S-400 is capable of hitting tactical and strategic aircraft as well as ballistic and cruise missiles. The system includes a set of radars, missile launchers and command posts, and is operated solely by the Russian military.

It has happened quickly and quietly. But over the past few months, Malaysia has cemented itself as one of the key American partners in the ongoing war on the Islamic State.

This is not a natural or easy position for the Muslim-majority nation to take. U.S. and Malaysian counterterrorism approaches differ in some significant ways, and aspects of American foreign policy in the Middle East – including lingering memories of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks – remain deeply unpopular in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Malaysian officials say they have arrested over 100 citizens suspected of links to the Islamic State, with 39 identified as traveling to the Middle East to join the grouping. Alarmingly, recruits have included not just ordinary citizens, but lecturers, civil servants, and even security forces. With several deadly plots already foiled domestically and reports of militants seeking to unite groups in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines to form a Southeast Asian branch of the Islamic State, some officials say it is only a matter of time before a major attack occurs.

“I think the Paris situation can also be transplanted here, in Southeast Asia,” Nur Jazlan Mohamed, Malaysia’s deputy home minister, admitted to Reuters in an interview last week, referring to coordinated terror attacks in the French capital on November 13 that killed 130 people.

As part of its counter-messaging focus, Malaysia has also agreed to set up a joint messaging center with the United States known as the Regional Digital Counter-Messaging Communication Center (RDC3) (See: “US, Malaysia to Set Up New Center to Counter Islamic State by End of 2015”). In doing so, the Southeast Asian state will become the hub for coordinating and driving counter-ISIL messaging activity in the region.

As of now, few specifics have been publicized. General Allen, the then-special presidential envoy, said in his testimony to Congress that Washington intends to use lessons learned from the Sawab or “Right Path” Center it has set up with the UAE in Abu Dhabi to set up new messaging centers in Malaysia in addition to Nigeria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia with the OIC, and in Brussels with the EU.

Our friends over at Naval Graphics came up with a pair of charts showing all the submarines based in Europe and Asia, including the type and quantity for each country. These are truly outstanding charts that can help us understand each country’s capabilities and the potential threats they face.

You can compare each country’s fleets to the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet by checking out the graphic below, also courtesy of Naval Graphics.

With the U.S. Navy operating approximately 40 nuclear fast attack subs (SSN), and four nuclear guided missile submarines (SSGN), you can see how China still lacks greatly when it comes to nuclear fast attack submarines. Although this makes quite a bit of sense as they can provide a robust and affordable presence in the Asia-Pacific region using larger quantities of diesel submarines.

This also jibes with China’s area denial, anti-access strategy that does not require its attack submarines to execute extremely long-range patrols. Instead, the ballistic missile boats that can ‘disappear’ for long periods of time to provide a survivable nuclear deterrent are where China has invested heavily in nuclear propulsion. However, China’s four-boat strong SSBN fleet is much smaller than America’s 14-boat strong Ohio class SSBN fleet, at least for now.

All of this is changing though as China modernizes its military and sets its sights on territorial claims outside its immediate borders. More Type 094 SSBNs are being built, with a force of eight to ten rumored to be planned. China’s SSN fleet will also slowly expand in coming years.

Still, during a time of conflict, hunting down dozens of diesel submarines, many of them AIP capable, will be a major challenge for the US Navy’s mutli-role and already over-taxed fast attack submarine fleet.

You can also see that Russia’s submarine force remains formidable, with a heavier balance of it being based in in the Western Hemisphere. What is not shown is the readiness of the submarines pictured, which seems to be hit-or-miss when it comes to the Russian Navy.

CounterBomber can help protect cities from terrorists by revealing their concealed suicide explosive vests.

Deployed by security forces around the globe, the CounterBomber system can automatically detect suicide vests and other person-borne threats at a distance that allows law enforcement and the military to intervene.

With this tech, terrorists carrying threats can be quickly detected before they gain access to places with a high density of people – places like stadiums and concert venues such as those targeted by terrorists in the recent Paris attacks. It could also be used to protect people in transport hubs such as airports, subways and train stations.

By detecting a terrorist with a suicide vest early, the technology gives forces the opportunity to try to stop the perpetrator before people are harmed.

In addition to hidden explosives, Rapiscan says the technolgy can also detect other threats that have been concealed like handguns and rifles.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said Monday he had met with 20 young men — who had reportedly plotted to kill him — and forgiven them.

The men were detained on Sunday in the town of Argun on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack against the Chechen leader, the Grozny television channel reported.

“Nonetheless, the head of [Chechnya] forgave the young people and gave them an opportunity for redemption,” the channel said.

Kadyrov said in an Instagram post that he had spent five hours talking to the men, who he said had been “brainwashed” by an “uneducated Imam.”

“They didn't even have a vague idea about the figure of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his supporters,”

Kadyrov said in the post, referring to the self-proclaimed head of Islamic State.

Turkey has described Russia as a "friend and neighbour" as it scrambled to contain the fallout of the downing of a Russian fighter jet it said had strayed into its airspace.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wendesday insisted Ankara had no intention of cutting diplomatic ties with Moscow, a day after Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24, which crashed in northern Syria.

But to be perfectly honest, Turkey has — at best — been a frenemy to Moscow. Under Erdogan, Turkey has embarked on a campaign to assert itself as a regional power. To essentially acquire a sphere of influence, and in the process it is inevitably challenging and competing with Moscow.

"Putin is much more concerned with that political dimension than the military one"

Now, a political settlement would actually see Assad go — the Russians are probably the only people who can get Assad out of Damascus peaceably and offer him sanctuary in Russia. It would also include the creation of some kind of political settlement, including the rebels and the Alawite elite. That's the only way you're going to get enough combatants on the ground in Syria to actually take on the Islamic State.

Putin is much more concerned with that political dimension than the military one — he wants to be moving on that political dimension as soon as possible. And thanks to the Paris attacks, it looked like the momentum was actually going his way. This shoot-down could stymie efforts at reaching a West-Russia deal, or it could make it more urgent. We really don't know at this stage.

The navigator of the Russian Su-24 shot down by a Turkish fighter jet on Tuesday insists that his plane did not cross into Turkey’s airspace, and says he was given no visual or radio warning before being fired at.

“It’s impossible that we violated their airspace even for a second,” Konstantin Murakhtin told RT and other Russian media. “We were flying at an altitude of 6,000 meters in completely clear weather, and I had total control of our flight path throughout.”

“In actual fact, there were no warnings at all. Neither through the radio, nor visually, so we did not at any point adjust our course. You need to understand the difference in speed between a tactical bomber like a Su-24, and that of the F16. If they wanted to warn us, they could have sat on our wing,” said Murakhtin, who is currently recuperating at Russia’s airbase in Latakia, northern Syria.

“As it was, the missile hit the back of our plane out of nowhere. We didn’t even have time to make an evasive maneuver.”

The 39-year-old airman, who won the Top Navigator award at Russia’s biggest military flying competition last year, says he will ask to return to front-line service as soon as he is declared fit.

“I must ‘pay back’ the debt for my captain,” said Murakhtin.

ANKARA, November 25. /TASS/. Turkey’s General Staff has conducted one of the largest airspace control missions near the border with Syria, simultaneously engaging 18 F-16 fighter jets, the General Staff said in a statement released on Wednesday.

The Turkish Armed Forces refrained from providing information what sections of the border had been patrolled.

In the meantime, the Anadolu news agency said that after the Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber was shot down, the military command redeployed 20 tanks to the Hatay province bordering Syria from the country’s western regions.

The news agency said that the tanks had been delivered by train to the city of Gaziantep and then transported by army trucks to the 5th Armoured Brigade.

"Now each of the 24 [Russian] bombers will be accompanied by a fighter," the Kommersant newspaper said on Thursday, adding that, according to its military source, the Russian General Staff is considering deploying 10-12 fighter jets in Syria for the purpose.

Authorities in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region will launch a massive campaign among officials and Muslim clergy, pointing out the differences between extremist movements such as Islamic State and real Islam with its centuries-long traditions.

The 70-page book was written by the Muslim Spiritual Directorate of the region in collaboration with the Theology Department of the Urals State Mining University. The book will be handed to imams in mosques, civil servants, whose work requires cooperation with believers, and also professors and students in higher educational establishments.

There are few instances where artillery can be considered a quiet addition to the battlefield. But as it turns out, the U.S. Army has hurled hundreds of rockets at Islamic State militants for months without much public attention.

On Nov. 22, the American-led coalition hit nearly 20 targets across Iraq. An official press release pointed out that Washington and her allies had hit staging areas, fighting positions, car bombs and more with both warplanes and rocket launchers.

“We have fired over 400 HIMARS rounds at ISIL targets, since the middle of summer,” a public affairs officer with the main American task force in Baghdad told War Is Boring in an email. HIMARS stands for the six-wheeled High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launcher.