• Russia demands apology — from me! — for article about assassination of Ambassador Andrei Karlov

  Apologize, Russia? Only if you go first and apologize for Putin's thuggery.

 So now Vladimir Putin is demanding an apology from me. Who knew that a strongman supporting mass atrocities in Syria could be so sensitive? Putin has, of course, thrown his military might behind the campaign to crush Syrian rebels. Russian aircraft have savagely bombed the city of Aleppo, killing untold innocents, including children.

"The responsibility for this brutality lies in one place,” President Obama said on Monday, assigning the blame clearly to Russia and co-conspirator Iran.

“This blood and these atrocities are on their hands,” our president added.

1 Ankara, Turkey

After fatally shooting the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, in the back, the gunman is heard shouting, "Allahu akbar (God is great). Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria! Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria!" The ambassador was making a speech at the Museum of Modern Art when the gunman shot him in the back on Dec. 19, 2016. The shooting occurred just one day before diplomats from Turkey, Iran and Russia are scheduled to meet in Moscow to discuss the war-ravaged city Aleppo.

Moment when Russian Ambassador to Turkey was killed by gunmen in photos 

Audience members react and crouch in the corner after a gunmen fatally shot the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov and points his weapon at them at the Museum of Modern Art 

on Dec. 19, 2016.  

And you’ve got a long list of things for which to atone: Putinhas intervened in our election, killed civilians in Syria, stolen Crimea, shelled Ukraine, threatened other neighbors, has been arming Hezbollah, supplied the missile system thatshot down Malaysia Airlines' flight 17 in 2014 and then hacked into the computers of the Dutch agency invest igatingthe crime.