With regional tensions flaring, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the launch of the near-1,000km TurkStream gas pipeline as an example of international cooperation.

"We live in a difficult world, and unfortunately, in the region we're in now, there are tendencies for the worsening of the situation," Putin said at the pipeline's inauguration ceremony in Istanbul on Wednesday, referring to ongoing tensions in Iran, Iraq and Syria.

He added that the ambitious project was "for the good of both our nations and our neighbors."

Some Canadian troops stationed in Iraq are being moved "temporarily" to Kuwait "for safety reasons," defense chief Jonathan Vance has announced. Iraq's parliament recently called for all foreign troops to leave the country.

The move was made public in a letter to the families of Canadian soldiers in and near Iraq, posted to Twitter on Tuesday. Canada has about 500 troops in Iraq, out of 800 in total in the region, and it's not clear how many are leaving or for how long.

Russia has offered Iraq their S-400 air defense system to protect their airspace, RIA Novosti reported this week, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense.

According to the report, the Iraqi military may purchase the Russian S-400 system after it was offered to them to "ensure the country's sovereignty and reliable protection of airspace."

"Iraq is a partner of Russia in the field of military-technical cooperation, and the Russian Federation can supply the necessary funds to ensure the sovereignty of the country and reliable protection of airspace, including the supply of S-400 missiles and other components of the air defense system, such as Buk-M3, Tor -M2 "and so on," a member of the Public Council for the Russian Ministry of Defense said, as quoted by Avia.Pro.

Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale has angrily insisted his party supports hazard-reduction burns as his critics accuse him of causing bushfires.

The campaign against the Greens has intensified on Facebook after blazes destroyed more than 6 million hectares of bushland in Australia.

Conservative commentators, including News Corp columnist Miranda Devine, have consistently accused the left-wing minority party of being responsible for raging infernos.

Summary:

• President Trump has tweeted that "All is well!"

"Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq.
Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good!
We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!
I will be making a statement tomorrow morning."

• Iranian foreign minister Javid Zarif has tweeted:

"Iran took and concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens and senior officials were launched."

• Iran has launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against multiple bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq, and have threatened "more crushing responses" if Washington carried out further strikes.
• Initially, nine rockets hit the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in the country's west, the largest of the Iraqi military compounds where foreign troops are based. The attack came in three waves just after midnight, AFP reported.
• Iran swiftly claimed responsibility for the attack, with state TV saying it had launched "tens of missiles" on the base.
• Iranian sources are claiming that the operation has a name: 'Operation Martyr Suleimani'. Iran's airforce has reportedly been deployed.
• Iraqi PMF announced the start of military operation "Overwhelming Response."
• No confirmed details on injured/casualties - "working on initial battle damage assessments." According to social media sources, the Pentagon has said that the Iranian missile attack resulted in casualties among Iraqis only
• President Trump "has been briefed" is "monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his national security team," and despite initial reports from CNN he was set to address the nation, the press secretary has denied that Trump will address the nation tonight.
• The FAA has imposed restrictions for civilian flights over the Persian Gulf.
• Markets are turmoiling: Safe-haven assets are soaring (bonds, bitcoin, and gold), Oil prices are jumping, and Stocks are getting slammed

The Justice Department reversed its prior recommendation and asked that General Michael Flynn be incarcerated for up to 6 months.

The DOJ previously asked for no jail time.

The DOJ is now accusing Flynn of being uncooperative and failing to accept responsibility for his "serious" offense.

According to Mike Flynn's brother Joseph Flynn, General Flynn went through 19 sessions with Mueller's special counsel team and approximately 90 hours or tortuous interviews.

"Let us resolve that never again will we send the precious young blood of this country to die trying to prop up a corrupt military dictatorship abroad. This is also the time to turn away from excessive preoccupation overseas to the rebuilding of our own nation. America must be restored to a proper role in the world. But we can do that only through the recovery of confidence in ourselves.... together we will call America home to the ideals that nourished us from the beginning. From secrecy and deception in high places; come home, America. From military spending so wasteful that it weakens our nation; come home, America." — George S. McGovern, former Senator and presidential candidate

I agree wholeheartedly with George S. McGovern, a former Senator and presidential candidate who served in the Vietnam War, about one thing: I'm sick of old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.

It's time to bring our troops home.

Bring them home from Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Bring them home from Germany, South Korea and Japan. Bring them home from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Oman. Bring them home from Niger, Chad and Mali. Bring them home from Turkey, the Philippines, and northern Australia.

That's not what's going to happen, of course.

The U.S. military reportedly has more than 1.3 million men and women on active duty, with more than 450,000 of them stationed overseas in nearly every country in the world. As investigative journalist David Vine explains, "Although few Americans realize it, the United States likely has more bases in foreign lands than any other people, nation, or empire in history."

Don't fall for the propaganda, though: America's military forces aren't being deployed abroad to protect our freedoms here at home. Rather, they're being used to guard oil fields, build foreign infrastructure and protect the financial interests of the corporate elite. In fact, the United States military spends about $81 billion a year just to protect oil supplies around the world.

The reach of America's military empire includes close to 800 bases in as many as 160 countries, operated at a cost of more than $156 billion annually. As Vine reports, "Even US military resorts and recreation areas in places like the Bavarian Alps and Seoul, South Korea, are bases of a kind. Worldwide, the military runs more than 170 golf courses."

This is how a military empire occupies the globe.

Already, American military service people are being deployed to far-flung places in the Middle East and elsewhere in anticipation of the war drums being sounded over Iran.

This Iran crisis, salivated over by the neocons since prior to the Iraq War and manufactured by war hawks who want to jumpstart the next world war, has been a long time coming.

Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton: they all have done their part to ensure that the military industrial complex can continue to get rich at taxpayer expense.

Take President Trump, for instance.

Israel's top Sephardic rabbi has sparked a racial and religious row after labelling immigrants from former Soviet countries "religion-hating gentiles" and "communists".

The inflammatory comments, made at a rabbinical gathering in Jerusalem last week, are not Yitzhak Yosef's first. Last year, the country's highest Sephardic authority said Palestinians and non-Jewish people should be forbidden from living in Israel.

This time, after claiming that tens of thousands of gentiles have come to Israel under the Law of Return, which gives Jews the right to immigrate and live in the country, his comments have sparked a backlash.

Growing security concerns in the Gulf region has prompted Germany to "thin out" the number of soldiers in Iraq. Its military presence will be reduced particularly in Baghdad and Taji.

Germany has reduced the number of its troops stationed in Iraq due to growing regional security concerns, the Bundeswehr confirmed via a press release on Monday.

Overnight, 35 German soldiers were brought to either Kuwait or Jordan, the military said.

"These forces can be brought back at any time if training in Iraq is to resume."

The U.S. Air Force is deploying six B-52 bombers to Diego Garcia, an island base in the Indian Ocean, amid the rising threat from Iran after the U.S.-led airstrike killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Fox News confirmed Monday.

The move, which CNN first reported, was the latest in efforts by U.S. military officials to bolster resources near the Middle East after the Iraqi Shia militia Kataib Hezbollah hinted at possible retaliatory attacks to avenge Soleimani's death.

The B-52 bombers reportedly were spotted departing from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana to Diego Garcia, which is located 2,300 miles south of Iran's southernmost tip.