The real story behind the refugee crisis in Europe is far stranger than fiction.

If you watch the news, you've probably heard about the refugee crisis in Europe (or the "migrant crisis" as some are referring to it).

Nearly a million asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa are flooding across the borders. According to the BBC, as of July, European countries had received over 437,000 Asylum applications for the year. In 2014 more than 840,000 applications were received.

So why is this happening? Where are migrants/refugees coming from? Why are there so many of them?

The corporate media and the political establishment on both the left and the right will answer those questions with a combination of half truths and outright lies. This shouldn't be surprising. It is in their interest to cover-up the role they played in creating the crisis.
Let's take a look at the top 7 countries origin for these refugees, Syria, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Eritrea, Serbia, Pakistan, Iraq:

We, CyberBerkut‬, finally have undeniable evidence of the use of artillery against women and children by troops controlled by Ukrainian Government! This is from back in March.

We, CyberBerkut!, continue to denounce the Ukrainian fascist regime. This time, from computer networks of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of ‪Ukraine‬, we extracted the package tactical documents. Among the large number of encrypted messages about moving and reconnaissance troops of the Ukrainian State, there were ‪‎documents‬ that contained data about the objectives on the territories of the ‪‎DPR‬ and ‪‎LPR‬, and orders for their immediate suppression by artillery fire.

Nevertheless, given the fact that on operational maps the numbering of the squares of X and Y is always applied in a chaotic manner with the aim of concealing information about the attacker's purposes - until the last moment we could not determine the real goals that Kiev gave the order to destroy.

However, in early September 2015 we finally managed to get shots of several operational maps, which "deployed" the artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the winter of 2014-2015.

The plight of the refugees could become the perfect excuse to precipitate a new R2P (responsibility to protect) war; Libya remixed, with fighting ISIL barely disguising the real agenda: regime change in Damascus.

So Europe has suddenly, miraculously "discovered" that the civil war/proxy war raging in Syria since early 2011 has hemorrhaged into an extremely serious refugee crisis.

European Sturm und Drang on what to do about the refugee drama is unprecedented in modern times. Bitterness permeates the fault lines separating fear and intolerance from generosity and solidarity.

Among quite a few progressive circles, there are widespread fears that the current Western media campaign centered on the plight of refugees may be a catalyst to prepare European-wide public opinion for an all-out war in Syria before the end of 2015.

There had been an unspoken consensus among non-sectarian close observers of Syria and Lebanon that "Assad must go" — the Obama administration mantra — won't be fulfilled anytime soon.

Thus the current flood of refugees released from Turkish "holding camps" on their way to Europe — by direct orders from Ankara, with a little encouragement from Washington.

The plight of the refugees would then become the perfect excuse to precipitate a new R2P (responsibility to protect) war; Libya remixed, with fighting ISIS/ISIL/Daesh — the fake "Caliphate" — barely disguising the real agenda (which Washington shares with Ankara, Riyadh and Doha, not to mention London and Paris): regime change in Damascus.

FBI Director James Comey continued his push for Silicon Valley to give the federal government backdoor access to encrypted data at a congressional hearing. However, the tech industry has told committee members that it's not in their interest to help.

At a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday, Comey said that he wants Silicon Valley to create a workaround that would give the federal government access to encrypted data in their programs and hardware, even though more than 140 tech firms have come out against the idea.

"There shouldn't be venom," Comey told the committee. "We should all care about the same thing."

The FBI director also spoke on Capitol Hill about creating a backdoor in encryption in July, when he testified before the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, arguing that commercial encryption is interfering with the bureau's investigations of criminals and terrorists.

Combatants in a national food fight over labeling genetically modified products are gearing up for a showdown in the U.S. Senate, campaign leaders said on Tuesday.

The tactics range from old-fashioned lobbying to modern social media campaigns, and both sides say it is too early to tell who will prevail.

"I feel like we're in the final battle now," said David Bronner, a California business owner and leading backer of mandatory labeling for foods made with genetically engineered crops, also known as GMOs.


Bronner, CEO of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, said in a phone interview he has purchased $250,000 in advertising space in several national publications to identify what GMO critics see as concerns about GMO crops, and to challenge what he called a "smokescreen" promoted by corporations and others who say GMOs and the pesticides used on them are safe.

The United States has marked the 14th anniversary of the attacks that were used to spark over a decade of war.

U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama marked the 14th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks with a moment of silence Friday.

While the Obamas marked the anniversary of the attacks on the South Lawn of the White House, more commemoration events took place nationwide. The largest event was held at the site of the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York City. The site, a memorial and museum, was set to be host to an annual reading of the names of those killed in the attacks.

Mourners also gathered near Shanksville in western Pennsylvania, while Pentagon officials held a separate ceremony. Later in the day, Obama is also expected to attend an event at Fort Meade, Maryland. According to the Department of Defense, the event will include an "unprecedented, live, worldwide televised troop talk with service members on the 14th anniversary of 9/11."

"(The president) very much values face time with troops - listening, asking, and answering questions, and he looks forward to taking time on the anniversary of 9/11 to engage directly with service members," Pentagon spokesperson Peter Cook stated.

Close to 3000 people were killed when Al-Qaeda carried out a series of attacks using hijacked planes on U.S. landmarks including the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon. Another hijacked plane steered towards Washington crashed near Shanksville after passengers clashed with the hijackers.

The Al-Qaeda attacks were used by the U.S. government to justify the country's invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. So far, the conflict in Afghanistan has resulted in between 106,000-170,000 civilian casualties, according to the March 2015 report "Body Count." The report was authored by a group of doctors and medical experts, and estimated the total death toll of the broader U.S. War on Terror as over 1.3 million. The report only focused on deaths in conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, and excluded U.S.-led military operations in countries such as Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The report's estimate puts the death toll of the War on Terror at well over 300 times the number of dead from the initial September 11 attacks.

UN General Assembly has passed a Palestinian resolution to allow its flag fly in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York, angering Israel and giving hope to Palestinians seeking to gain full UN membership.

The resolution stated that flags of non-member observer states like Palestine "shall be raised at [UN] Headquarters [in New York] and United Nations Offices following the flags of the member states."

The vote was passed with 119 votes out of 193 in favor. Among the European countries that voted 'yes' were France, Russia, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Belgium, Malta and Poland.

The majority of EU member states were among the 45 countries that chose to abstain. A total of eight countries voted against the idea, including the US and Israel.

Dictators, human rights abusers and all-round repressive regimes will descend on East London next week for the 2015 Defence Security and Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition. RT takes a look at this year's potential biggest buyers.

Customers at this year's arms fair may not always see eye-to-eye on geopolitics, but one thing they do hold in common is a desire to keep their armories well stocked.

Countries such as Bahrain and Israel need guns to put down the meddlesome elements within their borders, while nations like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates need arms to fight Houthi rebels in Yemen.

A research group within Islamic State is alleged to have developed and used warfare poisonous agents in the areas under their control. Russia's Foreign Ministry says ISIS now has the scientific documentation necessary to produce chemical weapons.

An anonymous US official cited by the BBC believes Islamic State (formerly ISIS/ISIL) has formed a group to produce toxic chemicals such as mustard and chlorine gas (mustard agent, dichloroethyl sulfide, HD blister agent).

"They're using mustard. We know they are," BBC cited an unnamed US official as saying, adding that the use of chemical warfare by ISIS has been registered on several occasions.

"We've seen them use it on at least four separate occasions on both sides of the border - both in Iraq and Syria," the official was quoted as saying.

Journalist Abby Martin explores historical facts behind the United States' rise in international relations.


On her new show, The Empire Files, journalist Abby Martin debuts by exploring the historical roots and the way in which the United States has built a large network of military bases and diplomatic submission. Through extensive research and interviews with experts, Martin shows the rise of the U.S. empire, how it works, its ambitions, its hegemony and the effects it has over the lives of thousands of people throughout the world.

The Empire Files airs every Friday at teleSUR English.