Originally appeared at Izvestia - Russian daily news. Translated by Julia Rakhmetova

After another Pentagon statement on "unsafe and unprofessional maneuvers" by a ship or aircraft of some country in the vicinity of US sailors and pilots, who 'peacefully' violate Russian, Chinese or Iranian borders, my friends are usually indignant. This happened recently when the American Navy P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft twice approached Russia's border over the Black Sea and were intercepted by Sukhoi Su-27 fighters.

American military tend to misbehave, believing they will escape punishment. Dotting the world with reconnaissance stations, interception and wiretapping systems, they are sure that as "Big Brother," they can take the liberty of doing anything they want. They do this until someone explains in plain language that they must not misbehave, sobering them with a slap in the face.

Many remember the incident of the U-2 spy plane piloted by Gary Powers shot down over Sverdlovsk in 1960. In 1988, the Bezzavetny guard ship literally pushed the American missile cruiser USS Yorktown out of Soviet territorial waters. Deputy Commander in Chief of the Black Sea Fleet Rear-Admiral Valery Kulikov, who took a direct part in that incident as a first mate on the Bezzavetny told me the story.

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DAN RATHER: "Some evil is just ... it can't be explained."

DAVID LETTERMAN: "Are these people happy? Are they joyous now? Are they celebrating? Thank God?"

DAN RATHER: "Oh absolutely, they're celebrating. There's one report, this has not been confirmed but there is several eye[witness] reports that there was a cell, one of these cells across the Hudson River. And they got on the ... this is the report and I emphasize that I don't know this for a fact but there's several witnesses who say this happened. They got on the roof of a building to look across, they knew what was gonna happen. They were waiting for it to happen and when it happened they celebrated. They jumped for joy."

(SOURCE: The Late Show with David Letterman - 09/17/01)

In the days after 9/11, while Ground Zero continued to smoulder, millions heard Dan Rather and various media outlets repeat vague and unconfirmed reports of arrests that took place that day. These rumors held that Middle Eastern men, presumably Arabs, were arrested in explosive-packed vans in various places around the city on September 11th, and that some had even been photographing and celebrating those events. What most do not realize is that those reports were not mere rumors, and we now have thousands of pages of FBI, CIA and DOJ reports documenting those arrests.

Last June, the US was celebrating its 45th anniversary of its fight against drugs. However, since the announcement of the war on drugs by President Richard Nixon in 1971, the number of drug addicts in the United States over the years have not decreased. What's even worse is the number of Americans who die from drug overdoses is on the rise in the United States today.

However, the civil body that is tasked with providing drug rehabilitation has recently come to the conclusion that 90% of people who are in need of rehabilitation and extensive treatment which would allow them to escape drug addiction are not receiving such aid. As for those who do receive such assistance, only 30 percent of them manage to return to their regular lives. As for the centers that receive public funding to assist people in their fight against addiction, they are often headed by poorly prepared specialist that are using outdated techniques and ineffective treatments.

The lack of any comprehensive results in the so-called "war on drugs" leads us to an important question: where did 1.5 trillion dollars allocated to fight lethal overdoses, drug addiction and the brutal violence that accompanies this illegal trade go?

There are days in the life of a chancellor when the chasm between the glamour of the geopolitical stage and the political squalor back home is despairingly vast. Last Sunday was such a day for Angela Merkel.

Shortly before 10 a.m. local time, the German chancellor's Airbus touched down gently at Hangzhou airport, a red-carpet rolling up as the plane slowed to a stop. Just 200 meters away, Air Force One was parked and behind it stood French President François Hollande's aircraft. With engines roaring, the jumbo carrying Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe taxied past. On this September morning, the Hangzhou airport had become the parking lot of global politics.

The leaders had come to the Chinese city for the two-day G-20 summit. As Merkel strode past soldiers with fixed bayonets to her waiting sedan, she was facing a busy couple of days. Even before the summit officially began, she held a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the same issues as ever: Syria, refugees and Islamic State. Then she quickly headed over to the Expo Center for a meeting with the other world leaders. This time, the focus was on possible stimulus measures for the global economy. Dinner was served at 7 p.m. at the Chinese government's guest house before the group took a boat ride on Yue Lake -- which Merkel followed with a one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The German leader would like to see the Kremlin chief put a stop to his ongoing meddling in Ukraine.

NATO is taking every effort to justify its raison d'etre. However, the Alliance's saber-rattling on Russia's doorstep is triggering deep concern and anxiety among its members. Although "the marriage of interests" still holds, cracks are appearing among the bloc's members.

NATO member states are watching the Alliance's muscle-flexing near Russia's borders with growing concern, Turkish scholar and author Haydar Cakmak writes in his op-ed for Yenicag Gazetesi.

"There are no doubts that NATO's anti-missile defense system elements, which are deployed in Poland and Hungary to protect the European territories against attacks from the Middle East... are aimed against Russia," Cakmak underscored adding that the installations are triggering concerns among NATO European members, most notably, France and Germany.

"Russia is [also] aware that these missiles are aimed against it," he noted.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed on Friday the destruction in the German city of Muenster of 500 metric tons of precursor chemicals which could be used to synthesize poison gases, delivered from Libya.

"Germany works very specifically together with the international community and with many partners, and helps the Libyan National Unity government to neutralize and dispose of the remnants of the Libyan chemical weapons program in accordance with the environmental safety standards," Steinmeier told journalists.

It is crucial to prevent toxic chemicals from falling into the wrong hands and, by doing this, to contribute to the security of Germany, Europe and Libya, he added.

Amidst more reports of government advances in the vicinities of Damascus and Aleppo, the Syrian military gives the Jihadi fighters in Aleppo an ultimatum requiring them to surrender or leave in 2 days.

Whilst Lavrov and Kerry negotiate with each other in Geneva - with no reports so far of any progress being made - news from the Syrian battlefronts points to continuing changes in the overall situation.

Whilst most attention has been focused on 'the Great Battle of Aleppo' in the north, the British reporter Patrick Cockburn is reporting major gains by the Syrian military in the south around Damascus. According to Cockburn, who has recently toured the area

"Four years ago the city (Damascus - AM) was a jigsaw puzzle of pro-government and pro-opposition areas with each side trying to expand their heavily defended islands of authority. But today the government holds almost all of the city and its outskirts aside from a single large opposition enclave to the east, known as East Ghouta. Isolated, starved, bombarded, divided among themselves and sensing that the war is going against them, the rebel townships are surrendering on terms that leaves the government in charge."

Latest round of US sanctions more symbolic than effective, sanctioning individuals and companies sanctioned already.

On 1st September 2016 the US Treasury announced a further expansion of US sanctions against Russia.

The new sanctions are essentially symbolic. They fall into four distinct categories:

1. against CJSC ABR Management ("ABR Management") for undertaking certain management work on behalf of the already sanctioned Bank Rossiya - a medium sized Russian bank based in St. Petersburg which the US and various other people have convinced themselves - almost certainly wrongly - that Putin either owns or has a stake in.
2. against certain individuals holding various official positions either in Crimea or in the Donetsk People's Republic;
3. against certain companies and Russian state institutions involved in building the bridge between Crimea and Kerch; and
4. against certain companies which are subsidiaries of Gazprom and are involved in its work.

The bridge being built between Crimea and Kerch is connected to Arkady Rotenberg, who is already subject to US sanctions.
Any companies connected or controlled by him would already be affected by sanctions.

Gazprom is itself subject to sanctions as by extension are its subsidiaries, which are involved in its operations.

If you're going to point the finger of blame at one country in particular you should have more, you know, proof.

Over the past several months, The Washington Post has published a series of articles that claim to show that Russian government hackers have been working overtime to influence the November election. On June 14, the Post proclaimed: "Russian government hackers penetrated DNC, stole opposition research on Trump." The Post followed this up on June 20 with a story alleging that "Cyber researchers confirm Russian government hack of Democratic National Committee." July 29 brought us the headline: "FBI probes suspected breach of another Democratic organization by Russian hackers." On August 29, the Post reported: "Russian hackers targeted Arizona election system."

And yet, despite headlines that one would normally expect of British tabloids like The Sun or The Daily Mirror, or their principal American imitator, The Daily Beast, the Post has signally failed in providing any hard evidence of Russian malfeasance. And now the latest in the Post's series on Russia cyber-warfare tells readers: "U.S. investigating potential covert Russian plan to disrupt November elections."

According to the Post, "U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies are investigating what they see as a broad covert Russian operation in the United States to sow public distrust." Unnamed "senior intelligence" and "congressional" officials warn that Russia "seems to be" waging a "global campaign" designed to influence the US public opinion. It is something, says one unnamed source "we're looking very closely at."

All Native struggles in the United States are a struggle against erasure. The poisoning of our land, the theft of our children, the state violence committed against us — we are forced to not only live in opposition to these ills, but also to live in opposition to the fact that they are often erased from public view and public discourse, outside of Indian Country. The truth of our history and our struggle does not match the myth of American exceptionalism, and thus, we are frequently boxed out of the narrative.

The struggle at Standing Rock, North Dakota, has been no exception, with Water Protectors fighting tooth and nail for visibility, ever since the Sacred Stone prayer encampment began on April 1.

For months, major news outlets have ignored what's become the largest convergence of Native peoples in more than a century. But with growing social media amplification and independent news coverage, the corporate media had finally begun to take notice. National attention was paid. Solidarity protests were announced in cities around the country. The National Guard was activated in North Dakota.