Budapest is set to stand against the automatic extension of sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union, the Hungarian foreign minister said, calling for a discussion about the issue.

"We definitely cannot accept that a decision [on extending sanctions] was made behind the scenes, that is we are against using an automatic procedure. We want discussions on the high political level," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told journalists after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Budapest on Wednesday, according to Sputnik.

This is not the first time Hungary has raised its voice in an attempt to urge the EU to reconsider the automatic prolonging of anti-Russia sanctions, although it says it is ready to comply with any EU decision

The minister believes that restoring economic cooperation with Russia is important not only for Hungary, but also for the whole of Europe.

Hillary Clinton violated federal records rules by never obtaining permission to conduct official business on private email server during her tenure as secretary state, a State Department audit concluded.

The report from the State Department's inspector general say mentions "longstanding, systemic weaknesses" in the agency's communications even before Clinton took office there, but it singles her out as having been a particularly bad offender for her exclusive use of private, unsecured email.

"At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with Department issues before leaving government service and, because she did not do so, she did not comply with the Department's policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act," says the audit, which was obtained by multiple media sources.

Secretary of State John Kerry and former secretaries Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright were interviewed in the investigation, according to Politico. The news outlet also said that Clinton and her deputies Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan and Huma Abedin, declined to be interviewed for the inspector general's investigation.

European states must improve the way in which they gather and share data on firearms in order to reduce crime and combat terrorism, a UK-led study has said.

The research, the result of a 15-month project led by Coventry University, recommends setting up "firearms focal points" and creating a pan European information network to facilitate information-sharing between local authorities.

"If each country created a single firearms focal point to gather, analyze and then share information - not only about the firearms, but also pertaining ballistic material - with their counterparts across south-east Europe, and beyond, this would be a major leap forward in protecting communities," Coventry University's Helen Poole explained.

The study found that inconsistencies in the ways in which countries compile crime data made it difficult to determine the actual number of firearms offenses. Of particular concern to researchers were inconsistencies in firearms regulations which created "loopholes that could be exploited by criminals."

Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents confirmed the death of their leader and named his successor through the group's spokesman on Wednesday.

US and Afghan officials said Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed mid-Saturday in a drone strike on a vehicle he was occupying en route to the Pakistani city of Quetta, Balochistan province. Mansour was picked to replace Taliban's previous leader in mid-2015.

Zabiullah Mujahid, one of two Taliban's spokesmen, issued a Pashto-language statement via Twitter in which he said "May Allah have mercy" on Mansour.

The accompanying statement named Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as the Taliban's new leader, and Sirajudddin Haqqani and Mullah Yaqoob as two of his deputies. Akhundzada is an Islamic religious scholar who headed the group's Sharia courts and is responsible for issuing most of Taliban's fatwas. His predecessor led the militants for less than a year. Yaqoob is the son of Mullah Omar, the founder of the extremist group, who was killed last year.

Brazil's collaboration with BRICS will remain the same despite the political instability in the country, Head of Trade and Investment Office at the Embassy of Brazil in the United States told Sputnik.

When asked whether there are any concerns that the present political situation in Brazil might impact the country's cooperation with BRICS, Ricardo Daskal Hirschbruch said, "I don't think so. That's something that's on the agenda, and I don't see someone changing that."

"That's a very important cooperation for Brazil. These are major countries. It's the way the world is going forward. I don't see that changing," Hirschbruch stated on Monday on the sidelines of the fourth annual Doing Business with the BRICS conference in Washington.

Brazilian leadership has been facing a wave of public discontent for over a year amid the country's struggling economy and several major corruption scandals.

Earlier in May, the upper house of the Brazilian parliament voted 55-22 to open impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff after she was accused of concealing the country's budget deficit ahead of the 2014 re-election. She was suspended for 180 days and her office was assumed by Vice President Michel Temer, who appointed Meirelles as country's finance minister.

In 1865 at the end of the US Civil War New York journalist Horace Greeley popularized the expression, ""Go West, young man, and grow up with the country." Today, some 150 years later, as the colossal economy of the United States of America sinks into obsolescence, outsourcing, income depression, and staggering real unemployment, with many countries of the European Union close to the same, the slogan should properly be changed. "Go East, young man," and grow up with the booming economies of Eurasia, especially Russia and China. While NATO planes and warships increasingly saber rattle both Russian and Chinese territories, the two giants of Eurasia are forging relations closer than ever in their history. Energy alliances are at the heart of the process.

Energy Synergies

Since May, 2014, China and Russia have agreed to staggeringly large energy deals that make China less vulnerable to any NATO or Mideast supply blackmail, and Russia to any Ukraine or EU energy blackmail.

In May, 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping signed the so-called Russian East Route pipeline deal, a $400 billion agreement over 30 years that will begin sending 38 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Russia to China beginning 2018. It was followed in November 2014 by an agreement for the so-called West Route gas pipeline that will connect gas fields in western Siberia with northwest China through the Altai area of Xinjiang Autonomous Region. They also agreed on provisions for possible second and third sections to be added later that would bring capacity to an impressive 100 billion cubic meters a year. West Route is designated a priority and to be finished in six years.

Russia will postpone airstrikes against militants in Syria, after being asked by several militant groups that are willing to join the ceasefire. The groups say they need time to drive Al-Nusra from their territories.

The Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria has received around 10 messages from the leaders of armed groups in Syria in a number of different provinces asking not to start airstrikes, according to Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov.

The groups say they will look to drive Al-Nusra from specific areas and inform Moscow of Nusra-free territories so that Russian aircraft don't target them.

"Some of them are ready to provide us with coordinates and the areas which they control after they are fully cleared from terrorists, and further ensure that Syrian towns and army positions aren't shelled from these areas," said Konashenkov.

A decision has been taken to work with these armed groups that want to join the ceasefire.

U.S. State Department Daily Press Briefing May 23 2016

QUESTION: Well, sir, I know you said that you don't know much about Ahrar al-Sham and what they did in al-Zahraa. I have the photograph that I mentioned. I was reluctant to show it because of how graphic it was, but now I think I will do so and maybe this will prompt you to look into this group. And I want to ask you why should this group have protection under the cessation of hostilities when they clearly don't care about cessation of hostilities?

MR TONER: Look, I'm just not aware of this incident. I'm not - I was not casting doubt or not trying to - I just am not aware of it.

U.S. State Department Daily Press Briefing May 24 2016

QUESTION: Yesterday, I asked a few questions that you said you would look into. First about the reported brief visit of an Ahrar al-Sham representative to Washington, D.C. Did his visit raise any red flags? Second, what does the U.S. think about this group Ahrar al-Sham, and why should they have the protection under the cessation of hostilities when, by many accounts, they don't care much about that cessation of hostilities?

MR TONER: [...] Look, I mean, we talked a little bit about this yesterday, but Ahrar al-Sham is not a designated foreign terrorist organization. And as we talked about, it is part of this vetted group of opposition forces that are part of the HNC, High Negotiating Council. That was a process mostly led by Saudi Arabia [...] You talked about the attack, and I think we did condemn that. [...] We have serious concerns about that kind of violence.
[...]
MR TONER: -- we believe that that kind of action at this point in time would have a damaging effect on the cessation, as well as on the whole political process. We agreed that this group would be a part of the HNC, with the expectation that they will not commit violations of the cessation and that they will not carry out brutal attacks. We're aware of last week's attacks. [...]

HT: I understand you have a correction to make to a comment made on our first interview.

AV: Yes. Recall that on April 12, Martin Kobler admitted that the Government of Accord (GoA) existed only on paper without the approval of the internationally recognized House of Representatives (HoR).

I said that April 19th the HoR had given a vote of confidence to the GoA, but that was only conditional. In addition to demands for amendments to legal documents, they required a meeting with the GoA in Tobruk. This frustrated foreign powers anxious to instate the regime, as the GoA were unable to travel beyond Tripoli, even under the protection of their militias - and inside Tripoli they required constant guard.

HT: So the HoR never acknowledged the legitimacy of the GoA?

AV: No. The President of the HoR, Ageela Saleh, continues to extend the invitation for dialog, but his requests are ignored.

Throughout history, controlling India was the key to controlling Nepal. British control over the landlocked nation was an extension of its control over India itself. Today, imperialism is far from a distant memory. It did not go "extinct," rather, it merely "evolved." Today, imperialism looks like national and international "aid programs" which are used as fronts and vectors for corporate special interests.

USAID, the World Food Programme, and others, for instance, serve as fronts and vectors for corporations like Monsanto. In turn, Monsanto seeks a monopoly over world food production and the immense wealth and influence associated with such control. Just like the British East Indies Company did for centuries (1600's-1800's) the West is using a combination of corporations and foundations to project geopolitical power. And few other sectors engender such sought-after geopolitical power like control over a nation's agriculture.