The head of US Central Command General Joseph Votel has secretly visited Syria. The news of the visit appeared only after Votel had returned to the US. Investigative journalist and political activist Vanessa Beeley told Radio Sputnik about the true goals of General Votel's visit to Syria.

"Votel is a very high-ranking if not the highest-ranking General and therefore he will be allowed into the most secure areas, which suggests that in a sense the enclave has become a US base inside Syria which is already an illegal action to set up a military base inside sovereign territory."

Beeley further said that fundamentally over the past five years all regime change projects have failed.

"We started with the democratic revolution which was supported by NATO, the US and the gulf which is being exposed for what it really is: a farce. Then we had the sectarian argument that they were protecting minorities when in reality it has been proven that the Syrian government and the Syrian Arab Army is the only life insurance for the minorities on the ground in Syria under attack by the US, NATO proxy terrorist factions."

NATO's attempts to change the political landscape in Europe touch upon Russia's interests and prompt it to respond, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday. "NATO's latest attempts at changing the military and political landscape in Europe, in particular, in the context of its outspoken policy of deterrence towards Russia, will inevitably affect Russia's interests and force it to respond proportionately," Zakharova said.

According to the diplomat, dragging Montenegro into NATO won't be left without Russia's reaction.

"As for the just-signed protocol on Montenegro's accession to the Washington treaty, it merely confirms the intention of Brussels to accelerate the admission process to the maximum extent and make it irreversible," Zakharova said. "The efforts to artificially drag Podgorica into the alliance are proceeding against the background of backstage deals with Montenegro's top officials in defiance of the opinion of the country's people and in bypass of the democratic principles and procedures NATO is ostensibly firmly committed to."

The 28 NATO foreign ministers on Thursday signed a protocol on Montenegro's admission to the alliance in the capacity of an observer. Once the ratification has been completed, Montenegro will become the 29th member of NATO.

Tribute to Maria by a Scottish expat in Russia and RI contributor Rhod Mackenzie.

Maria Zakharova is the official press spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, her press briefings are not only informative but entertaining, she has established herself in the media as not only a witty, intelligent and articulate person but a wonderful antidote to the bland spokespeople representing the US and the EU who spout cliches and platitudes which they deliver during their prepared but meaningless statements and then avoid any real questions or give extremely evasive answers to any questions they are asked and never ever wavering from the prepared their text despite how ridiculous they look and sound.

This is the standard of what you have to expect of the Western presstitute media who slavishly write up their reports based on the outpourings of bovine excrement by these so called spokespeople of the US and the EU and Maria Zakharova really stands out as she also takes to social media to take to task any media outlet that writes blatant falsehoods.

The article below is from her Facebook page where this time she takes to task the Euronews Channel about its blatant lies, falsehoods and propaganda regarding the Crimean Tatars who are currently following the Ukraine's win in Eurovision, thus becoming the latest Western 'Cause Celebre'.

Maria! you are a credit to your profession and a wonderful example to all those so called journalists who slavishly follow the outpourings of the US and EU and print their propaganda.

"The qualifications for president seem to be that one is willing to commit mass murder one minute and hand presidential medals of freedom to other war criminals in the next. One need only apply if one has very loose, flexible, or non-existent morality."—Author and activist Cindy Sheehan

Long gone are the days when the path to the White House was open to anyone who met the Constitution's bare minimum requirements of being a natural born citizen, a resident of the United States for 14 years, and 35 years of age or older.

Today's presidential hopefuls must jump through a series of hoops aimed at selecting the candidates best suited to serve the interests of the American police state. Candidates who are anti-war, anti-militarization, anti-Big Money, pro-Constitution, pro-individual freedom and unabashed advocates for the citizenry need not apply.

The carefully crafted spectacle of the presidential election with its nail-biting primaries, mud-slinging debates, caucuses, super-delegates, popular votes and electoral colleges has become a fool-proof exercise in how to persuade a gullible citizenry into believing that their votes matter.

Yet no matter how many Americans go to the polls on November 8, "we the people" will not be selecting the nation's next president.

While voters might care about where a candidate stands on healthcare, Social Security, abortion and immigration—hot-button issues that are guaranteed to stir up the masses, secure campaign contributions and turn any election into a circus free-for-all—those aren't the issues that will decide the outcome of this presidential election.

What decides elections are money and power.

We've been hoodwinked into believing that our votes count, that we live in a democracy, that elections make a difference, that it matters whether we vote Republican or Democrat, and that our elected officials are looking out for our best interests. Truth be told, we live in an oligarchy, and politicians represent only the profit motives of the corporate state, whose leaders know all too well that there is no discernible difference between red and blue politics, because there is only one color that matters in politics—green.

As much as the Republicans and Democrats like to act as if there's a huge difference between them and their policies, they are part of the same big, brawling, noisy, semi-incestuous clan. Watch them interact at social events—hugging and kissing and nudging and joking and hobnobbing with each other—and it quickly becomes clear that they are not sworn enemies but partners in crime, united in a common goal, which is to maintain the status quo.

The powers-that-be will not allow anyone to be elected to the White House who does not answer to them.

Who are the powers-that-be, you might ask?

Russia is steadily building positive ties, if not to say strategic alliances, with its Asian neighbors which are discontent with Washington's policy, an article in Asia Times read.

"While the West and its strong allies in the region see the move as part of Russia's 'expansionism', others view it as the Russian way of counterbalancing the US position in the region," the author wrote.

For Asian countries, cooperation with Moscow is a chance to decrease their dependence on the US and its "fragile commitment to their security."

At the same time, Russia has offered a positive alternative with "huge potential" for cooperation at the state and bilateral levels and also at the level of regional organizations.

Some ASEAN nations have already supported this approach, the article read. Cooperation with Russia would help them become more independent from the US. In turn, Russia would be able to decrease its reliance on Western markets.

An editorial in the New York Times on 19th May illustrates clearly that this US propaganda bullhorn of choice has totally lost the plot with its anti-Russian hysteria.

The article in question is a litany of misinformation, distortion and...dare I say it, lies. Virtually every sentence is beyond the pale in misrepresenting the actions of Russia under the presidency of Vladimir Putin, the unmitigated bias serving to present the USA as a bastion of goodness and benign intention.

It is difficult to know where to start and end with this piece of full spectrum Orwellianism, but there are four paragraphs which deserve special mention, presented below:

Five years ago the United States and NATO-Arab allies launched a deadly war against Syria without the approval of the United Nations Security Council.

In collaboration with various terror outfits, the regime changers destroyed Syria, killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, and made more than 10 million refugees.

The popular narrative is that the NATO-Arab coalition with the United States at its helm turned Syria into a failed state out of "humanitarian concern," but this claim falls apart once the distorted lens of Western saviourism and colonialism is dropped and actual facts are presented.

In truth, the "humanitarian intervention" in Syria was predicated on the imperialist, colonialist, economic, and ideological interests of the Western-Arab states, masquerading for the world community as a democratic effort. It served to destabilize the planet, dismantle Syria as a unitary state, and recolonize it with "moderate" zealots, including ISIL and Al-Qaeda affiliates.

Russian President Vladimir Putin joined the top teams on the ice of the 2016 World Hockey Championship to personally congratulate them on their wins and present Canada with the cup for defeating Finland and grabbing the gold.

Putin arrived at the Moscow sports venue during the third period to watch the final stages of the game.

"I thank Canada for giving the world this brilliant, extraordinary sport. I also thank Finland's team for their beautiful, talented play," President Putin said at the awards ceremony.


Putin addressed the Russian team as well. "I also congratulate our Russian team with their bronze medals. I know that their fans hoped for a better outcome. But sport is sport, hockey is hockey, our men played with full commitment; they've shown themselves well and I congratulate them heartily," he added.

This marked the 26th ice hockey world championship win for Canada, the second best record in the history of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The first spot is still held by Russia, with 27 victories, combined with the wins of the Soviet national team.

The Egyptian media raised the possibility that the A320 passenger jet of EgyptAir airline which was en route from Paris to Cairo crashed due to Israeli fighter jets' exercises in the region. Al-Mesri al-Youm newspaper wrote that in its report of the plane's crash, Greece hasn't mentioned Israeli warplanes' wargames in the Southern parts of Crete Island which was revealed earlier this month by Tel Aviv, adding that the maneuvers had started one night before the Egyptian plane's crash.

It added that the exercises are staged with the goal of training the Israeli air force pilots using Greece's airspace which is adjacent to Egypt and Libya. According to the report, Israel started the maneuvers on May 18 and they will last until next January.

Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry confirmed in a statement on May 19 that A320 passenger jet has crashed. Earlier, the ministry had said that an SOS message was sent out from the missing jet.

A militant cell with suspected links to the Islamic State terror group was foiled in Russia's southern Republic of Ingushetia, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee (NAC) said.

"The FSB and Russian Interior Ministry units have foiled the criminal activities of an underground conspiratorial bandit cell, associated with the international terrorist organization Islamic State (IS, Daesh, formerly ISIS/ISIL)," the statement read.

The four members of the group, all of whom were residents of Ingushetia, were detained during the operation, the NAC said.

The militant cell located in the Republic's Nazran District was in possession of a "large weapons cache," which was destroyed by the security forces.

The arsenal of the terrorists consisted of "three ready-to-use improvised explosive devices (IEDs), grenades, Kalashnikov assault rifles and pistols with silencers, including foreign-made ones, as well as over 2,000 rounds from small arms."