This month marks the one year anniversary of the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 - an incident that took place against a backdrop of a brutal proxy war - pitting Kiev and its supporters in Washington DC, the EU and NATO - against rebel forces in eastern Ukraine and Russia. As with most 21^st century conflicts, truth has been the first casualty of war here.

On July 17, 2014, flight MH17 traveling east from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - crashed near the village of Grabovo, and on the outskirts of the town of Torez just outside of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, approximately 40 km from the Ukrainian-Russian border.

To call this situation volatile would almost be an understatement. A pivotal event such as this could easily be used as a pretext for escalating not only a New Cold War between the West and Russia, but also a hot war. Only six months previously, the Ukraine found itself in the throes of a western-backed coup d'état in Kiev which tore the country apart. This was quickly followed by a snap referendum in Crimea, where voters opted for secession from the Ukraine and into the relatively secure arms of the Russian Federation. The west cried foul and so began a new grudge match. Arguably, tensions between the west and Moscow have been at their highest since the apex of the Cold War during the east-west Soviet era. Needless to say, with MH17 the stakes could not be any higher, and regarding the west, it was obvious who would be assigned the blame for this tragedy.

Although experts claim that Tehran would need at least a year to restore oil production halted by sanctions, Iran's oil industry is capable of increasing production faster than anyone expects, London-based journalist Javier Blas notes.

According to Javier Blas, a London-based journalist and commodities market expert, Iran could restore its oil production faster than analysts and traders predict.

"The consensus among analysts and traders is that Tehran needs at least a year after sanctions are lifted to raise output to the level prevailing before restrictions were imposed in 2012," Blas remarked.

Ukraine is tracking Mukachevo-related developments with bated breath. Social media are full of bets on how the unexpected conflict in Transcarpathia will end. The uncertainty over which side will prevail, the Right Sector or the law enforcement, has continued for over a week. Some are betting on Poroshenko, others on Yarosh. Moderate pessimists believe that the conflict will end with a compromise.

There are many competing explanations of the causes and nature of Mukachevo events. One of them posits that the Right Sector is controlled by the Kremlin which is trying to destabilize Ukraine. Another holds that Poroshenko is controlled by the Kremlin which is trying to take down Ukraine's patriots. Yet another argues that the Right Sector came to Transcarpathia to interdict smuggling and punish local corrupt officials but fell into a bandit ambush organized by "uniformed werewolves." And, finally, according to the fourth version the Mukachevo incident is the Right Sector's unsuccessful attempt to muscle in on the local smuggling operations.

A ceremony in Washington will see the Cuban flag raised for the first time since diplomatic ties were severed in 1961.

The US and Cuba have begun a new era of relations after diplomatic ties were formally restored on Monday more than 50 years after they were severed at the height of the Cold War. The two nations re-established embassies in each other's respective capitals at midnight after a breakthrough announcement by US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro on 17 December.

A symbolic event will see the raising of the Cuban flag for the first time in 54 years over a mansion that will serve as Havana's embassy in Washington later on Monday. That will be followed by a meeting between Secretary of State John Kerry and Bruno Rodriguez - the first Cuban foreign minister to pay an official visit to Washington since the 1959 Cuban Revolution.

I started writing this on my last night in Athens for now, Wednesday, and had no time to finish it then:

On the eve of my temp absence from this great city, a few things. I could simply extend my stay, which might be slightly cheaper, but A) flights to Athens cost less all the time, and B) I have to go see my mom in Holland, who's not doing well at all. On top of that, Nicole arrived in Holland last week, and we might as well just fly out back here together in a few weeks.

My 'job' here is by no means done, anyway. Because of the general strike today, another Solidarity Clinic that I wanted to donate some of your AE for Athens Fund money to, is closed (update on the Fund tomorrow). Parliament is debating the latest Troika strangle plan as we speak, and who knows what tomorrow will bring? An entire economy is being deliberately suffocated, and all in all it's just total madness. Quiet madness, though (update: and then the riots broke out..).

I tend to be somewhat bullish on the more optimistic assessments of the current Kremlin strategy, for example the comparison to the Punic Wars and the delaying tactics of Fabius Maximus Cunctator, because it is a strategy that takes into account the weaknesses of the US-centric world order.

I frequently see comments under my posts arguing that the EU is basically a feudal fiefdom of the United States. That's fine as far as it goes, however, once you introduce that idea, you should also examine its implications. Because the lord-vassal relationship is not and has never been one of unconditional obedience. It is rather a social contract with mutual duties and responsibilities. The vassal's loyalty is conditional on a variety of services, starting with protection and ending with opportunities for enrichment. If you, as the lord, fail to organize one or both, your vassals will leave you. Therefore a strategy that targets the lord's capacity for delivering rewards to the vassals happens to strike at that realm's Achilles heel.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Western countries want the change in Iran's behavior following a nuclear deal concluded between Tehran and the international negotiators.

Western countries expect changes in Iran's policy in the Middle East following a nuclear deal concluded between Tehran and the international negotiators, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Iran and the P5+1 group, comprising China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and the United States, concluded a historic agreement to ensure the peaceful nature of the country's nuclear program.

On this week's episode of 'Behind the Headlines', Sott Radio Network co-hosts Joe Quinn and Niall Bradley discussed current affairs with author, historian, and U.S. foreign policy critic, William Blum, whose popular online newsletter, 'The Anti-Empire Report', chronicles the global horror that is US foreign policy... or rather, empire-building.

Disgusted at what the United States government was doing in Vietnam, William quit his post at the US State Department in 1967, and became a freelance journalist in the US, Europe and South America. He was also a founding editor of the Washington Free Press, the US capital's first 'alternative' newspaper.

In the 1970s, William worked with former CIA officer Philip Agee in exposing CIA personnel and their misdeeds around the world. Among his many books on US foreign policy, Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, first published in 1995, is critically-acclaimed as the best book on the topic.

Running Time: 01:41:00

Download: MP3

Over the past months, five natural health doctors have either mysteriously died or been intentionally killed, with another five having gone missing under unexplained circumstances.

As we previously reported, the curious deaths began on June 19, when Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, a renowned autism researcher from Florida, now practicing in Georgia, was found with a gunshot wound to his chest. Police were quick to claim that the gunshot wound was self-inflicted, ruling the death a suicide almost immediately.

Marco Rubio has a plan for students. Since the 1980s, the student loan-debt burden has risen to $1.2 trillion, which is nondischargable, meaning that the debt could follow you for the rest of your life. States have cut education funding and in response, universities raised tuition.

And it does not seem that politicians are taking any meaningful action to ameliorate this debt burden. Rubio wants businesses to invest in individual students and after graduation; the student "will pay a percentage of my salary over a defined period of time in return for that investment." (The Wire)

There are several problems with this arrangement not the least of which: It smacks of indentured servitude. The arrangement puts the student in the same financial place as traded securities: i.e. bought and sold. In addition, investing in an individual student would be on its face a more risky "investment" if the student were from low-income families.

This plan might work for student from high-income families: Students from high-income families can use their family income, and assets as tangible collaterals; and goodwill, namely, family name and reputation as intangible "collaterals." So in institutions of higher learning, the poor would be underrepresented in the student population if the Marco Rubio model is deployed.

According to an article (USA Today), in 2013, the government's profit from student loans was $41.3 billion: It was $49.9 billion in the previous years. But should the government be making money on a public good such as education? Students who borrowed money from the government pay (based on 10-year U.S. Treasure rate) on Stafford loans: the Treasure rate plus 2.05 percent, capped at 8.25 percent. Graduate student loans pay Treasure rate plus 3.6 percent, capped at 9.5 percent. Parent loans are the Treasure plus 4.6 percent capped at 10.5 percent. (Ibid.) Rubio's plan is ersatz. Senator Warren's and President Obama's plans were better than Rubio's (they do not put a student in hock to a benefactor) although Congress made short shrift of their plans. Perhaps a better way to proceed would be to use the profits the government stands to make in the coming decade on students: more Pell grants and fewer Stafford loans. But a superior (uber) policy is one Obama suggests for community colleges: free tuition! With the caveat that the student is "responsible." This is an unneeded demand, which could be in some ways discriminatory.

Since students aren't allowed to default on their loans, the business investor resort to legal action against the student to recoup her investment. Yet, another, though perhaps remote possible outcome for the delinquent student is prison: in some states, debtors' prisons are back.