The scandalous video that has cost the Austrian vice chancellor his job plays into the hands of establishment parties elsewhere in Europe, and at the same time attacks Russia, which is seen as the right-wing's backer, experts say.

"Such a scandal plays very well into the hands of establishment parties elsewhere in Europe and there's another element involved in this because they can basically kill two flies with one blow: it's against the populism in Europe in general, and, of course, against Russia," Peter Schulze, professor of International Relations at University of Gottingen, told RT. The rise of the right has been a serious thorn in mainstream parties' sides, he said, calling the video scandal "basically a two-pronged attack."

The timing of its release is strange, however. It leaves the now-resigned vice chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache's Freedom Party (FPO) with room to regroup and recover in time for the September snap elections at home, which he believes are more important for the party than the European Parliament elections coming up this weekend. In the end, "It may be a kind of an individual revenge act," Schulze theorized.

The UK government has been accused of developing a secret policy that allows ministers to break the law by authorizing intelligence-sharing with allies where there is a serious risk of torture of detainees.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) documents released under a freedom of information request, dated November 2018, have revealed a provision that allows cabinet ministers to pass on information that could lead to abuse of detainees, according to the Times. The UK government denies any wrongdoing.

Kirsty Brimelow, QC, former chairwoman of the Bar human rights committee, insists the law is "clear and established internationally and nationally" on the prohibition of torture and this policy allows UK ministers to break that law.

Gold output in Russia increased by 12.6 percent from January through March this year compared with the same period a year ago, according to the country's ministry of finance.

Production in the first quarter of the current year reportedly totaled 58.12 tons, up from 51.61 tons in 2018.

Production for the period included 45.95 tons of mined gold compared with 39.78 tons a year ago, the ministry reported. Accompanying mining totaled 4.32 tons, marking a 21 percent year-over-year surge, while secondary mining shrank by five percent to 7.85 tons.

At the same time, production of mined silver amounted to 223.28 tons, fixing a decline of 11 percent.

Israel prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu claimed he personally convinced the US president Donald Trump to abandon the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA agreement, and wished Iran to "disappear with the help of God". Israel is much more experienced in dealing with the Middle East than the current US president and his entire team in this administration. Even if Israel itself was not convinced, they evidently managed to convince the Americans that a show of US "superior force with the will to use it" would compel Iran to back off and submit to the US 12 conditions dictated by Secretary Pompeo, as Israel's former Ambassador to Washington Danny Ayalon said would happen. Israel, the instigator of this strategy that has been refuted by two clear messages from Iran and its allies - is nonetheless coming out unharmed by this rhetorical escalation. Trump seems the only loser, waiting by the phone that is not expected to ring.

It is Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu's belligerence which obliges Iran to take a strong stand; Netanyahu has boasted that his influence led Trump to give him the Syrian Golan Heights, move the US embassy to Jerusalem, give Jerusalem to Netanyahu, and to revoke the JCPOA deal with Iran. He is also very likely behind the 12 conditions Trump seeks to impose on Iran since, unlike the inept US administration, the Israelis know well that Iran cannot accept them. The US president has sabotaged the peace process and squandered the position of his country as a mediator between the Palestinians and Israel.

When Netanyahu asked Trump to give him all these gifts, the US president did not hesitate to save the Israeli prime minister from criminal prosecution for fraud and breach of trust to boost his re-election and give him what doesn't belong to him!

And now it is Iran's turn to be in the US frying pan. Nevertheless, it seems things haven't turned out the way Trump planned. His own image has been damaged, but not that of Netanyahu, who has instructed his cabinet to keep silent and stay out of the Iran-US contention. The Israeli Prime Minister can wash his hands of the US non-act of war against Iran and watch in silence, keeping Israel out of the Iran-US tensions as though he were far from being involved. He is trying to pretend that the ongoing bras-de-fer between the US and Iran and Trump's retreat after the al-Fujairah and Aramco attacks have nothing to do with him.

If Russia gives up on abortions, its population will grow to 156 million by 2029 and to 166 million by 2039, according to calculations by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.

"If we want to increase the real population in Russia, we must remove the problem of abortions in its current scale," the Patriarch said.

Demographic problems won't be solely solved through money bonuses given to families with kids, known as "maternity capital" in Russia, he warned.

The Russian population stood at almost 147 million last year, according to state statistics agency Rosstat. However, it was the first time in a decade that it decreased by 87,000.

Making good on threats to pull back from its commitments under the 2015 nuclear pact with world powers, Tehran has quadrupled its production of enriched uranium, according to Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.

The increase was announced Monday by a spokesperson for Iran's nuclear authority, Behrouz Kamalvandi, who told Iranian media that the decision was made to "counteract offensive sanctions."

Kamalvandi clarified that Iran would not increase its number of centrifuges, and that the uranium would for now remain at its current level of enrichment, at just over 3.5 percent.

A Labour MP has confronted an anti-LBGT+ activist who is protesting against inclusive education lessons at an English primary school. The politician says she'll apply for an exclusion zone to "protect the 700 school children."

Jess Phillips, MP for Birmingham Yardley, was involved in a feisty exchange with the protester outside the gates of Anderton Park school in Birmingham, West Midlands.

The row, which has seen protests by parents and their supporters rage on for over two months, is over the school's 'No Outsiders' programme. The LGBT+ education programme aims to teach children about diversity of faith, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.

Europe is finally coming to its senses five years after the coup in Kiev started what is now the new Cold War between Russia and the West.

The first part of Russia's win comes from Italian leader Matteo Salvini. Speaking for the under-represented in European politics, Salvini declared this week, "I continue to believe that we don't need sanctions. The issue of their removal unites all decent people."

Salvini is tackling, head-on, the European political establishment in this week's European parliamentary elections. And his raising the issue of lifting sanctions on Russia imposed over the reunification with Crimea is a massive attack on them.

It means that Salvini is looking at using the extension of sanctions as a bargaining chip this summer. He is threatening to veto any extension with words this strong on the eve of an election.

The second victory for Russia, however, is far more significant. The Council of Europe has finally agreed to restore Russia's voting rights after suspending them over the unification with Crimea.

In Sweden, prosecutors have applied to the Swedish courts to issue a warrant for Julian's arrest. There is a tremendous back story to that simple statement.

The European Arrest Warrant must be issued from one country to another by a judicial authority. The original Swedish request for Assange's extradition was not issued by any court, but simply by the prosecutor. This was particularly strange, as the Chief Prosecutor of Stockholm had initially closed the case after deciding there was no case to answer, and then another, highly politically motivated, prosecutor had reopened the case and issued a European Arrest Warrant, without going to any judge for confirmation.

Assange's initial appeal up to the UK Supreme Court was in large part based on the fact that the warrant did not come from a judge but from a prosecutor, and that was not a judicial authority. I have no doubt that, if any other person in the UK had been the accused, the British courts would not have accepted the warrant from a prosecutor. The incredible and open bias of the courts against Assange has been evident since day 1. My contention is borne out by the fact that, immediately after Assange lost his case against the warrant in the Supreme Court, the British government changed the law to specify that future warrants must be from a judge and not a prosecutor. That is just one of the incredible facts about the Assange case that the mainstream media has hidden from the general public.

A U.S. Navy destroyer sailed within 12 miles of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Monday in a challenge to China's maritime territorial claims that will likely set off renewed Chinese complaints.

"The guided-missile destroyer USS Preble conducted a Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) in the South China Sea, May 20. USS Preble sailed within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Reef in order to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governed by international law," said Cmdr. Clayton Doss, a spokesman for the Navy's Seventh Fleet.

Scarborough Reef, aka Scarborough Shoal, is an uninhabited reef in the South China Sea about 120 miles west of the Philippines surrounded by rich fishing grounds claimed by both China and the Philippines. China seized control of the reef from the Philippines in 2012 as part of an effort to claim control of South China Sea areas near the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands.