Let's start with some classic Russian politics. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov is drawing up Russia's economic strategy for 2016, including the government budget. Siluanov - essentially a liberal, in favor of foreign investment - will present his proposals to the Kremlin by the end of this month.

So far, nothing spectacular. But then, a few days ago, Kommersant leaked that Russia's Security Council asked presidential aide Sergei Glazyev to come up with a separate economic strategy, to be presented to the council this week. This is not exactly a novelty, as the Russian Security Council in the past has asked small strategy groups for their economic assessment.

The Security Council is led by Nikolai Patrushev, the former head of the Federal Security Service. He and Siluanov are not exactly on the same wavelength.

And here's where the plot thickens. Glazyev, a brilliant economist, is a Russian nationalist - sanctioned personally by the US.

Glazyev is arguably going no holds barred. He is in favor of barring Russian companies from using foreign currency (which makes sense); taxing the conversion of rubles to foreign currencies (same); banning foreign loans to Russian firms (depending if they are not in US dollars or euro); and - the smoking gun - requiring Russian companies that have Western loans to default.

Vincent Stewart, director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, told a conference that he found it difficult to envisage the countries emerging intact from the wars they endure.

The head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency admitted on Thursday his belief that Iraq and Syria are unlikely to emerge intact from years of war and sectarian violence.

"I'm having a tough time seeing it come back together," Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart told an audience of US security analysts.

With regards to Syria, the Pentagon chief gave a bleak prognosis; "I can see a time in the future where Syria is fractured into two or three parts."

In Iraq, the Defense Intelligence Agency boss indicated that he believes it unlikely that a government in Baghdad could hold authority over the disparate regions within the country's official borders; Stewart said he is "wrestling with the idea that the Kurds will come back to a central government of Iraq."

Over 50 percent of all British banknotes in circulation are stashed abroad or on the black market, a Bank of England (BoE) report has said.

The Bank estimates a further £5 billion is stowed away under mattresses by thrifty families determined to build up savings. This means only 25 percent of all British cash can be used in the UK at any one time.

The BoE's report found that almost 20 percent of British residents keep an average of £345 in a deposit box, under their bed or elsewhere for emergencies. It estimated many other"super hoarders" exist who have hidden considerably larger amounts of cash.

The value of British banknotes in circulation has trebled since 1995 to £62.6 billion, according to the BoE. However, only £15 billion to £19 billion is accessible for everyday use by consumers. The remaining cash is believed to be held in foreign jurisdictions or the black market.

"The evidence suggests that no more than half of Bank of England notes in circulation are likely to be held for use within the domestic economy for legitimate purposes," the BoE said."The remainder is likely to be held overseas or for use in the shadow economy."

The international coalition fighting against Islamic State "has no reason" to reject cooperation with the Syrian government, according to Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that "one can't fight evil with illicit wars."

"Unfortunately, we consider the [international] coalition to be built on a flawed basis. We of course share the principles of combatting terrorism, but you cannot fight evil with illicit wars," Lavrov said.

"We support every action that leads to weakening the terrorist threat in the region, but any action must be taken strictly in accordance with international law," Lavrov said. He called attention to the fact that the UN Security Council, as well as the UN's human rights protection bodies, have called for action that will not let "the fight on terror turn into lawlessness."Lavrov's views were supported by Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu.

Although Western countries have lately accused Russia of a military buildup in Syria (some have even made wild accusations that Moscow's assistance to Damascus was in fact a military intervention), Russia's key objective in the war-torn nation is to promote peace, military analyst Sim Tack asserted.

"The real interest that Russia has [in Syria] is trying to facilitate negotiations. As Russia establishes a relationship with Assad and tries to build trust between the regime and the Russians, [Moscow] can actually use this to bring Assad into negotiations with potential rebel factions leading to an actual resolution of the conflict," Tack explained.

The expert also noted that Russia's engagement in Syria is strictly limited to deploying advisers and equipment. The remark echoes comments made Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week. The diplomat pointed out that Russian military experts went to Syria to train local soldiers to operate the hardware.

Some 61,000 people have signed a petition against perceived BBC bias towards Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. As the broadcaster routinely refers to Corbyn as 'left-wing,' signatories say David Cameron should likewise be tagged Britain's 'right-wing' prime minister.

The petition, started by Amanda Drury, says "every time Jeremy Corbyn is mentioned in a news report on the BBC he is referred to as 'the left wing Labour Party leader.'"

"In the interest of fairness and un-biased reporting, David Cameron should also be referred to in terms of his place on the political spectrum - 'the right-wing prime minister.'"

In a statement, a BBC spokesman said: "Our journalists use descriptions of different political leanings to help the audience's understanding or where there is a specific editorial justification.

"Mr Corbyn was to the left of the other candidates and now he has been elected it is fair and accurate to say the Labour leadership is more to the left, or more 'left wing' than before."

"We do not use such labels in every instance, but we have taken a similar approach with the different political shades of other parties," the spokesman added.

The BBC has been wracked with accusations of bias in recent months, mostly over its coverage of foreign policy issues.


In June, the BBC acknowledged its presenter Sarah Montague did not adequately challenge controversial comments made by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon about Palestine on the broadcaster's flagship Radio 4 Today program.

"Mr Ya'alon was allowed to make several controversial statements on those matters without any meaningful challenge and the program makers have accepted that the interviewer ought to have interrupted him and questioned him on his assertions."

In a statement, a BBC spokesman said: "The BBC has reached a provisional finding that the complaints should be upheld and will be taking comments from the complainants into account before finalizing the outcome."

The interview, which took place on March 19, saw the minister make a number of contestable claims, which political groups say went unchallenged.

These include Ya'alon's claim that Palestinians "enjoy already political independence. They have their own political system, government, parliament, municipalities and so forth. And we are happy with it. We don't want to govern them whatsoever."

Not only Europe, but the whole world suffers from the escalating migrant crisis, Merkel said, adding that the European Union should develop its "competitiveness" to strengthen its financial background.

"We will provide protection to those who need it, to the rest we have to say: you have to leave Germany until you need protection," the chancellor said in opening remarks at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Germany is among EU countries dealing with an escalating refugee crisis, as hundreds of thousands of people flee war-torn regions in the Middle East and North Africa, seeking refuge in the European Union.

Merkel noted that refugees arriving in Germany needed proper social integration, and urged prospective employers to have an open approach to migrants who "deserve a chance."

Washington is considering a Russian proposal of direct military talks regarding the situation in Syria, US Secretary of State John Kerry said as his spokesman struggled to explain the setbacks to US efforts against Islamic State militants in the region.

Reporters grilled deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner over revelations that only a handful of US-trained "moderate Syrian rebels" remained in the fight. General Lloyd Austin, Head of the US military's Central Command, testified before the Senate on Wednesday that only "four or five" of the rebels were still active, out of the group of 54 trained by the $500 million US program.

"We don't challenge that assessment," Toner said, noting that the program has "fallen short" and "has not, frankly, lived up to what we initially thought."

However, he rejected suggestions that setbacks in Syria compelled Washington to consider the Russian proposal of direct military talks. "We have made, we believe, gains in the past year," he said. "Are we there yet? No. Have we done enough? No."

A year after the US launched a campaign against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) claiming parts of Iraq and Syria, the territory controlled by the group has actually expanded. The coalition has spent nearly $4 billion on more than 50,000 flights and 6,700 air strikes, with IS showing no signs of being significantly affected. The State Department, however, continues to insist that Russian support for the Syrian government is "not a winning strategy" against IS.

Japan's upper house panel has given the green light to new legislation allowing the armed forces to conduct warfare abroad, for the first time in 70 years, since the end of WWII.

Proponents of the new bill and opposition MPs scuffled over the controversial legislation on Thursday. They pushed and shoved each other, and a committee chairman was surrounded. Members of the opposition blocked the parliament's doorways and packed the corridors in protest.

"Is the ruling party listening to the voices of the public? You can do whatever you want to do because you have a majority - is that what you think?" opposition lawmaker Tetsuro Fukuyama said, reportedly on the verge of tears.

The London Guardian recently quoted former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari who, as mediator between the 5 permanent UN Security Council members, said that the West "ignored an offer from Russia in 2012 to have Syria's Assad step aside". On the face of it, this appears to reflect positively on Putin and Russia: they were trying to be diplomatic and help end the Syrian civil war. By extension, it would also appear as though he is criticizing the West for turning down the Russian proposal.

"It was an opportunity lost in 2012," Ahtisaari said in an interview.

Ostensibly, Ahtisaari was making the West look bad by saying that Western leaders were so sure Assad was going to fall that they rejected the offer. But is that the real message that is being transmitted, and received, here? Will anyone really see the West as the bad guys here, or will the suggestion of Russian involvement in deciding the fate of another sovereign country (by going behind Assad's back) be the more important point that is taken away? It seems more likely that this 'news bite' coming out at this time of increased cooperation between Assad and Putin is an attempt to drive a wedge between the Syrian and Russian governments. Not that either of them are likely to take the bait.