The revelation that the CIA (and German Intelligence) was in secret control of the Swiss cryptography firm Crypto AG highlights the hypocrisy of US 'security concerns' over the advance of Huawei and other firms.

The very wise old saying that if you point one finger at someone there are three fingers pointing back at you, was classically illustrated by this week's bombshell revelations — published in the Washington Post and on ZDF and SRF - that the CIA and BND (West Germany's secret service) secretly owned and controlled the Swiss cryptography company Crypto. The real owners of Crypto installed 'backdoor vulnerabilities' in its products which allowed the US and West Germany to eavesdrop on communications — from enemies and allies alike — which the senders believed had been successfully encrypted. We're talking here about top secret communications between leading government officials, spies, diplomats and military figures.

Planned change of the Russian basic law can only be enacted if the Russian people give an unequivocal mandate for it, President Vladimir Putin told a working group preparing the amendments.

"The thing that is important to me is that the law on constitutional amendment comes into force only after the results of a national vote are tallied. It has to be a true plebiscite so that the citizens of Russia acted as the authors of those changes," he said.

The changes in the Russian constitution proposed by Putin last month are meant to readjust the Russian governance system. A strict two-term limit for the president, as opposed to 'no more than two terms in a row' in today's constitution is one big proposed change. Others add more powers to the Russian parliament to appoint the government, give the president more leeway in appointing regional prosecutors, and enshrine a consultative body called the State Council as a permanent feature.

Pro-Irish unity party Sinn Fein is ramping up calls for a referendum on the reunification of Ireland following its stunning election victory this week. This bangs another nail in the constitutional coffin of the United Kingdom following its divisive Brexit departure from the European Union.

With Britain having officially exited from the EU that seismic shift has fired up long-held claims for independence in Scotland and for the reunification of Ireland. Scottish nationalists, who want to remain in the EU, have stepped up demands for a referendum on independence from Britain since the general election in December when their party won by a landslide in Scotland.

Now the Irish question has gained powerful impetus from the historic victory of Sinn Fein in the general election this week held in the Republic of Ireland. The party came first in the popular vote, beating the two main establishment parties which have dominated government in Dublin for nearly a century. The two-party status quo has been smashed by Sinn Fein's electoral breakthrough.

Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Fein, announced that the British government must now prepare for holding a referendum in Ireland on the issue of reunification of the Republic of Ireland with Northern Ireland. The latter has been British-held territory since 1921 when a separatist movement in Ireland failed to gain full territorial independence from Britain's empire.

Sinn Fein, formerly the political wing of the guerrilla movement, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), is the only party to have an all-Ireland structure. In the British election held in December, Sinn Fein became the leading party in Northern Ireland. Demographic changes over the past century have resulted in nationalists outnumbering unionists who want to remain part of the United Kingdom.

In the Republic of Ireland, Sinn Fein has now gained the biggest popular vote. It is capitalizing on the electoral results in both jurisdictions of Ireland to push for its long-coveted goal of full independence from Britain to create a united Ireland.

US President Donald Trump says the resolution that would block him from using force against Iran is a partisan trick by Democrats, even though he campaigned on a peace platform and some of his closest allies support the proposal.

"We are doing very well with Iran and this is not the time to show weakness," Trump tweeted on Wednesday, adding that Tehran would "have a field day" if his hands were tied.

"The Democrats are only doing this as an attempt to embarrass the Republican Party. Don't let it happen!" he urged the GOP majority.

Jessie K. Liu should not be practicing law. She should be disbarred, impeached and indicted. She is the US Attorney involved in three Deep State Mueller related cases where the government is withholding or withheld evidence from the defense. And she is involved in other corrupt cases.

Jessie K. Liu was an up and coming star in the Department of Justice. However her actions of late prove that she never should have been elevated to her position in the first place.

Ms. Liu is involved in three cases where pertinent documents were withheld from the defense.

NATO has vowed to expand its training operations in Iraq, paused last month after the US assassination of a top Iranian general. With growing anger in the country over foreign meddling, Baghdad is reluctant to OK the plan.

The alliance agreed "in principle" to "enhance" its training mission in Iraq after a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. When asked whether Baghdad had approved the project, the NATO head came up short, however.

"NATO is in Iraq on the invitation of the Iraqi Government, and we will only stay in Iraq as long as we are welcome. Because NATO fully respects Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Stoltenberg said. "Everything we do will be in close consultation and coordination with the Iraqi government."

American forces in Syria were involved in an armed incident near the city of Kamyshly in the northeastern province of Hasake, today February 12th. Local Kurdish sources report that the conflict took place at the pro-government checkpoint of the National Defense Forces (militias fighting on the side of Bashar al-Assad's troops ) in the Khirbat-Amo region east of Kamyshly airport on the southern outskirts of the city. The shootout between the US military and pro-government militias was followed by strikes from the U.S. Air Force.

According to other reports, units of the Russian military police arrived at the scene of the incident "for mediation."

The incident threatens to increase tension between US and Russian forces in the region, The Defense Post notes.

The U.S. Air Force dealt at least one strike in the northeastern region of Syria (Hasake province) after an incident at a checkpoint where the US military killed one person. Syrian state news agency SANA reports that one civilian was killed and another wounded when US forces opened fire after their armored vehicles were stopped at a checkpoint east of the city of Kamyshly (the unofficial capital of Syrian Kurdistan).

The Department of Canadian heritage, which is run by the Liberal Member of Parliament Steven Guilbeault, is paying journalists to write stories on climate change, according to Blacklock's Reporter.

When launching the Local Journalism Initiative in 2019, the then Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said that "our government is committed to ensuring Canadians everywhere continue to have access to accurate, diverse and relevant news."

Despite this, these state-funded subsidies have gone towards writing stories on climate change. The Canadian News Media Association, for example, was paid $14.4 million last year.

Alternative for Germany (AfD) party plans to sue Chancellor Angela Merkel herself over "abuse of office". The party claims she "coerced" a state PM into resigning after he was elected in a scandalous vote.

The anti-migrant and anti-establishment AFD wants to file two lawsuits against the Chancellor, arguing that her actions forced Thuringia's newly-elected Prime Minister to step down last week.

The chancellor was among those, who sharply criticized the outcome of the regional parliament's vote. Against recommendation from superior party members, MPs from her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) joined forces with the AfD - a move viewed as a taboo breaker — to support Thomas Kemmerich, from liberal Free Democrats (FDP).

Now, AfD claims that she "coerced" the regional prime minister into resigning. "Since Ms. Merkel no longer holds a relevant position within the CDU and was in Africa not as a CDU member but as the German government head, it is a clear case of abuse of power and violation of the right for equal opportunities for all parties," an AfD co-chair, Joerg Meuthen, said, referring to Merkel's trip to South Africa and Angola, during which she made her comments.

Charging that so-called "sanctuary" cities that protect illegal immigrants are jeopardizing domestic security, Attorney General Bill Barr announced a slew of additional sanctions that he called a "significant escalation" against left-wing local and state governments that obstruct the "lawful functioning of our nation's immigration system."

Speaking at the National Sheriff's Association 2020 Winter Legislative and Technology Conference in Washington, D.C., Barr said the Justice Department would immediately file multiple lawsuits against sanctuary jurisdictions for unconstitutionally interfering with federal immigration enforcement, and implement unprecedented national reviews of left-wing sanctuary governments and prosecutors.

"Let us state the reality upfront and as clearly as possible," Barr began. "When we are talking about sanctuary cities, we are talking about policies that are designed to allow criminal aliens to escape. These policies are not about people who came to our country illegally but have otherwise been peaceful and productive members of society. Their express purpose is to shelter aliens whom local law enforcement has already arrested for other crimes. This is neither lawful nor sensible."