The ousting of President Bashar Assad by force would only lead to ISIS seizing power in Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned, adding that Islamic State can only be defeated if all forces who are battling it unite.

Speaking at a press conference after negotiations with his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, Russia's foreign minister once again warned against a "military solution" regarding Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been targeted by the west and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

"I would not want any powerful state involved in attempts to solve the Syrian crisis to believe that Assad issue may be solved militarily, because the only way of such a military solution is the seizure of power [in Syria] by Islamic State and other terrorists," Lavrov said, adding: "I don't think anybody wants that."

When Foreign Policy magazine recently claimed, "Turkey Goes to War," in their article of the same title, what they really meant was "the US goes to war." That is because the lengthy plan they described in their article is not of the Turks' creation, but a long-standing US plan committed to policy papers since at least as early as 2012.

The article claims:

Both the United States and Turkey agree that the Islamic State should be driven from its territory along the Turkish border, though U.S. officials only speak of an "ISIL-free zone" while Turkish officials describe a vision for a "de facto safe zone" where displaced Syrians could find refuge from both regime and jihadi attacks.

However, these "safe zones" are precisely what US policy think tank the Brookings Institution has conspired to create over the entire course of the Syrian conflict, under different pretexts - first predicated on feigned "humanitarian" concern similar to the ruse used to justify NATO's war on Libya in 2011, and now using the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS) as a pretext.

"The shaping of the will of Congress and the choosing of the American president has become a privilege reserved to the country's equestrian classes, a.k.a. the 20% of the population that holds 93% of the wealth, the happy few who run the corporations and the banks, own and operate the news and entertainment media, compose the laws and govern the universities, control the philanthropic foundations, the policy institutes, the casinos, and the sports arenas."—Journalist Lewis Lapham

Being a citizen in the American corporate state is much like playing against a stacked deck: you're always going to lose.

The game is rigged, and "we the people" keep getting dealt the same losing hand. Even so, most stay in the game, against all odds, trusting that their luck will change.

The problem, of course, is that luck will not save us. As I make clear in my book, Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the people dealing the cards—the politicians, the corporations, the judges, the prosecutors, the police, the bureaucrats, the military, the media, etc.—have only one prevailing concern, and that is to maintain their power and control over the citizenry, while milking us of our money and possessions.

It really doesn't matter what you call them—Republicans, Democrats, the 1%, the elite, the controllers, the masterminds, the shadow government, the police state, the surveillance state, the military industrial complex—so long as you understand that while they are dealing the cards, the deck will always be stacked in their favor.

Incredibly, no matter how many times we see this played out, Americans continue to naively buy into the idea that politics matter, as if there really were a difference between the Republicans and Democrats (there's not).

As if Barack Obama proved to be any different from George W. Bush (he has not). As if Hillary Clinton's values are any different from Donald Trump's (with both of them, money talks). As if when we elect a president, we're getting someone who truly represents "we the people" rather than the corporate state (in fact, in the oligarchy that is the American police state, an elite group of wealthy donors is calling the shots).

Politics is a game, a joke, a hustle, a con, a distraction, a spectacle, a sport, and for many devout Americans, a religion.

In other words, it's a sophisticated ruse aimed at keeping us divided and fighting over two parties whose priorities are exactly the same. It's no secret that both parties support endless war, engage in out-of-control spending, ignore the citizenry's basic rights, have no respect for the rule of law, are bought and paid for by Big Business, care most about their own power, and have a long record of expanding government and shrinking liberty.

Most of all, both parties enjoy an intimate, incestuous history with each other and with the moneyed elite that rule this country. Don't be fooled by the smear campaigns and name-calling. They're just useful tactics of the psychology of hate that has been proven to engage voters and increase voter turnout while keeping us at each other's throats.

The Ukraine crisis and the resulting deterioration of Russia's ties with the West have fomented a level of geopolitical instability in Europe unseen in decades. Yet, the Middle East is arguably where Moscow and Washington's tension is most significant. Although it remains to be seen the extent to which Russia can successfully wedge itself between the U.S. and its traditional Arab allies, the Kremlin is unquestionably seeking to undermine Washington's remaining influence in the Middle East while enhancing its own footprint in the region.

As the Obama administration continues to project incoherent strategies in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, the region's balance of power is in flux. Within this context, Russian President Vladimir Putin has seen an opportunity to enhance Moscow's standing in the region by partially filling the void created by Washington's diminishing influence. The number of Middle Eastern states turning to Russia for weapons and nuclear energy at a time when many of Washington's traditional Middle Eastern allies have grown disillusioned with U.S. foreign policy fits neatly into Putin's objective of enhancing Russia's influence in the region at the expense of Washington.

Although America's most important military clients in the Middle East are unlikely to abandon the U.S. and fully pivot to Moscow, recent arms and energy deals between the Kremlin and Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab states are significant. Traditional U.S. allies that seek options beyond Washington's sphere of influence see such agreements as a pathway toward greater independence.

The chair of Labour Friends of Israel has urged party members not to back anti-war advocate Jeremy Corbyn in the leadership race because he previously called for Arab groups Hamas and Hezbollah to be involved in Middle East peace talks.

Joan Ryan said Monday there were "deep concerns" about Corbyn's leadership campaign and in particular the positions he has taken on Israel.

The Labour Friends of Israel official asked supporters to back a candidate who could play a "constructive" role in negotiating peace between Israel and Palestine.

Corbyn has faced criticism during his leadership election campaign for previously calling Hamas and Hezbollah "friends" and insisting they be involved in regional peace discussions.

Ryan, who replaced Anne Mcguire as head of Labour Friends of Israel on Monday, told the Jewish Chronicle that Labour must be "steadfast" in its support for Tel Aviv.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies are escalating the war in Yemen. The Houthi rebels and their allies show no sign of bending to the will of Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud after more than four months of war. The grim struggle in Yemen goes on with a frightful toll for the Yemeni people.

The Saudis and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are pouring arms into Aden, Yemen's second-largest city, and expanding their foothold there to the north. They seized a large Soviet-built air base north of Aden at Al-Anad. The air base is on the main road to Taiz, the next Saudi military objective. In Taiz, forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi claim to control much of the city, Yemen's third-largest and the historic second capital of North Yemen.

The UAE has deployed over 1,500 of its own troops to the Aden front, the first time the coalition has placed its own ground forces into the battle. The Saudis have trained Hadi loyalists and equipped them with tanks and other armored vehicles to open another front in Marib governorate in the northwest of the country.

Investigators probing the downing of MH17 flight told RT that they cannot confirm that fragments found in eastern Ukraine are from a Buk missile system, refuting media reports that the parts belong to a Russian surface-to-air complex.

On Tuesday, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) released a statement saying that it is investigating "several parts, possibly originating from a Buk surface-air-missile system."

Following the release of the report, numerous media reports indicated that it was a "Russian" or "Russian-made" missile system - something JIT spokesman Wim de Bruin rejected to RT, stressing that "it's too early to draw any conclusion at this moment."

US federal, state, county or city authorities circumventing constitutional protections with de facto or de jure martial law based on exaggerated state of emergency conditions reveals police state America in plain sight - enforced against the nation's most vulnerable, grievously abused, justified in demanding redress.

Killer cops murder Blacks in America with virtual impunity hundreds of times a year - on city streets, in rural areas, private homes, commercial spaces, jail cells among other places.

Ferguson, MO is Exhibit A. Last August, officer Darren Wilson murdered 18-year-old African-American Michael Brown - in cold blood without probable cause. Would he have shot or otherwise abused him if he was Caucasian - especially if he lived in a privileged neighborhood? Would he have been exonerated for murder? He's one of hundreds of killer cops free to kill again with impunity.

The German government, which has taken a hard line on Greece, has saved some 100 billion euros ($109 billion) in the country's financial crisis thanks to lower borrowing costs, a study has found.

Germany saved through lower interest payments on funds the government borrowed amid investor "flights to safety," the German-based non-profit Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) said in its paper published Monday.

"These savings exceed the costs of the crisis - even if Greece were to default on its entire debt," the study said. "Germany has clearly benefited from the Greek crisis."

In the face of turmoil, investors seeking a safe haven for their money within the euro zone turned to export champion Germany, which "disproportionately benefited" from that during the debt crisis, the IWH said.

"Every time financial markets faced negative news on Greece in recent years, interest rates on German government bonds fell, and every time there was good news, they rose."

Germany, the euro zone's effective paymaster, has demanded fiscal discipline and tough economic reforms in Greece in return for consenting to new aid from international creditors, Agence France-Presse reported.