Parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia on 7 June. Four political forces are among the frontrunners in the election: the ruling 'Civic Contract' party, the 'Prosperous Armenia' party, the 'Strong Armenia' bloc and the 'Armenia' bloc. The election campaign is currently in full swing. The outcome of the upcoming parliamentary elections will undoubtedly shape the political landscape across the South Caucasus and further geopolitical developments.

Should the opposition come to power, it is likely to adopt a more pro-Russian stance, which is why the European Union is providing unprecedented support to the incumbent authorities. At the eighth summit of the European Political Community, held in early May, Armenia and the EU adopted a joint declaration in which Brussels recognised the 'European aspirations of the Armenian people'.

The summit brought together the entire coalition of warmongers: French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk, European Council President António Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas, Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset, and OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu.

And Zelensky, whom they all dearly love. As the classic saying goes: 'Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.' This whole circus was organised just before the elections, to lend support to Pashinyan - yet another candidate ready to sign his country's death warrant and to scare Putin and Trump.

Russia, despite its support for the various attempts by CIS countries to establish themselves as 'partners' of the West, has openly stated that a rapprochement with Europe could damage the partnership with Russia and the work within the Eurasian Economic Union, whilst Armenia has moved too far towards a point beyond which Russia will have to rebuild relations with that country. A particular role was played in this context by the fact that a platform was provided for Zelensky's terrorist threats.

John Fetterman has become the most interesting politician in America, and the Democratic Party's most uncomfortable mirror. His willingness to speak honestly, vote his conscience, and refuse to define himself purely in opposition to President Donald Trump has made him a hero to some and a traitor to others.

Back in March, he declared the party had no real leader except Trump Derangement Syndrome. Democrats, according to Fetterman, are so consumed with opposing President Donald Trump that they've failed to construct a coherent agenda of their own. That's not a fringe critique. It's a fairly accurate description of where the opposition party stands as we head toward the 2026 midterms.

Last week, Sen. John Fetterman wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post making the case that he'd make a terrible Republican, and he's right. He's pro-choice, firmly behind legal marijuana, a committed supporter of LGBT rights, a staunch defender of SNAP benefits, and a reliable friend to organized labor. His overall voting record is overwhelmingly aligned with the Democratic caucus.

Terakeet used fake Wikipedia accounts, planted profiles, and search tricks to bury damning reports on the Emirati ambassador to Washington

The UAE paid New York-based reputation management firm Terakeet more than $6 million to bury a 2017 report revealing that the Emirati ambassador to Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, had ties to sex workers and traffickers, according to a New York Times (NYT) report published on 17 May.

The campaign was designed to push the Intercept report out of sight on Google search results.

According to Foreign Agents Registration Act records cited by the paper, Terakeet's work for the UAE began in July 2019 and continues today.

Much of the account focused on promoting tourism in the UAE, but NYT reported that Terakeet's work also extended to suppressing the damaging Otaiba report.

If all of us are magnanimous enough, we might infer that Xi and Trump agreed on a three-year stability framework.

The headline on the front page of China Daily this past Thursday was a thunder and lightning "Red-carpet welcome for Trump in Beijing".

Well, complete with electric jumpin' children waving flowers and a visit to the Temple of Heaven, built in 1420, symbolizing the connection between heaven and humanity.

Youth meet tradition. The generation that will lead fully modernized China meets deep History. A dazed and confused POTUS could barely absorb a running masterclass in civilization.

Xi Dada was proverbially sharp: "We should be partners, not rivals." The Exceptionals were stunned. All that after the non-stop litany of trade wars, tech sanctions, non-stop Taiwan hysteria, military encirclement, geoconomic confrontation, anti-China rhetoric.

Cool down. Be cool.

Eleven months after President Trump launched an all-out political war on Rep. Thomas Massie, the Tuesday, May 19 Kentucky GOP primary is almost here. With polls showing the race going down to the wire, the anti-Massie forces -- whose animus is largely driven by Massie's refusal to vote in accordance with the Israel lobby's wishes -- have been throwing everything they can at him, from vague 11th-hour allegations of inappropriate conduct with a woman, to AI ads showing Massie entering a hotel room with progressive congresswomen, to a new round of Trump social media rants and enough money to make the contest the most expensive House primary in US history. Massie's challenger is former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein.

In just the past few days, various anti-Massie PACs have filed disclosures indicating another huge load of cash showering down on the race. The Republican Jewish Coalition is spending another $470,000. The misleadingly-named United Democracy Project, which is a PAC affiliated with the formidable American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), revealed more than $950,000 in additional spending. The MAGA Kentucky PAC -- which was created solely to oust Massie and funded by non-Kentuckian Jewish billionaires Miriam Adelson, Paul Singer and John Paulsen -- disclosed more than $1.6 million since May 7.

Ad spending in the race to unseat rebellious Republican Thomas Massie has smashed House records.

The glut of outside spending has caught the attention of some of the GOP's biggest Israel critics.

Two weeks out from the election, Massie traveled to Maine to appear on Carlson's podcast for a lengthy segment in which the two bashed Israel-aligned groups' efforts to influence the race. James Fishback, a longshot candidate for Florida governor who has been sharply critical of Israel's actions in Gaza and U.S. aid to its ally, endorsed Massie this week. Fishback told POLITICO that he views the deluge against Massie — who is "not some hardline Israel skeptic" — as a sign Israel supporters are "on their last legs."

The race has generated some explicitly antisemitic moments as well.

Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies in Congress have begun calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel, but this won't end the "special relationship" between the two countries. In fact, recent signs suggest it may only deepen U.S. military ties to Israel.

This month, Israel and the United States are expected to begin negotiations on a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would outline the United States' plans to support Israel after the current MOU expires in 2028. Chances are this will look like a very different conversation than in the past.

In recent months, there's been a lot of noise around the idea of ending U.S. military aid to Israel. It's an idea that has long been pursued by Palestine solidarity activists and, in the past, has also been floated by the Israeli right and their fellow travelers, who thought the aid wasn't worth restricting Israel's "freedom to act." But surprisingly, the current proposal to end the annual grant of Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to Israel — which makes up most, though not all, of the annual aid package — comes from none other than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is championed in Washington by South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, the biggest hawk in the Senate.

The Federal Reserve is at the center of the pure paper money system of the United States and the world. As the Fed transitions to a new chairman, it is timely to consider some questions about this remarkable, powerful, dangerous, and allegedly "independent" institution. Here are seven questions for the new chairman, Kevin Warsh, and his colleagues:

Do we need a national price fixing committee for interest rates?

Nothing is more obvious in free market economics than that having centralized price fixing by the government is a really bad idea. The constant discovery of clearing prices by competitive markets is what is needed. Yet the Fed's Open Market Committee is a national price fixing committee by another name for one of the most important prices: interest rates. Amazing mistake, if you think about it. Answer: NO.

Improving US-Russia relations under the Trump 2.0 administration is being challenged by alleged deep-state actions targeting Russian diplomats.

The forced granting of US citizenship to diplomats' children is portrayed as a violation of international diplomatic norms and a means of political pressure against Moscow. Such contradictions in American immigration and foreign policy risk escalating tensions, undermining diplomatic progress, and provoking a potential Russian response.

Since the inception of the presidency of Donald Trump in January 2025, US-Russia relations have started improving to some extent. Whether it's Ukraine or Iran, both powers have been in contact with each other. President Vladimir Putin has been gracious enough to step in to normalise a few deteriorating situations, and the Iran war is its best manifestation. However, this slight improvement in US-Russia relations has raised alarms in the American intelligence circles, those who are intoxicated with the senseless Russophobic narrative.

As the Trump 2.0 administration has put an iron hand over the issues of migration, even deporting hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants back to their homelands, the deep state in the US is heading on an alternative path.

The German chancellor, long seen as pro-American, has said he no longer recommends the country for study or work.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said he will no longer recommend the United States as a destination for his children to study or work, citing what he described as a worsening "social climate" in America.

Speaking at a Catholic youth conference in Wuerzburg on Friday, the conservative leader said the US had become deeply polarized and a less appealing destination for young people.

"I am a great admirer of America," Merz said during a panel discussion. "At the moment my admiration is not growing." Merz also argued that even highly educated Americans were increasingly struggling to find employment, suggesting the US was no longer the "land of opportunity" it once was.

"I wouldn't recommend to my children today that they go to the US, get an education there, and work there," he said.