Pakistan has welcomed a message from India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling for the cessation of violence and for a terror-free atmosphere, after weeks of clashes between the nuclear-armed rivals at their border in Kashmir.

"It's time that the people of the sub-continent work together for a democratic, peaceful, progressive and prosperous region, in an atmosphere free of terror and violence," Modi was quoted as saying by the Prime Minister Imran Khan late Friday, after Islamabad received the greetings from New Delhi on the eve of Pakistan's National Day.

Prime Minister Khan welcomed Modi's desire to turn a page on the conflict, noting that the time has come for the rivals to begin a "comprehensive dialogue" to resolve the tensions and to "forge" a relationship of peace and prosperity.

Hostilities between India and Pakistan flared up last month when Indian forces conducted an air raid against suspected terrorist camps in Pakistani territory. That operation came in presumed retaliation for a deadly suicide-bomb attack on an Indian paramilitary police convoy in the Kashmir region.

Millions have signed a request for Britain to stay in the EU as people march for the voters' right to have the "final say" on Brexit, with London's mayor among them.

The petition asking Britain to "remain in the EU" gained more than 4 million signatures on Saturday morning, making it the most popular petition ever submitted to the Parliament website, local media reported.

It's not immediately clear, however, if all the signatories are genuine British citizens, since 'confirmation' of citizenship is made simply by checking a box. The petition has surpassed the 10,000-signature threshold required for the government to "respond" to it, as well as the 100-thousand threshold to force Parliament to "consider" it.

Quelle surprise. After more than two years looking for a non-existent needle in an ever-expanding haystack, Chief Hunter of the Needle, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, has finally declared that he hasn't been able to find it. This ought to come as no surprise, because as we know non-existent needles don't exist. Except, of course, in the minds of hundreds of foolish Democrat politicians and their dutiful stenographers in the mainstream media, or Global Pravda as it is known on this blog.

The fascinating thing about it all is that it wasn't hard to grasp that the needle didn't exist. It was obvious from the start. Here's what I wrote back in November 2017, almost 18 months before Robert Mueller finally gave up his pointless hunt:

Imagine a Convention of Village Idiots holding a never-ending hunt for a non-existent needle in an ever-expanding haystack. Every once in a while one of them finds a twig, or an old sock, or a marble, and with a look of sheer delight on their face they look up and squawk, 'I've found it'. And all the other VIs gather round to marvel at the needle, and the news is published in the press across the country that they've got it, and there is much rejoicing. Until that is, someone points out that what they've found is not a needle at all, but a twig or an old sock or a marble, and before you know it they've quietly put it to one side, and resumed the hunt.

The Convention, which sometimes goes by the name Russiagate, has been going on for more than a year now, and despite its participants claiming on multiple occasions to have found the needle, sadly for them they've still to locate it. You might think that after still not finding it after this long, they'd be discouraged enough to give up, go home, and tend to their gardens, or some other such useful endeavour. But not a bit of it. The fact that they keep finding things in the haystack that aren't needles only convinces them that there must be a needle in there somewhere. And so with a squawk of excitement and a cry of "On with the hunt", off they go again looking for it with more enthusiasm than ever, ready to unearth yet more non-needles.

What have they actually found? Well, there was the indictment of Paul Manafort. Surely that was a needle, wasn't it? Well, only in the same way that a needle resembles a brick, the charges against him being utterly unrelated to Russia, but instead about dealings he had in Ukraine years before Donald Trump ever announced he was standing for election. How about the indictment of George Papadopolous by the Mueller inquiry? Well, given that the charge against him is again nothing to do with collusion with Russia, but rather about lying to the FBI, that's not very needle-like either, is it?

Somehow though, supposedly serious and powerful people have believed in the non-existent needle with a zeal that might be commendable if it were ever used to do some actual good. As it is, their evidence-free fanaticism has simply shown them to be on the Dark Side of the Moon, many sandwiches short of a picnic, and certainly an indictment short of collusion. The question is why? Chiefly a couple of reasons:

With Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe wrapped up, one can't blame the liberal media for trying to keep the 'Russian Collusion' narrative on life support. Enter the latest Russian agent: Grease star John Travolta.

The Hollywood star's recent trip to Russia - a PR jaunt to a country fascinated by aging celebrities - didn't escape the eagle-eyed Russia sleuths over at the Daily Beast. "Why is John Travolta palling around with Putin's cronies in Russia?" the liberal news site asked on Saturday. Raw Story later picked up and rewrote the story.


The Pulp Fiction star's transgressions included meeting with "elite members of President Vladimir Putin's court," having his picture snapped by Russian paparazzi, and praising Russia's culture of "music, ballet, and avant-garde artists." He also chatted with Kremlin press spokesman Dmitry Peskov about the "Russophobic moods" of American authorities and reportedly said that "ordinary Americans" hold a positive attitude towards Russia, seemingly despite the best efforts of US media.

The scale of planned ISIS attacks across Europe has been revealed in so-called 'ISIS files', according to reports.

The Sunday Times has obtained documents from ISIS fighters which discloses the caliphate's plot to attack various places in Europe.

The planned attacks would come after the terrorist group lost the last of its territory in Syria, the newspaper reports.

The terrifying plans claim there would be a "department of operations in Europe" to support ISIS members who are already living in those countries.

And planned target areas would be spaces "far away from Islamic State", where so-called "crocodile cell" assignation squads would roam.

Their role, according to the documents, would be to "kill the enemies of god".

Do humans have free will?

That question has puzzled philosophers for millennia and has generated fierce debates. Perhaps the only thing more contentious than the question are the implications of its answer. If man has no free will, then how can there be moral responsibility?

But don't worry, dear frazzled philosophers! You can now rest your weary heads because the question is about to be answered once and for all by the wizards of Silicon Valley.

What on earth am I talking about? To answer that question, let's turn to Declare Your Independence, the radio show of Ernie Hancock of FreedomsPhoenix.com. Recently, Ernie had a fascinating conversation with Paul Rosenberg of FreemansPerspective.com. What's fascinating about their discussion is how quickly the conversation turns from a dialogue about online censorship in the wake of the Christchurch shooting to Rosenberg ranting about the most important issue of our time:

"You need to protect your data to protect your own free will. I'm sorry if that sounds dramatic. I'm sorry if that sounds like I'm trying to be scary and all that, but that's just the truth and somebody should say it!"

So how do we get from online censorship to the end of free will (assuming we ever really had it)? By way of Google's selfish ledger, of course.

The Israeli Air Force has struck at least two 'Hamas outposts' in Gaza in retaliation for what the IDF claimed was an overnight barrage of some '300 explosives' thrown across the border fence at Israeli troops.

The strike came in response to ongoing border disturbances by Hamas' so-called "night-time unit" which staged a massive demonstration along the Gazan border with Israel on Saturday night, burning tires, throwing homemade explosive devices, and launching incendiary balloons at southern Israel.

"Our stance is clear, either [Israel] lifts the blockade [on Gaza] or [Israeli] residents of border communities evacuate," the statement by the unit read, as its operatives vowed to continue their unrest throughout next week between the hours of 7pm until the first light of dawn.

Earlier, White House officials speaking to US media on the condition of anonymity reportedly said that Bolton helped to ensure that the US decision to pull out of a key nuclear arms control treaty with Moscow was made without consulting any of the relevant departments or agencies.

Senior Trump administration officials with knowledge of Russia-US negotiations on the possible joint withdrawal of US and Iranian forces from Syria said the talks 'largely fell apart' after National Security Advisor John Bolton announced that US troops would stay put in the Middle Eastern country indefinitely until "all Iranian forces" were pulled out, the Washington Post has reported, citing officials.

According to the newspaper, President Trump's decision on Thursday to get the ball rolling on recognizing the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights as part of Israel really began "to gain real traction" only after Bolton arrived in the White House last April.

Media and politicians who've spent about two years anticipating Robert Mueller's probe and to kick Donald Trump out of the White House, seem to have survived the first shock of its mundane end, but believe their fight is not over.

The Special Counsel sent his report to the US Attorney General on Friday. Although the results are still not known to the public, it's been leaked that it contains no new indictments. The news seemed to have sent mainstream media and pundits into disarray, and even drove some to tears.

However, by Saturday they all seemed ready for a new fight, brandishing statements and casting headlines that it is not over.

Pakistan which is hugely concerned after Indian jets destroyed terror camps in Balakot have now fallen back on its trusted option. It has deployed Chinese made ground-to-air (SAM) missiles for air defence of military bases. As per latest intelligence reports, Pakistan has decided to deploy Chinese made LY-80 ,a medium range surface to air missile.

LY-80 missiles from China, also called HQ-16, were included in the Pak Army in 2017.The Chinese made mobile air defence system LY-80 missiles can be easily moved from one place to another according to need and can hit any moving target up to 40 kilometres. Fearing attack from India in the future of greater intensity than Balakot, Pakistan is strengthening the security of its military establishments. According to an officer in central security establishment, deployment of LY-80 missiles is part of that increased vigil.