Previously, both Daesh* and the Patriotic Arab Democratic Movement in Ahvaz claimed responsibility for a deadly attack in Iran, carried out by four gunmen during a military parade.

According to the AFP, the Daesh terrorist group has threatened to carry out attacks in Iran following the recent assault on a military parade in Tehran.

The threats come following the attack on a military parade in the Iranian city of Ahvaz that claimed the lives of 25 people, including one journalist and up to twelve servicemen of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and left 53 wounded. Both Daesh and local militants have claimed responsibility for the incident.

Almost from the very start of his presidency, Vladimir Putin has been relentlessly vilified in the western media. If their portrayal of Mr. Putin reflected the objective truth, we should believe that the man has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. As I noted in the first in this series of excerpts from Grand Deception, systematic demonization of a nation's leader predisposes many people to consent to war or regime change as means to help a stricken nation rid itself of a rotten, tyrannical leader. If we detest Vladimir Putin, we might approve of our intelligence communities orchestrating a coup to throw him out of power, even if the blood of some Russians is spilled in the process. It should be an honorable deed done for a greater good. Indeed, those who are desperate to have a regime change in Russia should be very keen for us to detest Mr. Putin. Hence the nonstop, un-nuanced negative coverage. Here I offer a different perspective: what if Putin isn't an arch-villain? What if he does in fact have redeeming qualities? Should we not try to get to know the man a bit better before we shrug off another regime change or war to rid the world of tyrants?

According to his chief of security, Alexander Korzhakov, Boris Yeltsin worked about two hours per day. The rest he spent eating, drinking, playing tennis, hunting or enjoying some other pastime. Vladimir Putin reportedly works exceptionally long hours and several of his advisers and ministers have testified to working with him until very late into the night and then receiving a call from him early in the morning the next day. Exiled banker and former oligarch Sergei Pugachev described his experience:

"...we hardly parted company, we met on a daily basis - from early morning to late evening until 3, until 4 AM, every day, every day. We naturally discussed matters of state business development, the state of the economy and so on. Putin needed someone who understood and knew those matters well." (Harding, Smith and Maynard 2015)

US military aid and weapons sales to the Saudi-led coalition operating in Yemen would be prohibited under a resolution introduced in Congress by lawmakers Tulsi Gabbard and Walter Jones.

The resolution "would reclaim Congress's constitutional right to declare war by prohibiting the President from perpetuating ongoing wars or supplying war materials, military troops, trainers, or advisers, military intelligence, financial support or their equivalent in association, cooperation, assistance, or common cause without first receiving congressional authorization," a press release issued by Congresswoman Gabbard said on Wednesday.

In addition, the resolution would define US participation in wars by the president without congressional authorization as "high crimes and misdemeanors" - impeachable offenses under the US Constitution.

I'm a bit snowed under with things at the moment, and so haven't got time to do a big post, but I did want to start a new thread as the old thread is a worn-out thread, and we don't want a worn out thread, do we?

Firstly, I'd like to thank the UK Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, who in a Tweet, which he subsequently deleted, wrote in response to the new Bellingcat Report:

"The true identity of one of the Salisbury suspects has been revealed to be a Russian Colonel. I want to thank all the people who are working so tirelessly on this case."

I like to think that Gavin was including all the contributors to this website, who are indeed working tirelessly to get to the truth of what really happened on 4th March and following, so many thanks for that Gavin. Why he subsequently deleted his Tweet I don't know, but I suspect it may be that even he couldn't quite square the prostitute-cavorting, cannabis-smoking, coin-shopping, Boshirov, who got lost and couldn't find his way back to Salisbury train station after his alleged mission, with his being a Spetsnaz officer. Some things are too absurd even for Gavin, I guess.

Developing Asia is expected to lose steam as trade rows between Washington and Beijing drastically damage supply chains for businesses, dragging down the region's export-reliant economies, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) says.

The Manila-based institution has lowered its 2019 growth forecast for both China and developing Asian nations by 0.1 percentage points, citing major risks posed to international trade and global financial markets by the country's ongoing trade dispute with the US. A tightening in global liquidity is expected to have a negative impact on business activity through a potential rise in borrowing costs and higher risks of capital outflows, according to the ADB.

"Growth in the region has held up to external challenges, helped by strong domestic demand in China and India," Yasuyuki Sawada, the chief economist at the development bank, said.

If someone is feeding Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand these lines, I hope they are being led away in chains, as this is one of the most idiotic analyses I've heard yet. How in the heck are Republicans trying to silence Christine Blasey Ford who accused Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault from 35 years ago, when they keep giving her time to play them like fools?

Source: CNS News

Giving Christine Blasey Ford the opportunity to testify about her unsubstantiated accusations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is, somehow, silencing her, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) declared Wednesday night.

Refusing to launch an FBI investigation into Ford's claims is also "silencing her," Sen. Gillibrand said in a tweet:

"Denying Dr. Ford an FBI investigation is silencing her. Forcing her into a sham hearing is silencing her. And pushing through Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation is silencing her."

Let's recap if you will allow me. Christine Ford has no specific date, no place, just a hazy memory of a possible groping from a repressed memory 35 years old. The FBI doesn't go after gropers based on a foggy memory regardless of how many celebrities believe her. These are just the stop facts and, there is nothing strange here?

A ceasefire seldom gets a good press. If it succeeds in ending violence or defusing a crisis, the media swiftly becomes bored and loses interest. But if the fighting goes on, then those who have called the ceasefire are condemned as heartless hypocrites who either never intended to bring the killing to an end or are culpably failing to do so.

Pundits are predictably sceptical about the agreement reached by Russian president Vladimir Putin and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi on Monday to head off an imminent offensive by President Bashar al-Assad's forces directed against rebels in Idlib province. This is the last enclave of the armed opposition in western Syria which has lost its strongholds in Aleppo, Damascus and Daraa over the past two years.

Doubts about the accord are understandable because, if it is implemented, the anti-Assad groups in Idlib will be defanged militarily. They will see a demilitarised zone policed by Russia and Turkey eat into their territory, "radical terrorist groups" removed, and heavy weapons ranging from tanks to mortars withdrawn. The rebels will lose their control of the two main highways crossing Idlib and linking the government held cities of Aleppo, Latakia and Hama.

There is a striking note of imperial self-confidence about the document in which all sides in the Syrian civil war are instructed to come to heel. This may not happen quite as intended because it is difficult to see why fighters of al-Qaeda-type groups like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham should voluntarily give up such military leverage as they still possess. The Syrian government has said that it will comply with the agreement but may calculate that, in the not so long term, it will be able to slice up Idlib bit by bit as it did with other rebel enclaves.

A Chinese national who came to the US on a student visa and enlisted in the army reserves has been arrested in Chicago and accused of helping Beijing attempt to recruit American scientists and engineers.

Ji Chaoqun was allegedly tasked with providing Chinese intelligence with information from background checks on about eight American citizens - some of whom were US defence contractors.

The arrest comes as the US and China are locked in a high-stakes trade war and US counter intelligence step up efforts to combat Chinese espionage. China's ministry of state security operates a large network of spies both inside China and around the world, and Chinese student groups in the US have been accused of coordinating with government departments.

The 27-year-old, who first arrived in Chicago in 2013 to study electrical engineering on a student visa at the Illinois Institute of Technology, was charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires individuals working for foreign governments to register with the US Attorney General.

"By collecting this information for an arm of the Chinese government while in the United States, Ji knowingly and unlawfully acted as an agent of a foreign power," Andrew McKay, an FBI agent, wrote in an affidavit.

The last-minute attempt to derail Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation as the next Supreme Court justice has just hit a serious snag.

Facing damaging but almost completely unsubstantiated claims that he acted improperly with a girl back when he was a teenager, the conservative nominee has dug into his personal archives to defend himself.

Up until now, the vague accusations made by Christine Blasey Ford had only resulted in a "he said, she said" stalemate. Liberals insisted that Blasey Ford's story of a bad encounter at a drunken party be believed, while conservatives have pointed out that the nearly 40-year-old claim is impossible to verify.

Finally, Kavanaugh has presented tangible evidence that the accusation doesn't hold up.

On Sunday, The New York Times reported that the judge has found old calendars from the period when the unproven groping allegedly took place - and they appear to support his claim that the incident didn't happen.

"Kavanaugh has calendars from the summer of 1982 that he plans to hand over to the Senate Judiciary Committee that do not show a party consistent with the description of his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford," explained The Times.

"The calendar pages from June, July and August 1982, which were examined by The New York Times, show that Judge Kavanaugh was out of town much of the summer at the beach or away with his parents," the newspaper continued.

"When he was at home, the calendars list his basketball games, movie outings, football workouts and college interviews. A few parties are mentioned but include names of friends other than those identified by Dr. Blasey."

US President Donald Trump acknowledges the fact that the Israeli regime is "aggressive" at a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"It's great to be with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, and his representatives. Obviously we have much to discuss," Trump said at the meeting with the Israeli premier in New York Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

He further claimed falsely that his measure to move the US embassy from the Israeli capital Tel Aviv to al-Quds Jerusalem has had many positive consequences.

"The prime minister was just thanking me again for what we did in Jerusalem with respect to the embassy; that's been something that I guess was controversial, but it's turned out to be very positive in many ways. And a lot of progress has been made in many other areas. We're talking trade, we're talking military, we're talking defense. And we are very much in favor of what Israel is doing as far as their defense is concerned," said the president.

Trump also justified Israel's brutal policies and actions against Palestinians, suggesting that the Tel Aviv regime is obliged to resort to violence.

"They are aggressive and they have no choice but to be aggressive: it's a very difficult part of the world," Trump said.