The Russian military has established a no-fly zone over the Latakia province of western Syria, Russian Senator and former Air Force commander Viktor Bondarev stated on Monday.

"The establishment of a no-fly zone over the Russian military base in Latakia will prevent a repeat of the IL-20 aircraft tragedy," Bondarev told the Russian Federation's Council this evening. After creating a no-fly zone in Latakia, it is necessary to announce that any unauthorized objects in the sky over Hmeimim Airport will definitely be eliminated," he added.

The Russian senator would add that the S-300 will not only be deployed at the Hmeimim Airbase, but also, in several parts of the country.

Earlier this evening, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone to discuss the current situation in Syria.

Reports from Moscow indicated that Putin informed Netanyahu that Russia does not accept Israel's version of the events that took place on the night of the September 17th. Russia expects its relations with Israel to remain the same, despite the upcoming delivery of the S-300 air defense system to Syria.

On September 17, I posted my column, "Evidence is no longer a Western value." I used as an example the blame that has been put on Russia for the shot down Malaysian airliner. No evidence whatsoever exists for the accusation, and massive evidence has been presented that the airliner was shot down by the neonazis that seized power as a result of the Washington-organized coup in Ukraine.

Blame was fixed on Russia not by any evidence but by continuous evidence-free accusations that began the moment the airliner was shot down. Anyone who asked for evidence was treated as a "Putin apologist." This took evidence out of the picture.

Wherever we look in these times, we see evidence-free accusations established as absolute facts: Saddam Hussein's "weapons of mass destruction," "Iranian nukes," "Russian invasion of Ukraine," the Trump/Putin conspiracy that stole the 2016 US presidential election, Syrian use of poison gas. Not a scrap of evidence exists for any of these accusations, but the truth of the accusations is established in many minds worldwide.

Science gave the world the principle of evidence-based fact, which did away with the burning of witches and political decisions based in superstition. Truth became a force.

But truth can get in the way of agendas, and as elites recovered their power from the social, political, and economic reforms of a previous era, truth was divided into categories and cut so fine that it disappeared. For the elite truth became identical to their economic interests, and Identity Politics stripped truth of its universal meaning and reduced truth to self-pleading race and gender truth.

The result is that today truth is established not by evidence but by repetition of accusations and falsehoods.

Russia may walk out of a joint project with NASA to build a lunar station as it doesn't want to "play second fiddle" in the effort. Instead, Moscow mulls joining forces with BRICS countries, a Roscosmos head has confirmed.

The fate of the joint program to build a Russian-American station to explore the moon is now at odds as both sides disagree on parts of the burden they would share in the effort.

"The Russian Federation cannot afford to play the second fiddle role in it," Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, said.

Roscosmos and NASA agreed to develop the Lunar Orbital Platform - also known as the Gateway - last year. Russia now maintains that the US wants it to only partially contribute to the ambitious project.

According to reports, NASA wants Roscosmos to build a docking compartment and an adjacent module. But both parts must be able to accommodate US space suits and be designed in compliance with American technical guidelines.

Democrat U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison is finally under fire from a Democrat senator for the sexual assault accusations coming from Ellison's ex-girlfriend.

After a period where most Democrats were quiet about the accusations against Ellison, Hawaiian Sen. Mazie Hirono finally came out against him on Sunday.

Hirono, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committe who has achieved a new prominence - and media power - since the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh made her a familiar face to many Americans, was asked by CNN anchor Jake Tapper about Ellison on "State of the Union":

Falsely demonizing Russia's leader has made the new Cold War even more dangerous.

Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at Princeton and NYU, and John Batchelor continue their (usually) weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. (Previous installments, now in their fifth year, are at TheNation.com.) This post is different. The conversation was based on Cohen's article below, completed the day of the broadcast.

"Putin is an evil man, and he is intent on evil deeds."
- Senator John McCain

"[Putin] was a KGB agent. By definition, he doesn't have a soul."
"If this sounds familiar, it's what Hitler did back in the 1930s."
- 2016 Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton

The specter of an evil-doing Vladimir Putin has loomed over and undermined US thinking about Russia for at least a decade. Henry Kissinger deserves credit for having warned, perhaps alone among prominent American political figures, against this badly distorted image of Russia's leader since 2000: "The demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy. It is an alibi for not having one."

None of us would be cheering on a war that could easily be the absolutely final one if President Putin had not defused the situation while clearly signaling that he holds Israel accountable for downing the Russian IL-20 reconnaissance aircraft even though it was shot down by a Syrian missile. If he did not why would he have signed off on the Russian MOD's statement which squarely placed the blame on Israel.

"The blame for the downing of the Russian plane and the deaths of its crew members lies squarely on the Israeli side," the Minister Shoigu said. "The actions of the military were not in keeping with the spirit of the Russian-Israeli partnership, so we reserve the right to respond."

Furthermore, in declaring that he will upgrade the safety of Russian military personnel in Syria and the security of the Russian military facilities, Putin says, "These will be the steps everyone will notice." Are these just innocuous words meant to placate or is there more to them? Will these measures be so different or unexpected that it cannot be missed. Some three days after the incident it is reported that Russian boots on the ground are all over Syria making attacks on Syrian and Iranian positions difficult because the risk of hitting Russian soldiers are increased manifold.

Russia's decision to boost Syrian air defenses in response to the downing of an Il-20 plane amid an Israeli raid is meant to sting, but not pose a serious threat to Israel's national security, experts told RT.

Last week, a Russian Il-20 electronic warfare plane with 15 crew on board was shot down off Syria's coast by a Syrian anti-air missile fired in response to an Israeli air raid. The raid targeted the Latakia province, which houses a Russian airbase.

"It was inevitable that at some point [Israel] would cross that line in its special relationship with Russia and would go a bit too far," said Beirut-based journalist Martin Jay.

"The deal that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin gave to Israel was incredible. It [not only] allowed Israel to make air strikes with impunity across the country on targets that it believed to be Hezbollah weapons factories or Iranian military installations."

Moscow accused Israel of failing to warn the Russian military of its impending attack in time to move the landing aircraft out of harm's way. On Monday, the Russian military said they would boost Syrian air defenses in several ways to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Russia had also promised to keep pro-Iranian militias away from Syria's border with Israel and froze a planned delivery of an S-300 long-range air defense system to the Syrian armed forces. This deal has now been unfrozen and is to be completed within two weeks, Moscow has announced.

At least 115 people have been killed and 383 others injured during a month of fighting between rival militant groups in Tripoli. The fractured country's UN-backed government has urged the Security Council to intervene.

"The death toll could surge because of the critical condition of the injured and the continuing fighting," Libya's health ministry spokesman Wedad Abo Al-Niran told Reuters. The Tripoli-based armed groups, which back the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), however, claimed that they continuously patrol the city and maintain "the situation is under control."

Tripoli's southern residential areas, along the road leading to the destroyed airport, where the frontline currently lies, have suffered significant damage in the clashes, with houses shelled, cars torched and shops destroyed. Mortars, armored vehicles and trucks with mounted heavy machine guns are being deployed by the warring parties.

Two sources told The Daily Beast that FBI lawyer Lisa Page was present for Rod Rosenstein's comments on secret recordings and did not believe he was joking or being sarcastic.

A debate with major implications has broken out over whether Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was being sarcastic when, in the spring of 2017, he reportedly talked about covertly recording President Donald Trump.

A former career Justice Department official who was in the room when the topic arose told The Daily Beast he believes the deputy attorney general was being sarcastic. But another person in the room at the time has indicated she took it seriously.

Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page was present for Rosenstein's comments on secret recordings and did not believe he was joking or being sarcastic, according to two people familiar with the events in question. A spokesperson for Page declined to comment for this story.

"Bilateral relations in various areas have been strengthened," between Turkey and Venezuela said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country "is doing all that it can to support Venezuela" [to] overcome the difficult situation brought on by United States-led and European Union and Canadian supported sanctions. During a visit to Caracas to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries Friday, Cavusoglu condemned the foreign intervention methods, which are being used in the hope of "isolating" Venezuela.

"I would like to insist, once again, that Turkey will continue to support Venezuela... We are against isolation measures. We are against sanctions. We favor dialogue and exchange between individuals," Cavusoglu said after meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart, Jorge Arreaza.

Cavusoglu highlighted the fact that "economic cooperation has deepened and bilateral relations in various areas have been strengthened" between the countries as proof of his government and country's commitment to the South American country.

He said despite Venezuela going through a "critical period... several Turkish investors are interested" in the country because they acknowledge its potential.