Barclays is facing a court battle over hundreds of millions of taxpayer pounds after 14 local councils filed a mass legal action against the bank.

Greater Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool and Leeds are among the local authorities accusing the bank of fraud over loans to councils and other public bodies that were once worth billions.

Barclays is accused of rigging interest rates and thereby potentially manipulating charges to borrowers.

The High Court claim, seen by The Mail on Sunday, relates to hugely controversial Lender-Option, Borrower-Option loans, commonly known as Lobo loans.

These have been described as 'lose-lose' for borrowers and the attached terms have already sparked public outrage.

As we just discussed, some major news stories have recently dropped about what a horrible horrifying menace the Russian Federation is to the world, and as always I have nothing to offer the breathless pundits on CNN and MSNBC but my completely unsatisfied skepticism. My skepticism of the official Russia narrative remains so completely unsatisfied that if mainstream media were my husband I would already be cheating on it with my yoga instructor.

I do not believe the establishment Russia narrative. I do not believe that Donald Trump colluded with the Russian government to rig the 2016 election. I do not believe the Russian government did any election rigging for Trump to collude with. This is not because I believe Vladimir Putin is some kind of blueberry-picking girl scout, and it certainly isn't because I think the Russian government is unwilling or incapable of meddling in the affairs of other nations to some extent when it suits them. It is simply because I am aware that the US intelligence community lies constantly as a matter of policy, and because I understand how the burden of proof works.

Lula: "My judicial persecutors not only want me detained, they want me silenced."
Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has taken to his Twitter account, on Friday, to speak to the people of Brazil about the denial of his habeas corpus earlier this week, which would have allowed him to walk free from prison.

"The fear surrounding my possible release is due to the fact that they know that they detained me based on lies," he said, referring to judge Sergio Moro and prosecutors who argued his guilt, as well as ruled and sentenced the former head of state on corruption and money laundering charges.

Theresa May has revealed a piece of advice she ignored from US President Donald Trump. POTUS told her not to enter into negotiations with the European Union; instead, she should sue the bloc as part of her Brexit strategy.

Revealing the surprising suggestion on the BBC's Andrew Marr program on Sunday, May appeared to stifle what appeared to be a chuckle of disbelief at Trump's outlandish idea. "He told me I should sue the EU," she said. "Sue the EU. Not go into negotiations - sue them."

With a wry smile, May continued to outline the path that she actually chose, and allowed Trump's absurd suggestion to fall to the wayside. "Actually, no," she said. "We're going into negotiations - but interestingly - what the president also said at the press conference was 'Don't walk away.'

In one of the largest, if not the largest, Neo-Nazi demonstration in Europe since WW2, 20,000 fascists and their supporters marched through the streets of the Ukrainian capital celebrating the birth of Stepan Bandera 01.01.1909 founder and leader of the ultra-nationalist Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B) and its military wing, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) commanded by Roman Shukhevych. This organization which along with the equally collaborationist outfit, the 14th Waffen SS Grenadier Division Galicia 1, were responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Poles, Jews and Russians during the ethnic cleansing which began in Lviv with a pogrom of the city's Jews a week after the German invasion in 1941, and in the western Ukraine between 1943-45.

But for the western MSM in general this reaction to a blatant display of out-and-out fascism is par for the course. It would not be stretching credulity to say that nearly 100% of the MSM reporting on the Ukraine is frankly, ignorant, made-up, fake and mendacious, and this applies particularly to the liberal media; to be even more specific to The Guardian team, of Luhn, Harding and Walker who seem to have made a career of Russophobia and fake news. Their 'journalism' of the courtesan in its essence is quite simple: What are my principles? What would you like them to be?

President Trump has claimed that immigrants permanently "changed the fabric of Europe"-and "not in a positive way." In an interview with The Sun published Thursday, the president repeatedly lamented what he described as "sad" immigration policies that he said allowed "millions and millions of people to come into Europe." "I think what has happened to Europe is a shame. Allowing the immigration to take place in Europe is a shame," he said. "I think it changed the fabric of Europe and, unless you act very quickly, it's never going to be what it was and I don't mean that in a positive way. I think you are losing your culture." In keeping with his oft-repeated claims that Europe is overrun with dangerous immigrants committing crimes, Trump also accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of doing a "very bad job on terrorism" and failing to stop "all of the horrible things going on" in the city.

COMMENTARY: FBI agent Peter Strzok may be soon "thrown under the bus" in the ongoing investigation into Clinton's emails and his alleged role in the Russia-gate investigation, comments Ray McGovern.

If FBI agent Peter Strzok were not so glib, it would have been easier to feel some sympathy for him during his tough grilling at the House oversight hearing on Thursday, even though his wounds are self-inflicted. The wounds, of course, ooze from the content of his own text message exchange with his lover and alleged co-conspirator, Lisa Page.

Strzok was a top FBI counterintelligence official and Page an attorney working for then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. The Attorney General fired McCabe in March and DOJ has criminally referred McCabe to federal prosecutors for lying to Justice Department investigators.

On Thursday members of the House Judiciary and Oversight/Government Reform Committees questioned Strzok for eight hours on how he led the investigations of Hillary Clinton's unauthorized emails and Donald Trump's campaign's ties with Russia, if any.

Strzok did his best to be sincerely slick. Even so, he seemed to feel beleaguered - even ambushed - by the questions of Republicans using his own words against him. "Disingenuous" is the word a Republican Congresswoman used to describe his performance. Nonetheless, he won consistent plaudits from the Democrats. He showed zero regret for the predicament he put himself into, except for regret at his royal screw-up in thinking he and Lisa could "talk about Hillary" (see below) on their FBI cellphones and no one would ever know. One wag has suggested that Strzok may have been surreptitiously texting, when he should have been listening to the briefing on "Cellphone Security 101."

On July 11, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Moscow. He announced on the eve of his departure to Russia that this visit would play a pivotal role in the bilateral relations of the two countries in light of the ongoing Syrian debacle. It is clear what lies behind such statements - he came to complain about the so-called "enemies of Israel", namely Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah. He has been known for this little habit of his upon the geopolitical stage for quite some time. In this case, he is clearly going to try to convince Russian president Vladimir Putin that the ongoing presence of Iranian-backed forces and Hezbollah in Syria represents a major threat. In the process, he's trying to push the Russian leader into striking a "deal" with US president Donald Trump in Helsinki.

The deal, even though it's not on the table yet, implies that the Pentagon withdraws its troops from Syria's At-Tanf and transfers the area under the control of Damascus / Moscow in exchange for Moscow pledging its commitment to the removal of the Iranian military, detachments of Hezbollah and the pro-Iranian Shia militias from the regions adjacent to the Syrian-Israeli border. His ability to secure the deal is of paramount importance for both Netanyahu himself and the Israeli ruling elite, as Tel-Aviv was a step away from redrawing Syria's south by permanently occupying the Golan Heights region, but those long-nurtured hopes have evaporated in the last couple of months.

Russian Ambassador Nebenzia Describes Fifth UN Secretary-General Report on Iran as "Malicious Attempt to Create a Groundlessly Negative Climate Around Iran"

On June 27, the Security Council was briefed on the "Fifth report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2231." The report, which was short on corroborated fact and long on insinuation resembled an attempt at demonization of Iran, that early stage laying the groundwork for severe punitive action against a nation. The unsubstantiated innuendo began:

"In this reporting period, the Secretariat received information from two Member States on the supply, sale, transfer or export to Iran of dual-use items that may have been undertaken contrary to the resolution...Since our last report, Saudi authorities have brought to the attention of the Secretariat nine additional launches of ballistic missiles by the Houthis, which in their assessment were Iranian Qiam-1 missiles.....We provided preliminary observations, in our last report, from our examination of the debris of the missiles launched into Saudi Arabia on 22 July and 4 November 2017. Based on the information and material analysed, the Secretariat assesses that the debris of the five missiles launched at Yanbu'and Riyadh since July 2017 share key design features with the Iranian Qiam-1 ballistic missile. It is also our assessment that some component parts of the debris were manufactured in Iran. ...The report also reflects information received from Israel regarding the possible presence of an Iranian drone in Syria, which was reportedly downed after entering Israeli airspace on 10 February. The Secretariat did not have the opportunity to examine its debris, but images provided by Israeli authorities show that its wing configuration appears to be consistent with that of an Iranian drone unveiled in October 2016."

"The Secretariat examined arms and related material that was seized in Bahrain after 16 January, 2016, and obtained additional information on the unmanned surface vessel, laden with explosives, that was recovered by the United Arab Emirates. In both cases, the Secretariat is confident that some of the arms and related material it examined were manufactured in Iran...."

The Fifth Secretary-General report does not provide any valid evidence of Iran's violation of international law, or violation of Resolution 2231. However, the report's presentation so starkly resembles crude propaganda, that it is surprising, indeed, that the UN Secretary-General would permit his imprimatur to be used in connection with this report. It appears to have been written by the US and its allies, and merely rubber-stamped by the Secretary-General.

What is Rosenstein up to now? And where is AG Sessions??

In an unusual request, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein asked federal prosecutors to help review documents of President Trump's SCOTUS nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.

Rosenstein's email subject line sent to 93 US Attorneys read,

"Personal Message to U.S. Attorneys From the Deputy A.G.," and included the sentence, "We need your help in connection with President Trump's nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the Supreme Court."

The New York Times reported:

Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, has asked federal prosecutors to help review the government documents of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, according to a letter obtained by The New York Times on Wednesday.

Mr. Rosenstein's request was an unusual insertion of politics into federal law enforcement. While the Justice Department has helped work on previous Supreme Court nominations, department lawyers in Washington typically carry out that task, not prosecutors who pursue criminal investigations nationwide.

But in an email sent this week to the nation's 93 United States attorneys, Mr. Rosenstein asked each office to provide up to three federal prosecutors "who can make this important project a priority for the next several weeks." Names were to be submitted to Mr. Rosenstein's office by the end of Wednesday.

Mr. Rosenstein's email, which had the subject line "Personal Message to U.S. Attorneys From the Deputy A.G.," included the sentence, "We need your help in connection with President Trump's nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the Supreme Court."