Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow is being deliberately accused of involvement in the downing of flight MH17 in Ukraine "in light of upcoming important international events."

According to the minister, the baseless accusations made by the Netherlands and Australia, who hold Moscow liable for the downing, were voiced "to make public accusations in light of the upcoming important international events." He was most likely making reference to the FIFA World Cup to be hosted in Russia from mid-June to mid-July.

Lavrov also noted that after the interim findings were released on May 24, Moscow received demands from Australia and the Netherlands, to compensate the families of the crash victims.

The foreign minister implied that such ultimatums were unacceptable, as there was no confirmation of Russia's involvement. "How can they expect us to deal with them normally when they show such an approach? I have already said that many have lost the culture of diplomacy," he noted.

Lavrov had repeatedly rebuffed the baseless accusations involving flight MH17 and had insisted that Moscow was open to closer cooperation on the probe, if Russia's findings were considered as well. He highlighted, however, that Moscow's "offers of assistance are being rejected."

Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at NYU and Princeton, and John Batchelor continue their (usually) weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. (You can find previous installments of these conversations, now in their fifth year, at TheNation.com.)

On May 9, at a public event jointly sponsored by Columbia University's Harriman Institute and NYU's Jordan Center for Advanced Russian Studies, Cohen and McFaul-a Stanford University professor and previously President Obama's top Russia adviser in the White House and then his ambassador to Moscow-debated a crucial historical but also urgent contemporary subject: "The New US-Russian Cold War-Who Is to Blame?" Cohen argues that unwise American policies since the 1990s have been largely responsible. McFaul, drawing on themes in his new book, From Cold War to Hot Peace, argues that Russia's leader since 2000, Vladimir Putin, is to blame. (A video of the full debate can be seen here.)

The European Union fancies as a champion of 'democracy,' but its action show this doesn't cover dissenting views, whether from an Eurosceptic party in Italy, austerity-hating Greeks, or any folks voting against its grand plans.

Concerns about Europe's disregard for the opinions of normal, non-technocrat, non-banker people have bubbled to the surface of social media after Italy's recent close-call with the near-formation of a government with a clear democratic mandate. But the EU's glaring democracy deficit has been an inconvenient characteristic of the bloc since its founding.

One of the famous moments of the presidential campaign was back in December 2015 when Donald Trump told the Republican Jewish Coalition that he didn't want their money, or their control. "You're not gonna support me because I don't want your money. You want to control your politicians, that's fine."

Those words are among Trump's most self-satirizing; because 2-1/2 years later, the deal's gone down. The transactional president definitely wants the money. And the RJC definitely wants control....

If you read between the lines of recent news events, it appears that this organization that works hard to push Israel's agenda inside the GOP has become the address for fundraising and foreign policy ideas under Donald Trump. The RJC has a lot of power in this administration; and international players know it.

Indeed, the RJC, which is closely aligned to Benjamin Netanyahu, has now cropped up in special counsel Robert Mueller probe of foreign influence. Not that Mueller is targeting Israel's role in the 2016 election campaign. No, that job falls to us, yet again.

Let's get to the news, and focus on three members of the RJC board: Sheldon Adelson, Norman Coleman, and Elliott Broidy (who had to resign from that board last month).

After liberating the entirety of Damascus city and the broader province from an array of hardline Islamist militant groups, including the Daesh terrorist group, the Syrian Army and other government forces are set to launch a major offensive in southern Syria, near the Arab Republic's border with Israel.

A source in Syria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) told Sputnik reporter Suliman Mulhem today that despite the US warning Damascus against attacking militants in southern Syria, the Syrian Army will launch an offensive in the region "soon" and is free to "eliminate terrorists in any part of the country" without first seeking permission from the US.

"The Syrian Army has always acted in the interests of the Syrian people and doesn't need permission from America or Trump to eliminate terrorists in any part of the country. The [military] operation in Deraa will begin soon, but we are now trying to avoid violence and agree surrender deals if possible," the source told Sputnik on Tuesday.

The source added that the Syrian government will order the Syrian Army and the wider coalition of government forces to liberate the entirety of Syria. "Our intention is to liberate every square kilometer of Syria from terrorists, and we won't settle for anything less than that. The Syrian Army is capable of achieving this."

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert warned on May 25 that the US would take "firm and appropriate" measures against Damascus in the event of President Bashar al-Assad ordering an offensive in southern Syria.

Even as a new Rasmussen poll shows a majority of voters believe senior law enforcement officials broke the law to stop Donald Trump from beating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, rank-and-file FBI agents who want to testify against their superiors to Congress feel they can't due to an ineffective whistleblower protection law.

These agents believe the sluggishness of the law exposes them to an inordinate risk of reprisal, so they have remained in hiding and afraid to speak the truth.

This story is based on interview transcripts with two FBI agents that one former White House official provided The Daily Caller. A third special agent also reached out to The Daily Caller to provide information about the current state of the Bureau.

The former White House official who maintained direct contact with at least two agents told TheDC they are "hunkering down because they see good people being thrown to the dogs for speaking out and speaking out does nothing to solve the problems." He believes that "Congress and DOJ are so weak and clueless and can't be trusted to follow through."

The US Department of Justice has reached a settlement that would allow Bayer AG's $66 billion takeover of Monsanto Co, requiring the German company to sell $9 billion in agricultural assets first. The merger as initially proposed would have harmed consumers and farmers by eliminating competition, the DOJ said. However, the Trump administration is satisfied with the terms of the settlement announced Tuesday.

"America's farm system is of critical importance to our economy, to our food system, and to our way of life," said Makan Delrahim, head of the DOJ's antitrust division. "American farmers and consumers rely on head-to-head competition between Bayer and Monsanto."

Last October, Bayer agreed to sell its Liberty herbicide brand, cotton and soybean seeds, and other seed capabilities to BASF SE, another German chemical corporation. That deal was worth €5.9 billion. Another sale to BASF was announced in April, with Bayer divesting of herbicides, wheat hybrids research and digital farming business that had combined sales amounting to €2.2 billion in 2017, according to Bloomberg.

EU regulators approved the merger in March.

The United States was counting on a total confrontation with Iran by leaving the nuclear deal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said speaking at the Primakov Readings. The withdrawal of all non-Syrian troops from Syria's southwestern de-escalation zone should take place as soon as possible, Lavrov said.

"As regards the confrontation between Israel and Iran in Syria, we have agreements on the southwestern de-escalation zone, these agreements have been reached between Russia, the United States and Jordan. Israel was informed about them as we were working on them. They [agreements] stipulate that this de-escalation zone should consolidate stability, while all non-Syrian forces must be withdrawn from this area. And I think that this should happen as soon as possible," Lavrov said at the Primakov Readings international think tank summit.

"I remember the apocalyptic predictions of the 1980s about a 'nuclear winter,'" he said. "Fortunately, it did not come to pass, although the 'Arab Spring' came, which, through a series of tragic events, also exacerbated the problem of weapons of mass destruction."

"I am referring to the withdrawal of the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program with the view of organizing a total confrontation with Iran, and many staged situations involving the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government aimed at changing the regime in Damascus," Lavrov added.

The leader of the largest political group in the EU Parliament and Angela Merkel ally, Manfred Weber, has defended Viktor Orban against critics who accuse Hungary's Eurosceptic, anti-immigrant PM of being a "bad European."

Weber, a member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc and the leader of the European People's Party, said it's wrong to "point fingers" at Orban and say "he's not a good European."

"If you look at the migration debate, from where I come from often we're talking about refugees. But if you look at Prague, Bratislava, or Budapest, often the debate is more focused elsewhere. They're talking about illegal migration instead. It's for that reason that I think what's most important is for us to talk to one another and deal with one another,"

Weber said during a press conference at the European Parliament.The EU has repeatedly threatened the Hungarian PM with sanctions over his alleged violations of human rights, and "EU values" and freedoms in general. But Orban's Fidesz party is a member of the European Parliament coalition which Weber heads - undoubtedly requiring a bit more nuance from Weber when discussing Orban.

India will reportedly pay for Iranian oil in rupees as the two countries seek to bypass the US economic pressure on Tehran, industry officials have told the Sputnik news agency.

Under the deal, the payments for oil will be made through India's state-run UCO Bank, which has no US exposure. The countries are also discussing the barter-like system to avoid US sanctions, Sputnik reports.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is on a visit to India this week, where he has met with Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj.

"During the talks, the two sides also exchanged views on a further expansion of ties in banking, energy, trade, insurance, shipping, use of national currencies, Chabahar projects and Chabahar-Zahedan railway," Zarif said in a statement.

India's Swaraj said the country would ignore the US trade sanctions against Iran. "India will comply with UN sanctions and not any country-specific sanctions," Swaraj said. Iran is India's third-largest oil supplier. India bought a record 27.2 million tons of oil from Tehran during the last financial year, which ended in March 2018. It represents a 114 percent increase on the previous year.