The Roman Empire never doubted that it was the defender of civilization. Its good intentions were peace, law and order. The Spanish Empire added salvation. The British Empire added the noble myth of the white man's burden. We have added freedom and democracy.

- Garet Garrett, Rise of Empire

The first step in creating Empire is to morally justify the invasion and occupation of another nation even if it poses no credible or substantial threat. But if that's the entering strategy, what is the exit one?

One approach to answering is to explore how Empire has arisen through history and whether the process can be reversed. Another is to conclude that no exit is possible; an Empire inevitably self-destructs under the increasing weight of what it is - a nation exercising ultimate authority over an array of satellite states. Empires are vulnerable to overreach, rebellion, war, domestic turmoil, financial exhaustion, and competition for dominance.

In July, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee requested a second special counsel separate from Robert Mueller to probe aspects of the 2016 election and actions by the Obama administration including Hillary Clinton.

In light of reports that Comey ended the FBI investigation into Hillary's emails before interviewing seventeen key witnesses including Hillary herself, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee renewed called for a second special counsel Tuesday.

The Premier of Canada's Quebec province Philippe Couillard has blasted Boeing, accusing the company of unfairly trying to destroy Bombardier.

The United States has imposed a 220 percent tariff on the Canadian aircraft maker after Boeing complained it was selling jets below cost on the US market.

Couillard has asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who's already put a planned purchase of military equipment from Boeing on hold, to take a "hard line" against the American company.

President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are releasing their proposed tax reform plan, which is said to revise the corporate tax rate, provide benefits for married couples, and reduce the number of tax brackets.

"We are here to announce historic tax relief for the American people," Trump said at the rally in Indianapolis, Indiana, adding that the "outdated, complex and extremely burdensome tax code" is standing in the way of America's economic recovery.

"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity," Trump said. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Trump said he would not negotiate on the Republicans' proposal to lower the corporate tax rate to 20 percent.

"I wanted to start at 15 (percent) so that we got 20 (percent) - 15 was so low we didn't take in the revenue. But I wanted 15 so we got 20, 20's my number so I'm not negotiating that number. I am not going to negotiate," he added.

The standard deduction will be $12,000, or $24,000 for married taxpayers who file jointly, eliminating the so-called "marriage tax." The plan leaves in place deductions for mortgage interest and charitable deductions.

The death of Lieutenant General Valery Asapov and two Russian colonels who were with him in Syria highlights the fundamentally different military command philosophies of the US and Russian militaries.

Unlike Western armies the Russian army still requires senior officers like General Asapov to lead their men into battle

Putting aside the question of whether or not General Asapov was deliberately targeted, the key point about his death is that he was a high ranking general (commander at the time of his death of Russia's 5th Red Banner Army) who was killed whilst carrying out personal reconnaissance on the front line in Deir Ezzor in Syria, where he exposed himself to shelling.

Though his death was big news in Russia, it has been received there calmly, with none of the displays of dismay or panic, or the feverish post-mortems, or the angry cries for vengeance, which would assuredly have happened if a US officer of similar rank had been killed in the same way.

Authorities in Japan are considering starting a digital currency to be called the J-Coin. By doing so, Tokyo will reduce cash circulation in the country.

"The project is in the early stages, and we have just held study meetings with other institutions," a spokesperson for Japanese bank Mizuho Financial Group told CNBC on Wednesday.

"This will be pegged with Japanese Yen, and hopefully used to make payments and transfers through a mobile phone app," the bank said.

According to a report by the Financial Times, a consortium of Japanese banks are working on the project, and they are interested in launching the J-Coin before the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

The project has the support of the central bank and regulators. The J-Coin will allow Japanese consumers to pay for goods and services with their smartphones.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reversed course Tuesday and told Wisconsin officials that the Russian government did not scan the state's voter registration system, then later reiterated that it still believed it was one of 21 targeted states.

Homeland Security first told state elections officials on Friday that Wisconsin was one of 21 states targeted by the Russians, raising concerns about the safety and security of the state's election systems even though no data had been compromised. But on Tuesday, Homeland Security gave apparently conflicting information about whether the state's election system was a target and if it was, how it was threatened.

In an email to the state's deputy elections administrator that was provided to reporters at the Wisconsin Elections Commission meeting on Tuesday, Homeland Security said an agency that doesn't deal with elections was the target of scans by Russian IP addresses.

Syria has confirmed that the US led coalition whose very presence in Syria is illegal according to international law, has recently dropped white phosphorus munitions over a village in Deir ez-Zor.

Similar to the infamous napalm munitions the US used in the war on Vietnam, white phosphorus melts the skin off human bones, resulting in an excruciatingly torturous death.

SANA reports that thus far three civilians have been killed while another five have been seriously injured.

Sputnik further reports,

"The news comes a day after a report that coalition airstrikes left nine civilians dead in the northeastern province Hasaka. Those killed included an Iraqi family of six that had escaped Daesh violence in Mosul, according to SANA. Citing sources, the agency added that the coalition had also launched airstrikes on the villages Hadaj, Huneidis and Hassan Ali near the Iraqi border, which has resulted in "huge material damage".

The coalitions airstrikes have resulted in death of hundreds of people in Syria. On August 4, the coalition admitted that "at least 624 civilians have been unintentionally killed by Coalition strikes since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve" against Daesh in Iraq and Syria in 2014″.

The forensic and field images shown below, demonstrate what happens to human bodies after they are hit by white phosphorus

The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has urged the national armed forces "be at ready" to defend the country's sovereignty and people amid threats by US.

"We have been blatantly threatened by the most criminal empire in the history of mankind," Maduro said, referring to the US.

The Venezuelan leader delivered a speech at the military parade held at the El Libertador air base in Aragua state in commemoration of the establishment of the Operational Strategic Command of the Venezuelan armed forces.

Okay, here's the review: Strange will vote any way Trump wants him to, Moore will go his own way. Simple as that. Worse, Moore may go his own way on things that Trump doesn't care about, like gay marriage. Imagine Moore trying to block a Trump SCOTUS nomination because the nominee hasn't committed to overturning Obergefell. Not in a million years would Strange cross POTUS that way.

If you're a populist, as Bannon is, it makes sense that you'd prefer Moore to Strange. If you're a Trumpist, as Trump is, all you really want is loyalty for whatever your agenda happens to be at a particular moment. There seems to be some vague sense on the right that because Trump is a loose cannon, naturally he'd prefer a loose cannon to fill Sessions's seat in the Senate. But why? Trump craves obedience more than anything, especially in a fickle, restive Senate. And if he's going to roll the dice on a populist who won't be easy to control, why would he do it for one whose bread and butter is social conservatism?

Bannon knows all of that, though. This "we need a review" thing is part of the shtick he and other Moore supporters are using in Alabama to stay on the right side of Trump's cult of personality. Trump can't fail, they maintain, he can only be failed. Therefore his decision to endorse Strange can't be explained in terms of obvious self-interest but rather in terms of him being manipulated by "globalists" or RINOs or establishmentarians or Mitch McConnell or whoever. Someone has fooled our poor innocent president into backing a candidate who'll, uh, rubber-stamp anything he wants. The very idea of an internal "review" to figure out why POTUS endorsed a candidate who won't stop hugging him is ridiculous. But I think WaPo's right: For Bannon, the idea of a "review" is a way to turn up some populist heat on his old nemeses in the West Wing. He can't impugn Trump but he can certainly impugn John Kelly and Gary Cohn and Jared Kushner, etc, by wondering which sinister forces led Trump down the path of folly in endorsing Strange.