With the Neocon coup against Trump now completed (at least in its main objective, that is the neutralization of Trump, the subsidiary objective, impeaching Trump and removing him from office remains something for the future) the world has to deal, yet again, with a very dangerous situation: the AngloZionist Empire is on a rapid decline, but the Neocons are back in power and they will do anything and everything in their power to stop and reverse this trend. It is also painfully obvious from their rhetoric, as well as from their past actions, that the only "solution" out the Neocons see is to trigger some kind of war. So the pressing question now becomes this: "where will the Empire strike next?". Will it be the DPRK or Syria? Iran or Venezuela? In the Ukraine, maybe? Or do the Neocons seek war with Russia or China?

Now, of course, if we assume that the Neocons are completely crazy, then everything is possible, from a US invasion of Lesotho to a simultaneous thermonuclear attack on Russia and China. I am in no way dismissing the insanity (and depravity) of the Neocons, but I also see no point in analyzing that which is clearly irrational, if only because all modern theories of deterrence always imply a "rational actor" and not a crazy lunatic on a suicidal amok run. For our purposes, therefore, we will assume that there is a semblance of rational thinking left in Washington DC and that even if the Neocons decide to launch some clearly crazy operation, somebody in the top levels of power will find the courage prevent this, just like Admiral Fallon did it with his "not on my watch!" which possibly prevented a US attack on Iran in 2007). So, assuming a modicum of rationality is still involved, where would the Empire strike next?

The Kremlin agrees with Donald Trump's assessment of the poor state of relations between the US and Russia, its spokesman said. Earlier, Trump accused the US Congress of dragging the relationship with Russia to "an all-time and very dangerous low."

"We fully agree with this opinion," Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday. "The danger may come from the lack of cooperation and interaction on issues crucial for our peoples and nations."

Trump has said US lawmakers forced him into signing a bill which issues new economic sanctions against Russia.

The new act strips the authority of the US presidential office to lift sanctions imposed on Russia by executive orders signed by former President Barack Obama, requiring Trump to seek congressional approval for such an act. It also targets companies in third countries with penalties for cooperating with Russia on energy projects.

The Deep State coup against Donald Trump picks up speed.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has shifted the focus of his investigation from the now fully debunked "Russian collusion" lie, to now focus in on possible Trump "financial crimes"...crimes completely unrelated to Russia and the 2016 election.

Wall Street Journal has reported the special counsel Robert Mueller will impanel a Grand Jury to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 president election...

It appears that Donald Trump is powerless to surround himself with those who might support his policies and manner of executing those policies.

New claims from two former National Security Council officials implicate the current US National Security Advisor General H.R. McMaster as an individual attempting to sabotage Donald Trump's foreign policy.

According to the Daily Caller, one of the officials stated,

In the short term, such a wall will starve Gaza, in the long term it helps place Israel in a strong position to invade and occupy Sinai once again, leaving Egypt increasingly defenceless.

Israel has declared plans to build an underground wall separating the Palestinian territory of Gaza from Egypt's Sinai peninsula, an area of Egyptian territory which was previously illegally occupied by Israel between 1967 and 1982.

Israel's current relationship with Sinai has become increasingly worrying due to the presence of ISIS renegade fighters in Sinai whom the Egyptian military and police frequently engage in combat. There is a grave worry that Israel might use the excuse of ISIS' presence in Sinai to once again invade and occupy part of Egypt.

The US Senate may be taking a month-long break in August, but Republicans and Democrats agreed to hold nine "pro forma" sessions to skirt the definition of being "in recess," blocking any appointments President Donald Trump might wish to make.

After confirming 65 Trump nominees to posts ranging from ambassadorships to the Federal Communications Commission, the Senate adjourned Thursday for a month-long break. Wrapping up the chamber's business, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) locked in nine "pro forma" sessions, to be held every three days during the August recess. None of her colleagues objected.

The move was widely seen as a rebuke to Trump, as he will not be able to make any "recess appointments" during the month-long break ‒ including the new head of the Department of Homeland Security to replace John Kelly, who ran the agency for seven months before taking over as the White House chief of staff this week.

Trump has already signaled his displeasure with both houses of Congress, after they passed a bill imposing new sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea with sufficient votes to override his veto. He signed the bill into law on Wednesday, but called several provisions "clearly unconstitutional."

There's one massive problem with the right-wing media's desperate attempts to smear Jeremy Corbyn over the current political crisis in Venezuela. And one word in particular sums up the problem with their current mudslinging perfectly: hypocrisy.

Hey, people! Look over here!

The corporate media's recent fake news about a supposed U-turn from Corbyn usefully distracted attention away from the very real U-turns of Theresa May's Conservatives. And their coverage of Venezuela is very much the same.

As The Canary has reported previously, Venezuela is in the middle of a political crisis. And the US - which has sought to destabilise the government of the oil-rich country for many years - has been egging on the unrest. But far from exposing this interference, the world's mainstream media has actually been echoing the anti-government line; so much so that critics have even called them out for spreading "propaganda".

Media allegations have focused on the imprisonment of certain right-wing opposition leaders (who have close links to Washington and reportedly called for violent rebellion against Venezuela's democratically elected government), supposed moves away from democracy (in spite of the most recent vote and previous praise for the country's democratic system from renowned international figures), and the deaths that have resulted from ongoing fighting between opposing forces. The legitimate demands of the opposition, meanwhile, have focused on recent economic difficulties; which are mostly due to a global fall in oil prices and increasing political polarisation (encouraged by both the US and its affluent local allies).

The Russian foreign ministry says the US is "sliding deeper" into a Cold War paradigm that is "totally detached from reality," while warning Washington to "stop demonizing Russia and it foreign policy."

"On August 2, the US Vice President [Mike] Pence once again made a series of anti-Russian statements and intimidated the leaders of the Balkan countries with the mythical 'Russian threat,"the ministry said, adding, that the US official went as far as to "accuse [Russia] of attempts to forcefully redraw borders in the region."

"Washington slides ever deeper into the primitive ideology-driven Cold War clichés that are totally detached from reality," the ministry said. It went on to sharply criticize the US for "enforcing an openly destructive choice between the West and Russia on the Balkan countries." Such policies "inevitably leads to the increased tension on the European continent as well as destabilizes the situation in the region and in some particular states," the statement added.

The Russian foreign ministry also said the US exploits the security agenda and anti-Russian hysteria to pursue its own selfish interests. The US particularly enforces the idea that joining NATO is the only option for the Balkan states and forces them to take part in the "projects based on unfair competition and defying any economic logic."

The ministry particularly drew attention to the fact that Washington "pushed" Montenegro into joining NATO against the will of the majority of its people. The Balkan nation joined the Alliance on June 5, after Montenegrin MPs voted 46-0 to become the 29th member of the military alliance in April. However, 35 opposition lawmakers - almost half of the country's MPs - boycotted the parliamentary session, while hundreds of protesters gathered outside the parliament building before the vote to express their strong opposition to accession.

Two men have been charged with terrorist related offenses in Australia after security authorities foiled what they called the "most sophisticated" Islamic State terrorist plot which involved bringing down a passenger plane and staging a poisonous gas attack. Mahmoud Khayat, 32, and Khaled Mahmoud Khayat, 49, have both been charged with "two counts of acts done in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act," Australian Federal Police announced Thursday.

Details of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) inspired terrorist plots that were foiled in police raids last Saturday, have been revealed by the Deputy Commissioner for National Security. Michael Phelan told reporters Friday that the two men received orders from IS to carry out "one of the most sophisticated plots that has ever been attempted on Australian soil."

Initially, the suspects allegedly tried to smuggle an improvised explosive device (IED) on a July 15 Etihad flight out of Sydney. They apparently failed to breach airport security and abandoned their plan without checking-in the bag. "At no stage did the IED breach security," Phelan emphasized, noting that authorities later created a similar mock IED to make sure it would not get through the airport security.

The second, more sophisticated plot, the investigation believes, involved constructing a device that would be used to stage a gas attack in a public place, allegedly using hydrogen sulphide. "This hydrogen sulphide is very difficult to make so I want to make it quite clear that whilst it may have been a hypothetical plot for these people to put forward, we were a long way from having a functional device," Phelan said.

Israeli police suspect bribery, fraud and breach of trust in probes involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a statement circulated in local media on Thursday.

Netanyahu, who is serving the fourth term in office, allegedly took luxury gifts from a businessman and offered a newspaper a legal edge over its competitor in exchange for favorable coverage.

In the statement, investigators announced a gag order on media coverage of their negotiations with the prime minister's former chief of staff Ari Harow.

Harow is expected to become state's witness in the two cases, dubbed Case 1000 and Case 2000, where Netanyahu is the main suspect, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

The office of Israel's longest serving prime minister denied any wrongdoing. It claimed a campaign was underway to reshuffle the government but the effort would fail because there was nothing to it.