Theresa May's plan to impose fines on Google, Facebook, and other web giants if they fail to monitor and remove extremist material online has been compared to Chinese internet censorship by the government's Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.

The Prime Minister announced she would seek new counterterrorist measures following a spate of attacks on the UK.

May met with French President Emmanuel Macron last month to discuss making internet giants "legally liable" for failing to crackdown on the spread of extremist propaganda.

Examination of the evidence for every one of the 12 claims made about Russiagate shows that they are untrue.

As others have pointed out, June has been a cruel month for believers in Russiagate. I had previously expressed the view that it would collapse in early summer, ie. around now. Whilst that has turned out to be over-optimistic, the scandal is certainly sagging, what with the revelations from within CNN about the cynicism with which the scandal is being seen there.

I would add in passing that in Britain CNN revelations have been entirely unreported.

Although the number of nuclear weapons across the globe is decreasing, nations which possess such arsenals are modernizing their stockpiles, according to a new report. This suggests that countries are likely unwilling to give up their weapons anytime soon.

The annual nuclear forces data, released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday, assesses the nuclear arsenals of the nine countries which possess them - the US, Russia, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea.

According to the data, all countries except North Korea possessed approximately 4,150 "operationally deployed warheads" combined at the beginning of 2017. Those are defined as warheads placed on missiles or located on bases with operational forces.

Prime Minister Theresa May reportedly "begged" her predecessor David Cameron to back her deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) after she squandered the slim Tory majority he won in 2015.

According to the Times, May called Cameron the day before the £1 billion (US$1.3 billion) agreement was struck with the Northern Irish party. Facing the prospect of a backbench rebellion and a leadership challenge, May needs all the support she can get to make her minority government appear tenable.

The relationship between the two Conservative Party leaders has been frosty since May embraced 'hard Brexit' and sacked many of Cameron's allies in the Cabinet when she took power.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, affirmed that Damascus has never ever prevented the experts of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to check any sites in Syria, adding that Syria officially asked the OPCW to help it destroy its entire stock of chemical weapons.

"On behalf of my country, I would like to state that Syria got rid of its entire stock of chemical weapons", Mekdad was heard saying at the conference, dedicated to the recent developments on the ground in Syria.

"There is no moral, legal or political justification of the illegal US strikes on Syria, however, we have to take into account that insane ones are capable of doing anything", said Mekdad, adding the main goal of the US attacks on Syria was to prevent the Syrian Army from achieving its victory against the threat of terrorism, stressing that Washington and its lapdogs made huge "investments" in terrorism and deliberately attacked Syria only to hold back the progress of its army.

Former Ukrainian defense minister, Anatoly Gritsenko, has urged Kiev to stage its own terror attacks in Russia in response to car bomb attacks targeting Ukrainian security officials which he unsubstantially blamed on Moscow.

The ex-minister accused Moscow of masterminding the attack on Colonel Maksim Shapoval of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Chief Intelligence Directorate who was killed in a car bomb explosion last week.

Gritsenko said what's happening between Ukraine and Russia is "war," while appearing on the broadcaster, 121 Ukraina.

"This is not the first such demonstrative and brazen murder of Ukrainian officers, our best officers," he said, referring to a March car bomb in Mariupol in which counterintelligence official, Aleksandr Kharaberyush, was killed.

"If this is really a war, and not a just a game for the president [of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko], it means that for every car that blows up Kiev or Mariupol, two cars should blow up in [the Russian city of] Taganrog or Moscow," said Gritsenko, who was Ukraine's defense minister between 2005-2007.

The wheel of the calendar has turned again, and July 4^th is upon us once again, a day for the consumption of 155 million pounds of hot dogs, and fireworks—75% of the pyro technics industry's revenues ignite in an average 1400 displays on the federal holiday marking the anniversary of American Independence.

Patriotric rituals r' often us, although, never mind, that American celebrations only began after the war of 1812, and that it took quite a while for London to even respond to our declaration.

Quiet as it's kept, actual independence only arrived on September 3, 1783 when Great Britain formally abandoned its claims to its colonies and signed the Treaty of Paris.

Yes, Israel is supporting Syrian rebels, but this goes beyond cash and aid: Israel hopes the rebels will serve as a buffer against Hezbollah and a resurgent Assad, a strategy that could easily backfire.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal published an interview with a Syrian rebel commander and half a dozen fighters, who confirmed the worst kept secret of the Syrian conflict: Israel is directly aiding Syrian rebel factions with both humanitarian and financial aid.

Israel's involvement "is much deeper and more coordinated than previously known and entails direct funding of opposition fighters near its border for years," the report said.

"Israel stood by our side in a heroic way," Moatasem al-Golani, a spokesman for the rebel group Fursan al-Joulan, told the Wall Street Journal. "We wouldn't have survived without Israel's assistance."

The Iranian military has sent its newest warships, missile systems and commando units to the Caspian Sea for a massive five-day naval exercise dubbed Sustainable Security and Power that began on Sunday, IRNA news agency reported.

Ahmadreza Baqeri, commander of Iran's First Naval Zone, said the exercise "carries the message of peace and friendship while promoting Iran's naval capabilities in the Caspian Sea," according to Mehr news agency.

While few specifics are known about the war games, Iran's deputy chief of naval operations, Amir Mahmoud Mousavi, told the news agency that the military will be employing its cutting-edge weapons and equipment, including shore-to-sea missile systems, as well as surveillance and intelligence systems. Diving units and commando teams are also expected to take part.

China says it has the right to pass through a strait that connects the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean, after Japan claimed a Chinese surveillance ship ventured into Japanese territorial waters. Beijing also accused Tokyo of having "ulterior motives."

"The Tsugaru Strait is a non-territorial strait and therefore, international ships such as naval ships have the rights of navigation," China's Defense Ministry wrote on its website on Monday, as cited by Reuters.

"The activities of China's warship are in line with international laws and Japan has ulterior motives with its accusations and hyping up of the situation," it continued.