Tokyo is considering deploying four PAC-3 missile interceptors to shoot down any North Korean missiles that stray into Japanese territory while flying over the country on their way to the US Territory of Guam, according to government sources.

Japanese Defense Ministry officials told Kyodo news that the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) system would likely be deployed at Ground Self-Defense Force bases in the western prefectures of Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi, areas which North Korea said its missiles could fly over.

Sources speaking to Asahi interceptor would also be placed in Ehime Prefecture.

The decision of whether or not to deploy the interceptors will be made within a few days, the sources told Kyodo, adding that Tokyo wants to be prepared in case North Korea's missiles fail as they cross over the country.

Japan's missile defense program includes the Maritime Self-Defense Force's (SDF) Aegis destroyers, aimed at shooting down airborne missiles, and the Air Self-Defense Force's PAC-3 system, which is aimed at countering missiles that evade Aegis interceptors.

Backchannel between middle rank US and North Korean diplomats established in New York, making opening the way to a possible breakthrough in relations like the one between the US and China in the 1970s.

Even as the rhetorical battle between the US and North Korea threatens to spiral out of control, a report by the Associated Press suggests that their diplomats are already quietly talking to each other.

It seems that the diplomatic contacts between the US and North Korea are happening at the UN headquarters in New York, where middle rank diplomats of the two countries have been quietly talking to each other for some months. Here is how Associated Press describes it

The contacts are occurring regularly between Joseph Yun, the U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, and Pak Song Il, a senior North Korean diplomat at the country's U.N. mission, according to U.S. officials and others briefed on the process. They weren't authorized to discuss the confidential exchanges and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Officials call it the "New York channel." Yun is the only U.S. diplomat in contact with any North Korean counterpart. The communications largely serve as a way to exchange messages, allowing Washington and Pyongyang to relay information.

It seems that though the contacts have mainly focused on work to get US citizens detained in North Korea released, Yun and Pak also discuss the general state of US-North Korean relations.

Amid the thick fog of (rhetorical) war between Washington and Pyongyang, it's still possible to detect some fascinating writing on the (unbuilt) wall.

A case can be made that President Trump is using North Korea to kick the 24/7 Russia-gate narrative out of the US news cycle. It's certainly working. After all, in Exceptionalistan weltanschauung, the prospect of war and its possible rewards certainly trumps hazy accusations of Russian hacking and election interference.

Capitol Hill would never even consider an attempt to impeach a president - on top if it surrounded by generals - while American geopolitical primacy is in danger. Besides, Congress has already made it explicit Trump does not even need permission to bomb North Korea.

So, according to this working hypothesis, if Robert Mueller finds anything seriously damaging to the Trump brand, the president might actually consider a bomb North Korea/wag the dog operation.

Meanwhile, anybody paying attention to what Edward Snowden has disclosed in detail knows hackers of all persuasions are fine tuned to all Mueller-related IT systems and cell phone communications. They will know what Team Mueller has managed to find on Trump in real time - and plan their contingencies accordingly.

A crime has been charged. The defendant pleads not guilty. What must the state prosecutor prove? Why?

There are basic principles underlying the prosecution of a crime. A crime is composed of elements. These elements include a mental state, prohibited action and lack of legal justification. Each of these elements must be proven by the government beyond a reasonable doubt. If any element is not proven, the person charged must be found not guilty.

Mens Rea, The Guilty Mind

An element of every crime (with the exception of *"strict liability"), is a state of mind. This state of mind is referred to as mens rea. This is Latin for "guilty mind". Mens rea is the defendant's state of mind when he engages in prohibited conduct.

The primary source in most American jurisdictions for defining mens rea is the American Law Institute's Model Penal Code. The code sets four standards. Guilt can be attributed to an individual who acts "purposely," "knowingly," "recklessly," or "negligently." Statutes give additional definition to these concepts and set forth which mental state applies to a particular crime.

President Trump's threats against North Korea conceal the absence of any US intention to attack that country. All they do is play into Kim Jong-un's hands.

Shortly after both the Chinese and the Russians expressed their growing exasperation at the war of words between Washington and Pyongyang - for which they are increasingly blaming Washington rather than Pyongyang - US President Trump and the Pentagon have cranked up the war of words further by making more threats against North Korea, some of which some are taking to mean that a US attack on North Korea is imminent.

In reality the US military in the Pacific is always on stand-by to carry out a retaliatory strike on North Korea if North Korea launches an attack. However as Malcolm Nance, a former US naval intelligence officer, has pointed out there are none of the normal indicators of heightened alert at US bases in the region, and the US military is in no position to launch a pre-emptive all-out war against a nuclear and missile armed North Korea at a moment's notice that some are afraid of.

Despite preventive measures by the Israeli authorities concerns remain about lack of accountability

Settler violence and poor law enforcement by the Israeli authorities have been longstanding concerns. They have undermined the physical security and agricultural livelihoods of tens of thousands of Palestinians in some areas of the West Bank and generated the need for assistance and protection by humanitarian actors, especially for vulnerable groups such as children and women. Humanitarian interventions coordinated by the Protection Cluster include the deployment of a protective presence in high-risk areas; psychosocial support to victims; the installation of protective infrastructure (see case study); the documentation of cases and advocacy; and legal counselling.

After a three-year decline, settler violence has been on the rise during the first half of 2017. During this period, OCHA documented 89 incidents attributed to Israeli settlers resulting in Palestinian casualties (33 incidents) or in damage to Palestinian property (56 incidents).[2] On a monthly average, this represents an increase of 88 per cent compared with 2016. These incidents led to three Palestinian fatalities[3] and 48 Palestinian injuries, including seven children, as well as damage to over 2,700 trees and 52 vehicles, amongst other consequences.

The Pentagon has spent $76 billion on weapons and equipment for the Afghan army and police since 2001, the US Government Accountability Office said. The report comes as President Donald Trump says he is "very close" to announcing a new strategy on Afghanistan.

The US has paid for 600,000 weapons, including rifles and pistols, for the Afghan army and police, the GAO report released on Thursday said. The funding also went to buy more than 25,000 grenade launchers and almost 10,000 rocket-propelled weapons to be used by the Afghans.

Additionally, the US has given to the government in Kabul 162,643 pieces of communications equipment and nearly 76,000 vehicles.

Earlier this summer, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) slammed the Pentagon for spending money on uniforms that Afghan forces didn't need.

It's very discomforting to see the nation of India, one of the great potential leading countries of the world systematically self-destruct. Provoking a new war with China over remote chunks of land in the high Himalayas where the borders of China's Tibet Autonomous Region converge with India and the Kingdom of Bhutan, is only the latest example. The question posed is who or what grand design is behind India's foreign and domestic policies under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Has Modi switched sides? If so to whom?

Eurasian Harmony?

Only a year ago all seemed if not serene, well, then on its way to peaceful development with Modi's Asian neighbors including China and even, cautiously, Pakistan.

Just last year India, alongside Pakistan, were accepted as formal members of the increasingly important Shanghai Cooperation Organization where China is a founding member along with Russia, raising hopes that the common SCO format would permit peaceful resolution of simmering border tensions created by the 1947 British partition of India into a dominant Muslim Pakistan and a majority Hindu India with several unresolved friction areas including Kashmir and slyly left by Mountbatten as future explosion points.

India is also a member along with China in the BRICS organization which just created a BRICS New Development Bank in Shanghai whose President is an Indian. India is also a member of the China-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. And until Modi announced India's refusal to join the May 14 Beijing conference of the China One Belt, One Road, India was also a participant in the vast Eurasian infrastructure project.

For the second day in a row, President Donald Trump has escalated his attacks against the Senate majority leader from his own party, even suggesting that he should step down if the Republican-controlled Congress is not able to pass major legislation.

Speaking from the steps of his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey on Thursday, Trump criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) for failing to pass legislation that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.

"I just want him to get repeal and replace done," Trump said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "They lost by one vote. For a thing like that to happen is a disgrace. And, frankly, it shouldn't have happened. That, I can tell you - it shouldn't have happened."

When asked if McConnell should consider stepping down as majority leader, Trump suggested it could be a possibility.

"Well, I'll tell you what, if he doesn't get repeal and replace done and if he doesn't get taxes done, meaning cuts and reform, and if he doesn't get a very easy one to get done, infrastructure - if he doesn't get them done, then you can ask me that question," Trump said.

Former NSA experts say it wasn't a hack at all, but a leak-an inside job by someone with access to the DNC's system.

It is now a year since the Democratic National Committee's mail system was compromised - a year since events in the spring and early summer of 2016 were identified as remote hacks and, in short order, attributed to Russians acting on behalf of Donald Trump. A great edifice has been erected during this time. President Trump, members of his family, and numerous people around him stand accused of various corruptions and extensive collusion with Russians. Half a dozen simultaneous investigations proceed into these matters. Last week news broke that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had convened a grand jury, which issued its first subpoenas on August 3. Allegations of treason are common; prominent political figures and many media cultivate a case for impeachment.

The president's ability to conduct foreign policy, notably but not only with regard to Russia, is now crippled. Forced into a corner and having no choice, Trump just signed legislation imposing severe new sanctions on Russia and European companies working with it on pipeline projects vital to Russia's energy sector. Striking this close to the core of another nation's economy is customarily considered an act of war, we must not forget. In retaliation, Moscow has announced that the United States must cut its embassy staff by roughly two-thirds. All sides agree that relations between the United States and Russia are now as fragile as they were during some of the Cold War's worst moments. To suggest that military conflict between two nuclear powers inches ever closer can no longer be dismissed as hyperbole.

All this was set in motion when the DNC's mail server was first violated in the spring of 2016 and by subsequent assertions that Russians were behind that "hack" and another such operation, also described as a Russian hack, on July 5. These are the foundation stones of the edifice just outlined. The evolution of public discourse in the year since is worthy of scholarly study: Possibilities became allegations, and these became probabilities. Then the probabilities turned into certainties, and these evolved into what are now taken to be established truths. By my reckoning, it required a few days to a few weeks to advance from each of these stages to the next. This was accomplished via the indefensibly corrupt manipulations of language repeated incessantly in our leading media.