Maybe it's the accent. When it comes to news, Americans deemed British media more trustworthy than their U.S. counterparts in a world where "fake news" has emerged as an ideological battle cry and less of an oxymoron.

The most trusted news source in the U.S. is The Economist, a weekly magazine published in the U.K., according to a recent survey from the University of Missouri's Reynolds Journalism Institute.

The United States is preparing for all options to counter the growing threat from North Korea, including launching a "preventive war," national security adviser H.R. McMaster said in an interview that aired Saturday on MSNBC. The comments come after North Korea carried out two tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles in the past month and after the president said he has been clear he will not tolerate North Korea's threats to attack the U.S. with nuclear weapons.

The key excerpts (full transcript):

H.H.: Let me switch if I can to North Korea, which is really pressing. And - and remind our audience, at the Aspen Institute ten days ago, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Joe Dunford, said, "There's always a military - option. It would be horrific." Lindsey Graham on Today Show earlier this week said - "We need to destroy the regime and their deterrent." Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday, I believe, to North Korea, "You are leaving us no choice but to protect ourselves." And then the Chairman of the Chief of Staff of the Army said, "Just because every choice is a bad choice doesn't mean you don't have to choose." Are we looking at a preemptive strike? Are you trying to prepare us, you being collectively, the administration and people like Lindsey Graham and Tom Cotton for a first strike North Korea?

H.R.M.: Well, we really, what you're asking is - are we preparing plans for a preventive war, right? A war that would prevent North Korea from threatening the United States with a nuclear weapon. And the president's been very clear about it. He said, "He's not gonna tolerate North Korea being able to threaten the United States" if they have nuclear weapons that can threaten the United States; It's intolerable from the president's perspective. So of course, we have to provide all options to do that. And that includes a military option.

Now, would we like to resolve it short of what would be a very costly war, in terms of - in terms of the suffering of mainly the South Korean people? The - the ability of - of that North - North Korean regime to hold the South hostage to conventional fire's capabilities, artillery and so forth, Seoul being so close. We're cognizant of all of that. And so what we have to do is - is everything we can to - to pressure this regime, to pressure Kim Jong-un and those around him such that they conclude, it is in their interest to denuclearize. And there are really I think three critical things, came out of the president's very successful summit with - President Xi of China that were different - that were different from past efforts to work with China, which has always been, you know, the - the desire, right, to work with China - on the - on the North Korean problem.

CNN article reveals Russiagate inquiry officials becoming increasingly demoralised and taking out private insurance against future legal action as its investigations draw a blank.

On Friday 4th August 2017 I wrote an article for The Duran in which I discussed the various lines of enquiry that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russiagate inquiry appears to be following.

I said that there appeared to be three main lines of enquiry. Here is what I wrote

What we therefore have is an inquiry that centres on three issues

(1) General Flynn's interactions with ambassador Kislyak and his financial dealings with RT;

(2) the meeting between Veselnitskaya and Donald Trump Junior; and

(3) the money-laundering allegations against Paul Manafort.

Since virtually everything there is to know about General Flynn's various dealings with Kislyak and the Russians is already known, and literally everything there is to know about the Veselnitskaya-Donald Trump Junior meeting is so also known, my guess is that the focus of Mueller's investigation are the money-laundering allegations against Paul Manafort.

Simultaneously with my article a much longer article was published by CNN also on Friday 4th August 2017 which at inordinate length and in a very different says essentially the same thing.

When former FBI chief Robert Mueller was appointed as Special Counsel to preside over the "Russia-gate" probe, official Washington sang hosannas. Democrats, Republicans, the pundits, and the cocktail party chatterers of every persuasion swooned over his "impeccable" credentials.

That should've served as a warning sign, right there. Because what are those credentials? What is the Mueller record, and why does it inspire confidence in all the usual suspects?

Mueller has been consistently wrong about every important investigation he's been involved in: and not only that - he's erred on the side of a group-thinking warmongering and utterly clueless political class.

Israel has announced plans to effectively expel the Al Jazeera network from the country, revoking journalists' credentials, shutting the company's bureau in Jerusalem and pulling its broadcasts from national cable and satellite television networks.

Israeli Communications Minister Ayoub Kara announced the measures Sunday at a news conference. Journalists and representatives from Al Jazeera were not permitted to attend.

"We are going to set measures in order to illustrate our war on terrorism, on radical Islam and our solidarity with the sane Arab world," Kara stated.

Democrats are increasingly conflicted about how forcefully to press the issue of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Fearful of alienating voters who appear more concerned about the economy and health care, Democrats campaigning in districts across the country are de-emphasizing Russia in their rhetoric - and some are warning that a persistent focus on the Russia investigation could backfire.

"In the races where I'm working, I think voters think that Russia is important and that the questions need to get answered," Bill Burton, a veteran Democratic consultant, said at a political convention this past weekend. "But they're mostly sick of hearing about it, and they want to hear politicians talk about things that are more directly important in their lives."

On his fifth day on the job as Donald Trump's new chief of staff, John Kelly gathered about 200 White House aides for a meeting where he spelled out in blunt terms the way things are going to work in the West Wing he now oversees.

The retired Marine Corps four-star general said he didn't care whether they had been part of the Trump campaign or had joined the administration from Capitol Hill or another corner of the political world, according to people who attended the meeting. They all work for the president now, he told them, and they had to act as one team.

Echoing the Marines' credo of "God, Country, Corps," Kelly said he expects all of them to put country first, the president second, and their own needs and priorities last. He stressed work ethic. And he sharply warned them against leaking, an obsession of Trump's. Even if it may seem innocuous to pass along some bit of classified information to someone without a clearance, he said, it's a crime.

Since his swearing-in on Monday, Kelly has moved swiftly to bring order to a chaotic and unruly White House, according to accounts from 12 administration aides and outside observers.

The Chinese foreign minister called on his North Korean counterpart to accept a newly-passed UN resolution and stop provoking "the international community's goodwill" by conducting missile launches and nuclear tests.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong-ho, met in Manila as foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and several other countries gathered to discuss regional issues.

Wang also urged Washington and Seoul to "stop increasing tensions" in the region.

Earlier, Wang urged other governments to restart the six-nation negotiations with North Korea that include Russia, China, South Korea, the US, and Japan. "The aim is to bring the peninsula nuclear issue back to the negotiating table and seek a solution through negotiations until the denuclearization of the peninsula and the stability of the peninsula are achieved," he said, as quoted by the AP.

The meeting between the Chinese and the North Korean foreign ministers came hours after the UN Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions against North Korea. The US-drafted resolution prohibits North Korean exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore, and seafood, also banning increasing the current numbers of North Korean laborers working abroad, new joint ventures with Pyongyang, and new investment in joint ventures.

Russia's envoy to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, urged Pyongyang to cancel its nuclear and missile programs, and come back to a non-proliferation regime. Nebenzya, nevertheless, criticized Washington and its allies' recent actions in the region, saying that any drills close to the North Korean border are viewed as "a direct threat to its national security" by Pyongyang.

Amid expectations of the US launching investigations into China's alleged theft of American intellectual property as well as unfair trade practices, Beijing appears unmoved by the imminent probe while US businesses fear reprisals in case the row unintentionally escalates.

Washington is expected to soon announce investigations into how China tackles copyright protection, protectionism and market access. President Donald Trump reportedly intends to use a provision in the Trade Act of 1974, which would allow him to slap tariffs and other barriers on Chinese products while circumventing the World Trade Organization (WTO) mechanisms for redressing grievances.

A White House announcement of the measures was expected Friday but has been postponed.

US 'bullying tactics'

The Chinese reaction to the anticipated investigations was calm. Beijing's commerce ministry said Thursday that China was willing to work with the US to settle their differences, saying trade benefited both parties. "The China-US trade relationship is... mutually beneficial. Cooperation would benefit both sides and fighting would hurt both," ministry spokesman Gao Feng told journalists. He added that conflicts over trade practices should be resolved through the WTO and downplayed the concern over China's handling of intellectual property rights of foreign companies.

The crisis in Venezuela entered a new phase after the country's newly elected Constituent Assembly, during its first day of work and amid the ongoing violent protests, dismissed from office the main opposition figure and Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega.


The 545-strong Constituent Assembly ruled to remove Ortega from office after the Supreme Court accused her of "alleged commission of serious misconduct." No further details on charges against the country's main opposition figure were given by the country's highest court. Ortega was replaced with Tarek Saab, president Nicolas Maduro's human rights ombudsman.