Intelligence officials formally accuse Russia of carrying out a broad campaign to influence the 2016 presidential elections, including the DNC hack.

It's official: The White House says Russia has been conducting a broad campaign to interfere with US elections.

This included hacking into the computers of the Democratic National Committee and other agencies and political officials.

"These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security said in a joint statement Friday. "Such activity is not new to Moscow - the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there."

Tianjin explosion appears to be state-sponsored industrial sabotage

WMR's sources from throughout Asia are reporting the same thing: the massive August 12 explosion that completely obliterated the Binhai New Area of the special economic zone city of Tianjin appears to not have been the result of an accidental chemical explosion but from state-sponsored industrial sabotage.

The initial explosion was followed by a series of other explosions, said to be from combustible materials stored in the port and warehouse area. Moreover, WMR's sources report that the nature of the initial shock wave and secondary fireball indicates that the conflagration may have been caused by a tactical nuclear bunker buster bomb hidden in a shipping container.

Among the 117 deaths from the explosion were a number of firemen. Some 70 people, most of them firemen, remain missing with a fear that they were vaporized by the series of explosions. Some 800 people were injured in the blast. Damage to the surrounding area was extensive with more than 8000 new cars from Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, Renault, and Toyota left as burnt-out shells from the explosion. Nearby metro train stations, a Japanese department store, and the National Supercomputing Center of Tianjin were damaged by the explosions.

It's curious that it's often the thief himself found yelling "stop that thief!" in a bid to escape in the confusion he just created. Following this behavioral pattern, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged the international community to investigate alleged war crimes Damascus and Moscow the US accuses both governments of carrying out in Syria. The senior US diplomat cited such examples as attacks on civilians and hospitals, which, in his opinion, have been routinely carried out by the Syrian government and its allies.

But we must remember that Secretary Kerry is but one of many obedient servants of the White House, which is known for blaming others for the crimes it itself has committed. There's little wonder why the Washington Post has recently pointed out that Barack Obama has been providing hallucinatory explanations for his decisions.

He mangles the facts, jumbles chronology and, in effect, holds himself guiltless for Syria's approximately 500,000 deaths, 8 million internally displaced persons and a tidal wave of immigrants that has destabilized Europe.

While rejecting the very idea of any impartial international investigation of its own actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya that have resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, the US argues that as a result of more than 11 thousand air strikes that were allegedly aimed at ISIS, US Armed Forces murdered no more than 55 civilians in Iraq and Syria since 2014 in the process.

Yet, the Norwegian news service, ABC Nyheter, points out that even Amnesty International and even the most reserved international experts simply don't believe these claims. After all, if those number are to be believed, it means US airstrikes cause one civilian death per 200+ sorties.

At the same time, the Pentagon officially recognizes that in Afghanistan every 15 sorties result in a civilian being killed, while the latest report from the White House indicated even higher civilians casualty rates: one per 4-7 strikes launched by US planes and drones against possible terrorist targets in countries such as Pakistan and Yemen. If these figures are to be used to figure out the average number of those killed by US airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, we will come to the conclusion there's been almost 3,000 civilians killed as a result of US actions.

This number is more consistent with the data provided by Airwars, a British news portal that collects documents regarding US-led airstrikes on ISIS. According to Airwars, a total of 9,600 airstrikes in Iraq and almost 5,000 in Syria over the past two years resulted in at least 1,584 civilians being killed.

I wish I could say things were improving between the US and Russia but they aren't. They're rapidly worsening.

There's so much happening right now, I can only provide a summary of a few of the more interesting and worrying developments.

This report builds on those I've released over the past two years and begins with a chilling editorial put out by the NY Times on September 29th, 2016, which further demonized Putin specifically, Russia generally, and openly advocates for military confrontation.

Hey, we've been down this path before. The deeply conflicted NY Times has never met a war in the Middle East it didn't support, and has never had any trouble repeating war plan talking points (that always neatly align with those put out by neocon think tanks) or even printing obviously fake "intelligence" from unnamed sources such as that used to justify the illegal US attack and invasion of Iraq.

Ten soldiers and eight civilians have been killed in a car bomb blast near a Gendarmerie station in the southeastern Turkish town of Semdinli, local media reported. The area has seen continued fighting between Turkish forces and Kurdish militants. The death toll from the car bomb blast has risen to 18, including ten military police and eight civilians, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said, according to NTV. Twenty-seven others, including 11 soldiers, are said to be injured.

A vehicle was detonated outside a gendarmerie station in Semdinli earlier on Sunday, according to local broadcaster NTV. The blast took place during car searches that were being conducted at a checkpoint around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the town center. Later in the day, Turkish General Staff said in a statement cited by Haberturk TV that eight soldiers had been killed and five injured in the blast, citing the latest casualty figures available at the time. It is yet unclear whether the attack involved a suicide bomber or a remote-controlled detonation.

Although no organization has claimed responsibility so far, the General Staff claimed that the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) was behind the attack. The town of Semdinli is in a mountainous area bordering both Iraq and Iran, where fighting between Turkish forces and Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants has been taking place. A wave of explosions that rocked Turkey earlier this year, killing hundreds of people, has been blamed on either Kurdish militant groups or Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Tens of thousands of angry protesters, many of whom were armed, took to the streets of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, to protest an airstrike on a funeral ceremony that left over 150 dead and hundreds injured and call for an investigation. Demonstrators at a massive rally called the 'Volcano of Rage' gathered outside the UN office in Sanaa.

Some of the protesters chanted "Allahu Akbar! America is the Great Satan!" while reportedly also shouting death threats directed at Saudi Arabia's rulers, according to AFP. The demonstration came a day after an airstrike reportedly targeted a funeral service in the Yemeni capital, killing more than 150 civilians and injuring over 525. In a statement cited by Saudi Press Agency, the Saudi-led coalition denied any role in the incident and vowed to carry out an internal investigation.

"After this massacre, we are more determined to confront the assailants," prominent rebel leader Mohammed Ali al-Huthi told the crowd, as quoted by AFP. "Open the fronts with the Saudi enemy immediately." The attack was condemned by the UN's Secretary General, while White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said Washington was "deeply disturbed."

"We heard the first blast when we were coming out. I saw people running, many of them in blood. Some of them had lost limbs. Everything was in blood. Dozens or hundreds of wounded. People rushed to help, to take the wounded to hospital, and then there was another strike. A man who attacks people aiding the wounded has neither conscience nor humanity. There were so many people. It's the biggest square in Sanaa, and it was full of people," a witness of the deadly attack told RT Arabic.

Maria Zakharova, Russia's Foreign Affairs spokesperson, lets loose on a Western journalist after she is asked "Why is Russia supporting Assad, who is killing civilians?" The problem with Western mainstream media is that it relies on ignorance to create a worldview that consists of a series of RANDOM and DISCONNECTED events taken out of context. I think she made her points pretty clear - but who are the two countries blocking progress, at the UN Security Council level?

As you know, there are 5 permanent members, and 10 rotating members. In 2016, they are: Angola (2016), Egypt (2017), Japan (2017), Malaysia (2016), New Zealand (2016), Senegal (2017), Spain (2016), Ukraine (2017), Uruguay (2017), Venezuela (2016).

Who has the US paid off this time, to carry out their dirty deeds? What are your thoughts? But Maria Zakharova is definitely the definition of those thug life memes.

Printout of video message:

"This is the crux of the issue - let's sit down and agree which groups are terrorists, and which ones are not. Let's begin to work together! What other way is there - tell me! You want us to just exit Syria? Pack up and leave the terrorists there? That is not a way out. I am not going to repeat just how many UN Security Council documents and resolutions there are that call to fight against terrorism. And Al-Nusra is a terrorist group [as per UN list].

Former military adversaries Britain and Germany are weighing up a serious defense alliance which would see UK helicopters stationed on German naval ships. The plans, announced by UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, will see the two countries increase joint training exercises with Britain stationing a new Wildcat helicopter aboard a German warship during a Mediterranean Sea training mission in 2017.

"Britain stands together with Germany to face the same challenges, including the threat from Daesh [Islamic State], and shares the same values of liberty, tolerance and justice," Fallon said at a meeting with his counterpart Ursula von der Leyen at the German Embassy Friday. "While the UK is leaving the European Union, our commitment to European security remains steadfast, and [will] continue as a leading member of NATO, the cornerstone of our defense." The move comes 70 years after the two countries fought a world war and Fallon was attending an event to mark 26 years since Germany was reunified. The two countries have paired up in a multinational force before: to defeat Napoleon's French army at Waterloo in 1815.

The current reorientation also seems set to see military relations between Germany and France thaw to the extent that German aircrews will be stationed in France for the first time since the end of WWII. The move would also see pilots from the two nations share an airbase at Orleans.

For his part, Fallon remains an opponent of an integrated EU Army, the concept of which became one of the most high profile arguments used by Euroskeptics in the build-up to the Brexit vote. German defense figures, however, have warned that the UK must drop opposition to an integrated EU force if it expects the best treatment once it leaves the union.

The UK occupied Germany after the First World War and reoccupied it after the Second World War. The UK - and US - retain a number of key military bases within the otherwise sovereign state.

This is not about Donald Trump. And I mean it.

From the moment the first scribe etched a paean of praise to Nebuchadnezzar into a stone tablet, it's reasonable to conclude that never in history has the media covered a single human being as it has Donald Trump. For more than a year now, unless a terror attack roiled American life, he's been the news cycle, essentially the only one, morning, noon, and night, day after day, week after week, month after month. His every word, phrase, move, insult, passing comment, off-the-cuff remark, claim, boast, brazen lie, shout, or shout-out has been ours as well. In this period, he's praised his secret plan to destroy ISIS and take Iraqi oil. He's thumped that "big, fat, beautiful wall" again and again. He's birthered a campaign that could indeed transport him, improbably enough, into the Oval Office. He's fought it out with 17 political rivals, among others, including "lyin' Ted," "low-energy Jeb," Carly ("Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?") Fiorini, "crooked Hillary," a Miss Universe ("Miss Piggy"), the "highly overrated" Megyn Kelly's menstrual cycle ("You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever"), always Rosie O'Donnell ("a slob [with] a fat, ugly face"), and so many others. He's made veiled assassination threats; lauded the desire to punch someone in the face; talked about shooting "somebody" in "the middle of Fifth Avenue"; defended the size of his hands and his you-know-what; retweeted neo-Nazis and a quote from Mussolini; denounced the outsourcing of American manufacturing jobs and products while outsourcing his own jobs and products; excoriated immigrants and foreign labor while hiring the same; advertised the Trump brand in every way imaginable; had a bromance with Vladimir Putin; threatened to let nuclear weapons proliferate; complained bitterly about a rigged election, rigged debates, a rigged moderator, and a rigged microphone; swore that he and he alone was capable of again making America, and so the world, a place of the sort of greatness only he himself could match, and that's just to begin a list on the subject of The Donald.

"Last Wednesday, at a Deputies Committee meeting at the White House, officials from the State Department, the CIA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed limited military strikes against the (Assad) regime ... One proposed way to get around the White House's long-standing objection to striking the Assad regime without a U.N. Security Council resolution would be to carry out the strikes covertly and without public acknowledgment." - Washington Post

Call it stealth warfare, call it poking the bear, call it whatever you'd like. The fact is, the Syrian war has entered a new and more dangerous phase increasing the chances of a catastrophic confrontation between the US and Russia.

This new chapter of the conflict is the brainchild of Pentagon warlord, Ash Carter, whose attack on a Syrian outpost at Deir Ezzor killed 62 Syrian regulars putting a swift end to the fragile ceasefire agreement. Carter and his generals opposed the Kerry-Lavrov ceasefire deal because it would have required "military and intelligence cooperation with the Russians". In other words, the US would have had to get the greenlight from Moscow for its bombing targets which would have undermined its ability to assist its jihadist fighters on the ground. That was a real deal-breaker for the Pentagon. But bombing Deir Ezzor fixed all that. It got the Pentagon out of the jam it was in, it torpedoed the ceasefire, and it allowed Carter to launch his own private shooting match without presidential authorization. Mission accomplished.

So what sort of escalation does Carter have in mind, after all, most analysts assume that a direct confrontation between the United States and Russia will lead to a nuclear war. Is he really willing to take that risk?