Clearly ISIS militants are desperately trying to sow unrest in Iraq, reverting to guerrilla tactics and trying to scare the population into submission, Catherine Shakdam, Shafaqna Institute for Middle Eastern Studies, told RT. A car bomb exploded in Baghdad's Sadr City, killing at least 32 people and injuring 61, AFP reported, citing police sources. Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack targeted Shiite Muslims, it claimed. RT spoke with Catherine Shakdam for her views on the latest attack purported to be carried out by ISIS.

RT: What does today's attack tell us about the level of security in the country at the moment? This is the latest in a string of recent bombings.

Catherine Shakdam: Clearly ISIS militants are desperately trying to sow unrest. What they are doing is reverting to the guerrilla tactics, trying to scare the population into submission. This is what they have done for the past few years, not just in Iraq, but in Syria, and arguably in other countries across the Middle East. I doubt it is going to work. It never has worked.

Over the last several years along the Indian Ocean coast in East Africa substantial finds of oil and natural gas resources have been under development. A British exploration corporation, Tullow Oil and its Canadian partner, Africa Oil, acknowledges that it has discovered in excess of 600 million barrels of oil in Kenya. At least eight exploitable and viable oil sources have been recorded beginning in 2012.

Neighboring Uganda as well has approximately 6.5 billion barrels of oil deposits which have been found since 2008. Another East African Community (EAC) member Tanzania is estimated to harbor natural gas resources in the amount of 50.5 trillion cubic feet.

With respect to the Southern African state of Mozambique, which is not an EAC member but is further south of this aforementioned region, has also discovered natural gas. It has been suggested that Mozambican reserves are within the range of 200 billion cubic feet. The combined natural gas resources in Tanzania and Mozambique are said to be among the most lucrative in the world.

Yet in the contemporary period there is an overproduction of oil and natural gas resources which have driven down prices on the international market. As a result of this phenomenon various states which are reliant on these strategic energy sources have fallen into economic decline. Although some countries in Africa and other geo-political regions are described as being in recession, the fact is with the precipitous drop in currency values and debt accumulation, a depression may be a more accurate description.

Donald Trump says North Korea will never succeed in its pursuit of acquiring an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the US mainland, shortly after Pyongyang announced its was finalizing preparations for testing such a weapon. Americans woke up on a New Year's day with a potential new threat after the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, announced Sunday that his country is in the final stages of developing an ICBM fitted with a nuclear warhead.

"Research and development of cutting edge arms equipment is actively progressing and ICBM rocket test launch preparation is in its last stage," Kim said during a televised New Year's Day speech. The announcement marks a new threat level for the US as the ballistic missile is capable of covering distances of over 10,000 km (6,214 miles).

This would make the West Coast of the US a potential target.

Ten years ago today, at 6:00 a.m. Baghdad time, Saddam Hussein was led up a flight of stairs in his old Istikhbarat military intelligence headquarters in Baghdad's Kadhimiyah district. The site was rumored to have housed torture chambers where supposed "enemies of the state" had suffered during his rule. Masked executioners led the former president toward a large noose. He followed obediently, with no visible fear, refusing to wear a hood. As pro-Shiite shouts of "Muqtada, Muqtada, Muqtada" pierced the morbid stillness, cameras whirred and flashed, creating a spectral aura.

A voice shouted, "Go to hell."
Hussein replied, "The hell that is Iraq?"

Midway through his recitation of the shahada, the Islamic profession of faith, the floor dropped from under Hussein, an audible crack echoing inside the warehouselike structure as his neck was broken. Within a few minutes, he was dead.

"When did the future switch from being a promise to being a threat?" ― Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

Despite our best efforts, we in the American police state seem to be stuck on repeat, reliving the same set of circumstances over and over and over again: egregious surveillance, strip searches, police shootings of unarmed citizens, government spying, censorship, retaliatory arrests, the criminalization of lawful activities, warmongering, indefinite detentions, SWAT team raids, asset forfeiture, etc.

Unfortunately, as a nation we've become so desensitized to the government's acts of violence, so accustomed to reports of government corruption, and so anesthetized to the sights and sounds of Corporate America marching in lockstep with the police state that few seem to pay heed to the warning signs blaring out the message: Danger Ahead.

Remember, the Titanic received at least four warnings from other ships about the presence of icebergs in its path, with the last warning issued an hour before disaster struck. All four warnings were ignored.

Like the Titanic, we're plowing full steam ahead into a future riddled with hidden and not-so-hidden dangers. We too have been given ample warnings, only to have them drowned out by a carefully choreographed cacophony of political noise, cultural distractions and entertainment news—what the Romans termed "bread and circuses"—aimed at keeping the American people polarized, pacified and easily manipulated.

However, there is still danger ahead. The peril to our republic remains the same.

As long as a permanent, unelected bureaucracy—a.k.a. the shadow government— continues to call the shots in the halls of power and the reach of the police state continues to expand, the crisis has not been averted.

Here's a glimpse of some of the nefarious government programs we'll be encountering on our journey through the treacherous waters of 2017.

Dear President and Members of the UNSC,

As you are aware, a human tragedy amounting to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity is unfolding in Myanmar.

Over the past two months, a military offensive by the Myanmar Army in Rakhine State has led to the killing of hundreds of Rohingya people. Over 30,000 people have been displaced. Houses have been burned, women raped, many civilians arbitrarily arrested, and children killed. Crucially, access for humanitarian aid organisations has been almost completely denied, creating an appalling humanitarian crisis in an area already extremely poor. Thousands have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, only to be sent back. Some international experts have warned of the potential for genocide. It has all the hallmarks of recent past tragedies - Rwanda, Darfur, Bosnia, Kosovo.

The head of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the Bangladesh side of the border, John McKissick, has accused Myanmar's government of ethnic cleansing. The UN's Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee has condemned the restricted access to Rakhine State as "unacceptable." The Rohingyas are among the world's most persecuted minorities, who for decades have been subjected to a campaign of marginalisation and dehumanisation. In 1982, their rights to citizenship were removed, and they were rendered stateless, despite living in the country for generations. They have endured severe restrictions on movement, marriage, education and religious freedom. Yet despite the claims by government and military, and many in society, that they are in fact illegal Bengali immigrants who have crossed the border, Bangladesh does not recognise them either.

Their plight intensified dramatically in 2012 when two severe outbreaks of violence resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands and a new apartheid between Rohingya Muslims and their Rakhine Buddhist neighbours. Since then they have existed in ever more dire conditions. This latest crisis was sparked by an attack on Myanmar border police posts on 9 October, in which nine Myanmar police officers were killed. The truth about who carried out the attack, how and why, is yet to be established, but the Myanmar military accuse a group of Rohingyas. Even if that is true, the military's response has been grossly disproportionate. It would be one thing to round up suspects, interrogate them and put them on trial. It is quite another to unleash helicopter gunships on thousands of ordinary civilians and to rape women and throw babies into a fire. According to one Rohingya interviewed by Amnesty International, "they shot at people who were fleeing. They surrounded the village and started going from house to house. They were verbally abusing the people. They were threatening to rape the women."

Traditional paper ballots may be a better option than electronic voting systems because the technology could be hacked and ballots altered, the former head of MI6 has warned.

For a forthcoming documentary on the state of international affairs, Sir John Sawers told the BBC that the old pencil and paper method of voting is more secure than any online option.

His comments come amid US accusations that Russia shaped the outcome of the recent presidential election.

"We need to have systems which are robust," Sawers said.

"The only trouble is, the younger generation of people expect to be able to do things remotely and through electronic devices.

Quislings in Congress and the Media need to decide which comes first

I am reluctant to write about the "Israel problem" at the heart of U.S. foreign policy two weeks in a row but it seems that the story just will not go away as the usual suspects pile on the Barack Obama Administration over its alleged betrayal of America's "best and greatest friend and ally in the whole world."

Even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his gaggle of war criminals continue to foam at the mouth over the United Nations vote it is, in truth, difficult to blame Israel for what is happening. The Israelis are acting on what they see as their self interest in dominating their neighbors militarily and having a free hand to deal with the Palestinians in any way they see fit. And as for their relationship with Washington, what could be better than getting billions of dollars every year, advanced weapons and unlimited political cover in exchange for absolutely nothing?

Surely even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that the settlements are illegal under international law and are an impediment to any peaceful resolution with the Palestinians, which is what Resolution 2334 says. It has been U.S. policy to oppose them since they first starting popping up like mushrooms, but Netanyahu has encouraging their expansion in full knowledge that he is creating facts on the ground that will be irreversible. He has also pledged to his voters that he will not permit the creation of a Palestinian state, so why should anyone be confused about his intentions?

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage is scrambling to distance himself from one of his former aides, who faces up to 20 years in a US prison after admitting that he had posed as a money launderer on the dark web to rip off drug smugglers.

George Cottrell, 22, who posed as "Bill" online, told a gang of drug traffickers that he could launder up to £122,000 a month for them through the internet with complete anonymity. However, unfortunately for him, the dealers actually turned out to be undercover FBI agents.

After the sting, Cottrell was arrested last July in Chicago as he was traveling back to London with Farage following the Republican National Convention in Ohio. He has been held behind bars in the US ever since.

On Tuesday, Farage tried to distance himself from Cottrell, telling ITV: "I can't be responsible for what everyone around me does."

Cottrell ran Farage's private office and helped with media requests. Farage says he was not an employee and worked for UKIP as an unpaid volunteer.

Asked if he was disappointed in the former aide, Farage said he was "surprised" to hear of the allegations against Cottrell.

"He was 20 years old at the time this happened. [Do I feel] guilt? No guilt, [he had possibly] fallen into bad company - I'm not sure," he said.

Court documents say Cottrell arranged for the agents to send him £15,500, which he intended to keep for himself. He then demanded £62,000 in bitcoin and threatened to alert authorities if they refused.

Plans to annex a large settlement on the West Bank are to be proposed after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, an Israeli minister said. The move would be the first time Israel has annexed part of the Palestinian territory.

"It does not violate international law because that would suggest that we occupy a state. We don't. There was never a Palestinian state," Minister of Education and leader of the Jewish Home Party Naftali Bennett told The Washington Post. Bennett said he would put a vote to parliament after Trump's inauguration to annex the settlement Ma'ale Adumim.

The annexation is the first part of Bennett's plans to bring full Israeli law to an area designated Area C under the Oslo Accords with a population of 500,000 Israelis and 70,000 to 100,000 Palestinians. "They would represent a 1 percent addition to Israel's population, which is negligible," Bennett said.