Did anyone else notice that the 'ceasefire' in Gaza sort of came out of the blue? Pundits put this down to 'war weariness' on both sides, but the precise timeline of events leading up to the ceasefire has me a little perplexed.

On Monday, 18th August, a 72-hour ceasefire was declared as part of the talks in Cairo. The following day, Tuesday, the Israeli delegation left at 4 pm, precisely the time when the IDF would later say that Hamas had fired rockets at Beersheba, thereby "breaking the ceasefire".

This week on Sott Talk Radio we spoke Jon Ryman, creator of the excellent short documentary called 'White Widow' - The Samantha Lewthwaite Conspiracy.

The so-called "white widow" grabbed the headlines over a protracted period last year for her alleged leadership of the attack on Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. Samantha Lewthwaite first rose to 'fame' as the alleged 'wife' of alleged London '7/7' tube bomber, Germaine Lindsay, and since then has been a veritable rising star in the phony world of Islamic terrorism, particularly in Africa.

As with so many other supposed 'Muslim terror leaders', the story of Lewthwaite appears to be one large fantasy that reveals disturbing insights into how British, Israeli and US intelligence agencies run the bogus 'war on terror' from behind the scenes.

Running Time: 01:55:00

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Polish President Bronis law Komorowski said that Vladimir Putin is trying to build a new Russian empire for Moscow and that the region now had to choose whether it wanted "a Cossack Europe or a democratic one".

"Russia has carried out an invasion in Ukraine," the Polish head of state told German public radio, according to excerpts of an interview to be broadcast later on Saturday.

Komorowski said Putin was quite open about his ambitions to "rebuild the empire". The Cossacks long served Russian czars in military and security roles on the borders of the empire and their brand of Russian Orthodox patriotism is admired by Putin.


The Polish president, whose post is largely ceremonial but does give him a say in foreign policy, is an ally of Prime Minister Donald Tusk from the centrist Civic Platform (PO).

How can you tell whether Russia has invaded Ukraine? Last Thursday the Ukrainian government, echoed by NATO spokesmen, declared that the the Russian military is now operating within Ukraine's borders. Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn't; what do you know? They said the same thing before, most recently on August 13, and then on August 17, each time with either no evidence or fake evidence. But let's give them the benefit of the doubt.

You be the judge. I put together this helpful list of top ten telltale signs that will allow you to determine whether indeed Russia invaded Ukraine last Thursday, or whether Thursday's announcement is yet another confabulation. (Credit to Roman Kretsul).

Because if Russia invaded on Thursday morning, this is what the situation on the ground would look like by Saturday afternoon.

1. Ukrainian artillery fell silent almost immediately. They are no longer shelling residential districts of Donetsk and Lugansk. This is because their locations had been pinpointed prior to the operation, and by Thursday afternoon they were completely wiped out using air attacks, artillery and ground-based rocket fire, as the first order of business. Local residents are overjoyed that their horrible ordeal is finally at an end.

2. The look of military activity on the ground in Donetsk and Lugansk has changed dramatically. Whereas before it involved small groups of resistance fighters, the Russians operate in battalions of 400 men and dozens of armored vehicles, followed by convoys of support vehicles (tanker trucks, communications, field kitchens, field hospitals and so on). The flow of vehicles in and out is non-stop, plainly visible on air reconnaissance and satellite photos. Add to that the relentless radio chatter, all in Russian, which anyone who wants to can intercept, and the operation becomes impossible to hide.

3. The Ukrainian military has promptly vanished. Soldiers and officers alike have taken off their uniforms, abandoned their weapons, and are doing their best to blend in with the locals. Nobody thought the odds of the Ukrainian army against the Russians were any good. Ukraine's only military victory against Russia was at the battle of Konotop in 1659, but at the time Ukraine was allied with the mighty Khanate of Crimea, and, you may have noticed, Crimea is not on Ukraine's side this time around.

The European Union should be brave but reasonable in its actions on the Ukraine crisis the newly appointed president of the European Council said.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Saturday was elected the new president of the Council of Europe, its outgoing President Herman Van Rompuy said on Twitter. Tusk will officially take office in November.

The European Union should be brave but reasonable in its actions on the Ukraine crisis, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the newly appointed president of the European Council, said in Brussels on Saturday.

The dramatic events in Europe, he said, require from all EU countries to hold a common stance.

"The most important thing is to understand who we are and how we can reply," Tusk said adding Europe would be able to help Ukraine only if took a common approach.

US News and World Report Chairman and Editor-in-Chief and publisher of The New York Daily News, Mort Zuckerman argued that President Obama "has lost the confidence of the business community" on Friday's broadcast of "The McLaughlin Group."

© Unknown

"[The economy] has...grown by about 2%, 2.1%, for the last five years, which is the lowest rate of growth coming out of a recession we have had ever, since the Great Depression. And what's more, that only took place, not because of the fact that the economic environment was that good, it's because we have a hugely stimulating monetary policy and fiscal policy. We have run up huge national debt and we have undermined the value of the dollar, and this is in my judgment not representing a good economic policy" he argued. And "he [Obama] has lost the confidence of the business community and the business world in terms of where it counts, which is investment, and new plant[s] and equipment."


Zuckerman concluded that the national debt would "restrict what we are going to be able to do as a country for decades," adding that "we have a situation where we are losing the competitive edge that we had, not totally, but in many, many areas."

As Pope Francis continues to straddle the fine line between calling for the end of persecution of Christians in Iraq and blessing American airstrikes against the Islamic State (also known as the "Caliphate," ISIS, or ISIL), there is increasing concern for the pontiff's - and the public's - safety.

Earlier this week, the Roman newspaper Il Tempo published a disturbing report that Francis is "in the crosshairs" of ISIS for "bearing false witness" against Islam. Citing anonymous sources within Italy's intelligence community and pointing to notable heightened security in Rome, the paper went on to say that ISIS plans to heat things up by "raising the level of confrontation" with Europe, Italy and very specifically Pope Francis, the "greatest exponent of the Christian religions." The Vatican downplayed the concerns, calling them unfounded despite growing concern in Italy that it is not just the Pope who is under threat. "There is nothing serious to this," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told Catholic News Agency. "There is no particular concern in the Vatican."

Don't be surprised to lose if you don't make an effort at being competitive. And if you go out of your way to make yourself less competitive, expect to lose. If that sounds like simple common sense, that's because it is.

But it's also exactly what the US has been doing for years - enacting tax policies that sabotage its global economic competitiveness. It's like trying to get in shape for a marathon by going on an all-McDonald's diet. (Speaking of McDonalds, check out this funny video spoof of what their commercials should really look like.)

Here are two major reasons why the US is lagging in the global economic marathon:

1. The US has the highest effective corporate income tax rate in the developed world (see chart below).

2. Unlike most other countries, which only tax domestic profits, the US taxes the earnings of foreign subsidiaries of US companies when the money is transferred back to the US. This has had the effect of US corporations keeping over $1.9 trillion in retained earnings offshore to avoid the crippling US corporate income tax.

Ecuador is planning to create the world's first digital currency issued by the country's central bank, in what is seen by many as a step to abandon the US dollar, the currency now used by the Central American country.

The currency is expected to start circulating in December, according to the country's Central Bank.

The technical details or the name of the currency have not been revealed, although the officials stated that it would not be a crypto-currency like Bitcoin.

A new report claims that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is targeting Pope Francis - a report that the Vatican says is simply not true.

According to Il Tempo, Israeli sources reportedly told the Italian newspaper that the pope is "in the crosshairs of ISIS." The report stated that Francis is being targeted because he is "the greatest exponent of the Christian religions" and the "bearer of false truth."

The Vatican, though, denounced the report.

"There is nothing serious to this," Father Federico Lombardi S.J., a Vatican spokesman, told Catholic News Agency. "There is no particular concern in the Vatican. This news has no foundation."

The Catholic News Agency reports that Italy has issued a nationwide terror alert, despite no imminent threats or specifics about a potential attack on the country.