Last May, the world was horrified to learn that the band of marauding, black-flag waving, sword-wielding jihadist desert bandits we all know as the CIA-spawn called ISIS had overrun the ancient city of Palmyra. A UNESCO world heritage site, the city is known for its picturesque ancient ruins and boasts a rich cultural history that brings together Greek, Roman and Persian influences.

The fear - well besides the worry that the militants might murder all the men and enslave the women and children - was that ISIS would destroy the city's architectural treasures. Those fears were realized in October when reports indicated that the group had blown up the Triumphal Arch, a 2,000-year-old monument that dates back to the Roman empire. Here's a drone flyover of the destruction:

US Secretary of State John Kerry has started his March 23rd visit to Moscow. A visit from the head of America's foreign policy department to the Russian capital is associated with a sudden withdrawal of most of the Russian military contingent from Syria. As was reported previously by the State Department, the main themes of the talks are the future of Syria and the peace process. It is very likely that the parties will discuss the problem of the future of the country's territorial structure.

Unilateral federalization

On March 17th, there was another significant event, where the Kurds of the north of Syria announced the conversion of areas under their control into a federal region. The government in Damascus, like most of the Syrian opposition, condemned the move. "Federalization of Syria" via the country's partition along the lines of the civil war, which will increase tensions in the relationship between the ethnic and religious communities, will mean the destruction of a unified Syrian state and the actual collapse of the country, like what happened in neighboring Iraq.

Moreover, the partition of Syria will trigger a disintegration process, which will strike other national states in the Middle East, creating a zone of bloody chaos. Only two countries will benefit from the results of the process.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Sao Paulo on Thursday to show their support for Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, and to protest impeachment charges against her. Protesters waved flags and held banners, while some of them lit flares as they walked through the city. The demonstration was called by the Frente Popular (People's Front) and was supported by several Brazilian workers unions.

An RT Documentary crew filming in northern Syria has seen Islamic State (IS, ISIS/ISIL) documents abandoned by retreating terrorists and found by the Kurds that, along with captured IS recruits, provide a stunning insight into IS oil trade.TrendsIslamic State, Syria unrest, Syria-Turkey

Shortly after the outbreak of the Syrian war, IS became a game-changer in Iraq and, in particular, Syria. Beheadings on camera, mass killings, and enslavement, as well as apparent connections to the Paris and Brussels attacks had become synonymous with the terror group, giving it wide publicity.

Running a viable militant organization with such remarkable capabilities would be impossible without some logistical and financial support from the outside.

It's real simple. Create a threat, predicate expanding autocracy at home and endless wars of hegemony abroad upon confronting that threat, and all the while intentionally perpetuate fear, hysteria, hatred, and division to keep that threat relevant in the hearts and minds of as many people as possible.

Described above is an elementary tactic used by special interests throughout human history, and today's special interests being no exception. Today, the contrived threat of choice is "terrorism." It is a well-documented fact that organizations like Al Qaeda and the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS), are creations and geopolitical tools of the United States, its European allies, and its Middle Eastern subordinates, including Turkey and the Persian Gulf states.

The means of keeping this contrived threat fresh in the minds of the public is Islamophobia - the scapegoating of some 1.6 billion Muslims around the world for the deeds of US-Saudi indoctrinated, armed, funded, and backed extremists.

The role the United States and Saudi Arabia played in the inception of Al Qaeda during the 1980's to wage proxy war on the Soviet Union in Afghanistan is documented history. What is less widely known, is the role these same two nations played in the creation of ISIS -which admittedly branched off from Al Qaeda.

However, America's own Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) admitted in a leaked 2012 memo that indeed, just as Al Qaeda was created to wage proxy war in Afghanistan, a "Salafist" (Islamic) "principality" (State) was intentionally created in eastern Syria to wage proxy war against Damascus.

The leaked 2012 report (.pdf) stated explicitly that:

If the situation unravels there is the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist principality in eastern Syria (Hasaka and Der Zor), and this is exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want, in order to isolate the Syrian regime, which is considered the strategic depth of the Shia expansion (Iraq and Iran).

After months of "anti-terror" raids, tension, and media hype, terror has come to Brussels, Belgium. Following the same script used for over a decade, this latest attack features all the tropes: drills, prior knowledge, intelligence warnings, and suspects previously known to police and intelligence. But is Brussels really the den of extremists the media has been telling us it is? Actually, yes, but the real terrorists aren't Muslims. On this episode of the Truth Perspective we discussed the details of this latest attack, the bigger context of Western-backed and Western-created terrorism, and what our response should be to tragic events like this.

Broadcasting from deep in the heart of the American Empire, join your hosts Harrison Koehli and Elan Martin, and fellow SOTT editors, as they discuss everything from current events and the latest machinations and manipulations of the global elite to history, science, and religion, and how it all fits together. The Truth Perspective is brought to you by the SOTT Radio Network on SOTT.net, your one-stop source for independent, unbiased, alternative news and commentary on world events.

Live every Saturday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

Running Time: 01:39:53

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The fix is apparently in for the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, after massive voter suppression was reported in the Arizona Democratic primary.

In 2012, Maricopa County had 200 polling locations open on primary day, but reduced the number of polling stations to only 60 for 2016.

The extreme reduction of polling locations served to create wait times of over 5 hours to cast a ballot; an extreme amount of time that working class citizens often don't have the luxury of waiting.

Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell, who was responsible for the reduction in polling places in 2016, attempted to justify her actions by claiming that voter turnout was traditionally low, so she simply reduced the number of polling locations to save money.

Moscow wants Kiev to pay interest daily on its $3 billion defaulted bond, Bloomberg reports after viewing court documents. Ukraine failed to pay the debt on December 20 and the penalty fee has grown to about $66.3 million as of Friday. The Kremlin refused to take part in the $15 billion debt restructuring Ukraine reached with its foreign creditors in 2015. Russia wanted Ukraine to recognize the debt as sovereign with restructuring terms better than those proposed by Kiev to its private creditors.

In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Finance Ministry to file a lawsuit against Kiev, if it failed to repay the $3 billion within a 10-day grace period following the December 20 deadline. The lawsuit will be heard by the High Court in London.

Russia is demanding more than the 7.75 percent interest Ukraine offered in its debt restructuring, which also included a 20 percent debt haircut. According to the court documents, quoted by Bloomberg, Russia's lawyers suggest returning to the original five percent rate, equivalent to $427,083 a day, if the court in London decides eight percent interest is too high. Moscow is also asking Kiev to repay an additional $75 million in skipped interest payments before the debt deadline.

"Ukraine has already indicated and re-affirms its intention vigorously to defend the entirety of the claim relating to the Russian Eurobonds. It will be filing its defense in due course," Kiev's lawyer told the media.

Legal battles between Russia and Ukraine are valued at $100 billion, which includes cross-lawsuits between the two countries' gas monopolies, Gazprom and Naftogaz. Kiev is demanding $37 billion from Moscow for what it calls the annexation of Crimea. Naftogaz is seeking $26 billion in damages from Gazprom, which, in its turn, demands $32 billion from Naftogaz.

Libya's late leader Muammar Gaddafi and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned that terrorism would be on the rise in Europe if Western leaders help to destabilize the two countries, but no one listened. As a result, Libya and Syria have been plunged into chaos and now Europe has to grapple with a string of gruesome terrorist attacks.

The latest assault took place on Tuesday as three coordinated bombings rocked the Belgian capital of Brussels, which hosts the headquarters of several international institutions, including the European Union, NATO and the Benelux.

Daesh took responsibility for the attack that claimed 31 lives. The brutal terrorist group was also behind the night of terror in Paris on November 13, a series of coordinated terrorist acts that left 130 people killed.

Since the beginning of March, Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves have increased to nearly $370 billion.

The value of Russia's gold reserves rose by $5.8 billion, from $381.1 billion to $386.9 billion, between March 11 and 18, according to the Russian Central Bank.

In seven day, Russia increased its gold and foreign exchange reserves by 1.5 percent. From March 1, the reserves rose by 1.7 percent, from $380.5 billion.

They include securities, foreign exchange cash, special drawing rights of the IMF, monetary gold, and a number of other assets.

In mid-December 2015, the Russian Central Bank announced that it would increase Russia's gold reserves to $500 billion in the coming three-five years. The terms would depend on macroeconomic scenarios the government is going to implement.

Gold is considered to be a buffer against external economic risks after Russia, one of the world's largest oil exporters, was hit by a slump in global oil prices.

Gold reserves were used by the Central Bank to support the ruble exchange rate. In November 2014, the bank allowed the ruble to trade freely and stopped spending the yellow metal. In November 2014, the value of Russia's gold reserves reached $510.5 billion.