In October 2014, the Turks gave themselves a mandate to send in their military against terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq. While this was done without the support or permission of Assad's government, they did have Iraq's limited permission. But last December, Turkey deployed an additional 150 troops and 25 tanks into northern Iraq, 19 miles northeast of Daesh-held Mosul, this time without Iraqi permission. Iraq responded, calling it "a serious breach of Iraqi sovereignty" and demanding the troops' withdrawal. During the coup attempt in Turkey in July, there were reports that Erdogan had recalled troops back to Turkey from Iraq. But if that was the case, it wasn't all of them. In addition to the troops still holding the training base in Bashiqa near Mosul, Turkey has a number of "military advisers" in the region, likely numbering in the thousands. And the Iraqi government is still angry at the unilateral violation of Iraq's sovereignty.

Recently, on October 1st, the Turkish parliament backed a proposal to extend Turkey's mandate in Syria and Iraq for one year. On October 4th, the Iraqi parliament adopted a resolution protesting the continued presence of the troops near Mosul, prompting the Turkish foreign ministry to condemn the resolution and to summon the Iraqi ambassador. Turkish Deputy PM Kurtulmus responded by saying "no one can object to Turkish presence in Iraq. Our soldiers are there with the consent of northern Iraq's [Kurdish autonomy] administration." Foreign Minister Cavusoglu claimed that the resolution "does not reflect the thinking of all of the Iraqi people", adding that Turkish troops there have killed 750+ Daesh terrorists so far, and are needed there because Iraq cannot maintain its own security and stability. PM Yildirim was unequivocal: "Turkey will maintain its presence in Iraq", adding that Turkey has "no hostile intentions toward the Iraqi territory and territorial integrity."

In Europe, when it gets serious, you have to lie... at least if you are an unelected bureaucrat like Jean-Claude Juncker. In Russia, however, when it gets serious, attention immediately turns to the children.

Which is why we read a report on Russian website Znak published Tuesday, according to which Russian state officials and government workers were told to bring back their children studying abroad immediately, even if means cutting their education short and not waiting until the end of the school year, and re-enroll them in Russian schools, with some concern. The article adds that if the parents of these same officials also live abroad "for some reason", and have not lost their Russian citizenship, should also be returned to the motherland. Znak cited five administration officials as the source of the report.

The "recommendation" applies to all: from the administration staff, to regional administrators, to lawmakers of all levels. Employees of public corporations are also subject to the ordinance. One of the sources said that anyone who fails to act, will find such non-compliance to be a "complicating factor in the furtherance of their public sector career." He added that he was aware of several such cases in recent months.

Relations are souring quickly between the Philippines and the United States, as President Rodrigo Duterte and 250 Filipino business executives head to China, a historic rival, later in October to discuss partnership prospects.

"China has repeatedly invited me. I have accepted the offer," Duterte told reporters, announcing the visit, which is scheduled for October 19-21.

According to Reuters, Duterte's China visit is already oversubscribed, with business and government officials all eager to discuss multi-sector economic cooperation with Beijing. There were initially supposed to be fewer industry professionals, but the number has gone up to 250, Trade Undersecretary Nora Terrado told Reuters, adding that the delegation's unusual size is due to the fact that the meeting had only been agreed on a month ago.

The Obama administration is now accusing Russia of cyber-crime and trying to disrupt the US presidential election. The claim is so far-fetched, it is hardly credible. More credible is that the US is reeling from Putin's stunning humiliation earlier this week.

Since June, US media and supporters of Democrat presidential contender Hillary Clinton have been blaming Russian state-sponsored hackers for breaking into the Democratic party's database.

It is further alleged that Moscow is stealthily trying to influence the outcome of the election, by releasing damaging information on Clinton, which might favor Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Russia has vehemently denied any connection to the cyber-crime charges, or trying to disrupt the November poll.

Now the Obama administration has stepped into the fray by openly accusing Russia. "US government officially accuses Russia of hacking campaign to interfere with elections", reported the Washington Post.

This takes the row to a whole new level. No longer are the insinuations a matter of private, partisan opinion. The US government is officially labelling the Russian state for cyber-crime and political subversion.

Thierry Meyssan continues his narration of the war which sets Washington and its allies against the rest of the world. Egypt has entered the fight. Israël has attacked Syria. Turkey maintains its troops in Iraq, despite protestations from Baghdad. We are heading towards a fifth Russo-Chinese veto at the Security Council against the French initiative.

The Russian Minister for Defence, Sergueï Choïgou, has published an assessment of Russian military actions in Syria. In the space of one year, he confirms - they have liberated 586 localities and more than 12,000 square kilometres of territory, eliminated approximately 35,000 terrorists, including more than 2,700 from Russia and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. He opposed these results to those of the United States, who, while they claim to be fighting terrorists, are in fact supporting them against the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Douma unanimously adopted the Russo-Syrian agreement authorising the deployement of the Russian Air Force on the Syrian base at Hmeimim, and this for an unlimited duration. This text had been secretly signed in August 2015, and was only presented to the Douma in order to make the Russian position public. The Douma specified that Russian military presence in the Levant is indispensable to the fight against terrorism.

After September 17th when the US Air force bombed the Syrian troops that were besieged by the US terror troops in town Deir EzZor, and the following provocation with the UN humanitarian convoy, we have been waiting for the next Pentagon and CIA provocation. The military psyop specialists are getting paid millions of dollars to invent these provocations, and we, collectively, trying to prevent them from happening and to untangle them after they take place. We do all these intelligence as volunteers.

Here are a few bits of information for you to think about:

On October 6, 2016, Christian Borys, a Canadian Journalist based in Eastern/Central Europe and a contribution writer for VICE, the Guardian, RFERL, The Daily Beast, MacleansMag, TheEIU, Global Television, Al Jazeera, had posted the following tweet: The U.S is painting their F/A-18's to match the paint schemes of Russian jets in Syria. Standard training, but interesting nonetheless.

Joint US-South Korea naval drills will involve the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and will see both militaries rehearse strategies to kill North Korean leaders in the event of attacks by Pyongyang, a Defense Ministry official has said.

The Invincible Spirit naval exercises, which started on Monday, will run for six days and will see drills take place in the Sea of Japan and Yellow Sea.


A South Korean defense spokesperson said in a statement the drills will involve ship-to-ground and submarine-to-ground cruise missile exercises with average flight ranges of up to 1,000km.

The exercises are taking place amid reports North Korea is preparing to test a sixth nuclear bomb or another long-range missile.

Let's cut to the chase; Hillary Clinton is ready to go to war against Russia in Syria - with inbuilt, potentially terrifying, thermonuclear consequences.

Anticipating an outcome of the US presidential election as a remix of the 1972 Nixon landslide, Hillary has also coined, George "Dubya" Bush-style, a remixed axis of evil: Russia, Iran and "the Assad regime".

That's not even counting China, which, via "aggression" in the South China Sea, will also feature as a certified foe for the Founding Mother of the pivot to Asia.

And if all that was not worrying enough, Turkey now seems on the path to join the axis.

President Putin and President Erdogan met in Istanbul. Moscow positioned itself as ready to develop large-scale military-technical cooperation with Ankara.

That includes, of course, the $20 billion, Rosatom-built, four-reactor Akkuyu nuclear power plant. And the drive to "speed up the work" on Turkish Stream - which will de facto strengthen even more Russia's position in the European gas market, bypassing Ukraine for good, while sealing Ankara's position as a key East-West energy crossroads.

In addition, both Moscow and Ankara back UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura's position that "moderate rebels" (the Beltway's terminology) holding eastern Aleppo hostage must be eradicated.

The geopolitical game-changer is self-evident. As much as Erdogan may be a whirling political dervish, impossible to fathom and trust, while Putin is a master of the strategic long game, Moscow's and Ankara's interests tend to converge in the New Great Game; and that spells out closer integration in the dawn of the Eurasian Century.

Quite a cup of hemlock for Hillary Clinton, who has already equated Putin with Hitler.

Thai authorities have hinted that Bangkok, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, may be the target of some terrorist groups. The report comes following attacks in August which left several dead, including holiday-makers. Information that an armed group was plotting an attack in a province near the Thai capital was released by Thawip Netniyom, chief of Thailand's National Security Council, on Tuesday.

"Why target Bangkok? They [the attackers] probably want to make an impact," Netniyom said, as cited by Thai media. He added that the Thai deputy prime minister "instructed security agencies [to] closely track and monitor anything unusual including things used to prepare bombs and cars." Netniyom, however, did not release details on the group which was allegedly planning the attack.

Thai Police also said they were on high alert in the capital. "I have ordered all police under my supervision in the area around Bangkok to monitor news, investigate and gather intelligence on groups who could come in and cause trouble," said Police Lieutenant General Charnthep Sesawet, acting chief of Provincial Police Region 1.

Thailand was rocked by a series of bomb blasts in August. At least one person was killed and 23 more injured, including foreign tourists, after two explosions rocked the tourist hotspot of Hua Hin. British, German, Dutch, Austrian, and Italian citizens were among the victims. There was also a string of explosions in the Thai resort towns of Surat Thani province. At least four people were killed and many injured in the new spate of violence. One explosive device was defused by police in Phuket.

The Israeli army and police have staged a large scale detention campaign across the West Bank, reports claim.

Reports in the Palestinian media say that 64 people, including 12 children, were arrested in a series of raids by the Israeli Defense Force. In Aida Refugee Camp near Bethlehem, Israeli security officials disguised themselves as Palestinians, to carry out the detention of eight children. They have been identified as Amir Ismael Elayan, Izz al-Din Badwan, Mohammad Wahid Qaraqe, Adam Mohammad Darwish, Mohammad Nasser Darwish, Abd al-fatah Abu Shera, Daoud Raed Sharara and Yousif Mohammad Jawarish.