Not a day goes by without some sort of turmoil in the South China Sea. Let's cut to the chase: war is not about to break out.

In a nutshell, the non-stop drama, as ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) diplomats told me, is all about "escalation-management protocols." Translation: how to prevent any unilateral outburst that could be interpreted as warlike.

Compounding the problem is that ASEAN can't seem to manage its own internal protocols. This past Tuesday offered a graphic illustration, after a special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' meeting in Yuxi.

First ASEAN issued a communiqué. Then it retracted it. As much as that reflects internal dissent among the 10 nation group, it also happens to puncture the Pentagon myth of China's "isolation".

Meanwhile, a D-Day is approaching; the ruling, by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, on a territorial dispute brought by the Philippines in 2013. The ruling should come by late July or early August. Even if - as expected - it goes against Beijing that still should not be reason to install an insurmountable ASEAN-China divide.

Connie Rahakundini, president of the Indonesian Institute for Maritime Studies (IIMS), framed the question for Xinhua. There is an 'ASEAN plus' mechanism already in place - which is a sort of debate forum including China. And ASEAN is also establishing a code of conduct to prevent unilateral moves.

The problem with the case in The Hague is that the Philippines did not try to solve it bilaterally; off the record, ASEAN diplomats admit that would be the only solution.

So no wonder Beijing decided not to be a part of the arbitration procedure, and preemptively rejects whatever ruling (which is non-binding anyway), insisting the court has no jurisdiction. The Philippines case is about territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation; these are subject to general international law, not the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Israel is planning to build a massive concrete wall which will extend below ground along the Gaza Strip border, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper has revealed. The barrier is aimed at combating the threat posed by Hamas tunnels crossing into the country from Gaza.

The wall, which will stretch along the 96km (60 mile) border around the Gaza Strip, will extend several dozen meters below the ground, and will also be present above the ground. It is estimated to cost US$568 million.

The costly plan - aimed at tackling Hamas terror tunnels - was cleared for publication by Israel's military censor, according to Ynet, a website affiliated with Yedioth Ahronoth.

The wall will be the third defense system of its kind to be erected along the border.

Palestinian NGO says supplies shut by Israeli national water company, which in turn cites shortages and a burst pipe. Israel's national water company has cut crucial water supplies to large areas of the occupied West Bank, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians without access to safe drinking water during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Palestinian officials said.

Mekorot, the main supplier of water to Palestinian towns and cities, siphoned off water supplies from the municipality of Jenin, several Nablus villages and the city of Salfit and its surrounding villages. Ayman Rabi, the executive director of the Palestinian Hydrology Group, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that in some areas people had not received water for more than 40 days.

"People are relying on purchasing water from water trucks or finding it from alternative sources such as springs and other filling points in their vicinity," he said. "Families are having to live on two, three or 10 litres per capita per day," he said, adding that in some areas they had started rationing water. The city of Jenin, which has a population of more than 40,000 people, said its water supplies had been cut by half, and warned that it would hold Mekorot solely responsible for any tragedies resulting from water shortages during the hot summer months.

According to the UN, 7.5 litres per person per day is the minimum requirement for most people under most conditions but in some areas of Palestine - where temperatures exceed 35C [95F] - the minimum requirement is much higher. Israelis, including settlers, consume five times more water than Palestinians in the West Bank, 350 litres per person per day in Israel compared with 60 litres per Palestinian per day in the West Bank. [complete water usage]

CIA Director John Brennan and other American officials are trying to hide Israeli and Saudi tracks in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, says a former US official. J. Michael Springmann, a former US diplomat in Saudi Arabia, made the remarks on Sunday over Brennan's claims that Saudi Arabia will be absolved of any responsibility for the 9/11 attacks based on 28 classified pages of a congressional report into the incident.

Springmann told Press TV that the spymaster was "absolutely mistaken," as many key US politicians along with American intelligence agencies have acknowledged Saudi Arabia's role in the attacks. The Saudis were indeed involved "either through money or through assistance or through participation by high-level government or well-connected rich individuals," he added. Controversy surrounding Saudi Arabia's role in the 9/11 attacks surged in May, when the US Senate passed a bill that allowed the families of 9/11 victims to sue the Riyadh regime for the damage caused by the tragic event.

The New York Post claimed in a report last month that Saudi Arabia's involvement was deliberately covered up at the highest levels of the American government. The extent of the cover-up goes beyond hiding 28 pages of a congressional report on 9/11 which was released in 2002, the report noted.

Pointing to investigations by case agents interviewed at the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) in Washington and San Diego, along with police detectives who investigated the incident, the Post said, "Virtually every road led back to the Saudi Embassy in Washington, as well as the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles." Springmann said according to the CIA, Congress could end the debates by simply releasing the hidden portion of the report. "So they can declassify, they don't have to wait for the executive branch, John Brennan or [US President] Barry Obama," the analyst noted, adding that so far Obama has made promises in that regard but is not likely to deliver.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee said it was "deeply disappointed" in the Obama administration's opposition to increased missile defense funding for Israel, weighing in on an issue that is apparently obstructing U.S.-Israel talks on renewing defense assistance.

"We are deeply disappointed that a June 14 'Statement of Administration Policy' on the defense appropriations measure has criticized Congress for funding U.S.-Israel missile defense cooperation," the lobby said Tuesday of the White House in a statement.

Missile defense is at the center of disagreements between Israel and the United States in talks aimed at extending the overall defense assistance package. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared newly amenable on Wednesday to Obama administration demands that missile defense cooperation be wrapped into the package.

The Obama administration included in its criticism of the increase in funding for missile defense cooperation a statement of policy opposing the U.S. House of Representatives version of a defense spending bill. Among a litany of objections in its six pages, the administration statement opposes adding $455 million to the $145 million the administration has already budgeted toward missile defense.

The United States seems to want al-Nusra Front terrorist group to remain in some form in Syria and use it to achieve own goals, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged the US earlier this month to convince those rebel groups which they support in Syria to leave areas where al-Nusra Front militants are present.

Earlier, Washington asked Moscow to direct its airstrikes solely at al-Nusra Front and refrain from targeting so-called "moderate" rebels, working with al-Qaeda's branch in Syria.

"The Americans are now saying that they are unable to remove the 'good' opposition members from the positions held by al-Nusra Front, and that they will need another two-three months. I am under the impression that there is a game here and they may want to keep al-Nusra Front in some form and later use it to overthrow the [Assad] regime," Lavrov said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The US-Russian brokered ceasefire entered into force across Syria on February 27. Terrorist organizations such the Daesh and al-Nusra Front are excluded from the truce.

Thousands of dissatisfied Greeks have staged a protest rally in Athens and another major city to ask the government to resign over continued austerity.

At least 10,000 Greeks gathered outside the parliament in Athens on Wednesday, demanding the resignation of the leftist government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

The protesters were supporters of the "Resign" movement, which perceives Tsipras's policies a failure, driving the country into more poverty.

They addressed the premier in their slogans, chanting "Resign!" and "People don't want you, take your junta and leave!"

A similar demonstration was held at Thessaloniki, the second largest city in the country and the capital of Greek Macedonia in northern Greece.

NATO could respond to a powerful cyber-assault with conventional weapons, the military alliance's secretary-general told German media. NATO member states are expected to declare cyberspace a warfare domain, along with air, land, sea and space.

"A severe cyber-attack may be classified as a case for the alliance. Then NATO can and must react," Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview to Germany's Bild newspaper on Thursday. "How, that will depend on the severity of the attack," he said.

Stoltenberg pointed out that the alliance faces a complex of threats with tendency to expand, so NATO member states have made a decision to regard cyber-attacks just like any other threat.

In early June, the German military's top brass announced that all 28 NATO member states would likely agree to declare cyberspace an operational warzone, during the Warsaw summit, to be held in the Polish capital on July 8-9.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced the end of its combat operations in Yemen, marking a departure from the Saudi-led coalition that has been waging war on the impoverished country.

"Our standpoint is clear: war is over for our troops. We are monitoring political arrangements, empowering Yemenis in liberated areas," Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces, wrote on his official Twitter account late on Wednesday, quoting earlier remarks by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash.

No explanation has been offered as to why the decision was made.

The UAE had been suffering heavy casualties in Yemen, where Ansarullah fighters and allied military units have been fighting back the Saudi-led invaders.

The upper house of the Swiss parliament on Wednesday voted to invalidate its 1992 application to join the European Union, backing an earlier decision by the lower house. The vote comes just a week before Britain decides whether to leave the EU in a referendum.

Twenty-seven members of the upper house, the Council of States, voted to cancel Switzerland's longstanding EU application, versus just 13 senators against. Two abstained.

In the aftermath of the vote, Switzerland will give formal notice to the EU to consider its application withdrawn, the country's foreign minister, Didier Burkhalter, was quoted as saying by Neue Zürcher Zeitung.