In the early morning hours of April 1-2 Azerbaijan launched a major military offensive into the disputed region Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) that's been controlled and defended by NK Armenian forces since the Russian brokered truce ended a bloody three year war in 1994. While Azeri President Ilham Aliyev was flying back to Baku after meeting 24 hours earlier with John Kerry in Washington who claimed "an ultimate resolution" had been reached, Azerbaijan was already once again at war with the NK Armenians.

The surprise element combined with the full scale major military operation spearheading a three pronged attack on Nagorno-Karabakh contact line from the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions resulted in the Aziri army seizing at least five Armenian villages and several strategic elevated heights inside the disputed territory with heavy loss of life reported on both sides including Armenian civilians whose home were shelled by Aziri artillery mortars and rockets. Though a ceasefire three days into the heavy fighting was brokered by Russia, repeated ceasefire breaches and continued combat operations have been observed.

Evidence that you'll never see in Western MSM coverage is now surfacing from Armenian press documenting not only is the Azeri military still daily violating Tuesday's ceasefire but far more significant and alarming is that the Azeris have been attacking villages inside the Republic of Armenia, not just in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. On Friday April 8 the press secretary of the Armenian Republic Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan disclosed that Azeri forces have been shelling civilian settlements with 120mm mortar fire in the villages of Karmir, Ttujur and Baghanisin within the Armenian provinces of Tavush and Gegharkunet. Fortunately there has been no reported casualties as yet. But when the first victims do get reported, the consequences for Azerbaijan could become far reaching.

By committing an act of war killing Armenian civilians on a second warfront by shelling civilian targets within the Republic of Armenia, the Azeri government is showing that its unilateral aggression remains unfazed, attacking an allied nation holding a mutual defense pact with Russia that stipulates if Armenia is attacked, Russia is compelled to come to Armenia's aid and defense. Azerbaijan's artillery shelling may force Russia to shift from acting as prime mediator in the Azeri-Armenian conflict to being drawn into the escalating war against Azerbaijan. The implications of such an expanding war are so serious it could destabilize not just the immediate region but trigger a rippling effect globally. This potentially grave development of course feeds right into the sinister hegemonic plan that the neocons behind US Empire have been fiendishly hoping and working towards for some time, to tie up Russia directly involving Putin in fighting yet another war on his doorstep that could quickly unravel to ignite World War III.

A new Tax Justice Network (TJN) USA report reveals an estimated $21 - $32 trillion of hidden and stolen wealth stashed largely tax-free secretly.

Titled "The Price of Offshore Revisited," it explains what finance insiders know but won't discuss because many of them have their own hidden wealth.

TJN describes a "subterranean" and systemic "economic equivalent of an astrophysical black hole." The higher estimate above exceeds US GDP twofold.

It's mind-boggling. It's hard imagining that a tiny percent of privileged elites control this much wealth secretly. It's worse knowing that it's largely tax free, and it's appalling that governments let them get away with it.

When it comes to The City of London, the term 'tax haven' is not describing all that it should. It doesn't just shield the mega-wealthy from paying their fair dues it goes further and offers a departure from the rule of law as you would know it. Secrecy is its raison d'être. These secrecy laws do not benefit the local people living in its jurisdiction but only those individuals and corporations with enough money and with something to hide.

The reality is that the City of London caters for those above the law, it operates on the basis of bypassing democratic society as a whole. This has come about over time where an extraordinary 'gentlemens agreement' has stood the test of time. The head of state and his/her governments have the need of large loans for wars and the like, the City, in exchange for such commodity has extracted certain privileges the rest of the population do not enjoy. The end result over the centuries is that it now has its own financial jurisdiction to do pretty much as it pleases.

A 'watchman' sits at the high table of parliament and is its official lobbyist sitting in seat of power right next to the Speaker of the House who is "charged with maintaining and enhancing the City's status and ensuring that its established rights are safeguarded." The job is to maintain order and seek out political dissent against the City.

The former chief judge that presided over Saddam Hussein's trial told RT in an exclusive interview how the tribunal, which was dependent on the US, lacking in legitimacy, and overshadowed by the killing of lawyers, sentenced the Iraqi strongman to death.

In November of 2006, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging three years after a US-led "coalition of the willing" invaded Iraq, removing him from power as the country's leader. The hanging itself was carried out at the US' Camp Justice military base - an act that has been criticized by a number of governments and described by rights groups as cruel and unfair.

The tribunal leading to the death sentence was also regarded by many as a "political show" and "vengeful action," with international law experts questioning its legitimacy and fairness.

Moscow is working out a new concept for Russian foreign policy that will reflect the current transition to a multipolar world, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, adding that this global trend presents new challenges for all global powers.

"The international situation remains mosaic and controversial. Along with this, a common tendency could be observed," Lavrov said during a meeting of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policies on Saturday.

According to the minister, we are moving from a world with a single center of power to one having a "polycentric international architecture."

"We are trying to reflect this tendency in our fundamental doctrinal documents, namely Russia's national security strategy and the concept of its foreign policy," he said.

The work on the amended foreign policy concept was launched at the request of Russia's president, Vladimir Putin.

The Iraqi military says 44 Islamic State terrorists have been killed in recent airstrikes across the country. This includes Fallujah, where tens of thousands remain trapped and, according to Human Rights Watch, are inadvertently being starved by the Iraqi Army.

"Under the supervision of joint operation command, and with the support of the department of military intelligence, the Iraqi Air Force pounded ISIS positions in Hawija and Shargat," the statement reads, as cited by Kurdish agency Rudaw.

The statement by Iraq's war media office also said three military bases belonging to Islamic State (IS formerly ISIS/ISIL) were destroyed. In Hawija, forces killed 28 militants, who were allegedly of different national backgrounds. A further 16 were killed in Shargat.

With protesters calling for their prime minsters' heads in Iceland and the UK, last week's utterly shocking news that world leaders tend to be a bit corrupt looks like it's a story that's going to run and run. This week Joe and Niall went Behind the Headlines to get the real story of 'the greatest leak ever'.

This show aired from 12 - 1.30pm EST / 4 - 5.30pm UTC / 6 - 7.30pm CET on Sunday 10th April, 2016

Running Time: 01:46:50

Download: MP3

The US has spent more than 13 years in Iraq under the guise of fighting terrorism. However, a recent survey shows that nearly one-third of Iraqis believe the US supports terrorism or Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). The Office of Inspector General found that nearly "40 percent of Iraqis believe that the United States is working to destabilize Iraq and control its natural resources," with 30 percent believing the US supports terrorism or Islamic State. This belief may partly be perpetuated by reports of videos purporting to show US forces delivering some form of support to IS fighters.

In 2015, Iraq's Parliamentary Commission on Security and Defense claimed to have revealed documents and photographs showing aircrafts belonging to the international coalition delivering weapons and supplies to IS, the Iraqi News reported. "We have been receiving this information continuously from many sources, documented in photos and reports to prove that the planes did land at some airports in Mosul, Tal Afar, Al Kiara," Committee Chairman MP Hakim Zamili said in a press conference. The authenticity of the photos cannot be verified at this time.

The report also says that most Iraqis are "keenly aware of ISIL's true nature" and "nearly all Iraqis have unfavorable views of ISIL and oppose its goals and tactics, with no significant variation across religious sects and ethnic groups." The fact that a sizable percentage of Iraqis believe the US is helping the wildly unpopular IS could partially explain why the report also found that "the US image among Iraqis has fallen from 38 percent favorable in December 2014 to 18 percent in August 2015."

For Sunnis, however, the situation is even worse. The report states that for Sunni Arabs, their favorable view of the US dropped from 54 percent all the way to 10 percent. The loss of Sunni support could be in part due to the US's backing of Shiite forces.

On the fake-'progressive' (actually conservative-Democratic-Party) website that's run by a longtime CIA asset Markos Moulitsas, Daily Kos, there was posted on February 24th an article by 'motocat', headlined, "I have personally been to a closed door corporate Clinton speech. This is what I experienced."

This person, he or she, didn't indicate what the speech said, other than "how disappointing the whole thing was," and, that it was a speech by Bill Clinton, not Hillary Clinton, and "It made me feel sort of sad to see how old and feeble he looked. The last time I had seen Bill speak was when he was running for his first term as President. He looked like a different man."

Then the author went into speculation about what might be in Hillary Clinton's speeches:

"Everyone wondering what Hillary possibly could have said in 30 minutes that was worth 250K is missing the point. These people are celebrities. They are booked to deliver paid speeches, because it benefits those who book them in some way. You might as well ask what Kanye West could possibly say in 45 minutes at Madison Square Garden that would be worth 250K to the promoter.

I have no doubt that Hillary does not want to release the transcripts of those speeches because those pouring through them for a gotcha news story or to prove a point, will surely find praise for the institutions she was speaking on behalf of. In this political climate, that would be a bad news cycle for her. I also have no doubt that she also showered glowing praise on the countless colleges whose commission speeches she spoke at, as well as praised the accomplishments of whatever non-profit she spoke on behalf of. Does anyone really think her speech to the US Green building council in 2013 was fair and balanced about negative aspects of what the Green building council has done? No. These are performances for a purpose.

Federal prosecutors for the first time Friday disclosed allegations of sexual misconduct against former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, saying the accusations should be considered when he is sentenced later this month in a criminal case connected to alleged hush-money payments.

According to a court filing by prosecutors, the sexual abuse took place decades ago when Hastert was a wrestling coach and teacher at Yorkville High School before being elected to Congress. Prosecutors detailed sexual encounters with teenage boys, which included inappropriate touching and having oral sex, for which the statute of limitation has expired.

"The actions at the core of this case took place not on the defendant's national public stage, but in his private one-on-one encounters in an empty locker room and a motel room with minors that violated the special trust between those young boys and their coach," prosecutors wrote.