Three militiamen have been injured over the past 24 hours in shelling of Donetsk People's Republic. Ukrainian military action has violated ceasefire arrangements in the war-torn region some 46 times in 24 hours, spokesman Eduard Basurinclaimed.Shelling has been recorded near the settlements of Gorlovka, Shirokino, Spartak, Zhabichevo, Sakhanka, Lozovoye, Novaya Maryevka, Altnoye, Oktyabr, Donetsk airport and Volvo-Centre district.

A decision has been made in principle to demilitarize the village of Shirokino and to pull back medium weapons having calibresunder 100 mm has been agreed at the Contract Group level, Russia's OSCE envoy Andrey Kelin told the media on Thursday."The fundamental agreement does exist. Now the details are to be looked into," Kelin said.The military sub-group hopes Kiev's paramilitary entities of Nazis such as Azov, Donbass battalions will follow accepted decisions. We aren't so sure.

The consequences and patterns of war, whether by one nation against another or by a government against the citizenry, rarely change. However, the methods of war have evolved vastly in modern times. Wars by elites against populations are often so subtle that many people might not even recognize that they are under attack until it is too late. Whenever I examine the conceptions of "potential war" between individuals and oligarchy, invariably some hard-headed person cries out: "What do you mean 'when?' We are at war right now!" In this case, I am not talking about the subtle brand of war. I am not talking about the information war, the propaganda war, the economic war, the psychological war or the biological war. I am talking about outright warfare, and anyone who thinks we have already reached that point has no clue what real war looks like.

The recent exposure of the nationwide Jade Helm 15 exercise has made many people suspicious, and with good reason. Federal crisis exercises have a strange historical tendency to suddenly coincide with very real crisis events. We may know very little about Jade Helm beyond government admissions, claims and misdirections. But at the very least, we know what "JADE" is an acronym for: Joint Assistance for Deployment and Execution, a program designed to create action and deployment plans using computer models meant to speed up reaction times for military planners during a "crisis scenario." It is linked with another program called ACOA (Adaptive Course of Action), the basis of which is essentially the use of past mission successes and computer models to plan future missions. Both are products of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Sir Tony Brenton, former British ambassador to Russia, said that he hoped relations between Russia and Britain, as well as other Western states, improve "fast enough to attend future such anniversaries" such as the 70th anniversary of Victory in World War II.

It is a shame that political tensions have prevented major Western leaders from paying tribute to World War II heroes by participating in the May 9 Victory Day celebration in Moscow, Sir Tony Brenton, a former British ambassador to Russia, told Sputnik in an interview.

"It is a pity, obviously, because it is a very big anniversary for Russia. Russia played the central role in the war, and it is a shame that the state of our relations make it politically impossible for our leaders to be there," Brenton said.

The US military has increased the security level at US military bases due to unspecific warnings involving the radical Islamic State terrorist group. The alert level is now at its highest since the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

The order to boost the security level on US military bases to "Bravo" - the third of five levels of alert - was ordered by Admiral William Gortney, head of the US Northern Command (NORTHCOM), which commands all military installations on American territory.

The move comes just hours after FBI Director James Comey spoke out on the increasing threat of jihadist attacks being carried out on US soil.


Comey said Thursday there are "hundreds, maybe thousands" of individuals in the United States who are being inspired via social media platforms to carry out acts of violence on American targets.

"It's like the devil sitting on their shoulders, saying 'Kill, kill, kill,''' Comey told reporters Thursday.

"We have a general concern, obviously, that ISIL is focusing on the uniformed military and law enforcement."

The Pentagon has come around to the view that IS sympathizers residing in the United States present enough of a risk to warrant boosting the security level.

Russo-Indian military collaboration has seemingly become a thorn in the United States' side as Washington has decided to bolster US-Indian defense ties.

It is expected that during his upcoming visit to India US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will offer New Delhi a new US tactical aircraft and sign a 10-year bilateral India-US Defense Framework Agreement, Franz-Stefan Gady, an expert in military affairs and cyber diplomacy, emphasized.

"We are looking to do more in terms of [military] exercises and joint training and interoperability with our Indian counterparts," said US Ambassador to India Richard Rahul Verma as quoted by the expert.

The US' move can be regarded as backlash against the increased military cooperation within the BRICS. Indeed, Moscow and New Delhi have been steadily strengthening their ties in the military and military-technical field over the past years.

It's fascinating to watch the vast, well-rewarded western army of Saudi lobbyists/stenographers singing the praises of a "traditional and conservative institution", a.k.a. the House of Saud, now embarking on a new, "assertive foreign policy."

As this concerns the ideological matrix of all Salafi-jihadi variations in the demented galaxy of Wahhabi extremism, I'd rather call it a Mob rule update. Not nearly as entertaining as Coppola's Godfather saga, but certainly more sinister.

Imagine the outrage, broadcasted to distant galaxies, if this was taking place in certified opponents of the Empire of Chaos such as Iran, Venezuela, Ecuador, Russia or China. But as the House of Saud are "our bastards", complete with a minister, Ali al-Naimi, capable of saying that Allah should set oil prices, they can get away with literally anything.

New House of Saud capo di tutti I capi, King Salman, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, must have been brushing up on his Al Pacino to learn how to be swift as a dagger. Lesson learned; with a single move, he achieved the following:

He got rid of his half-brother and sitting Crown Prince, Muqrin. Muqrin duly pledged allegiance to the new boss.

He promoted his nephew, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, from No. 3 to No. 2 in the House of Saud succession line.

He promoted his own son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to No. 3.

He got rid of the former, eternal, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, and placed a Washington darling, the non-royal Adel al-Jubeir, who as ambassador to the U.S. has been the voice, in English, not lost in translation, of the (illegal) Saudi war on Yemen.

He gave the entire military and security forces a bonus of one-month's pay.

He separated the Saudi Oil Ministry from ARAMCO, the state-owned oil company. Gotta try to balance the books — especially with the Saudi-instigated oil price war going nowhere; the ridiculously expensive war on Yemen; and all those huge bonuses to content the subjects; after all, virtually everyone in the oil hacienda works for the House of Saud. It was Salman's son, Mohammed bin Salman, who came up with the oil ministry/ARAMCO scheme.

Russia and China suffered the worst casualties during World War II and thus have the greatest reasons to oppose attempts to rehabilitate Nazism and militarism, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after meeting China's President Xi Jinping.

Xi arrived in Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart with an array of economic deals to sign. The Chinese leader will also take part in the V-Day celebration in Moscow on Saturday. A military parade demonstrating brand new Russian weapons is part of the festivities to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany.

"Tomorrow with other world leaders we will take part in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the [Soviet] victory in World War II, and in September in Beijing we will mark the end of the World War II. We will commemorate those who stood side by side against the militaristic Japan," Putin said.

"Once again a country "liberated" by the West is sinking deeper and deeper into chaos." Global Research.

This could be anyone of the countries in conflict, where Washington and its Western and Middle Eastern stooges sow war - eternal chaos, misery, death - and submission.

This is precisely the point: The Washington / NATO strategy is not to 'win' a war or conflict, but to create ongoing - endless chaos. That's the way (i) to control people, nations and their resources; (ii) to assures the west a continuous need for military - troops and equipment - remember more than 50% of the US GDP depends on the military industrial complex, related industries and services; and (iii) finally, a country in disarray or chaos, is broke and needs money - money with hardship conditions, 'austerity' money from the notorious IMF, World Bank and other associated nefarious 'development institutions' and money lenders; money that equals enslavement, especially with corrupt leaders that do not care for their people.

The United States needs to set the rules on trade while its economy is still strong before China does, US President Barack Obama said during a news conference to promote his Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal at the Nike headquarters in Oregon on Friday.

"We have to make sure America writes the rules of the global economy and we should do it today while our economy is in the position of global strength because if we do not write the rules for trade around the world, guess what, China will," Obama said.

Obama's remarks came at a time US Congress is deciding whether to pass what is poised to become the largest free trade deal to date.

Despite nationwide protests across Canada, the lawmakers have passed the controversial anti-terrorism bill, known as Bill C-51, thus granting the country's spy agency extra powers and carte blanche to operate overseas for the first time.

The Anti-Terrorism Act has won the approval of the House of Commons. It passed the third reading by a margin of 183 to 96, thanks to the Conservative government's majority and support from the Liberal Party. It will now move to the Senate for an expected passage into law.

The ruling government tabled the legislation in January, claiming it would improve the safety of citizens after two attacks (believed to be the first on Canadian soil) left two soldiers dead in October.

Opponents of the bill say it "will recklessly undermine our rights and our privacy while making us less safe." Tens of thousands of protestors across the nation took to the streets in March saying the bill undermines basic democratic rights and freedoms.

A recent Forum Research poll cited by AFP has shown that only one-third of Canadians support the stepped up national security measures, while the majority is against them - renowned author of 'The Blind Assassin' Margaret Atwood among them.