Russian media quoted Iranian officials as saying on Saturday that the two countries had signed deals worth a collective of $21 billion over the purchase of Russian satellite-related equipment as well as airplanes.

The deals were revealed by Manouchehr Manteghi, the managing director of Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) in an interview with Sputnik news agency.

Manteghi said the airplanes were Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ-100), adding that the deals over the satellite equipment and the superjets were signed during the visit by a top Iranian delegation to Russia for the MAKS-2015 international air show.

"There is a large share of contracts for the purchase of this type of aircraft," Manteghi stated, not specifying, however, the exact number of jets.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has threatened Russia with an extension of sanctions if Moscow recognises local elections in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics [DPR and LPR respectively], Poroshenko said in an interview aired by Ukrainian television channels on Saturday.

"If Russia recognizes them [local elections in DPR and LPR], it will be a rude violation of the Minsk [agreements]," Poroshenko said warning that this might end in "an extension of sanctions for Russia along with other consequences."

Ukraine's president called the elections in DPR and LPR "faked" and promised that "we will do everything in order not to allow repetition of this process."

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the vote in the DPR and LPR scheduled for October 18 and November 1 would not violate the Minsk deal as it specifies no dates.

Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria have agreed to establish a joint information center in Baghdad to coordinate their operations against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL/ISIS) militants, according to sources.

"The main goal of the center will be gathering, processing and analyzing current information about the situation in the Middle East - primarily for fighting IS," a military-diplomatic source told Russian news agencies on Saturday.

The information center in the Iraqi capital will be headed by an officer of one of the founding countries on a rotating basis. Rotation will take place every three months. According to the source, Iraq will run the center for the next three months.

Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria may also use the information center to coordinate anti-IS combat plans, the source said, adding that the agreement is a milestone for uniting the region's countries in the war on terrorism - primarily on Islamic State militants.

1. Syrian armed forces have successfully defended the strategically important province of Latakia, sweeping much of it from Islamist militants. The threat of the Syrian state being landlocked is gone, more or less stable front line was formed in Latakia.


2. A threat by the Islamists of splitting Syria into two parts is removed - as a result of nearly two months of active defense of the highway Homs-Damascus government troops retained control of the important line of transport communications.

3. As a result of limited SAA offensive (troops loyal to Assad ) a bridgehead was captured for an attack on Palmyra, held by the ISIS militants - the complex of monuments of historical and cultural heritage, a strategically important transport hub and a regional center and a psychologically significant point on the map - the liberation of Palmyra many Syrian soldiers consider a matter of national honor.

It's a rare and precious moment when a politician does something which perfectly demonstrates what he or she really thinks about democracy and power. This is one of those times.

From the Intercept:

The Supreme Court, in its Citizens United decision, ruled that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts in elections. Now politicians in Kentucky are claiming they have a Constitutional right to receive gifts from lobbyists.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Republican Kentucky state Sen. John Schickel, along with two Libertarian political candidates, are suing to overturn state ethics laws, claiming that the campaign contribution limit of $1,000 and a ban on gifts from lobbyists and their employers are a violation of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The lawsuit notes that lobbyists and the employers of lobbyists are prohibited by Kentucky law from inviting legislators to parties, offering gifts, or paying for food for legislators. "This infringes on the legislator's, lobbyist's, and employer of lobbyist's right to freedom of association, and freedom of speech," Schickel claims in the suit.

Kentucky's ethics laws were passed in 1992 after an FBI investigation exposed a number of local politicians selling their votes.

Corporations have increasingly turned to new interpretations of the First Amendment as a legal strategy. Bond-rating agencies that gave high grades to toxic mortgage-backed securities claimed in court that doing so was their First Amendment right. Lobbyists have argued that food-labeling laws undermine the meat industry's right to free speech. And similarly, AT&T recently argued that net neutrality violates the ISP industry's First Amendment rights.

Two words: Banana Republic.

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The US government uses enormous corporate fines to strengthen its economy and play the role of world's financial police force.

The ongoing diesel scandal may cost Volkswagen up to $18 billion in the US. This is going to be one of the largest settlements between a company and the US government.

Washington has imposed enormous penalties on companies and banks to play the role of world financial gendarme, according to an article on Gazeta.Ru.

Recently, it was revealed that around five million Volkswagen passenger vehicles worldwide operate with software that cheats emission tests. Volkswagen's diesel cars were found to be emitting up to 20 times more greenhouse gases than they reported.

In a potentially provocative move, the US has deployed a number of its nuclear-capable A-10 ground attack planes in Estonia in direct vicinity of the Russian border.

The A-10 "tank busters" arrived at the Ämari Air Base as part of a flying training deployment in support of NATO's Operation Atlantic Resolve on August 22.

In Moscow, defense expert and political analyst Ivan Konovalov described the stationing of US ground attack aircraft close to the Russian border as nothing short of a provocation.

Practically a third of asylum seekers coming to Europe have forged Syrian passports and IDs to make naturalization easier, the German government admits as it deploys troops to handle the refugee crisis.

Some 527,000 migrants have arrived in Germany this year. About 30 percent of these pretending to be Syrians come from different countries, Tobias Plate, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said on Friday.

The explanation is rather simple: asylum seekers from Syria are registered quicker. Official data suggest 87 percent of Syrian refugees get asylum in Germany. So the business of forged Syrian passports and IDs being sold for less than $1,000 apiece is flourishing.

A game changer that leads to peace?

New sounds are being heard at NATO: for the first time, NATO criticizes not the arch-enemy Russia, but the Government in Kiev, which is funded by the EU, telling them to adhere to the Minsk agreements.

Whether Kiev can be trusted to adhere to anything, is another question: The country's extreme right have imposed a blockade of Crimea [contrary to Minsk] — without the government obstructing them at all.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has called upon Ukraine to implement the peace plan for the war zone in Donbass. "It is extremely important that Ukraine continue to implement all aspects of the Minsk agreements," he said on Tuesday in Kiev. No other solution to the conflict exists. Stoltenberg was attending a meeting of the Ukrainian Security Council, the first NATO chief to do so. He then signed an agreement on a planned NATO representative in Kiev.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko confirmed plans for a referendum on a possible NATO membership for the former Soviet republic. "De jure we are not a member of NATO, but de facto we are more than just partners," stressed Poroshenko.

Since early September in eastern Ukraine, a ceasefire between government forces and the rebels is holding reasonably well. In fact, that is why the OSCE is concerned that the Donbass civilian population could be exposed to extreme cold during the winter, without being able to protect themselves. The water system has been destroyed virtually throughout the region, many areas are mined. The OSCE called on Ukraine a few days ago to withdraw their army, so that the residents in rebel-controlled areas with the worst damage can do at least makeshift repairs.

There is disagreement, however, over [two aspects of the Mink agreement] a desired weapons withdrawal from the front, as well as local elections according to Ukrainian law in the breakaway regions. The rebels showed a willingness to compromise, possibly to postpone their planned October 18 and November 1 elections till the end of February. In the Belarusian capital Minsk, the Ukraine Contact Group wanted to discuss on Tuesday the peace plan.