Manila (AFP) - Longtime allies the Philippines and the United States start annual, large-scale military exercises on Monday after President Barack Obama vowed "ironclad" backing for Manila as a territorial dispute with China simmers.

The two-week Balikatan or "shoulder-to-shoulder" drills involving 5,500 American and Filipino soldiers begin just days after Obama assured Manila his government was committed to a 1951 mutual defence treaty.

The allies last week bolstered their ties with a new defence agreement signed ahead of a visit by Obama giving American forces greater access to Philippine bases -- part of a US rebalancing of military power towards rising Asia.

"What President Obama said was a reaffirmation of our treaty," Philippine military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala said.

U.S. officials blamed Israel's "expropriating land on a large scale" to build colonies "on the territory meant for that [Palestinian] state" as the "primary" reason for the recent negotiations' failure, in a must-read Ynet interview with historic implications. This rare moment of honesty from anonymous officials of the dishonest broker stands in sharp contrast to the collapse of the Barak/Arafat Camp David talks, following which Israel's apologists seized on the Clinton administration's blaming of Arafat to disseminate the Myth of the Generous Offer.

Finally, for the first time in the history of the U.S. being Israel's lawyer, the superpower has copped to one of the fundamental flaws of the peace process: one cannot negotiate over a pizza with a bully while the bully devours the pizza! "What they told me is the closest thing to an official American version of what happened," writes Nahum Barnea. Put more plainly, indigenous people who are being oppressed by a colonial power cannot negotiate with the colonial power while the colonial power continues to steal, ethnically cleanse, and colonize their land.

"Only now, after talks blew up, did we learn that this is also about expropriating land on a large scale,"

A credulous U.S. official complained, going much farther than any comment Sec. Kerry has made either on or off the record. Apparently the unnamed officials haven't been reading Electronic Intifada, Haaretz, +972mag, our site, or any of the other publications that might have informed them of this reality long ago.

"I guess we need another Intifada to create the circumstances that would allow progress,"

One anonymous official asserted, clarifying that while they don't want that to happen, the lack of a 'sense of urgency' necessitates one. Perhaps a way to interpret this comment is the recognition that the current balance of power so drastically favors Israel, that only if the state came under extreme pressure - for example, through a massive popular uprising (let's think Intifada I, which was largely nonviolent) and a huge increase in international support for the BDS Movement - would Israel make the concessions necessary for negotiations to lead anywhere meaningful.

Of course, never did the unnamed U.S. officials speculate that cutting U.S. military aid to Israel might help create a 'sense of urgency,' nor did the U.S. officials acknowledge their own role as a dishonest broker being one of the main causes of the talks' failure.

Despite ongoing sanctions, Russia is about to get a big infusion of cash from the U.S. government.

NASA recently renewed a contract that allows Russia to ferry U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station.The United States is, essentially, cutting Russia a $457.9 million check for its services - six seats on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, training and launch prep, landing and crew rescue and limited cargo delivery to and from the International Space Station.

This contract also adds additional support at the Russian launch site.NASA has announced it is cutting some contacts with Russia after the country annexed Crimea, including meetings and teleconferences.

The move came after President Barack Obama last month signed an executive order allowing restrictions on dealings with some of Russia's largest sectors, including financial services, energy and defense.

The United States is currently considering additional sanctions against Russia.

But some NASA initiatives just can't be stopped, underscoring the reliance the United States has on Russia for its space program.

The most important is, essentially, the taxi service to the International Space Station.

Although the United States operates the International Space Station, it is dependent on Russia to get astronauts there. When the United States retired the space shuttle, it left NASA with no way to get astronauts to the space station. So it inked a contract with Russia to provide rides to the Space Station, which is 240 miles above Earth.

Acting Sevastopol Governor Sergey Menyailo offered condolences to the families of those killed in the Ukrainian Black Sea port city

The Russian federal city of Sevastopol has declared a three-day mourning for those killed at the Odessa House of Trade Unions. Entertainment events are limited until May 5. The republican flags are lowered half-mast at state administrative buildings throughout the Russian Republic of Crimea.

Acting Sevastopol Governor Sergey Menyailo offered condolences to the families of those killed in the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odessa and the main Ukrainian coalmining region Donbas.

Around 150 demonstrators in Odessa, southeastern Ukraine have blocked the regional Department of Interior building in protest against officers' inaction during Friday's bloody clashes, sparked by radicals, which left 46 people dead.

Protesters have threatened to storm the building and are demanding the resignation of Odessa's governor, Vladimir Nemirovsky, who they refer to as "the murderer." Activists want those responsible for the violence to be punished.

Meanwhile, hundreds of residents in the Black Sea port city are flocking to the House of Trade Unions, where dozens of people died in a fire after ultra-nationalists set the building ablaze with pro-autonomy activists inside on Friday. Over 200 people were injured in the blaze. Residents are bringing flowers and candles to commemorate those killed.

The Syrian government stressed that Turkey has regularly facilitated the entry of armed terrorist groups into the Kessab area in Syria's Lattakia province. An Armenian M.P. who visited Syria is calling on the world to wake up to the fact that thousands of extremists have crossed the Turkish- Syrian border and that missiles were fired from the Turkish side of the border. Armenians, who have long been looking at NATO as an ally and partner realize that the war on Syria, including the renewed ethnic cleansing of Armenian Christians in Syria is part of a long-term NATO strategy.

Syria's Minister of Information, Omran al-Zoubi, has denounced the Turkish government of P.M. Recep Tayyip Erdogan for regularly having facilitated the entry of armed terrorist groups into the Kessab area in the Lattakia province of Syria.Omran al-Zoubi stressed that the fighters which are crossing the border are not Syrians, but groups of foreign fighters, armed and trained by by Turkey, Gulf-Arab, and core NATO member states.

When grilled by Bret Baier on the newly-released Benghazi emails on Thursday, former White House national security spokesman Tommy Vietor apparently didn't know how to respond.

"Dude, this was like two years ago," he said at one point.

The latest Benghazi emails reveal an apparent coordinated effort to portray the Benghazi terror attacks as the result of a video to minimize the political fallout and protect President Barack Obama.

Baier asked Vietor why, if it means nothing as the White House claims, the new emails weren't released with other emails months ago. Instead, Judicial Watch had to wrestle the emails - described as a "smoking gun" by some - from the White House.

Today April 24^th is considered Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day by Armenians throughout the world. Yesterday for the very first time in history on the eve of the 99^th year anniversary of the Armenian genocide, the Turkish government abandoned its century long official wall of denial when the Turkish Prime Minister Recap Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences to Armenians around the world who lost ancestors at the hands of Ottoman Turks. It was a historic gesture welcomed by many including a handful of prominent and outspoken Turkish historians who have been encouraging the government to change its longstanding policy of denying that Turks ever killed Armenians at all. After reading his conciliatory message before the Turkish parliament, Erdogan received a warm reception from his ministers and legislators.

© Oliver Weiken/AFP/Getty ImagesBinyamin Netanyahu, centre, at the weekly meeting of his cabinet.

PM proposes rare change to basic law in response to 'constant and increasing assault' on aspects of Israel's legitimacy

Binyamin Netanyahu will push ahead with a rare change to Israel's basic laws - which amount to the country's constitution - to insist Israel is "the nation state of one people only - the Jewish people - and of no other people".

At Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the civil rights of minorities, including Arabs, would be guaranteed, and the move was vital at a time when aspects of Israel's legitimacy were "under a constant and increasing assault from abroad and at home".

Netanyahu proposed the change last week during a visit to Tel Aviv's Independence Hall, attracting fierce criticism from political rivals and support from some of his allies. The move follows a Palestinian refusal in peace talks to recognise the status that Netanyahu described.

The proposed law would be in addition to Israel's declaration of independence of May 1948 - the anniversary of which is celebrated on Tuesday - which defines Israel as a Jewish state.

Most of Israel's basic laws deal with procedural issues relating to elections, the appointment of the prime minister, state payments and the administration of the judiciary, but some laws have been more controversial, including the 1980 law that designated Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Chase Bank sent hundreds of letters this week to account holders who work in the adult entertainment industry informing them that they have until May 11 to close their accounts and find another bank.

XBiz.com, an industry newsletter, reported on workers who received the notices, including performer Teagan Presley.

"I got a letter and it was like please cancel all transactions, please fix your automatic pay account and make sure everything's taken care of by May 11," Presley told XBiz. "I called them and they told me that because I am, I guess, public and am recognizable in the adult business, they're closing my account. Even though I don't use my account, it's my personal account that I've had since I was 18, when it was Washington Mutual before Chase bought them out."