I need to start of off the bat with an update to this piece, which I started writing yesterday, since I now know that Angela Merkel actually did invite Alexis Tsipras on Monday. It only took her two months.... But that doesn't take away anything from my point that Merkel has been sorely lacking and missing, it just goes to prove that point.

And if she doesn't get her act together very quickly (why not ask Tsipras to be in Berlin tomorrow morning?!), this will, I've said it before, go down as her main legacy. She will be known as the person who let Europe slip into war, for no good reason whatsoever. Here's what I started off with last night (Oz time):

The increasing ugliness of the 'negotiations' between the Greek Syriza government and the rest of the eurozone, which is ruled by the German government, needs to be halted and put in reverse. There is an urgent need for a detente, for cooler heads and for trust. And there is only one person who can act to create these things: Angela Merkel. But Merkel is nowhere to be found or seen.

The North Korean leadership will come to Moscow in May for the celebration of victory in World War II, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has announced. If Kim Jong-un pays a visit in person, this would be his first foreign trip as head of state.

Lavrov, however, didn't specify if it was Kim Jong-un who had accepted the invitation.

Earlier, South Korea's Unification Ministry explained to the Yonhap news agency that the word "leader" could also mean Kim Yong-nam, the nominal head of state.

The Kremlin invited 68 world leaders to participate in Moscow's celebrations of the 70th anniversary of victory over the Nazi Germany in World War II, Lavrov said on Tuesday. Twenty-six have already confirmed their visits. The heads of UNESCO and the Council of Europe have also said they will come to Moscow.

"Among those who have confirmed they will attend the coming events are Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the presidents of South Africa, Mongolia and Vietnam, and the leaders of Cuba and North Korea," Lavrov said. "As for the participation of European leaders, this is being influenced by current US actions and aggressive forces inside the EU."

But a number of European leaders have chosen to participate - among them Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Macedonia, Montenegro and Norway.

"The game is rigged, the network is bugged, the government talks double-speak, the courts are complicit and there's nothing you can do about it."—David Kravets, reporting for Wired

Nothing you write, say, text, tweet or share via phone or computer is private anymore. As constitutional law professor Garrett Epps points out, "Big Brother is watching.... Big Brother may be watching you right now, and you may never know. Since 9/11, our national life has changed forever. Surveillance is the new normal."

This is the reality of the internet-dependent, plugged-in life of most Americans today.

A process which started shortly after 9/11 with programs such as Total Information Awareness (the predecessor to the government's present surveillance programs) has grown into a full-fledged campaign of warrantless surveillance, electronic tracking and data mining, thanks to federal agents who have been given carte blanche access to the vast majority of electronic communications in America. Their methods completely undermine constitution safeguards, and yet no federal agency, president, court or legislature has stepped up to halt this assault on our rights.

For the most part, surveillance, data mining, etc., is a technological, jargon-laden swamp through which the average American would prefer not to wander. Consequently, most Americans remain relatively oblivious to the government's ever-expanding surveillance powers, appear unconcerned about the fact that the government is spying on them, and seem untroubled that there is no way of opting out of this system. This state of delirium lasts only until those same individuals find themselves arrested or detained for something they did, said or bought that runs afoul of the government's lowering threshold for what constitutes criminal activity.

All the while, Congress, the courts, and the president (starting with George W. Bush and expanding exponentially under Barack Obama) continue to erect an electronic concentration camp the likes of which have never been seen before.

A good case in point is the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), formerly known as CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act). Sold to the public as necessary for protecting us against cyber attacks or internet threats such as hacking, this Orwellian exercise in tyranny-masquerading-as-security actually makes it easier for the government to spy on Americans, while officially turning Big Business into a government snitch.

Be warned: this cybersecurity bill is little more than a wolf in sheep's clothing or, as longtime critic Senator Ron Wyden labeled it, "a surveillance bill by another name."

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Friday that Kiev has arms deliveries contracts with several EU countries, including supplies of lethal weaponry.

"The head of state announced that Ukraine has contracts with a range of EU countries on delivery of weaponry, including lethal," a statement on Poroshenko's official website said.

According to the statement, the European Union has lifted its embargo on arms deliveries to Ukraine. The restrictions were introduced in February 2014 to prevent the government of then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych from allegedly using weapons against its own people.

President Poroshenko was cited in the statement as saying that if "aggression against Ukraine" escalated further, "we will immediately see lethal arms deliveries and a new wave of sanctions against the aggressor."

Following the announcement, Donetsk militia's deputy commander in eastern Ukraine, Eduard Basurin, refuted Kiev's claim of arms contracts with EU nations as a crude overstatement, adding the Ukrainian president was possibly talking about deals with private companies.

Around $1 million of CIA money given to Afghanistan via a secret fund was reportedly used in 2010 to pay the ransom for an Afghan diplomat held by Al-Qaeda.

Abdul Khaliq Farahi was kidnapped in 2008 while he was the Afghan consul general in Peshawar, Pakistan, just weeks before he was due to begin his new post as Kabul's ambassador in Pakistan, the New York Times reported. He was eventually handed to Al-Qaeda.

His release came two years later once Afghanistan paid Al-Qaeda $5 million in ransom. A fifth of that ransom came from a monthly-cash fund set up by the CIA, NYT reported.


At the time of the ransom payment, Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden worried that the CIA money had a tracking device implanted in it, or it was poisoned or irradiated, according to NYT. He asked for the money be converted to another currency.

Bin Laden's communications about the payment were found during the 2011 raid by US special forces on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Chuck Norris has said the pillar of power in the Israeli poll is Benjamin Netanyahu and his party. Calling for a "strong leader," the actor said if the country fails to re-elect the prime minister... "evil forces can concentrate on America."

The 75-years old US actor, known for playing tough guys in the movies, said he watched Netanyahu's speech to Congress and "saw a strong leader which is absolutely crucial for the safety of the Israeli people."


Norris said he has made several movies in Israel and "formed many friendships while there." In his YouTube video, he added that it was important to "keep a leader who has the courage and vision to stand up against the evil forces that are threatening not only Israel but the United States."

Food products from Hungary, Greece and Cyprus may be the first to return to Russian supermarket shelves once the food embargo ends, said Sergei Dankvert, head of Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian agricultural watchdog.

Russia is discussing the possibility of sending inspectors to Hungary, Greece and Cyprus in order to audit suppliers and ensure immediate exports after the sanctions are lifted, said RSN citing Dankvert.

After the issue is resolved, the service will allow deliveries only from suppliers audited by experts from the European Union, as there was long-term lack of supply, he said.

Russia invested three billion dollars in Ukrainian government bonds. After a year-long civil war with ethnic Russians and constant demonisation of Russia and its leaders, Ukraine is crawling back to Moscow asking for help.

Broken promises and lost partners: Ukraine is sinking in the crisis

Ukraine is negotiating with its creditors on a debt cut which among others EU citizens have to finance. The US asset manager Franklin Templeton is the largest creditor. But Russia also invested three billion dollars in Ukrainian government bonds and rejects a cut.

On Friday the Ukrainian government will hold talks with their bond creditors about possible debt restructuring. Investors are thought to be willing to accept a debt cut of 40 to 50 percent if an insolvency of Ukraine can be thus averted, the Financial Times reports.

However, alleviating the debt burden of the country can only be possible if the Kremlin cooperates. Russia is one of the largest bond creditors of Ukraine. But Kiev will not grant special priority to Moscow in negotiations on the debt-restructuring. The largest creditor of Ukraine is the US asset manager Franklin Templeton. Since 2010 the US company has invested over seven billion dollars in Ukrainian government bonds.

Though some financial analysts have an opinion that there will be no cut. Instead the debt-repayment dates can be temporarily stretched, former ING banker Robert Grant says. Finally, during the past debt-restructurings no debt cut was allowed. In the current year Ukraine must pay foreign debts of about eight billion dollars. Three billion thereof were provided by Russia. Last month the Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that Russia had already included these three billion dollars in the current household budget. Apparently, Russia will insist on payment of the sum.

"War with Iran is probably our best option." This is an actual headline from the Washington Post.

Yes it's an op-ed, but don't fantasize that it's part of some sort of balanced wide-ranging array of varied opinions. The Washington Post wouldn't print a column advocating peace to save its life — as such an act just might help to do. And you can imagine the response if the headline had been: "Racism is probably our best option," or "Rape is probably our best option," or "Child abuse is probably our best option." Nobody would object: "But they've probably had lots of columns opposing child abuse. Surely they can have one in favor, or do you want to shut down debate?" No, some things are rightly considered beyond the range of acceptability. War, in Washington, is not one of them.

Now, war propaganda is illegal under the International Covenant on Civic and Political Rights. War itself is illegal under the Kellogg-Briand Pact and the United Nations Charter. But the Washington Post isn't one to worry about legal niceties.

Daniel Rosen, already facing charges for soliciting sex from a minor, was arrested again on Sunday for secretly videotaping 24 women undressing in their homes.

The 44-year-old State Department official, who serves as the Department's director of counterterrorism programs and policy, made headlines last month for his illicit sexual misconduct involving underaged girls. Rosen was out on bail when he was arrested again on Sunday, this time after police found evidence of 40 different incidents over the past six months, when Rosen used his cellphone to film women without their knowledge, the Daily Beast reported.

Police found the footage when they searched his phone following his arrest in February on charges of soliciting a minor girl for sex.

Though only some of the victims have been identified, police have confirmed that all the footage was shot in the DC neighborhoods of Adams Morgan, U Street, and Mount Pleasant, where Rosen lives and where he was arrested on Sunday.

Rosen has been charged with voyeurism and stalking, since he filmed many of the women more than once. Police confirmed that all the victims were over the age of 18.