It's been a week of celebrations for Henry Kissinger. On Tuesday he turned 91, on Wednesday he broke his personal best in the 400m hurdles, and on Thursday in Copenhagen, he'll be clinking champagne flutes with the secretary general of Nato and the queen of Spain, as they celebrate 60 glorious years of Bilderberg. I just hope George Osborne remembered to pack a party hat.

Thursday is the opening day of the influential three-day summit and it's also the 60th anniversary of the Bilderberg Group's first meeting, which took place in Holland on 29 May 1954. So this year's event is a red-letter occasion, and the official participant list shows that the 2014 conference is a peculiarly high-powered affair.

The chancellor, at his seventh Bilderberg, is spending the next three days deep in conference with the heads of MI6, Nato, the International Monetary Fund, HSBC, Shell, BP and Goldman Sachs International, along with dozens of other chief executives, billionaires and high-ranking politicians from around Europe. This year also includes a visit from the supreme allied commander Europe, and a return of royalty - Queen Sofia of Spain and Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, the daughter of the Bilderberg founder Prince Bernhard.

The Farmers Insurance Company is suing 98 Illinois towns, Cook County, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, asserting they were insufficiently prepared to deal with the effects of global warming that allegedly caused heavy rains and flooding in those areas last spring, damaging property, which led to expensive claims against the company.

"During the past 40 years, climate change in Cook County has caused rains to be of greater volume, greater intensity and greater duration than pre-1970 rainfall history evidenced," reads the lawsuit, adding that the infrastructure systems used by the towns to manage the heavy rainfall apparently are "inaccurate and obsolete."

"This defendant knew or should have known that climate change in Cook County has resulted in greater rainfall volume, greater rainfall intensity and greater rainfall duration than pre-1970 rainfall history evidenced, resulting in greater stormwater runoff from a rainfall with Cook County and its Watersheds," state the plaintiffs.

As a result, the "defendant knew that, because of climate change-causing increased rainfall," it "had to increase stormwater storage capacity of its stormwater sewer system(s) to prevent sewer water invasions," claim the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit also states that in 2008, Cook County, the City of Chicago, and other municipalities had "adopted the scientific principle that climate change has caused increases in rainfall amount" and to help address the problem had adopted the Chicago Climate Action Plan.

The unipolar model of the world order has failed.
- Vladimir Putin, St Petersburg, May 22

In more ways than one, last week heralded the birth of a Eurasian century. Of course, the US$400 billion Russia-China gas deal was clinched only at the last minute in Shanghai, on Wednesday (a complement to the June 2013, 25-year, $270 billion oil deal between Rosneft and China's CNPC.)

Then, on Thursday, most of the main players were at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum - the Russian answer to Davos. And on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, fresh from his Shanghai triumph, addressed the participants and brought the house down.

It will take time to appraise last week's whirlwind in all its complex implications. Here are some of the St Petersburg highlights, in some detail. Were there fewer Western CEOs in town because the Obama administration pressured them - as part of the "isolate Russia" policy? Not many less; Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley may have snubbed it, but Europeans who matter came, saw, talked and pledged to keep doing business.

And most of all, Asians were ubiquitous. Consider this as yet another chapter of China's counterpunch to US President Barack Obama's Asian tour in April, which was widely described as the "China containment tour". [1]

On the first day at the St Petersburg forum I attended this crucial session on Russia-China strategic economic partnership. Pay close attention: the roadmap is all there. As Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao describes it: "We plan to combine the program for the development of Russia's Far East and the strategy for the development of Northeast China into an integrated concept."

That was just one instance of the fast-emerging Eurasia coalition bound to challenge the "indispensable" exceptionalists to the core. Comparisons to the Sino-Soviet pact are infantile. The putsch in Ukraine - part of Washington's pivot to "contain" Russia - just served to accelerate Russia's pivot to Asia, which sooner or late would become inevitable.

The US has fabricated evidence to back cyber espionage accusations against Chinese military officials, China's Defense and Foreign Ministries said.

"In the field of internet technology and infrastructure, the US is blessed with an advantage, so fabricating some so-called 'evidence' is certainly no hardship," Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said, as quoted by Reuters.

Last week, the US Justice Department (DOJ) accused five Chinese officers of hacking into American companies to steal trade secrets and pass them on to Chinese state-owned enterprises.

The summary of the alleged conduct released by the DOJ contained detailed information about the alleged perpetrators and their activities, which included domain names and email addresses used in the attacks.

But Geng compared Washington's evidence of Chinese cyber spying to its justification for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Back then, the Americans stated that Baghdad was in possession of weapons of mass destruction, but the accusations later appeared to be baseless.

"The international community has not seen the US' so-called proof. They've only seen the massive conflict and hardship endured by the people of Iraq," Geng stressed.

The harsh comments from the Defense Ministry were echoed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which also held a briefing on Thursday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gan used the same wording, saying that Washington's proof of Chinese cyber espionage is "fabricated."

President George W. Bush's former top counterterrorism official said this week that he is convinced that Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld all committed war crimes during the Iraq war.

In an interview that will air in full next week, Democracy Now's Amy Goodman asked former National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism Richard Clarke if "President Bush should be brought up on war crimes [charges], and Vice President Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, for the attack on Iraq."

"I think things that they authorized probably fall within the area of war crimes," Clarke agreed. "Whether that would be productive or not, I think, is a discussion we could all have."

Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed the historic Eurasian Economic Union which will come into effect in January 2015. Cutting down trade barriers and comprising over 170 million people it will be the largest common market in the ex-Soviet sphere.

"The just-signed treaty is of epoch-making, historic importance," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

The troika of countries will cooperate in energy, industry, agriculture, and transport.

"In fact, we are shaping the largest common market in the CIS, with huge production, scientific and technological potential and enormous natural resources," the President added.

Citizens of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan will have the right to work freely throughout the member states without having to be issued any special work permits, Putin said.

Over the last three years, trade within the Customs Union has increased by $23 billion, or nearly 50 percent. At the end of 2013, it stood at $66.2 billion.

Belarus and Kazakhstan are in third place in foreign trade with the Russian Federation, after the EU and China, Putin said.

The Russian leader said that the document brings Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus to a new level of integration yes lets each individual state fully retain its sovereignty.

Introduction: the broader background to the Ukrainian crisis

Before looking at the latest developments in the Ukraine, I think that it is important to at least mention two major developments involving Russia. First, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus have signed the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and they will soon be joined by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Second, China has officially called for a new security alliance with Russia and Iran thereby proving that all the naysayers who said that China did not really mean it to form an alliance with Russia were plain wrong. As I mentioned it in a previous SITREP the scope and nature of the recent economic agreements between Russia and China already constituted what I called a crypto-alliance and now we see the first official move by China to drop the 'crypto' part of it. Again, this is truly a major tectonic shift in world politics and, arguable, the creation of the most powerful coalition of countries in history. The title of Godfather of this new coalition should really go to the USA and Barak Obama who by his amazingly arrogant and hostile policies towards both China and Russia has greatly contributed to the forging of this alliance.

This process is far from over, by the way. Not only are there discussions to expand the BRICS to other countries (like Argentina), the SCO or CSTO could also be expanded to include countries such as Iran or Pakistan. AS for the Eurasian Economic Union, it will eventually morph into a single political entity, a Eurasian alliance which could include China in economic and/or security agreements.
The entire Eurasian landmass is slowly but inexorably becoming integrated into a zone free from AngloZionist control and free of the dollar. The writing is on the wall for the AngloZionist Empire.

Latest developments in the Ukraine

The Ukrainian offensive has seen yet another dramatic escalation with, for the first time, the use of "Grad" multiple rocket launchers on the city of Slaviansk. At least one Ukrainian helicopter, reportedly carrying a general and 12 other people, has been shot down by the Novorossia Defense Forces (NDF). Sporadic artillery fire, at times intensive, has been heard through the night and casualties continue to be brought into the local hospitals. Several Ukrainian units have put down their weapons and basically surrendered to the NDF. In Sebastopol special headquarters have been set up to deal with the flow of incoming refugees. In Kiev the Parliament is considering declaring martial law which would basically give unlimited power to the junta and suspend most civil rights.

CNN and Newsweek recently launched dubious tirades against what they called "conspiracy theories."

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal published "U.N. Considers Reopening Probe into 1961 Crash that Killed Dag Hammarskjöld", a report that broached the possibility that the United States may have been involved in the death of the secretary-general, who is shown in a file photo.

As a way to understand such varied messages, I urge readers to evaluate evidence with an open mind - and regard with special suspicion those commentators who slant their coverage with the loaded smear words "conspiracy theory" without citing specific evidence.

No one has time to investigate everything without preconceptions. For efficiency, we rely in part on slanted commentary by our favorite sources. But if the stakes are high and we want to be honest we should admit (at least to ourselves) that our preliminary conclusions should be subject to change based on new data.

My suggestions follow the spirit of the Justice Integrity Project's JFK Assassination "Readers Guide" last fall. That 11-part series began with a catalog of books, archives, reports and videos. Then it proceeded to assess various theories of President Kennedy's 1963 murder.

In the past, Belgian citizens and customers of French bank BNP Paribas had purchased an investment called Fortis B FIX 160 Equity. Because the investment was entirely made up of Belgian stocks, the capital gains on it were tax free.

But because of new tax laws passed by the government, these investments are no longer immune from capital gains taxes.

This law is retroactive back to July 2008, which means Belgian investors are now on the hook for a handful of new capital gains taxes about which they were never informed.

Jennifer Psaki has already become a symbol of Obama's cabinet weak foreign policy. Thus, unsurprisingly, some bloggers compare her dialogs with an AP writer Matthew Lee to live performances on Jon Stewart's satirical show.

Indeed, Jen Psaki's ludicrous notions regarding Victoria Nuland's bad habit of using foul language, or the mysterious 'carousel voting' in eastern Ukraine, or her embarrassing 'selfie' with #UnitedForUkraine hashtag, put into question the State Department spokesperson's professional competency and political sanity as well as of those who hired her.

On May 20, Jennifer Psaki reiterated the Ukrainian government's false allegations of terrorism against two Russian journalists for LifeNews, Marat Saichenko and Oleg Sidyakin, without thorough examination of the issue. "Reportedly, they were carrying manned portable anti-aircraft missiles in the trunks of their cars at the time of their detention," she said quoted by Reuters, "These are according to reports and our conversations with the Ukrainians on the ground," the spokeswoman added.