While growing up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, just a short train ride away from New York City, I always heard tales of my distant cousin, Frank Serpico "the Cop", from my father, my aunt, and my grandmother. From what I understood, he is my grandmother's third cousin, and all I knew as a kid was that he stood up to corruption among police and got shot in the face for it.

As a kid I didn't quite understand his importance yet, but when I grew up and started questioning the world around me, particularly my religious upbringing and then the government, I began to see all of the evil and corruption at the heart of society - I soon realized what a great man Frank truly is. I eventually became more interested in Frank after seeing the movie "Serpico" (1973) starring Al Pacino (based on a biography also titled Serpico written by Peter Maas) and it dawned on me how questioning authority and exposing corruption might just run in my blood. Although semi-famous, I found that hardly anyone of my generation knew who he was, let alone what he did and how important it is. I've never actually met Frank, although I would certainly like to - so if you're reading this, Serpico, don't hesitate to reach out!

With the increasing militarization of police departments, rampant police brutality across the country, the sparking of the Black Lives Matter movement, and roughly 1000 people killed by police officers in 2015 alone (well over 1000 according to killedbypolice.net), we are dealing with something serious in this country. I feel now is more important than ever for more people (particularly those of my generation) to be aware of who Frank Serpico is, what he did at great risk to his own life, and why it's important. We must all speak out about militarization of police, police brutality, and other instances of corruption in law enforcement, and it is especially important for the few remaining good cops, those who truly want to change the oppressive atmosphere within the police force that Serpico endured, to also speak out.

Saudi Arabia continues to shock the world with its crimes against civilians in Yemen. On this occasion, the Saudi-led coalition attacked the day-care centre for blind children, located in the Yemeni capital city of Sana'a.

Whilst exact information about the victims of the air raid are not confirmed, it has been reported at least 3 are dead. The blow to the Yemeni civilians was inflicted at a time when they were all sleeping. This explains the complete lack of reaction to a war crime by the USA, European countries, as well as the so-called "human rights" organizations who like to talk about non-existent victims of the Russia, Syria and other undesirables to the West countries.

Kosovo is often cited by liberal interventionists as NATO's success story and now a reason for attacking Syria. However, the ongoing lawlessness in the country shows nothing could be further from the truth.

In 1999, NATO bombed Yugoslavia for 78 days, culminating in the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops from the Serbian province of Kosovo. Tens of thousands were killed or maimed by the airstrikes, and Kosovo was carved out as a NATO statelet under the control of UNMIK (the United Nations Mission in Kosovo) in alliance with its local quislings the Kosovo Liberation Army (the KLA).

Last month's parliamentary debate on British airstrikes in Syria witnessed several MPs citing the operation as a great success. Labour MP Ivan Lewis was "proud of the difficult choices that we made" in Kosovo and elsewhere, which he claimed "saved hundreds of thousands of lives".


Kosovo was particularly held up by those supporting British military action in Syria as an example of how airstrikes alone, without support from ground forces, can be victorious. Mocking those who argued that "coalition action which rests almost wholly on bombing...will have little effect", Margaret Beckett responded "well, tell that to the Kosovans, and do not forget that if there had not been any bombing in Kosovo perhaps 1 million Albanian Muslim refugees would be seeking refuge in Europe."

Images of malnourished children from the town of Madraya have emerged on the internet. The photos are so shocking that I refuse to share them as they are a testament to the evil that lies within humans. It is inconceivable that such suffering can be brought onto innocent children who had no choice or say in the war.

What has emerged however is the myth that 'Assad and his army' are besieging the town, and that he is the one bringing this suffering upon his own people. This is the very people that he claims he is fighting to protect from jihadist forces.

The Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) ran with the line that Madaya has been 'under siege for seven months by Syrian government forces and Hezbollah militias.' It makes a passing mention that Ahrar ash-Sham are holed up in the town of 40,000 people, but fails to mention that Ahrar ash-Sham are a key ally to Al-Qaeda's franchise in Syria, Jabhat Al-Nusra and shares its radical ideology.

Even if Ahrar ash-Sham are holed up in the city, how does this even remotely justify the food shortages and the blockade the government is imposing on Madaya? Nothing can justify such a blockade.

However, what if I was to suggest that Madaya is not under a food blockade from 'the regime', but that the food shortage is caused by the Ahrar ash-Sham militants attempting to force the hands of the Syrian government to ease the campaign on the besieged terrorist group?

This very real prospect has not been considered by usual propagandist from the ABC, BBC, The Guardian and the usual ilk who cannot go on and do simple investigative work as it might threaten their simplistic paradigm on understanding the multifaceted and complex Syrian War.

The BBC has been forced to defend itself against claims it made a deliberate political intervention to discredit Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn by arranging for Shadow Minister Stephen Doughty to resign live on air.

Doughty resigned on the BBC's flagship Daily Politics show just before Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) on Wednesday, in the wake of a cabinet reshuffle by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The controversy centers around a blog post, since deleted, in which it was claimed BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg "sealed the deal" to get Doughty to resign on air.


The post, written by BBC producer Andrew Alexander, is alleged to have said: "Just before 9am we learned from Laura Kuenssberg, who comes on the program every Wednesday ahead of PMQs, that she was speaking to one junior shadow minister who was considering resigning.

"I wonder, mused our presenter Andrew Neil, if they would consider doing it live on the show?"

The proposition was then put to Kuenssberg, who though it a "great idea."

The UN Library has created a media storm by publishing information about its most borrowed book of 2015. Titled 'Heads of State and State Officials for International Crimes,' the publication advises world leaders on how to literally get away with murder.


The Dag Hammarskjold Library, named after the former secretary general of the organization who died in 1961, tried to create a little bit of publicity for itself, by posting a tweet of the most borrowed book of 2015. However, the results proved to be both surprising and embarrassing for the library.

Top of the checkout list proved to be a doctoral thesis from the University of Lucerne by Ramona Pedretti, who wrote about whether heads of states can be charged with war crimes in foreign courts.

Her thesis concludes that leaders in power cannot be prosecuted while they are serving as the head of government, so the likes of Robert Mugabe or Bashar Assad would not be able to be prosecuted under US jurisdiction at present. However, once they step down, they can be charged by foreign courts.

US Assistant Secretary of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance Frank Rose will visit Kiev to hold discussions with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Space Agency, and the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the State Department said in a press release.

During the January 18-20 visit to Ukraine, Rose will also participate in a ceremony marking the update of the bilateral Nuclear Risk Reduction Center (NRRC) communications link at the Ministry of Defense, the release stated on Friday.

While the US has touted its bombing campaign against terrorists in Syria, a closer look at the numbers reveals that for every militant killed, another is recruited.

Since the US began military operations in Syria, the Pentagon's strategy has been to kill every individual associated with the Daesh terrorist group, also known as IS/the Islamic State.

"If you're part of ISIL, we will kill you. That's our rule," Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, told reporters earlier this week.

Washington is having to work to retrieve a dummy US Hellfire missile used for NATO training in Spain after it was reportedly sent to Cuba by mistake. America fears that Cubans may steal the advanced technology.

The mishap occurred in 2014, as the missile was mistakenly shipped from Europe to Cuba, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Although the device can't do any damage, as it doesn't contain any explosives, there are fears the Cuban government could share the technology with foreign powers, such as North Korea or China. A US official with knowledge of the situation, who wanted to remain anonymous, confirmed the mishap to AP.

A Turkish-owned hotel in Russia has reportedly ceased operation as a result of sanctions imposed by Moscow against Ankara after it shot down a Russian fighter jet in Syrian skies last November.

The Swissotel Krasnye Kholmy, located near the Paveletskaya metro station in the capital Moscow, stopped taking reservations on December 30, 2015. "Right now we are trying to find out from the authorities how the economic sanctions [could] influence our business," said Eva-Maria Panzer, spokeswoman for the Swissotel Hotels & Resorts.

Moscow introduced a package of sanctions against Ankara in late November 2015, after a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian aircraft near Syria's border with Turkey, killing one of the two pilots on board. Ankara claimed the Russian bomber had violated the Turkish airspace, but Moscow denied the allegation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned relations between the two countries could suffer "serious consequences" and described the Turkish move as a "stab in the back."Russia's anti-Ankara measures also include a ban on charter flights to Turkey, which started on December 1, 2015, and the suspension of visa-free travel for Turkish nationals from January 1.In addition, Moscow imposed a ban on hiring Turkish nationals and halted the import of many Turkish products.

The sanctions include a list of prohibited activities for Turkish companies in Russia, which involve the tourism sector. On Thursday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said the Russian-imposed sanctions on his nation could cost, as a base case scenario, about $3.1 billion.