On 23rd August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky bestowed a number of "state awards" upon "citizens of foreign countries", among them Scottish National Party MP Stewart McDonald. While he hailed the bauble on Twitter as a "wonderful birthday surprise", it's hard to imagine he was was particularly flabbergasted to receive it.

The SNP's defence spokesperson has established himself as parliament's most voluble and zealous advocate for Kiev by some margin, in turn also cementing a position as a prominent and pugnacious critic of the Kremlin, his Russophobic conspiracy theorising on social media being an almost daily staple.

Strangely, it wasn't always this way - in fact, in the three years after he was first elected MP 8th May 2015, he exhibited little interest in Russia and literally none in Ukraine.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is meeting other opposition politicians in an effort to avert a no-deal Brexit. It comes as the British government seeks to renegotiate Theresa May's Brexit deal with the EU.

The Prime Minister's spokeswoman said Tuesday he has set out a "range of options" as an alternative to the Irish backstop.

Asked by journalists about reports the prime minister was happy to accept the rest of Mrs May's Brexit withdrawal deal if the backstop was removed, she said he had been clear the changes he was seeking were to the backstop only.

But Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said the withdrawal agreement was the "worst deal in history" even if the backstop was removed.

Economists have repeatedly tried to explain to Donald Trump that trade agreements may affect which countries the US buys from and sells to, but not the magnitude of the overall deficit. But, as usual, Trump believes what he wants to believe, leaving those who can least afford it to pay the price.

In the new world wrought by US President Donald Trump, where one shock follows another, there is never time to think through fully the implications of the events with which we are bombarded. In late July, the Federal Reserve Board reversed its policy of returning interest rates to more normal levels, after a decade of ultra-low rates in the wake of the Great Recession. Then, the United States had another two mass gun killings in under 24 hours, bringing the total for the year to 255 - more than one a day. And a trade war with China, which Trump had tweeted would be "good, and easy to win," entered a new, more dangerous phase, rattling markets and posing the threat of a new cold war.

At one level, the Fed move was of little import: a 25-basis-point change will have little consequence. The idea that the Fed could fine-tune the economy by carefully timed changes in interest rates should by now have long been discredited - even if it provides entertainment for Fed watchers and employment for financial journalists. If lowering the interest rate from 5.25% to essentially zero had little impact on the economy in 2008-09, why should we think that lowering rates by 0.25% will have any observable effect? Large corporations are still sitting on hoards of cash: it's not a lack of liquidity that's stopping them from investing.

The prospect of a Ukrainian engine factory selling out to China has so alarmed Washington that none other than national security adviser John Bolton is seeking to stop it. The US didn't bother making a counter-offer, either.

Bolton is headed to Kiev after the G7 summit in France, and said on Monday he was looking forward to meetings with "partners" there, to support the government's vision for a "stronger and more prosperous Ukraine."

He did not comment, however, on the Wall Street Journal story from Friday that one of those meetings will involve the fate of Motor Sich, which is seeking approval from a Kiev watchdog to sell the controlling stake to two Chinese companies. This has raised alarms in Washington, where hawks worry that Beijing will acquire more than just the plant in Zaporozhye, but the technology and expertise to build helicopter and airplane engines.

The nuclear incident that killed five scientists at a Russian range on August 8 was related to the development of weapons being built in response to the US decision to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002.

"The nuclear accident that occurred had nothing to do with nuclear testing and is not under the purview of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty [adopted by the UN in 1996]," Aleksey Karpov, Russia's deputy permanent envoy to international organizations in Vienna, said on Monday.

Karpov said the testing related to "retaliatory measures in connection with the US unilateral withdrawal" from the landmark 1972 arms control treaty to limit anti-ballistic missile systems (ABM treaty), which the US withdrew from in 2002.

According to Russian nuclear agency Rosatom, the accident happened on board a sea platform in the Arkhangelsk region, while the scientists were working on an "isotope power source" for a "liquid-propellant engine."

The Pentagon has accused China of "coercive interference" with Vietnamese oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea, saying that such "bullying tactics" are violating international rules and norms in the Indo-Pacific region.

On Monday, the US Department of Defense said it was "greatly concerned" at Chinese activities, but offered no specifics other than it being related to oil and gas. It accused Beijing of violating the pledge made by Defense Minister Wei Fenghe at the Shangri-La Dialogue, to "stick to the path of peaceful development."

China will "not win the trust of its neighbors nor the respect of the international community," the Pentagon statement said.

The US sees the region as a "free and open" place where "all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty, free from coercion, and able to pursue economic growth consistent with accepted international rules and norms," the Pentagon concluded.

Last week, a Chinese survey ship sailed into the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claimed by Vietnam, prompting protests from Washington. The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded that the US was "sowing division" in the region.

The United States wants to initiate direct talks with the Houthi movement in an attempt to end the war in Yemen, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Trump administration is looking to prompt Saudi Arabia into taking part in secret talks in Oman with Houthi leaders to broker a cease-fire in Yemen, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the plans.

The US plan comes at a time when fears of broader regional war are growing, according to the report.

The Trump administration views Houthi forces in Yemen as "Iran proxies" and says Tehran should be held responsible for rocket and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia, the report said. Over recent months, the Houthi militants have conducted several drone attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities.

A Washington, DC, mom says her political-consultant husband left her for Rep. Ilhan Omar, according to a bombshell divorce filing obtained by The Post.

Dr. Beth Jordan Mynett says her cheating spouse, Tim Mynett, told her in April that he was having an affair with the Somali-born US representative and that he even made a "shocking declaration of love" for the Minnesota congresswoman before he ditched his wife, alleges the filing, submitted in DC Superior Court on Tuesday.

The physician, 55, and her 38-year-old husband — who has worked for left-wing Democrats such as Omar and her Minnesota predecessor, Keith Ellison — have a 13-year-old son together.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Tuesday that he will accept the offer of international aid to help fight the fires raging across the Amazon rainforest, but that French President Emmanuel Macron must first apologize to him.

Bolsonaro appeared offended by Macron's comments related to his handling of the unfolding crisis in the Amazon, and wanted them retracted.

"And then we can speak," he said, according to The Associated Press.

The Brazilian leader's demand for an apology follows Macron lashing out after a Bolsonaro supporter mocked Macron's wife, Brigitte, in a Facebook post, comparing her to Bolsonaro's wife, Michelle, and suggesting Macron was jealous.

Bolsonaro commented on the post in Portuguese, "don't humiliate the guy ... haha," leading Macron to respond during the Group of Seven summit on Monday that the comment was "very disrespectful."

"He said very disrespectful things about my wife. I have great respect for the Brazilian people and can only hope they soon have a president who is up to the job," Macron said.

Last week, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffed all existing Rules of Engagement (ROE) in Iraq and Lebanon, showing his readiness for war and an apparent willingness to ignite it. For the first time since 2006 his drones violated the old rules of engagement; an Israeli drone exploded in a southern suburb of Beirut, in unclear circumstances. Despite this lack of clarity and the attack's less than obvious conditions and objective, a few hours later Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah promised to attack Israel in retaliation for the killing of two Hezbollah operatives in Syria. Now Netanyahu has attacked again. Israeli jet attacked a 1982 base of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command FPLP-GC) in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley. This is a strong indication that Netanyahu accepts the challenge launched by Nasrallah, with all its consequences. It also indicates the continuation of Israel's policy of provocation, its "long arm" that, it is claimed, can reach any target (without exception!), and its willingness to teeter on the edge of the abyss of war.

There is room for doubt about the explosion of a suicide drone in the suburb of Beirut, particularly as the objective was apparently insignificant from the intelligence and military points of view (damage to an empty building where the Hezbollah public relations office is situated) as reported by the local media. Nevertheless, it is clear that Israel would not risk of war with Hezbollah after 13 years of abstinence without targeting a substantial objective worthy of Hezbollah's predictable reaction. Most probably, Prime Minister Netanyahu evaluated that the destruction of the target in the suburb of Beirut with a suicide drone could save many Israeli lives, and that the death of a few Israeli soldiers as "collateral damage" - a certain consequence of Hezbollah's forthcoming hit - is an acceptable loss.

But it is highly unlikely that Israeli intelligence failed to identify the target Israel hit in Aqraba, 15 km from Damascus airport, used as a base for Hezbollah in Syria. Israel may have wrongly identified the house as an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base - it is easy to guess that wherever the IRGC is present, Hezbollah is with it in Syria - a mistake that led to the killing of two Hezbollah members.