More than a dozen senior British military leaders are to sign a letter that will warn voters not to support leaving the EU in an upcoming referendum because doing so would compromise the UK's national security, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The letter, to be published this week, is being organized by Downing Street and will cite the threat from the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and "increasing Russian aggression" as the reasons why Britain should remain part of the European Union, the British newspaper said. Those likely to sign the letter include Admiral Lord Boyce, General Lord Stirrup and Field Marshal Lord Bramall, three former Chiefs of the Defence Staff, and General Sir Peter Wall, a former Chief of General Staff. Others are reluctant to endorse the message, the Telegraph said.

"Yes there is a security dimension to the EU, but in my mind it is more of a policing and judicial matter rather than a military matter. The military dimension is provided by NATO," one of them, General Sir Mike Jackson, a former head of the British Army, told the newspaper.

The UK is to hold a referendum on "Brexit" on June 23, PM David Cameron announced last week, after securing a deal ensuring special treatment for the UK within the union. His cabinet largely backs remaining part of the EU and national security is one of the arguments it uses to support the position.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said in an article for the Sunday Telegraph that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Britain to leave the European Union. "It is not scaremongering to ask which result Putin would favor. If we left, the European Union for the first time in its history would be smaller and weaker. That's obviously in Russia's interests," he argued.

Here's the story in Hebrew. In a nutshell:

Minister Gilad Erdan has organized a secret conference in Jerusalem, with 150 top supporters of Israel. American right wing pollster Frank Luntz [who has earlier stated that Zionism is becoming a dirty word for US elites] presented statistics:

- The Ministry of Tourism's attempt to market Israel as a cool destination (girls and bikinis) has failed.

- Jewish American students have an increasingly negative image of Israel:

-Just 42% believe Israel wants peace.

-Just 38% believe "Israel is civilized and Western".

-Just 31% believe Israel is a democracy.

- No less than 21% believe the US should side with the Palestinians.

The new, or not so new, agenda put forward by Luntz and co: Israel's supporters should say that they are in favour of a dialogue and peace-building through diplomacy, and accuse BDS supporters of obstructing dialogue, and spreading hate.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has been struggling with a media blackout throughout the campaign - and even during those rare moments when he is covered, he's still being censored.

US broadcaster MSNBC is facing criticism for cutting away from live coverage of a Sanders press conference, just as he was condemning the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

Media critics point out that the network's owner Comcast stands to benefit greatly from the trade deal - and has largely been silencing any negative coverage.

Posters promoting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement that criticized the policies and actions of Israel's right-wing government are being removed from London's tube stations after pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Observing Israeli Apartheid week, the posters created by the London Palestine Action group were designed to look like real advertisements and feature facts about the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.

In early January, a diplomatic row erupted in the Middle East, with Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia severing diplomatic ties with the region's main Shiite power, Iran,, triggered by Riyadh's execution of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Bahrain, Sudan, Somalia, Comoros and Djibouti in solidarity with Riyadh also severed relations with Iran, Kuwait and Qatar decided to pull out their ambassadors to Iran while the United Arab Emirates downgraded level of diplomatic relations with Tehran.

"The ministry advises all citizens not to travel to Lebanon and demands that all citizens residing or visiting Lebanon to leave the country, not to stay there unless necessary, take care and caution while being there and contact the Saudi embassy in Beirut to provide the necessary facilities and care for their safety," the source was quoted by the official SPA news service as saying.

Yesterday's evening news in Russia was dominated by one story: the announcement by Vladimir Putin on national television that the United and Russia had concluded an agreement to facilitate the start and supervise the implementation of a ceasefire in Syria between government and opposition forces, set to begin on 27 February. The agreement was sealed by a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama that took place shortly before the broadcast. Putin's televised address was less than 10 minutes long and it has been rebroadcast in entirety on state television at hourly intervals. Understandably, it has been the number one topic in the Russian print media this morning.

Since political correctness in Russia barred mention of the President's demeanor in his broadcast, I will say what went unsaid: Putin looked stressed, downcast, without his characteristic buoyancy.

Indeed there can be no doubt that many Russians were less than delighted by this news, which interrupts the dramatic winning streak of the Syrian Army under the protection of Russian airpower, and likely brings their ground operations to a halt before they complete the liberation of Aleppo, the second largest city in the country which would give Bashar al-Assad control of most of the population of his country even if large swathes of territory to the east in the direction of Iraq remain in jihadist hands. Moreover, Aleppo, with its northern suburbs, is key to sealing the paths of incursion into Syria from neighboring Turkey and cutting off the jihadists from their main bases of supply.

However, one would be seriously mistaken in reading disappointment into Vladimir Putin's facial expressions last night. They may be attributed to something quite different: what must have been his first experiment with delivery of a talk using a teleprompter. In fact, Putin has always spoken either from a written text that he holds before himself at the lectern or he has spoken extemporaneously. It will take some practice before he attains the unaffected radiance of a Barack Obama before the cameras when reading from a teleprompter.

The United States and Russia agreed on a ceasefire in Syria, where both countries separately from each other are fighting against Islamist groups. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking in a special address on television. The agreement demonstrates the high level of cooperation between Moscow and Washington, but experts estimate it carefully because of many different factors.

As was stated by the Russian President, the ceasefire in Syria should occur on February 27th at midnight — this means that the ceasefire must stop the Syrian military, aviation of Russia and the coalition forces under the auspices of the United States.

The Russian head of state said that the agreement on a "cessation of hostilities" in Syria was adopted by the U.S. and Russia as co-chairs of the International support group in Syria. The President in his address made it clear that the agreement on a ceasefire should be the beginning of a political settlement in Syria, where civil war has continued since 2011, in which external forces also intervened.

The victims of the conflict total 470,000 people on both sides.

The recent agreement between Russia and the United States to implement a cessation of hostilities in Syria will not lead to further military cooperation between the two countries, US Department of Defense press secretary Peter Cook told reporters on Tuesday.

"We obviously are supporting what [US Secretary of State John Kerry] is doing, the effort to try and bring some ease to the suffering of the Syrian people," Cook said. "But we do not anticipate further military-to-military cooperation with the Russians."

"I'm not aware of any communications were going to have with the Russians in this particular cell," Cook said when asked about the US military relationship with a Russian monitoring facility that began operating on Tuesday at the Hmeimim airbase in Syria.

The era of the US global sea dominance - ensured by its 10 giant aircraft carriers - may come to an end, a study by respected Washington-based think tank warns. Russia, China and Iran can make the mammoth vessels useless by new weapons, tech and tactics.

Aircraft carriers are at the heart of the US Navy's global reach capabilities, and a symbol of American military might. The fearsome dreadnoughts can practically endanger any part of the world by deploying their air groups, comprising fighter and strike jets, as well as surveillance and electronic intelligence aircraft.

Every war the US waged during recent decades, including the 1990-1991 Gulf War, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq, involved their use.

The US Navy currently has 10 aircraft carriers in active service, which is equal to what all other countries can field combined.

On Monday, the Washington-based bipartisan Center for a New American Security (CNAS) released a report saying the era of American naval dominance may end soon.

The Ukrainian parliament is to consider a bill, which would make calling Russia 'Russia' a criminal offense. The bill penned by a Radical Party MP says 'Russia' derives from Ukraine's historic name and can't be used by the Russian Federation.

With the word 'Russia' inadmissible, the bill says 'Moscovia' should be used instead.

Violating the ban would be considered a crime and punishable by a fine of about $2,875 and twice that much for repeat offenders and government officials.

The bill was submitted in June 2015 by Oksana Korchinskaya of the Radical Party and is listed for a hearing during parliament's ongoing session, which will last until July 22. The exact date of the hearing hasn't been set yet.

According to the wording of the bill, the word "Rus" and its derivative "Russia" are "unofficial names of the territory of modern Ukraine" and "have historic significance for Ukraine." It says banning the use of these words for modern Russia will "restore historic justice and protect the historic legacy of the Ukrainian people."