The Saudi move to destabilize the oil market has led to huge losses for the Russian budget, but the Kingdom itself, as it turns out, has suffered from this more.

Until recently it seemed that the financial capacity of Saudi Arabia was almost limitless, the country capable of surviving for a long time, even with the low oil prices. But this impression was deceptive. The fall in oil prices led to huge holes in the budget of the Kingdom. So, last year, the budget deficit of the country was a frightening figure of 21.6% of GDP or more than $150 billion. To patch the budget, the authorities had used foreign exchange reserves, which by November 2015, lost more than $80 billion, some $70 billion were withdrawn from sovereign wealth funds. And while Riyadh continues to have various accounts and high-liquid assets by the hundreds of billions of dollars, according to experts, these stocks will melt in 5 years.

According to sources of the magazine "Kommersant-Money", the Russian side is preparing a package proposal for the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia. It includes deliveries of aviation equipment and ammunition, several types of air defense systems of various ranges totaling about $10 billion. The proposal will be ready for the next visit to Russia of Saudi king Salman.

The source of "Money" close to "Rosoboronexport", said that in 2016 Russia will concentrate on supplying arms to countries in the Asia-Pacific region (Indonesia, Malaysia) and the financially strong countries of Africa (Angola, Uganda). According to a senior source in the government, even in the case of failure in some negotiations, a drop in arms exports in 2016 below $14-15 billion is expected.

[O.R: This package will have unquestionably come with the prerequisite of the dropping of funding and support for their proxies in Syria]

Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ.

A senior MP has said that Russia's delegation will not take part in the January session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and that restoring relations with the body is only possible on an equal, non-discriminatory basis.

"We are now sending a letter to PACE President Anne Brasseur," RIA Novosti quoted Leonid Slutsky, deputy head of the Russian PACE delegation, as saying Monday. "The letter is signed by speakers of both chambers of the Russian parliament and reads that the request for powers of the Russian delegation in 2016 will be forwarded there later. We are going to miss the January session."

The lawmaker also added that the Russian delegation would resume its presence at PACE sessions only after it gets some guarantees that all of its powers would be restored. "As State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin has stated earlier, we are not going to tolerate any discrimination and we think that any sanctions against the Russian Federation are unacceptable," Slutsky said.

UK has confirmed there will be military communication between the Russian and the British military, according to Michael Fallon.

UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said Monday he had authorized limited military-to-military engagement with Russia to ensure the security of British airspace.

"<...> In the interests of air and maritime safety I have authorized MOD officials to undertake limited military-to-military engagement with the Russians to ensure that our own airspace is properly protected," Fallon said at a parliament hearing.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the Japanese government intends to support companies cooperating with Iran, including via the conclusion of the bilateral investment agreement.

Japan seeks to develop cooperation with Iran in line with the removal of economic sanctions introduced by the UN Security Council, the country's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday.

"Measures will be taken quickly on the basis of UN Security Council decisions, the relevant departments are working on the issue."

Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation against leader of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, after he called President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a "tinpot dictator." The chief prosecutor's office in Ankara launched the probe against Kilicdaroglu on charges of "openly insulting the president," the official Anatolia news agency reported on Monday.

Kilicdaroglu, who was speaking out against the president at a CHP congress over the weekend, slammed Erdogan over the detention of Turkish academics last week for filling a petition in condemnation of Ankara's military crackdown in the Kurdish-dominated southeast.

"Academics who express their opinion are being detained, one by one, because of a tinpot dictator," Kilicdaroglu had told the meeting, saying in an address to Erdogan, "How dare you send police to these peoples' doors and have them detained. Tell us, tinpot dictator, what do honor and pride mean to you? Either you maintain your impartiality and get respect or I will remind you every day what honor and pride mean," he added.

Erdogan, himself, has separately filed a civil lawsuit against Kilicdaroglu, seeking 100,000 Turkish Liras ($33,300) in compensation for "slander" from the CHP leader, the private NTV channel said. Erdogan had in June last year filed another lawsuit against Kilicdaroglu for "slander" after the opposition leader said the president's vast palace in Ankara had gold-plated toilet seats.

Concerns have mounted in recent months over freedom of expression in Turkey, in particular over the spiraling numbers of Turks being taken to court on charges of insulting Erdogan, who is accused by his opponents of promoting authoritarianism.

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?—Langston Hughes, "Harlem"

Martin Luther King Jr. could tell you what happens to dreams deferred. They explode.

As I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, more than 50 years after King was assassinated, his dream of a world without racism, militarism and materialism remains a distant dream.

Indeed, the reality we must contend with is far different from King's dream for the future: America has become a ticking time bomb of racial unrest and injustice, police militarization, surveillance, government corruption and ineptitude, the blowblack from a battlefield mindset and endless wars abroad, and a growing economic inequality between the haves and have nots.

King's own legacy has suffered in the process.

The image of the hard-talking, charismatic leader, voice of authority, and militant, nonviolent activist minister/peace warrior who staged sit-ins, boycotts and marches and lived through police attack dogs, water cannons and jail cells has been so watered down that younger generations recognize his face but know very little about his message.

Rubbing salt in the wound, while those claiming to honor King's legacy pay lip service to his life and the causes for which he died, they have done little to combat the evils about which King spoke and opposed so passionately: injustice, war, racism and economic inequality.

For instance, President Obama speaks frequently of King, but what has he done to bring about peace or combat the racial injustices that continue to be meted out to young black Americans by the police state?

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump plans to "honor" Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy by speaking at a convocation at Liberty University, but what has he done to combat economic injustice?

Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton will pay tribute to King's legacy by taking part in Columbia, South Carolina's King Day at the Dome event, but has she done anything to dispel her track record's impression that "machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are still considered more important than people"?

Unlike the politicians of our present day, King was a clear moral voice that cut through the fog of distortion. He spoke like a prophet and commanded that you listen. King dared to speak truth to the establishment and called for an end to oppression and racism. He raised his voice against the Vietnam War and challenged the military-industrial complex. And King didn't just threaten boycotts and sit-ins for the sake of photo ops and media headlines. Rather, he carefully planned and staged them to great effect.

The following key principles formed the backbone of Rev. King's life and work. King spoke of them incessantly, in every sermon he preached, every speech he delivered and every article he wrote. They are the lessons we failed to learn and, in failing to do so, we have set ourselves up for a future in which a militarized surveillance state is poised to eradicate freedom.

An airstrike launched by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen killed at least 26 people and injured around 15 others after hitting a police building in Sanaa overnight, according to security sources. Some 30 people are believed to be trapped underneath rubble.

Security forces arrived at the site of the airstrike, which was launched shortly after midnight on Sunday, using heavy equipment to search for bodies and survivors, AP reported.

Officials initially announced that 20 people were killed, but later said that six additional bodies were unearthed from underneath debris. Those killed and wounded were policemen and Houthi rebels, the sources said.

In addition to the reported deaths and injuries, police vehicles parked in the building's courtyard were destroyed and nearby homes suffered some damage, according to the sources.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi says the Islamic Republic's cooperation with the UN nuclear agency has entered a new phase. Salehi made the remarks in a joint press conference with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano, in Tehran on Monday as part of his first visit after the beginning of the implementation of a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Salehi said Amano's visit sends 'many messages.' "Through [Amano's] visit [to Tehran], we will witness the opening of a new chapter in cooperation between Iran and the agency. We want to make up for the 10-12-year lost opportunities in relations with the agency," Salehi said. He added that the IAEA chief is visiting Tehran at a time when "there is no longer such an issue as the fabricated nuclear dossier of the Islamic Republic of Iran." The AEOI head noted that during his talks with Amano, the sides had worked on a roadmap for fresh cooperation after the JCPOA implementation.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan says the Islamic Republic will unveil new domestically-designed and manufactured missiles in the near future in defiance of new US sanctions against the country over its missile program.

"[Any] attempt to impose new sanctions [against Iran] under irrelevant pretexts is indicative of the continued US hostile policy and acrimony toward the Iranian nation, and a futile effort to undermine Iran's defense might," Dehqan said on Monday. He added that the Islamic Republic of Iran's missile industry is fully domestically-manufactured and anchored in science and expertise of the country's defense sector. "Hence, sanctions against [certain] people and companies will have no impact on the development of the industry, and we will actually demonstrate [their ineffectiveness] by displaying new missiles," he added.

Earlier on Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country will continue to enhance its missile capabilities in defiance of the "destructive" US sanctions over the Islamic Republic's missile program."We will respond to such propaganda stunts and disruptive measures by more robustly pursuing our lawful missile program and promoting our defense capabilities and national security," the statement added. It further noted that Iran's missiles serve defensive and deterrent purposes and have not been designed to carry nuclear warheads. "The Iranian missile program has by no means been designed to carry nuclear weapons and is not in contravention of any international principle," the statement pointed out.

On October 11, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) successfully test-fired its first guided ballistic missile dubbed Emad. Washington slammed the test, claiming the projectile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. It vowed to respond with more sanctions.