Viktor Orban has declared the end of "liberal democracy" in Hungary, saying it has failed to defend freedoms and Christian culture in wake of the migrant crisis. He vowed to build a "Christian democracy" defying EU dictates.

In a Thursday address given after Hungary's new parliament handed him his third straight term, the Prime Minister said that Hungarians have defied the "old world order" in favor of Christian democracy, allowing Hungary to "survive and grow"as a nation.

"The era of liberal democracy has come to an end. It is unsuitable to protect human dignity, inadmissible to give freedom, cannot guarantee physical security, and can no longer maintain Christian culture," Orban said.

Hungary has built a "twenty-first century Christian democracy that guarantees human dignity, freedom and security" as well as "protects the traditional family model," the PM said. He added: "We are Christian Democrats and we want Christian Democracy."

Judicial Watch discovers emails revealing coordination

A government watchdog group revealed Thursday that former FBI Director James Comey was advised by senior FBI officials to seek Special Counsel Robert Mueller's advice prior to testifying before "any congressional committee" about President Donald Trump's campaign and its alleged collusion with Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, according to new emails obtained by Judicial Watch.

Comey was also advised to seek Mueller's counsel on the circumstances surrounding his firing by Trump before providing testimony to Congress, the Department of Justice emails obtained by Judicial Watch reveal. It is the first time evidence reveals there was coordination between the Special Counsel and Comey in the long drawn out controversial Mueller investigation.

The Israeli government maintains that it attacked dozens of "Iranian military sites" in Syria late Wednesday night in response to the alleged firing of 20 rockets by Iran at Israeli military bases in the Golan Heights. There is, however, no evidence that Iran or anyone else in Syria launched any "rockets" at Israeli targets in the Golan, although that claim served as a useful justification for the Israeli attack on Syrian air defense positions, which did occur.

According to the IDF, "50 Iranian targets" in Syria were hit. Five Syrian SA-22 (Pantsir S1) systems were also struck due to the fact that these systems targeted the Israeli planes, or so the IDF stated. This claim is, however, dubious given that the SA-22 is chiefly designed to target low flying aircraft and, more specifically, cruise and other missiles that fly at extremely low altitude. It was these systems, in conjunction with older Soviet-era Syrian air defense systems - updated in recent years by the Russian military - that shot down about 70% of the cruise missiles fired at Syria last month by the US, UK and French militaries.

Learning from a previous attack that resulted in at least one Israeli jet being shot down, last night's attack involved the use of mostly air-to-surface missiles fired from high altitude, well beyond the range of the SA-22 and other Syrian systems. So it's unlikely that Israeli jets fired on these positions in response to any 'barrage' from Syria. It is much more likely that these targets were pre-defined by Israel, largely via satellite imagery.

US President Donald Trump has torn up yet another international treaty this week and pushed the world to the brink of more war in the Middle East - all on the back of absurd anti-Iran claims.

What do you call it when one country appoints itself to unilaterally violate international consensus and law in order to recklessly pursue illegal interests? A global dictatorship seems not exaggerated.

Let's relieve ourselves of illusions about "American democracy" and "freedom loving, law-abiding beacon of hope"; rather we need to call Washington out for what it is.

Make no mistake, the US government is acting like a rogue regime that is out on its own, holding a blow torch to the face of global peace. To have the support of just two other client regimes - Israel and Saudi Arabia - in violating the Iran nuclear deal this week only emphasizes Washington's wayward tyranny.

Russia, China, the European Union and the United Nations - signatories to the landmark 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - have all deplored Trump's move to blow up that accord.

Just like the Paris Accord on climate change and various trade treaties, Trump has shown a brazen disdain for any multilateral diplomacy. His high-handed, maximalist attitude reveals that his policy is not so much "America First" as "American Fist".

Fox News' Tucker Carlson burst out laughing Tuesday when Democratic Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline insisted his party is not pushing the Russian collusion narrative.

Cicilline claimed that Democrats are hyper-focused on the economy and that it is actually Republicans who won't stop talking about Russia because they are trying to hide their alleged lack of accomplishments.

" On the one hand you're sort of right, that it does help Republicans, but this is being driven 100 percent by the left and to say otherwise is dishonest," Carlson, a co-founder of The Daily Caller, replied. "Part of you must feel shame for saying things that you know are not true."

Israel hits Syrian and Iranian objectives and weapons warehouses again (evacuated weeks before) for the fourth time in a month. 28 Israeli jets participated in the biggest attack since 1974. Tel Aviv informed the Russian leadership of its intentions without succeeding in stopping the Syrian leadership from responding. Actually, what is new is the location where Damascus decided to hit back: the occupied Golan Heights (20 rockets were fired at Israeli military positions).

Syria, in coordination with its Iranian allies (without taking into consideration Russian wishes) took a very audacious decision to fire back against Israeli targets in the Golan. This indicates that Damascus and its allies are ready to widen the battle, in response to continual Israeli provocations.

But what is the reason why new Rules of Engagement (ROE) were imposed in Syria recently?

For decades there was a non-declared ROE between Hezbollah and Israel, where both sides were aware of the consequences. Usually, Israel prepares a bank of target objectives with Hezbollah offices, military objectives and warehouses and also specific commanders with key positions within the organisation. Israel hits these targets (updated) in every war. However, the Israelis react immediately against Hezbollah commanders, who have the task of supporting, instructing and financing Palestinians in Palestine, and above all the Palestinians of 1948 living in Israel. This has happened on many occasions where Hezbollah commanders related to the Palestinian dossier were assassinated in Lebanon.

Last month, Israel discovered that Iran was sending advanced low observable drones dropping electronic and special warfare equipment to Palestinians. The Israeli radars didn't see these drones going backward and forward with their traditional radars, but were finally able to identify one drone using thermal detection and acoustic deterrence, to down it on its last journey.

The United States should attack Russia in retaliation for all its electoral interference, John McCain argued in a new book. The Republican senator has an "excellent" track record when it comes to reselling pre-emptive attacks based on dubious allegations.

McCain, a veteran US politician who represents Arizona, wrote a new book, The Restless Wave, which is due out on May 22. In it, the Tomahawk missile lover calls for a tougher approach for Russia, and for the US to embrace its role as the world's cop.

In his book, McCain writes that he is anxious to "make [Russian President Vladimir] Putin deeply lament his attack on the founding of our democracy," while hiding quotes or footnotes with much regard to his incendiary claim.

"We also have cybernetic capabilities," says McCain in his book. "They should be used to expose the epic scale of their regime's corruption or to embarrass [Putin] in other ways."

President Donald Trump has just fulfilled a campaign pledge to tear up the Obama administration's signature foreign policy achievement, a multilateral agreement constraining Iran's nuclear enrichment (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA). In doing so, the president went against the advice of, among many others, his secretary of defense, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA), Washington's three most important European allies, and almost-two thirds of Americans who believe that the U.S. should not withdraw from the deal, according to a CNN poll released on Tuesday morning.

Trump appears absolutely determined to undo as much of what Barack Obama accomplished as possible. In addition, the sheer perversity of his personality may well explain today's action. But it may also be useful to follow the apocryphal advice that Watergate's famous "Deep Throat" offered to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in All the President's Men, particularly in the unbelievably corrupt swamp of the Trump era.

Indeed, today's unpopular announcement may have been exactly what two of Trump's biggest donors, Sheldon Adelson and Bernard Marcus, and what one of his biggest inaugural supporters, Paul Singer, paid for when they threw their financial weight behind Trump. Marcus and Adelson, who are also board members of the Likudist Republican Jewish Coalition, have already received substantial returns on their investment: total alignment by the U.S. behind Israel, next week's move of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and the official dropping of "occupied territories" to describe the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Boris Johnson condemned Iran for reportedly launching missile attacks against Israel in the occupied Golan Heights, despite claims in Syria that Israel initiated a tit-for-tat exchange with airstrikes on Tuesday.

Israel said 20 rockets were fired at their military positions in the Israeli-occupied territory between north-eastern Israel and south-western Syria. Israel says it retaliated with airstrikes overnight, claiming they took out "nearly all" of Iran's military sites in Syria. "We hit nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria," said Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

"The United Kingdom condemns in the strongest terms the Iranian rocket attacks against Israeli forces. We strongly support Israel's right to defend itself. We urge Iran to refrain from further actions which will only lead to increased instability in the region. It is crucial to avoid any further escalations, which would be in no one's interest."

It was a seemingly firm statement from Johnson, but he offered no response to claims that Israel had attacked Syria, targeting Iranian positions near the capital Damascus the day before. A number of sources often cited by the UK government said the Israeli strike hit an Iranian arms depot.


When asked about the claims, an Israeli military spokeswoman said: "We do not respond to such foreign reports," stated Lebanon's Daily Star. The Independent reported that nine people are thought to have been killed by the Israeli airstrikes, including Hezbollah militia fighters and members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.


In the wake of these claims, there have been questions as to why the British government regards Israeli actions as retaliation, when it appears that Iranian forces were the first to be targeted in an apparent tit-for-tat exchange.

Gina Haspel, US President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next CIA director, says that the intelligence agency will not restart a detention and interrogation program under her watch.

Speaking before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, Haspel said the spy agency would focus on "collection and analysis" missions and that the US had "learned some tough lessons" during the "tumultuous" period after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Senators grilled Haspel on her attitude to torture and lamented the limited information made available to the public about Haspel's role at the CIA. Haspel dodged questions a number of times, refusing to give straightforward yes or no answers. When pushed, Haspel was forced to admit that she is the one making decisions about which documents and information to release about her history with the CIA.