In his New York Times column yesterday, Paul Krugman did something that he made clear he regarded as quite brave: He defended the Democratic Party presidential nominee and likely next U.S. president from journalistic investigations. Complaining about media bias, Krugman claimed that journalists are driven by "the presumption that anything Hillary Clinton does must be corrupt, most spectacularly illustrated by the increasingly bizarre coverage of the Clinton Foundation." While generously acknowledging that it was legitimate to take a look at the billions of dollars raised by the Clintons as Hillary pursued increasing levels of political power — vast sums often received from the very parties most vested in her decisions as a public official — it is now "very clear," he proclaimed, that there was absolutely nothing improper about any of what she or her husband did.

Krugman's column, chiding the media for its unfairly negative coverage of his beloved candidate, was, predictably, a big hit among Democrats — not just because of their agreement with its content but because of what they regarded as the remarkable courage required to publicly defend someone as marginalized and besieged as the former first lady, two-term New York senator, secretary of state, and current establishment-backed multimillionaire presidential front-runner. Krugman — in a tweet proclamation that has now been re-tweeted more than 10,000 times — heralded himself this way: "I was reluctant to write today's column because I knew journos would hate it. But it felt like a moral duty."

CNN host Wolf Blitzer appeared to play up the economic benefit of Washington's $1.1 billion arms sales to Saudi Arabia, despite Yemeni civilian casualties cited by a US senator seeking to block the deal. Blitzer worried that halting the trade would cost jobs.

In a Thursday interview with Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Blitzer confronted the lawmaker, expressing skepticism over his opposition to the international arms deal.

Paul is one of four US senators seeking to stop Washington's $1.15 billion arms deal with Riyadh, arguing that this would result in "disaster and an escalation of an ongoing arms race in the region."

However, the CNN host seemed to prioritize profits for America's defense sector over the lives of thousands of Yemenis. Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia's intervention has claimed at least 10,000 lives.

"So for you, this is a moral issue," Blitzer told Paul, adding: "You know, there's a lot of jobs at stake."

"Certainly if a lot of these defense contractors stop selling warplanes, other sophisticated equipment to Saudi Arabia," the CNN host continued, "there's going to be a significant loss of jobs, of revenue here in the United States. That's secondary from your standpoint?"

According to a United Nations tally, 3,799 of the victims have been civilians, the majority of whom were killed in airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Israel has for the first time used the illegal home demolition policy it uses in Palestine in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Tel Aviv declared that Israel and the Golan are "part and parcel" and that the international community should get used to the fact that Israel will annex the Syrian territory that holds major energy reserves. Israel also aids "Syrian rebels" via a corridor from which UN blue helmets were displaced.

Israeli occupation authorities in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, on Wednesday, for the first time demolished a home, claiming it was built without permission. The demolition and claims the house was built without permission violates Israel's obligations under international law, according to which an occupying power must assure that administration in occupied territories adhere, to the greatest possible degree, to the law of the occupied country's territory.

Israel has, however, enforced new Hebrew as official administrative language, denies building permits and engages in other violations of international law that aim at oppressing the Arab population and culture and Syrian administration in the occupied Golan.

If there were prizes going for hypocrisy, then the International Paralympic Committee would surely be strong contenders for the gold medal.

The IPC has slammed Belarus after its team committed the crime of - wait for it - holding up a Russian flag at the Paralympics opening ceremony in Rio.

The official who carried the flag, a Mr. Andrey Fomochkin, has had his accreditation rescinded.

The IPC said that it would remind Belarus that "political protests are forbidden at the Paralympic Games." What a load of humbug. For it was political games by the IPC that got Russia banned from the event in the first place.

Footage of the horrible devastation caused by a boiler explosion that triggered massive fire at a Gazipur packaging factory has appeared online. At least 15 people are reported to have died in the incident.

Some 50 more people have been injuried, RIA Novosti reports citing local outlet bdnews24. According to a separate report by Radio Athoi, the number of victims could already be 15.

The fire broke out at the Tempako Packaging Factory in the Gazipur township of Tong after a boiler exploded there, local fire and civil defense officials have told DhakaTribune.

About two dozen fire teams are working at the site of the explosion

Two suicide bombings at a shopping mall in eastern Baghdad left up to 40 people dead and more than 60 injured, police and medics reported. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Videos from the scene show chaos and destruction.

The terrorist act took place at the Nakheel Mall, across the road from the oil ministry, police and medical sources told Reuters. One device exploded at the front door and another in the parking lot.

A video posted on Facebook shows several cars on fire. There appeared to be four separate fires raging under the highway overpass next to the mall.

There are some big developments right now. Duterte has ramped up his anti-American rhetoric, despite criticisms about 'the human rights of drug traffickers and pimps' coming from western media corridors.

At this week's ASEAN summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow supports China's position on the South China Sea legal dispute. He also affirmed his opposition to any interference by other parties. This is meant in part to give Filipino President Duterte some room to maneuver.

In light of other developments both with the firm anti-American imperialism comments made by Filipino president Duterte, China's position is generally regarded to be at odds with how south Asian states, in particular the Philippines, have interpreted the matter of these international waters. China has land-filled some natural reefs and small islands, placing trade structures there, but also has established some permanent residences on the semi-natural islands, with electricity and plumbing and has essentially claimed this as Chinese, and claimed them as habitable islands with residents.

The US is generally pleased with the results of the legal process so far, when on July 12th the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the South China Sea resources, and has violated the sovereign rights of the Philippines in the country's exclusive economic zone.
At the same time, Duterte seems willing to make some other sort of compromise with China, given the important relationship that these two states have, and especially in light of Duterte's increasingly anti-American stance.

Just yesterday, in what attendees described as a "fiery address," President Rodrigo Duterte ad-libbed during his prepared speech on Thursday and targeted President Barack Obama, telling some ugly truths on US military killings in the Philippines. This happened at a meeting of the 18-nation EAS summit, always held right after the ASEAN group meeting, which includes the United States. This was according to three diplomats who were in the room who spoke to Agence France-Presse at the event in Vientiane, Laos.

"The Philippine president showed a picture of the killings of American soldiers in the past and the president said: 'This is my ancestor they killed. Why now we are talking about human rights,'" an Indonesian delegate said. The Philippines was an American colony from 1898 to 1946.

The number of terror attacks has increased globally in the wake of the US "war on terror" launched after 9/11 attacks, with record rates seen in the countries targeted by the US military, experts told Sputnik.

Sunday marks the 15th anniversary of September 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. The George W. Bush administration blamed al-Qaeda for the assault and launched a campaign to invade its heartland in Afghanistan.

"Acts of terrorism have increased greatly in the world but the greatest increases have occurred in the nations where the United States has intervened to wage the War on Terror. Last year acts of terrorism hit record levels in the three states where the US was militarily involved the most: Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria," US writer Christopher Bollyn investigating the events of 9/11 told Sputnik.

This offers two possibilities, he continued. "Either the US policy of fighting terror is extremely counter-productive due to incompetence, or the real policy which is UN-stated one that uses terrorism to wage war in these states. The evidence suggests it is the latter."

Translated from French by Tom Winter

In a Libya, where fabulous private fortunes get hidden out of public view amidst the chaos, (the war is prosperity for some) the chief of the National Libyan Government (GNA), Fayez Al-Serraj, the guy who was brought to Tripoli on board a surface warship of a member state of NATO, effectuated his first visit to Syrte, where the last blocs of Daesh are learning to appreciate the fire from US Super Cobras and from the AV-8B Harrier IIs of the Italian Aeromarine. Back on May 12, forces faithful to the National Libyan Government launched an offensive to take the city of Sidra, which had fallen into the hands of Daesh-North Africa.

But actually, it's the US aviation that opens the way for local forces spinning their wheels despite the active support of US, British, Dutch, and Italian Special Forces.

The CAS (Close Air Support) came to its zenith in July 2016, as the US attack helicopters sprayed the former militias that participated in the war against Colonel Gaddafi along the famous Avenue of the Dollar, the main arterial of this coastal town which used to be a tourist haven.

Iran and Russia have held an opening ceremony for Phase 2 of the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, in which two more 1,000 MW reactors will be added at the site, while six more are still in the pipeline. Phase 2, which was launched on Saturday, will add two VVER-1000 reactors to the one already operating in Iran. Their design was updated with additional safety features based on experience derived from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Russia and Iran signed a contract for the expansion of Bushehr in 2014, a year after Russian specialists commissioned the plant's first reactor. The contract includes an option for six more reactors, which could be built at other sites sometime in the future. Phase 3 may be commenced as soon as 2018, Iranian Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said during the ceremony.

The Bushehr project was launched in 1975 under the shah's government, but it ground to a halt after the Islamic revolution of 1979 because German manufacturers withdrew. Russia's nuclear construction company Atomstroyexport took over the project in the 1990s.
"The competition of Phase 1 has proven that Russia always delivers on its promises to foreign partners, regardless of the political climate in the world," said Russian nuclear chief Sergey Kirienko during the opening ceremony in Iran.