The President of the United States (POTUS) is desperate. Exhibit A: His Op-Ed defending the Asian face - the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) - of a wide-ranging, twin-headed NATO-on-trade "pivoting".

The European face is of course the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

POTUS framesTPP - as well as TTIP - in terms of a benign expansion of US exports, and private (US) firms having "a fair shot at competing against state-owned enterprises." "Fair"? Not really. Let's see how the mechanism works, focusing on TPP's European twin.

With impeccable timing, almost simultaneously to Obama's Op-Ed, Greenpeace Netherlands leaked 248 pages of classified TTIP documents that were to be re-discussed last week by negotiators in New York. There have been no less than 13 rounds of TTIP negotiations so far, over nearly three years.

The documents - negotiated in total secrecy since 2013 - represent roughly two-thirds of the latest negotiating text. An array of detailed studies, like this one, had been warning about the state of play. The veil of secrecy ended up being the ultimate giveaway to TTIP's toxicity. Before the Greenpeace Netherlands leak, EU elected representatives could only examine these documents under a police watch, in a secure room, without access to experts, and on top of it they could not discuss the content with anyone else.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was correct in noting that US negotiators were trying to protect the extremist al-Nusra Front under the latest ceasefire in Aleppo, former US diplomat Jim Jatras told Sputnik.

"It's really not much of a surprise that the United States would try to shoehorn the al-Nusra Front into a 'silent' period in Aleppo, as Lavrov charges," Jatras, a former longtime foreign policy adviser to Republican senators in the US Congress, said on Wednesday.

The US government attempted to include the al-Nusra Front in the new ceasefire agreement in Aleppo, but the Russian government insisted on excluding the Islamist group as unacceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Sputnik in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

US President Barack Obama had consistently supported Islamist movements, Jatras remarked.

"The fact is, the Obama administration will always stick with its client jihadists even if it means preserving groups they pretend are America's deadliest foes," he contended.

A foreign military is unlikely to launch a ground operation in Syria due to the Russian Airspace Forces there, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in commenting on the readiness Turkey has expressed to send troops to Syria "if necessary."

"I do not think that anyone will decide to play dangerous games and carry out any provocations due to the fact that there are Russian Aerospace Forces stationed [in Syria]," Lavrov said when asked about the possibility of a Turkish or Saudi Arabian incursion.

The Foreign Minister stressed that "it's necessary to educate, those who are trying to advocate" a military invasion because it "would be a direct aggression," according to Sputnik.

"But I don't think that they have any justification, at least some excuse [for a military invasion], because the ceasefire [in Syria] is strengthening after all," he added.

President Vladimir Putin has ordered free land handouts in Russia's Far East to be provided with minimal infrastructure. On Monday, he signed a law offering land plots of 1 hectare (2.5 acres) to citizens for free.

"We should work with regional authorities, so that land plots are allocated in areas with at least minimal infrastructure," Putin said on Wednesday while meeting with Russia's Far East Development Minister Alexander Galushka.

According to the minister, the infrastructure could be provided to a group of 20 land owners. He said that since the ministry has announced the idea of land development, people have started applying.

They suggest cooperation of about 200-300 people, said Galushka, adding that then the provision of infrastructure becomes possible, even if it's not a highly-developed one.

At least 12 people have been killed and 45 injured, some of them seriously, in twin suicide blasts in the Syrian city of Homs, SANA News reports, citing the city's governor.

A car and a motorcycle exploded in the Mukharram al-Fawqani area in the eastern part of the city, Homs Governor Talal al-Barazi told the agency.

"The number of victims can rise, due to serious injuries," he added.

According to the governor, the blasts targeted crowded places and unconfirmed reports said the death toll may be as high as 12, while some 60 others may have sustained injuries.

Russia will reply to Sweden's entry into NATO by increasing the numbers of its military forces, in particular on its northern and northwestern frontiers, the deputy head of the upper house Committee for Defense and Security says.

"We are talking not only about some technical measures, we are talking numbers as well. Russia will increase the strength of its military forces on the northern and northwestern borders if Sweden becomes a NATO member, this also includes the North Sea Fleet," RIA Novosti quoted Senator Evgeny Serebrennikov as saying on Friday. He added that Russia might reply to NATO expansion by deploying to its northern regions the newest missiles that NATO systems cannot intercept.

The comment came shortly after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a press interview that Russia would respond to Sweden's decision to join NATO by military-technical steps.


In January this year, Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper quoted its sources in the Defense Ministry as saying that the Army and Navy will deploy additional forces and modern weapons to its southwest in reply to NATO's plans to boost its presence in the Black Sea region. The sources added that the military had plans to test the fresh forces, infrastructure and weapons during the Caucasus-2016 war game scheduled for September.

In March, Russia's envoy to NATO, Aleksandr Grushko, promised a "totally asymmetrical" response if the alliance stands by a plan to deploy new armored units to Eastern Europe. He did not elaborate on his statement, but said Russia's actions would correspond to its "understanding of the extent of the military threat, would not be extremely expensive, but also highly effective."

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has announced he will not stand for his party's chairmanship vote, and will therefore be replaced as prime minister, Anadolu news agency reports. It follows a reported rift between Davutoglu and President Erdogan.

Speaking at a news conference in Ankara following a meeting of the AK party's Central Executive Board (MYK), Davutoglu said he will not be part of the vote, which is due to take place on May 22.

"I decided that for the unity of the [ruling party] a change of chairman would be more appropriate. I am not considering running at the May 22 congress,'' Davutoglu said.

"I do not intend to be a candidate in an absence of consensus," he continued.

"I have no sense of failure or regrets in taking this decision." He added that the resignation was not "my choice but a necessity."

Israel will accept the invitation to open a permanent mission at the block's headquarters in Brussels, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli PM has said. The move became possible after Turkey reportedly lifted its veto on Jerusalem's cooperation with the bloc. "I declare that Israel will accept the invitation and open an office in the near future,"Netanyahu said during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The reasons for NATO's interest in cooperation include Israel's "determined fight against terror, our technological know-how, our intelligence network and other things," Netanyahu said. Upgrading ties with the 28-member NATO block was "something we worked on for many years," he added. Netanyahu also confirmed that the decision to allow Israel to open a permanent mission at NATO HQ was made after Turkey, a member of the alliance since 1952, lifted its veto on Israeli activity within the bloc, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

Unanimous consent of all NATO members is required for collaborating with unaffiliated countries, such as Israel.

Israel views the decision to lift the veto as another sign of Ankara's desire to normalize relations with Jerusalem, a senior Israeli source told Haaretz. Israel's Ambassador to the EU, David Walzer, will be heading the country's permanent mission in Brussels, Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told The Times of Israel.

Previously, NATO issued a statement, saying that "the North Atlantic Council has agreed ‎to accept the request that an official Israeli Mission be established at NATO headquarters. Israel is a very active partner of the Alliance as a member of NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue, established in December 1994," the statement said.

It was pressure by other NATO members on Turkey that allowed for the invitation of Israel, Tommy Steiner, from the Institute for Policy and Strategy near Tel-Aviv, told AFP. "Since the introduction of the new [NATO] partnership policy in 2014 Israel was formally invited. But Israel never did that because there was a Turkish veto on such a measure," he said.

According to the NATO-Israeli relations expert, it is "not on the cards" for Israel to become a full member of NATO.

Turkey cut ties with former ally, Israel, and imposed veto on its cooperation with NATO after the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, when Israeli special forces killed 10 Turkish activists aboard a vessel that tried to breach the naval blockade on Gaza.

After years of mutual accusations, Ankara and Jerusalem held two rounds of secret talks in December and February. Another round of negotiations is expected to take place in mid-May, with the sides expected to settle most of their disputes. Israel even agreed to scale back on the blockade of Palestine's Gaza Strip, allowing Turkey to build power and desalination plants in the area.

The main unresolved issue is the Turkish offices of Hamas, which Israel views as a terrorist organization, according to Haaretz. Last week, both Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that reconciliation with Jerusalem was near.

NATO's new chief military commander in Europe, Curtis Scaparrotti, vowed to continue his predecessor's policy of opposing Russia. In Moscow he is seen as an even bigger warmonger by some officials.

US Army General Scaparrotti assumed command of the NATO Allied Command Operations from Air Force General Philip M. Breedlove, who is retiring after a 39-year military career.

Speaking at a ceremony at NATO's HQ in Brussels, Scaparrotti praised his predecessor's vision and leadership for the alliance.

NATO is facing a "resurgent Russia striving to project itself as a world power," Scaparrotti said, as cited by the Pentagon. Other concerns for NATO are terrorism, as well as a refugee crisis "being driven by instability in North Africa and the Middle East," he said.

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