Society's Child
On Monday, 30 civilians were killed in air raids; on the following day, 80 more were killed, and on Wednesday, another 26 were killed. At least 22 children and 21 women were among the dead.
"Scenes of entire buildings, housing whole families crashing down with the residents - women, children and men still inside - have become a frequent image," Abu Salem al-Shami, a resident and activist, told Al Jazeera by phone from Eastern Ghouta, an area that has been under opposition control since 2013.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, says Tuesday marked the "largest massacre in Syria" since April's chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province when more than 80 people were killed.
Former Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory chief Rodchenkov, who claims the tampering of doping samples of Russian athletes took place under his supervision at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, recently spoke to CBS journalist Scott Pelley for the program 60 Minutes, which was aired on Sunday.
After once again confessing to playing the key role in the Sochi "doping scheme," which in his words was backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin himself, Rodchenkov discussed the doping situation in the global Olympic movement.
Comment: Of course other countries are benefiting from doping. This is pretty standard fare understood by most in the Olympic world. And yet Russia has been the only country singled out. Don't worry though, it still has nothing to do with politics.
The video released, and republished by Eastern Mediterranean News, shows a fighter of the SDF's Deir Ezzor Military Council saying "We are coming for you O Bashar (al-Assad)" in reference to the president of Syria.
The latest video and battles come as a commander of the US-backed SDF announced the intention of fighting the Syrian Army in the eastern desert province of Deir Ezzor. The video and details can be found here.
The SDF are led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). Despite the YPG battling Turkish-led forces in northwest Syria and calling for the help of the Syrian Army, their comrades in eastern Syria continually provoke a situation against government forces, most likely under the directions of US command.
The YPG in Afrin who are battling Turkish-led forces host no illegal US military bases or personnel unlike their eastern comrades.
Comment: This particular faction of the Kurds still, apparently, don't know who its real enemies are, see:
Pete Escobar: Have you betrayed your Kurd today?
Lissa Lucas was criticizing a proposed bill, HB 4268, which would allow oil and gas companies to drill on private land with the consent of just 75 percent of the landowners. Energy companies are currently required to have 100 percent approval from landowners before they can extract gas and minerals from land.
As part of her testimony, she read out the list of names of lawmakers who received sizeable donations from fossil fuel companies. Her testimony elicited a less than warm reception from the legislature.
"The people who are going to be speaking in favor of this bill are all going to be paid by the industry ... the people who are going to be voting on this bill are often also paid by the industry," Lucas said.
"We signed a request to rename Nevzat Tandogan Street, where the US embassy is located, as Olive Branch Street. The initiative will be introduced for consideration at Ankara's municipal assembly today," Mustafa Tuna wrote on his Twitter page.

The arrested scientists worked at the secret factory which made the USSR's first nuclear bomb
The suspects had tried to use one of Russia's most powerful supercomputers to mine Bitcoins, media reports say.
The Federal Nuclear Centre in Sarov, western Russia, is a restricted area.
The one-day event will allow delegates to vote for women's, black and ethnic minority (BAME), disabled and LGBT representatives to the Young Labour National Committee.
Heterosexual white men are not allowed to vote in any of these categories, as rules state only women can vote for the women's representative, and only LGBT members can vote for the LGBT officer.
Comment: Like a fast-moving virus, the ideology of identity politics is quickly trying to take a hold and influence the thinking and policies of many Western governments - to the detriment of all. And god help anyone who should criticize it lest they be labeled a 'white supremacist,' 'misogynist' or some other derogatory term meant to label and besmirch the messenger and the message; a tactic taken right out of the pages of Zionism's Hasbara manual, the FBI's handbook on COINTELPRO, or the CIA's methodology for undertaking 'regime change' around the world.
"According to Syrian estimates, losses in the real sector of the economy topped $75 billion," the ambassador told TASS news agency. "UN experts believe that it will take nearly $200 billion to achieve the pre-crisis GDP growth rate," he added.
"We are aware that the Syrian government will find it difficult to obtain a huge amount of money required for the post-crisis recovery," Kinshchak explained.
Comment: Beijing has already committed to playing a bigger role in Syria by investing in the country:
Beijing intends to play a bigger role in Syria by providing more aid to the country struggling to put an end to a seven-year conflict, Chinese Ambassador to Syria Qi Qianjin told Xinhua news agency.Quite a contrast to the Empire of Chaos where destruction is a specialty, but reconstruction and aid...not so much!
"I think it's about time to focus all efforts on the development and reconstruction of Syria, and I think China will play a bigger role in this process by providing more aid to the Syrian people and the Syrian government," the ambassador said Sunday, as quoted by the outlet.
..
Earlier, the Syrian Minister of Transport told Sputnik that after fixing the transport network within the country, the construction of a railway line to China might be possible.
According to the Global Times, at least 30 Chinese have travelled to Syria since April, looking for investment opportunities
New York Times photographer says Trump gives substantially more access to the Oval Office than Obama

"I see him more on a daily basis than we did with Barack Obama," Doug Mills said.
When asked to compare covering the previous administration to Trump's, Doug Mills of the New York Times said photographers are getting "a lot more" access in an interview with C-SPAN.
"We're getting a lot more, I mean from a photographer's standpoint, we get a lot more access to the president. I see him more on a daily basis than we did with Barack Obama," Mills said.

An Angela Merkel float is seen at the Rosenmontag parade in Dusseldorf on February 12, 2018.
Rosenmontag (Rose Monday) events are held across the Rhine region each year. The biggest parades are taking place in Düsseldorf, Mainz, and Cologne.
Spectators turned out in droves, as they do every year, with floats mocking politicians from across the globe. As expected, Donald Trump and unsubstantiated claims of Russian meddling were represented.












Comment: This report is a typical example of disinformation from numerous fake Soros 'humanitarian monitor organizations', whose purpose is to color the truth by distorting and falsifying numbers and circumstances to help further regime change in synch with imperialist movements and neocon ambitions. The aim: public outrage, a demand for 'corrective' military action, convenient justification for action or reaction. Two of these organizations are: SNHR and SOHR, mentioned above.
Revealing: SNHR [Syrian Network for Human Rights/SN4HR]