Maxim Borodin had earlier called to say he feared a police raid at his home. A local rights activist told The Independent: 'We have a chain of events that has led to a very suspicious death'

A prominent regional journalist investigating crime, politics and the war in Syria has died following a fall from a window of his fourth-floor apartment in Yekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city.

Maxim Borodin, 32, was found by neighbours on the ground outside his apartment on Friday. He died in hospital two days later, without ever regaining consciousness.

Mr Borodin was well-known for delving into Yekaterinburg's criminal underworld. He was among those who broke the story of unreported deaths in the Kremlin's shadow armies fighting in Syria. He also published investigations into Russia's religious right, and the violent protests around Matilda, a supposedly blasphemous film depicting a love affair between Tsar Nicholas II and a young ballerina.

Rabbi Ophir Wallas of the Bnei David Military Mechina was caught on video teaching young would-be soldiers that Israelis are, from the halachaic point of view, permitted to wipe out Palestinians, and that only fear of massive retaliation prevents that.

Rabbi Wallas' words can be heard here. They are taken from a longer lecture he has given his students, which - for those who have too much time on their hands - can be seen here. Here is my translation, with essential footnotes:

"In conquering the Land [of Israel] according to Nachmanides and Rashi [*], who say that the wars of today are also mitzvah wars for conquering the Land, I am beholden to nothing. This isn't the law of the persecutor [**], right? What law are we dealing with? The laws of a mitzvah war, a war of occupying the Land. Even if I don't conquer Gaza right now, [conquering it] is part of my ability to settle the Land of Israel, so it is also a part of the mitzvah of conquering the Land. And therefore it follows, there's no other way; like, we'd have to kill them all. Because this is the difference between the Law of the Persecutor and mitzvah wars. [...] A mitzvah war of conquering the Land, which is not limited to saving the people of Israel from their enemies, according to some of the Rishonim [***] I could, on the face of it and by the essential law, destroy, kill and cause to perish [****] all of them. I will not do so, because if I were to do so, and reject international treaties, then the State of Israel shall perish, unless we shall witness a miracle of miracles - and one must not trust in a miracle. And that's the only reason I won't do it."

Sputnik News reported a very interesting find that brings up new questions for the West, and, more specifically, the Trump Administration, regarding a chemical weapons storehouse find in Douma, Syria, today.

From this report:

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian troops found a warehouse of substances necessary for the production of chemical weapons in Syrian Douma, media reported Tuesday, citing chemical defense specialist Alexander Rodionov.

"The discovered substances, such as thiodiglycol and diethanolamine, are necessary for the production of sulfur and nitrogen mustard gas. In addition, a cylinder with chlorine, similar to that used by militants for setting up the wide-spread fake story, was found in the warehouse. It can be concluded that this laboratory was used by illegal armed groups for the production of poisonous substances," Rodionov said, as quoted by the Zvezda TV channel.

On Saturday, the United States, the United Kingdom and France launched 103 missiles on multiple targets in Syria in response to the alleged chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta's Douma that reportedly took place on April 7. The Syrian government has denied the accusations of chemical weapons use and said that the Jaysh al-Islam terror group staged the attack to justify potential foreign intervention in Syria.

Twitter's CEO, Jack Dorsey, infamously tweeted a link in early April to a story calling for a bloodless civil war to solve America's problems. The piece, "The Great Lesson of California in America's New Civil War: Why there's no bipartisan way forward at this juncture in our history - one side must win" was authored by Peter Leyden and Ruy Teixeira.

The duo assert that this new civil war will follow a path blazed by California 15 years ago, namely, the crushing of the Republican Party. "The Democrats won; the Republicans lost," they intone, "California is the future..."

Living and working in places like Washington and San Francisco as Teixeira and Twitter's Dorsey do, tends to distort the view of the real world.

The chemical weapon used to poison ex-Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia was delivered "in a liquid form," according to the Department for Environment.

The department said that one primary location was targeted by their attackers - the Skripal's Salisbury home. The London Road cemetery, where the remains of the former Russian spy's wife and son are buried, was not targeted.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has detailed efforts being made to decontaminate areas of Salisbury where the chemical agent has been found, as well as more details on the poison itself. The clean-up operation is expected to take months.

Russian military police distributed humanitarian aid in Eastern Ghouta's Douma on Sunday, following the city's liberation from militant control.

"The rest of militants have left Douma today. The Russian Federation is the first to give a helping hand," a Russian official said.

According to last week's report, bankruptcies in the retail sector were at a record high during the first quarter of 2018.

Ask anyone running a store and they'll tell you that it's tough to be in the retail business. Merchants big and small are struggling to meet the demands of a customer base that is demanding better service, lower prices and products both in-store and from the comfort of their homes. A new report from investor research firm Moody's certainly confirms that.

According to last week's report, bankruptcies in the retail sector were at a record high during the first quarter of 2018.

There were nine defaults in the sector -- including Sears and Claire's - during the three months ended March 31. Tops Friendly Markets, a supermarket chain, and the Bon-Ton, department store chain, also filed for bankruptcy during the period. The only non-U.S. default that occurred in the first quarter was Britain-based BrightHouse Group, which sells rent-to-own refurbished sofas, televisions and refrigerators.

The leader of a terrorist cell, which had connections to the jihadist group Islamic State, has killed himself with an improvised explosive device in order to avoid being arrested, Russian law enforcement said.

The cell was planning bomb and gun attacks in Russia's Rostov region, but was identified and thwarted before they could act, the Federal Security Service (FSB) reported on Tuesday.

After unleashing over 100 missiles on Syria at the weekend, the US, Britain and France strained to declare self-righteousness in the name of the "international community".

The strain comes from the fact that the three attacking nations are not the international community. They are acting above the law and have no moral authority - despite their declarations of righteousness.

Their steely resolve is not so steely as they would like to project. There were mixed messages whether this was a one-off show of force, or whether there is more offensive force on the way.

The fact that a US aircraft carrier strike group is on its way to the Mediterranean - due to arrive next week - suggests that a full-blown war may be on the cards. There again, the American, French and British leaders showed signs of trepidation by trying to reassure that the strikes at the weekend were "mission accomplished".

At one of Europe's biggest re-enactment spectaculars, this year's show is Spartacus-themed. So, take a seat in the mighty arena alongside 12,000 spectators (togas optional)

The first gladiator is down, flailing his gladius towards the emperor before being pummelled by a giant hammer (thankfully, into a furrow of sand left by one of the racing chariots). Two "slaves" rush on and drag his body off towards the spoliarium. Suddenly, everyone is up out of their seats: the retiarius (net man) has dropped his trident and the mirmillones (fish men) are closing in.

Nîmes' Les Grands Jeux Romains (Great Roman Games) is one of the biggest re-enactment spectaculars in Europe. Sitting among 12,000 handkerchief-waving spectators in the city's first-century Roman amphitheatre last year, I realised it makes for a mesmerising and charmingly-brutal event. Having already featured Hannibal (2015), Cleopatra (2016) and, last year, Boudicca, this year's games, which take place from 28-30 April, is devoted to Spartacus.