In what should be a source of embarrassment to the British government and the journalists who parroted it, a number of prominent Twitter users have recently been accused of being automated Russian bots rather than real humans.

Two of these government-identified "bots" are the accounts @Ian56789 and @Partisangirl - and they are in fact definitely not bots, but real live people. In the case of @Partisangirl, whose real name is Maram Susli, any three-year old could have figured out that she is a real person simply by viewing the multiple videos and interviews she has posted online in recent years.

But Guardian journalist Heather Stewart didn't do that. Instead she unquestioningly reported the 'news' that Susli is a bot.

A British newspaper says so.... Media reports suggest British authorities still in the dark about the Skripal case

Two British newspapers - The Sunday People (which is a tabloid) and the Times of London (which is not) - have published very similar stories about a supposed breakthrough in the Skripal case.

The Times of London as usual is somewhat more measured.

Firstly it reports the interesting fact (based on a report drawn from the Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets) that Yulia Skripal's Russian fiancé is refusing to reply to her calls, causing her deep distress

The fiancé of Yulia Skripal, who was poisoned by a nerve agent in Salisbury, works at an organisation with links to the Russian security services and has gone into hiding.

Stepan Vikeev, 30, has not been seen since Yulia, 33, and her father, Sergei, 66, a former Russian military intelligence officer, were poisoned last month, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper reported.

Mr Vikeev has not answered Ms Skripal's calls since she was discharged from hospital and deleted all his social media accounts after the attack, for which the government has blamed Russia.....

The newspaper said that Ms Skripal was "hysterical" when Mr Vikeev failed to return her telephone calls.

Check out this stirring anthem to freedom in Gaza. It begins with a Palestinian child saying "We shall overcome" and an image of Martin Luther King Jr. and then in many still pictures of the "Great March of Return" conveys the strength of the unarmed resistance to the blockade-including the killing of Yaser Murtaja, the Palestinian journalist who was one of six Palestinian journalists shot by Israeli snipers on April 6.

The imagery is by Sana Kassem, and the video was posted by Norman Finkelstein yesterday on youtube. The song is "Wings to Fly," by Susan Boyle. The copy accompanying the video was simply: "A video dedicated to the people of Gaza as they struggle to break out of Israel's infernal prison."

In a long running court battle a French couple has been ordered to drain their pond because its frogs are making too much noise. However, because the frogs are protected, the couple risks a prison sentence if they comply.

The legal battle between Michel and Annie Pecheras and their neighbors goes all the way back to 2012 when the neighbors tried to use the courts to force the couple to fill in the natural pond in their garden near the village of Grignols in Dordogne.

The neighbors complained that the pond's dozens of frogs were making such a racket during mating season that it was reducing their quality of life.

The Pecheras won that particular battle but lost an appeal in 2016. They then went on to appeal that decision and, in ruling against the couple, the court ordered that they must drain the pond or face fines of €150 per day, French newspaper Sud-Ouest report.

Victim Jumped On Way Home From Synagogue, Told 'You Don't Need Help. I'm Going To Kill You Right Here'

There have been two recent attacks against Orthodox Jewish men in Brooklyn.

In the latest one, the victim was approached by a stranger and choked on the street, CBS2's Natalie Duddridge reported Sunday night.

Surveillance video shows the suspect running down the street and tackling another man. He then forces him against a fence, choking and punching him.

Julian Assange's Twitter account is active again, four weeks after Ecuador cut off his internet access. The account is being managed by a campaign calling for him to be reconnected.

"Julian Assange has been gagged and isolated from visitors and communications after heightened pressure," his account tweeted Monday. "This is on top of his six years without access to sunlight and arbitrary detention in violation of two UN rulings. Account now run by his campaign."


Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since he sought asylum there in 2012. He entered the embassy in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden where he was wanted for questioning over sexual assault allegations. Assange feared once in Sweden, he would be extradited to the US to face charges over WikiLeaks' release of US government cables and documents. He was granted Ecuadorian citizenship in December in a failed effort to allow him to leave the UK under diplomatic immunity.

Maram Susli, also known as Partisangirl, is a Syrian living in Perth, Australia. If you ask the British government, though, she's a 'Russian bot.' London bases these claims on dodgy numbers from shady sources, Susli tells RT.

"Last time I checked, I'm a real human being," said Susli. "The British government, they can't even confirm that I'm not an automaton. How can we believe anything they have to say about the evidence they have for Skripal and Syria's chemical attacks?"

Susli's twitter handle, @Partisangirl, was referenced in a number of UK media outlets, who uncritically cited a British government analysis of alleged Russian-operated bot accounts. Partisangirl supposedly reached 61 million users with 2,300 posts over a 12-day period.

As the world awaits the OPCW inspectors scheduled to enter Douma and present their findings regarding the alleged chemical weapons attacks there, most researchers and discerning onlookers already have a pretty good idea of what took place. Despite the crowing of Western countries regarding their yet to be disclosed "proof" that the Syrian government launched chemical weapons against civilians in Douma, there has been not one shred of evidence to back them up. Indeed, what evidence does exist seems to prove only that the attack was staged.

Below are a number of reasons that the claims made by the United States, Britain, and Frances are completely false:

The Lack Of Western Evidence

Despite both the United States and France claiming to have clear evidence that the Syrian government used chemical weapons on the Syrian people, with French President Macron stating that he had undeniable "proof," not one shred of evidence has been presented to their respective populations or even the United Nations, whose own standard for "proof" is a bar set rather low to say the least. Theresa May of Britain stated that her cabinet agreed it was "highly likely" Assad used chemical weapons.

At the end of the day, the undeniable "proof" was nothing more than social media posts, grainy videos, and staged photographs released by terrorist fighters in Douma and the notorious Nusra Front propaganda organization known as the White Helmets. Even the U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis admitted there was no evidence that the Syrian government used chemical weapons. In testimony to Congress, Mattis stated "I believe there was a chemical attack and we're looking for the actual evidence." He added, "There have been a number of these attacks. In many cases as you know, we don't have troops, we're not engaged on the ground there so I cannot tell you we had evidence even though we certainly had a lot of media and social media indicators that either chlorine or sarin were used.

• Saleh Al-Sammad was No. 2 on the Saudi-led coalition's most-wanted list, after leader Abdel Malek Al-Houthi
• A $20 million reward was earlier offered by the coalition for the head of Al-Sammad

Jeddah: Saleh Al-Sammad, the second in command of the Houthi militia, was killed last week in an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition, the Iran-allied militia confirmed on Monday.

Al-Sammad, head of the Houthis' so-called Supreme Political Council, was killed in the eastern province of Hodeida on Thursday, the militia announced in a statement published on the Houthi-run Saba news agency.

He was second only to Houthi leader Abdel Malek Al-Houthi on the coalition's most-wanted list. A $20 million reward had been offered for any information leading to Al-Sammad's capture.

His death deals a major blow to the Shiite militias, who have been fighting the coalition-backed pro-government forces since March 2015.

At the beginning of April, Al-Sammad described 2018 as "the year of ballistic excellence," referring to missiles the militias fired across the border.

Syrian government forces are developing an advance against ISIS in the Yarmouk refugee camp area in southern Damascus. The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies have liberated the al-Mujahedeen mosque reaching the Taqadom district and captured a major part of the Zain district.

This area is the last militant-held pocket near Damascus. If it's liberated, the Syrian capital will be fully secured.

According to pro-government sources, the sides are still negotiating on a possible deal that would allow ISIS members to withdraw to the Homs desert. However, the deal has not been reached yet. So, government forces are developing their military operation in the area.