Benjamin Netanyahu, Anshel Pfeffer reminded us, doesn't see the Israeli-Arab conflict as a problem in itself, but as an inseparable part of the clash of civilizations between Islam and the Western world ("The Netanyahu vision, in 467 pages," April 18). Israel to him is the West's spearhead in a 1,500-year-long struggle.

When his book "A Place Among the Nations" was published, I saw it as nothing more than propaganda, intended to invent an ideological cover for perpetuating the occupation sponsored by American neoconservatism in its most simplistic form. It's too bad that good people still fall into that trap.

Netanyahu has long understood the Palestinians are incapable of resisting the occupation by force, so the occupation won't end in the foreseeable future. But since no reality can remain for long without an ideological cover, and the biblical narrative doesn't sell well in the United States outside evangelical circles, he cast his lot, in the spirit of the neoconservative trend of the late 20th century, with protecting Western culture.

However, for more than 300 years Western culture has presented two approaches: the liberal approach from which democracy and human rights developed from the French and British Enlightenments, and the approach that subordinates the individual to an ethnic community and seeks legitimacy for politics in history. This branch began sprouting already at the end of the 19th century the various nationalist and racist rightist movements, including those that developed into fascism and Nazism.

Just when you thought we'd hit peak 'Russian meddling' claims, there's a whole new fear-mongering report in town. The Sunday Times has released an 'investigation' linking a pesky Russian bot army with Labour's June election gains.

Heaven forbid British voters may have been swayed by a lack of leadership by the Tories...

The Sunday Times exclusive, but apparently not in-depth, joint investigation with Swansea University claims that 6,500 'Russian' Twitter accounts sent messages of support for the British Labour Party in the seven weeks before last year's snap general election, sharing "mass-produced" and "orchestrated" political messages.

Many people think barristers strut around courtrooms barking 'objection'. It is as wrong as assuming the UK justice system can survive recent cuts
A war crimes trial is stopped because the government has privatised the supply of interpreters, and the company selected cannot present any who are qualified. Two women, in all likelihood repeatedly raped by their father as children, are humiliated, dehumanised and ultimately disbelieved in proceedings in which they did not stand a chance. Thousands of people every year are convicted of crimes by magistrates whose qualification for dispensing justice is filling out a form, passing an interview, doing some charity work and being willing to sit for 13 days a year, with 18 hours' worth of training. A man whose innocence should have been easily established in court is convicted of sexual assault because relevant evidence was not disclosed by the police. And meanwhile hundreds of hardworking, dedicated professionals are toiling in near impossible conditions.

This is a portrait of the criminal justice system in England and Wales today, as seen by the Secret Barrister, a criminal advocate who keeps his identity a closely guarded secret so that, he argues, he can be unrestrained in his critique. And unrestrained it is. The book is in part a guide to the system - a reminder of how few of us understand it - and in part a first-hand account of the personal dilemmas facing someone whose professional life is spent in and out of crown courts, police cells and prisons. It is above all a plea to rescue a justice system that has become utterly broken.

"Hell" is the word used by one supreme court judge. "Despair" is the experience of another in the court of appeal. Over the last near decade of austerity, justice has endured the deepest cuts of any departmental spending in the UK. Whole areas of law, including family, housing, immigration, debt and employment, have been taken outside the realm of publicly funded legal representation, leaving some of the most vulnerable people at the mercy of a system that is designed to be incomprehensible to even the most highly educated lay person.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Friday called on Israel to ensure that its security forces do not resort to the use of excessive force, following the many deaths and injuries sustained by Palestinians, including children, in Gaza over the past month. He also called for those responsible to be held accountable.

During the past four weeks, 42 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,500 injured - 1,739 by live ammunition fired by the Israeli Security Forces (ISF) - along the fence in Gaza. Thirty-five of those killed were taking part in demonstrations as part of the "Great March of Return". Most of them appear to have been unarmed or not presenting an imminent threat to the ISF at the time of their killing or injury. No Israeli casualties have been reported.

"Every week, we witness instances of use of lethal force against unarmed demonstrators," said the High Commissioner. "Warnings by the United Nations and others have seemingly gone unheeded, as the approach of the security forces from week to week does not seem to have changed."

Last week in London, I was visiting a residential area outside the city center to catch up with a friend who I hadn't seen in half a year.

We had ventured out for a meal, not far from her home, on one of those wonderful London streets where the mix of restaurants matches the cultural mix of the locals. An amazing Italian place is followed by an amazing Thai place, which is followed by an amazing Lebanese place, all within a few steps of one another.

Here, I have to say that my friend is light years removed from my world of 24-hour news cycles, politics, info-wars, etc. For once, I was having a night out, (mostly) not talking about work, not having to be an unofficial spokesperson for all issues related to Russia, just by the virtue of being Russian myself (if nearly 20 years of living abroad has taught me anything, it is that one does not have to work at RT to be held personally responsible for all the deeds of my government and most of Russian history; unless I condemn them all summarily and unequivocally).

The United Nations has issued a damning statement on the "disproportionate" amount of black and ethnic minority deaths in police custody as it claimed they are proof of "structural racism" at the roots of British society.

The UN's rebuke follows the release of data by the Metropolitan Police revealing officers used force against 12,605 people between April and July last year. One in three were black, despite them accounting for just 13 percent of London's population.

"The deaths reinforce the experiences of structural racism, over-policing and criminalization of people of African descent and other minorities in the UK," a panel of human rights experts said.

A judge on Friday ordered Bill Cosby to remain in his suburban Philadelphia home and be fitted with a GPS monitor until he is sentenced on sexual assault charges. Judge Steven O'Neill's request was filed Friday, a day after a jury found Cosby guilty of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004.

The 80-year-old Cosby was convicted on three counts of felony indecent aggravated assault. He faces 10 years in prison on each count, but it's not clear whether any sentences imposed may run concurrently.

O'Neill had suggested Thursday that Cosby would be allowed to move around Montgomery County, where his home is located. The modified order said he can leave his house only to meet with his lawyers or to get medical treatment but must get permission before doing so.

Cosby remains free on $1 million bail. He maintains his innocence. He kept out of sight and was spending time with his wife of 54 years, Camille, in the wake of his conviction.

The first voyage of Russia's floating power plant has sent media into an atomic frenzy, with the vessel getting branded as the 'nuclear Titanic' and a 'floating Chernobyl' even before it got its nuclear fuel loaded.

The 'Akademik Lomonosov' vessel, the first Russian floating nuclear power plant (FNPP), has embarked on its first voyage from St. Petersburg to Murmansk on Saturday. The plant will get its nuclear fuel loaded and will then be towed to Russia's Far East. The 'Akademik Lomonosov' is expected to be put into service in 2019 in the Arctic, off the coast of Chukotka near the port of Pevek.

The leaders of the UK, France and Germany have agreed to defend the Iran nuclear deal while they work out a way to wring more concessions out of Tehran. The 2015 deal is "the best way" to keep Iran from nuclear weapons, they said.

The renewed push for the deal to stay intact came during separate phone calls between UK Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron, and May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday. The leaders of the countries, which are all party to the landmark 2015 agreement, agreed that it was "the best way of neutralizing the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran," the statement issued by Downing Street says.

At the same time, as Washington demands the deal be "fixed", the three will be working on forcing Iran to abandon more than just its nuclear development. They acknowledged "the importance of retaining the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name of the deal], they committed to continue working closely together and with the US on how to tackle the range of challenges that Iran poses," the statement said.

We're living in truth-is-stranger-than-fiction times.

Yesterday, the Russian government held a 2 hour press conference in the Hague, Netherlands, presenting what they claim is proof that the alleged gas attack in Syria was a fraud and a false flag, something that significant percentage of people in America and Europe agree with. It was resoundingly ignored by the mainstream media.

The White Helmets, widely exposed as a fraudulent intelligence operation, receive Oscars.

I noticed this story about the Pulitzer prizes for Russiagate reporting when it came out 10 days ago, and expected an avalanche of ridicule from the alternative media. But the Syria missile strikes happened the day before, and the geniuses at the Pulitzer committee escaped in the fog of war.