The Phantom of the (tragic) Middle East Opera is back. A killer without a clue, he can'€™t be blamed for not being consistent. His most recent opus speaks for itself; like a Kabuki mask high on Earl Grey tea, the Phantom is eviscerated by his own mighty pen, actually sword. The fact that the Phantom keeps getting away with his vast desert of convoluted lies – [...]

The Russian Navy has officially accepted K-560 Severodvinsk, the most advanced nuclear-powered multipurpose submarine Russia has ever produced. Severodvinsk is the lead of the Yasen-class submarines, which are to become the backbone of the Russian Navy’s conventional submarine force. [...]

In a bid to beef up its missile defense systems, the United States Department of Defense intends to request $4.5 billion in additional spending over the next five years, according to a report by Reuters. The move – disclosed by Riki Ellison of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance and two unnamed congressional sources – comes partly in response to failed tests that have shown the interceptors [...]

Despite a decade of testing and tens of billions of dollars'€™ worth of research, a major missile defense program in the United States has proven to be anything but successful, a new investigation suggests. Nevertheless, the Missile Defense Agency, or MDA, plans on conducting next week its ninth exercise of that costly system since 2004, and the outcome of the drill is expected to influence whet [...]

A TV camera recorded the moment Russian journalists (from Rossiya TV) came under fire while working near Lugansk, E. Ukraine. Two journalists died from wounds sustained during the Ukrainian military barrage. Reporter Igor Kornelyuk passed away on the operating table, a doctor at a local hospital confirmed to RT. [...]

Two journalists for Russian TV channel Rossiya have died from wounds sustained during a Ukrainian military shelling attack near Lugansk, eastern Ukraine. Reporter Igor Kornelyuk passed away on the operating table, a doctor at the hospital confirmed to RT. [...]

An explosion has struck a pipeline in the central Ukrainian Poltava region. Witnesses say flames from the blast are up to 200 meter high. “The explosion occurred at about 14:45 local time in a field,” the local police press-service said in a statement. Due to the “flame and the high temperatures,” it was “impossible to get closer to the epicenter.” [...]

It was a bad week for blow back. So it goes. Tit-for-tat. Violence begets violence, as every schoolboy knows. Just at the brouhaha over the US solider Bowe Bergdahl being freed by his Taliban captors was simmering, the Taliban attacked Karachi Airport. Soon after, this was followed by yet more drone attacks on Waziristan that killed women and children. [...]

Total US debt soars to nearly $60 trn, foreshadows new recession! The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis released the current data for the total debt in the United States Economy on June 5, 2014 — All Sectors; Credit Market Instruments; Liability, Level (TCMDO). While people, companies, and governments blamed bad weather for a dismal showing in economic activity, it appears they had little troubl [...]

So after the grotesquerie of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 suicide killers of 9/11, meet Saudi Arabia’s latest monstrous contribution to world history: the Islamist Sunni caliphate of Iraq and the Levant, conquerors of Mosul and Tikrit – and Raqqa in Syria – and possibly Baghdad, and the ultimate humiliators of Bush and Obama. [...]

The Ukrainian President is sitting at the top of a living volcano and must understand that exacerbating conflict with Russia will put an end to his presidency, Michael J. Carley, professor of history and 20th century international relations, told RT. [...]

Florida is sinking and it’s not because of climate change. A new report, Florida – A State of Embarassment, by the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans (FLARA), categorizes the reasons why seniors and young families should not move there. [...]

Ukrainian police have detained two men with a package presumably containing a homemade explosive device near Russia'€™s consulate in the city of Odessa. The explosive has been sent for inspection, the local Ministry of Interior reports. [...]

US Secretary of State John Kerry says that Washington is ready to use radical measures to halt the ISIS offensive in Iraq - including enlisting Iran'€™s help and launching air strikes. "We're open to discussions if there is something constructive that can be contributed by Iran, if Iran is prepared to do something that is going to respect the integrity and sovereignty of Iraq," [...]

The Sunni militants fighting to make an Islamic state in Iraq have scored another victory in their move to control more territory. They captured Tal Afar, a city of 200,000 residents in north-west of the country. The city was taken just before dawn on Monday, Mayor Abdulal Abdoul confirmed to AP. [...]

Radical Sunni militants who have been capturing cities in northwest Iraq claimed on Twitter that they executed 1,700 Iraqi soldiers. The radicals posted graphic photos as evidence. The photographs, which were posted on the Twitter account associated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL), came with captions that described their alleged massacre. [...]

Tony Blair'€™s essay on how the Middle East should blame its own religious dynamics for its troubles -€“ instead of Western attempts at intervention - has seen London Mayor Boris Johnson launch a scathing attack on the "€œunhinged"€ former PM. Johnson’s strong condemnation is a reaction to the arguments made in the former British Prime Minister’s piece entitled 'Iraq, Syria and the Mi [...]

After failing to pay its gas bill, Ukraine now has to pay in advance for any natural gas from Russia, Gazprom said on Monday. Both companies have filed lawsuits against each other at the Stockholm Arbitration Court. “This decision was taken due to systematic failure of Naftogaz Ukraine to pay. [...]

In an incident that may be a first in diplomatic history, Kiev'€™s top diplomat publicly "€˜effed"€™ the head of another state. Foreign Minister Andrey Deshchitsa chanted "€œPutin'€™s a f**ker"€ with a cheering crowd that earlier vandalized the Russian embassy. [...]

Russia and Ukraine failed to resolve a gas pricing dispute during Sunday talks in Kiev. Gazprom says its demands have not changed and Kiev is expected to pay its debt of $1.95 billion by 06:00 GMT on Monday, otherwise the gas supply will be stopped. Gazprom’s position remained unchanged after EU-brokered negotiations finally ended around 2:30 a.m. Moscow time (10:30 p.m. GMT) on Monday [...]

The US is getting ready for an open dialogue with Iran to discuss Iraq's security concerns and ways of responding to radical Sunni militia that have been gaining ground in western Iraq, The Wall Street Journal quoted senior US officials as saying. [...]

Apparently, the bloody wave of Islamic extremism gripping Iraq is an internal occurrence and was in no way facilitated by the Western invasion. This is former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair'€™s version of events concerning the entire Middle East. In fact, the former prime minister describes at length how it’s necessary to rid oneself of any feeling of responsibility that the crumbling country an [...]