The belief that Vladimir Putin single-handedly “manufactured” the current conflict with the West to win domestic support, spark a surge in Russian patriotism and hold on to power at any cost, has been a staple of mainstream Western analysis of Russia since the Ukraine crisis began. That same belief — that Putin manufactures crises or otherwise inserts Moscow into them to distract an antsy [...]

Plus, other things that can help keep you mentally sharp. Call them magic mushrooms. Older people who eat more than two portions of mushrooms a week could cut their odds of having mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by 50%, according to a recent six-year study of Chinese men and women over age 60 that was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. [...]

Some Democratic leaders are privately scouting around for someone to replace Hillary Clinton if she stumbles again in California and/or the FBI detects a crime in her email scandal, reports Robert Parry. For months now, poll after poll have registered the judgment of the American people that they want neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump as the next President, but the two major parties seem [...]

The volume of mutual trade between Russia and China finally reached $100 billion for the first time ever, according to Gao Feng, the Chinese commerce ministry's spokesman. [...]

While criticizing Israeli policy, US National Security Advisor Susan Rice has nonetheless promised to provide a large military aid package to the Middle Eastern nation. Speaking at the American Jewish Committee Global Forum on Monday, Rice spoke of the necessity of a peaceful two-state solution. [...]

Austrian Vice-Chancellor and leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) Heinz-Christian Strache announced earlier his resignation after he was purportedly filmed discussing what was described by the media as contracts with a Russian woman months before the 2017 election. [...]

A doorway to “other dimensions” has been opened by the CERN Large Hadron Collider, according to someone with too much time on their hands and an active imagination. For the rest of us, it’s one of the most epic cloud formations you’ll see in your life. [...]

Lebanon's Defence Minister Elias Bou Saab has warned that the Lebanese Air Force will strike Israel's Ben Gurion airport in the event of a military conflict between the two states, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing Hezbollah's al-Manar news site. [...]

FBI Director James Comey got Hillary off the hook but wants to put you on it. He is pushing hard for warrantless access to all of your Internet activity, Comey, who would have fit in perfectly with Hitler’s Gestapo, tells Congress that the United States is not safe unless the FBI knows when every American goes online, to whom they are sending emails and from whom they are receiving emails, an [...]

Iran has shot down an American RQ-4 reconnaissance drone flying over Hormuzgan province, Tehran claims. The US military declined to comment. [...]

After Austria suggested putting an end to EU membership talks with Turkey, Ankara hit back, labeling Vienna the “capital of radical racism.” The Austrian foreign minister suggested Turkey should moderate its wording and “do its homework.”   [...]

The Spanish frigate was part of a US-led naval group that was sent to the Persian Gulf shortly before Tehran announced the suspension of some of its obligations under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on 8 May. The move came exactly a year after the US unilaterally left the deal, also reinstating harsh anti-Iranian sanctions. [...]

Britain’s new multibillion-pound Trident nuclear submarine fleet may be in jeopardy after the government’s own watchdog warned the project faces “major risks.” The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) has cast doubt on the Trident renewal plan. [...]

Millionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been found “injured and in a fetal position” in his New York jail cell with marks around his neck, leading to speculation that he’d been attacked or injured himself to get transferred. [...]

In its analysis of the outcome of the talks between Presidents Putin and Erdogan earlier this week in St. Petersburg, Italian news magazine L’Espresso says the meeting has sent two strong messages, telling Europe “it is no longer the center of the universe”, and demonstrating to the US that Turkey has “other strategic options on the table.” [...]

The US State Department can’t seem to make up its mind about the cause of Iran’s economic woes, claiming Tehran’s “Marxist economy” is to blame even as it celebrates the devastation US sanctions have wrought on the country. [...]

Moscow possesses strong evidence that Ukraine really prepared sabotage in the Crimea. Russia is ready to provide representatives of the Western countries with this evidence, Sergey Lavrov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said. ‘We really don’t conceal what is known, we show people who were detained, stores with weapons and munition, which were detected in the Crimea. [Elite_video_player [...]

The trade war between the world’s two largest economies entered a new phase on Sunday, as US tariffs targeting Chinese-made products and Beijing’s retaliatory hikes on American imports both kick in. [...]

Questions surrounding Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation continue to grow. On Sunday, Democratic National Committee interim chairperson Donna Brazile defended Clinton’s meetings as secretary of state with Clinton Foundation donors, saying, "When Republicans meet with their donors, with their supporters, their activists, they call it a meeting. When Democrats do that, they call it a co [...]

Facebook has invoked its free speech right as a publisher, insisting its ability to smear users as extremists is protected, but its legal immunity thus far has rested on a law which protects platforms, not publishers. Which is it? Facebook has declared it has the right, as a publisher, to exercise its own free speech and bar conservative political performance artist Laura Loomer from its platform. [...]

In late-December, the German newspaper Bild reported that former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger would be involved in normalizing ties between Moscow and Washington. The analysis of information, obtained by European intelligence from President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team and cited by Bild, revealed that the White House would go for a "constructive cooperation" with the [...]

While studying the possible cause of a dangerous infection, peri-implantitis, scientists at the Siberian Federal University (SibFU) and the Institute of Medical Problems of the North suggested that it could be traces of foreign inorganic substances on the surface of new sterile dental implants. [...]