SOURCE: BEN NORTON, GRAYZONE PROJECT

WHILE TRUMP THREATENS IRAN AND VENEZUELA WITH NEW WARS, 400 CONGRESS MEMBERS, INCLUDING LEADERS FROM BOTH PARTIES, WANT TO INTENSIFY THE EIGHT-YEAR WAR ON SYRIA, TO WEAKEN IRAN, RUSSIA, AND HEZBOLLAH.
While the Donald Trump administration is threatening two new wars on Iran and Venezuela, a substantial majority of the US Congress is clamoring for more immediate action.

Nearly 400 Congress members from both chambers — roughly 75 percent of all federal US lawmakers — have signed an open letter calling on President Trump to escalate the war in Syria, in the name of countering Iran, Russia, and Lebanese Hezbollah.

Top Democratic Party leaders have joined hawkish Republicans in a bipartisan demand that the far-right president “address threats in Syria” and “demonstrate American leadership in resolving the prolonged conflict.”

DHL Express, an international courier, and Ehang, a Chinese company focused on producing intelligent autonomous aerial vehicles, have entered into a partnership to solve the last-mile delivery challenges in metropolitan areas across China, read a DHL press release.

Originally published by GR in February 2009, this article focusses on the role of Hollywood as an instrument of propaganda. The Deep Politics of Hollywood are part of the broader process of media manipulation and disinformation in support of US led wars.

Here we build a prima facae case supporting the idea that Hollywood continues to be a target for infiltration and subversion by a variety of state agencies, in particular the CIA. Academic debates on cinematic propaganda are almost entirely retrospective, and whilst a number of commentators have drawn attention to Hollywood’s longstanding and open relationship with the Pentagon, little of substance has been written about the more clandestine influences working through Hollywood in the post-9/11 world. As such, our work delves into the field of what Peter Dale Scott calls “deep politics”; namely, activities which cannot currently be fully understood due to the covert influence of shadowy power players.

In a collective demonstration of solidarity between European civilians and the suffering Yemeni civilians, the Saudi ship Bahri Yanbu was turned away from ports in France and Italy without loading its deadly cargo of weapons.

Last summer, the Saudi-led coalition targeted a school bus in Yemen, killing 54 people, including 44 small children. Human Rights Watch conducted interviews with a large group of witnesses and survivors and came to the conclusion that the attack was an apparent war crime, as there had not been any military target in the area at that time. Lockheed Martin, an American weapons manufacturer had made the 500-pound laser-guided bomb that was sold and used by Saudi Arabia.

Iraq stands by Iran against US sanctions, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed Alhakim said Sunday.

Alhakim held talks in Baghdad with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif, who arrived in the Iraqi capital for discussions with Iraqi officials.

The top Iraqi diplomat said bilateral relations between Baghdad and Tehran were the focus of Zarif’s visit to Iraq.

“We are against the US sanctions against Iran,” Alhakim said.

After US announces conference to lay out economic aspects of Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, Hezbollah chief warns of 'ominous deal aimed at eliminating the Palestinian cause'

Rachel Maddow has aired a segment condemning the new indictment against Julian Assange for 17 alleged violations of the Espionage Act.

Yes, that Rachel Maddow.

MSNBC’s top host began the segment after it was introduced by Chris Hayes, agreeing with her colleague that it’s surprising that more news outlets aren’t giving this story more “wall to wall” coverage, given its immense significance. She recapped Assange’s various legal struggles up until this point, then accurately described Assange’s new Espionage Act charges for publishing secret documents.

“And these new charges are not about stealing classified information or outsmarting computer systems in order to illegally obtain classified information,” Maddow said. “It’s not about that. These new charges are trying to prosecute Assange for publishing that stolen, secret material which was obtained by somebody else. And that is a whole different kettle of fish then what he was initially charged with.”

Russia yesterday unveiled details of a military agreement it signed with the regime of former Sudan President Omar Al-Bashir which allow Moscow’s warships to use the country’s ports.

The purpose of the agreement, which came in to affect on 9 May, “is to develop military cooperation between the two countries in accordance with their laws, principles and rules of international law and international treaties to which Russia and the Republic of Sudan are parties,” the deal outlined.

Under the agreement, the two sides will exchange views and information on military and political issues, and matters of mutual importance and international security.

It is common knowledge that Theresa May’s husband Philip essentially acts as the unofficial advisor to the Prime Minister – a fact proven by the former Conservative MP for Chichester, Andrew Tyrie, who said during a Newsnight profile of the PM’s husband that “Philip is clearly acting as, informally, an advisor to Theresa. Probably much like Denis did to Margaret Thatcher.”

By almost every metric, Jews are the most protected ethnic group on earth. At the frontline of this protection, Jewish institutional security is heavily subsidised by taxpayers throughout the West. In Germany, the government provides an annual stipend of $15 million to the Central Council of Jews. In the UK, the government spends around $20 million annually on both security for Jewish institutions and “Holocaust education” designed to combat “anti-Semitic ideas.” This is in addition to the UK pledging almost $70 million for a new Holocaust memorial designed to achieve the same ends. Hungary has promised $3.4 million to “fight anti-Semitism in Europe,” and Sweden has handed over 2 million kronor for increasing security at Jewish institutions.

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday he doesn't view North Korea's short range missile tests as disturbing, a view deeply at odds with his Japanese hosts and in conflict with statements made a day earlier by his national security adviser.

"North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me," Trump wrote on Twitter.
This is a major blow ahead of his meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which are set to begin in a few hours.

“You can’t blame the Maduro government, but as for the United States, this Donald Trump is mean. He’s mean and he’s blocked a lot of things. We have to support each other and this U.S. blockade has to end.” -- Yolimar Contreras

The universe is constantly expanding and stretching further afield, but the Hubble space telescope managed to catch one of the rare galaxies that’s defying the odds and actually moving closer to us.

A stunning spiral galaxy called Messier 90, sitting about 60 million light-years away, is part of a huge cluster of around 1,200 star systems in the Virgo constellation. While the cluster in general is moving farther away from us, Messier 90 is heading in our direction, according to NASA.

Donald Trump kicked off his state visit to Japan on Saturday by urging Japanese business leaders to increase investment in the US – but he also complained about his own central bank and knocked his hosts for having a “substantial edge” on trade, which he said negotiators were trying to even out.

Prime ministers do not get to dictate their legacies from a lectern outside No 10, and there was some pathos in Theresa May’s attempt today to list accomplishments in government to offset her colossal failure to take Britain out of the European Union. That she oversaw a reduction in the use of disposable plastics is laudable, but it is not how history will remember her time in office. But Mrs May never saw Brexit as her sole purpose in Downing Street. Her inability to grasp from the outset how all-consuming and difficult the project would be played a large part in her downfall.

Deceit and dishonesty were hallmarks of her doomed reign. From her Brexit dealings to the Windrush scandal, she has failed

Heavily armed individuals attacked the church as worshippers celebrated Sunday Mass, the source cited by AFP news agency noted.

Three worshipers were killed on Sunday as a result of a fresh attack on a Catholic church in Toulfe, northern Burkina Faso, where violence against Christians has been increasing, according to a security source cited by the AFP news agency.

"The attack, which took place around 09:00 (local and GMT), killed at least three and injured several people," the source added.

Houthi militants reportedly launched a drone attack on Saudi Arabia's Jizan Airport in the vicinity of the border with Yemen earlier today.

Saudi Air Defence Forces have intercepted a drone launched by Houthi militants targeting military hangars in Saudi Arabia's Jizan Airport near the border with Yemen, Reuters reports, citing the Saudi State news agency.

Four people are missing after two freight ships collided in the Pacific Ocean off the east coast of Japan on Sunday morning, local media reported.

According to Japanese Kyodo news outlet, the incident occurred at 2:00 a.m. local time (17:00 GMT), about 7 miles from Japan's easternmost city of Inubosaki.

As a result of the collision, one of the ships sunk. At the time of the incident, there were five crew members on the ship that sunk, four of which have gone missing.

While the world watches America shoot itself in the foot yet again as President Trump targeted Huawei as an enemy of the state, a beacon of sanity shown through the darkness this week as 400 U.S. state leaders, business people, non-profits and Chinese delegates representing four provinces, converged on Lexington, Kentucky from May 22-24 for the 5th Annual US-China Governors Collaboration Summit. This summit which rotates between China and the USA every year, was especially important as it cut through the narrative that America is one homogeneous beast with one singular outlook aimed at world dominance.

Sit the students down and explain slowly: “According to the World Jewish Encyclopaedia there resided 2.4 million Jews in German-Occupied Europe. After the war, 3.8 million Jewish ‘holocaust survivors’ were receiving pensions from the German government. Tragically, the remaining six million were lost.”

Let us see if the students have been paying attention and now ask the class how many Jews died during World War Two.

Six million, sir!”

SOURCE: ZEROHEDGE

Journalists representing China's main state media outlet are in hot water after they were seen filming NATO military equipment and asking probing questions of German soldiers about their daily routines and military jobs.

The incident has threatened to alight fresh controversy related to European and US suspicious of aggressive global spying tactics by Beijing, not the least of which is Chinese firm Huawei's rollout of next-generation 5G products inside Germany, which Berlin has controversially been favorable to, resulting in the Trump administration notifying the German government in March that the US would limit the intelligence it shares with German security agencies should Berlin move forward in permitting Huawei to build the country's mobile-internet infrastructure.

Protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv, rallying against the recently tabled immunity bill that would shield Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from mounting corruption investigations.

The ‘Defensive Shield for Democracy’ demonstration showed rare unity among nearly all parties in the Israeli opposition. The number of protesters remains unclear, with footage from the scene showing considerable crowds. Organizers say at least 80,000 people took part.

A Russian-born British historian is suing FBI informant Stefan Halper and several news outlets for defaming her as a "honeypot" working for the Kremlin to seduce Trump aide Michael Flynn. She says the scandal ruined her life.

Former Cambridge University academic Svetlana Lokhova has demanded $25 million from Halper, along with the Washington Post, New York Times, MSNBC, and Wall Street Journal, charging their "combined character assassination" over the past three years "injured her business as an academic and author, and propelled her to the epicenter of a massive fraudulent hoax about 'Russian collusion.'"

Ranking Republican of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes sent a letter Wednesday to President Donald Trump, asking him to question British Prime Minister Theresa May about Great Britain’s role in the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia.

The inquiry would be significant and it is based on newly published information in the British newspaper The Telegraph revealing that former British spy Christopher Steele briefed May’s spy chiefs on the uncorroborated dossier.

Shortly after Theresa May announced that she would resign as the leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June and continue to lead the government until her successor is chosen, former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson hinted that he is ready to become the country's next PM.

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has cast doubt on former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s ability to act as the country’s new prime minister after May’s announcement that she would step down.

“Now Boris pledges that the UK will definitely leave the EU on 31 October, ‘Brexit deal or no deal’. But why should we trust him to keep his word?” the former leader of UKIP wrote in an article for the Sunday Express.

A scientific paper published by a team of Australian researchers has revealed a startling find: Scientists at the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) have been “adjusting” historical data regarding tide levels in the Indian Ocean. Their “highly questionable” activities have depicted rapidly rising seas — but the truth is that there is no reason to be alarmed at all. Scientists have found that sea levels are stable — and have been for the entirety of the 20th century.

To put it simply, these PSMSL “scientists” have been arbitrarily changing their data in order to create the illusion of a problem that doesn’t actually exist.

According to the Australian research team, sea levels in the Indian ocean have remained stable for decades. Dr. Albert Parker and Dr. Clifford Ollier recently published their astounding research in the journal Earth Systems and Environment; their extensive research gives an in-depth look at how this massive deception was undertaken.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders took a swipe at neoconservative Bill Kristol for his “foolish advocacy of the Iraq war,” and questioned whether he had apologized to the country for it yet.
Sanders was responding to a tweet Kristol sent that said, “#Never Sanders,” and linked to a New York Times article about the longtime Vermont senator’s opposition to war.

“Have you apologized to the nation for your foolish advocacy of the Iraq war?” Sanders tweeted, adding he makes “no apologies for opposing it.”

On Thursday, European parliamentary elections commenced in some European states, and on Sunday, the final day of voting across the EU, remaining countries are heading to the polls.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — Belgian police made arrests and engaged in small scuffles with yellow vest protesters who gathered in the center of Brussels for an unauthorized rally, local media reported on Sunday.

A call for the Sunday demonstration has been circulating for weeks on social media, La Derniere Heure newspaper said. A few hundred yellow vest activists followed the call, but the event was not authorized.

From May 10 to 17, the United States imported 49,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude oil. This is the first time that the country imports its neighbor's oil in weeks and the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, María Zajárova, has commented on the figure, published in the weekly report of the US Energy Information Administration.

Zajárova recalled that in March the press reported that the special envoy of the United States Government for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, had said that the United States was seeking "the complete isolation of President Nicolás Maduro on the international stage and, above all, the cessation of any commercial transaction of banks, companies and companies with Venezuela that would be beneficial for Maduro ".

Zajárova countered Abrams' words that the US has resumed Venezuelan oil imports . 49,000 barrels a day.

"And so always, first they encourage everyone to do something and then they change their maneuver 180 degrees, leaving those who gave in," he said.

SOURCE: MATT AGORIST @ THE FREE THOUGHT PROJECT
(Support Free Thought) - Los Angeles, CA — Los Angeles police previously released graphic body camera footage, showing officers opening fire on a man armed with a knife who’d taken a 49-year-old woman hostage. In the shooting, police killed both the man with the knife, and the innocent hostage. Now, the department is claiming that the officers who opened fire on the innocent women are being “disciplined.” However, they will face no criminal charges and will likely not even be fired.

On Tuesday, a civilian oversight panel ruled that two of the three cops who responded to the scene that day violated department policy on the use of deadly force. It will now be up to LAPD Chief Michel Moore to decide exactly what “discipline” measures he will take with the officers.

SOURCE: CNET.COM
A hacking tool developed by the US National Security Agency is now being used to shut down American cities and towns, says a Saturday report in The New York Times.

Code-named EternalBlue, the hacking exploit involves malicious software and was leaked in 2017 by a group called Shadow Brokers. Hackers used the tool that same year in the worldwide WannaCry ransomware attacks, which locked up computer systems at hospitals, banks and phone companies and required a ransom to set the networks free. It was also used in the 2017 NotPetya assault against Ukraine, which has been called one of the most destructive cyberattacks ever.

Now, though, EternalBlue has reportedly landed in the NSA's own backyard: Baltimore, site of the agency's headquarters. The city has been hobbled since a ransomware attack on May 7 ensnared the local government's computers, disrupting city services. Baltimore's IT department is only slowly getting systems up and running again.