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Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack on a church in Chechnya that killed three people, the group's Amaq news agency has reported. Four people attacked the Orthodox church on Saturday, killing two policemen and a churchgoer, Russian officials said. The attackers were killed. Amaq said: 'Islamic State fighters executed an attack on "Michael" Church yesterday in Chechnya's capital, Grozny.' Russia, which hosts the soccer World Cup next month, has fought two wars with separatists in the mainly Muslim internal republic since the 1991 Soviet collapse, but such attacks have become relatively rare in Chechnya. The wider North Caucasus...

Paraguay opened its Israel embassy in Jerusalem on Monday, the second country to follow the United States in making the politically sensitive move from Tel Aviv.

Throughout history, the excuses to attack Israel keep changing. For 8 years under the Obama administration, the Palestinians had portrayed themselves, and been treated as, the deserving underdog -- the "good guys." Now, a foreign government is actually holding the Palestinians accountable and calling them out for activities they had taken for granted, such as incitement to riot and murder, or funding terrorists and their families. The Palestinians do not like it one bit. The Palestinians hate the Trump administration not because of the decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, but because it speaks truth to them and...

All is not well among the miscreants wreaking havoc in Syria. Heshmat Alavi, an Iranian human rights campaigner and blogger, spotted an incident broadcast on Turkish television that reveals mutual contempt between Russia's dictatorial leader, Putin, and Turkey's dictatorial leader, ErdoÄŸan, at a public ceremony that also included Iran's dictatorial leader, Rouhani. Watch closely in the first seconds of the video embedded in the tweet, as Putin unmistakably responded to a body language insult by ErdoÄŸan (failing to rise fully to shake his hand) by quickly and casually flipping ErdoÄŸan's chair over and walking away to greet Rouhani as a...

The New York Times released an explosive article on Tuesday detailing how hundreds, if not thousands, of online “trolls” are paid to post pro-Kremlin propaganda across the Internet. One of their targeted sites, according to the report? TheBlaze.com. The trolls are organized by a group called the Internet Research Agency, and one former employee said she worked 12-hour days and had explicit instructions to create five political posts, 10 nonpolitical posts and 150 to 200 comments on the posts of those she worked with each shift. If you were to click on her accounts, she would appear like a normal...

Jewish-American historian Bernard Lewis, one of the most famous and influential Middle East scholars in the world who warned of a "clash of civilizations" between Islam and the West, died Saturday at the age of 101 in New Jersey. Lewis was a consultant to both Israeli leaders and two U.S. presidents. Generations of students, intelligence personnel and diplomats learned about the history of Islam through his writings. His research, which dealt with the history of the Middle East, brought him fame, but also many critics and enemies around the world. One of his strongest critics was the Palestinian-born intellectual Edward...

Militants from the Islamic State (IS) group have been evacuated from an enclave in the southern suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus, activists say. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a temporary ceasefire had come into effect following heavy bombardment by the Syrian military. ...army operations in the area were nearing their end and insurgent lines were collapsing. Al-Ikhbariya TV said a new plan is underway to storm IS-held areas in Hajar al-Aswad, near Yarmouk. The channel’s area correspondent said the coming hours would be “decisive” for restoring government control in Hajar al-Aswad, but didn’t mention Yarmouk. President...

Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas was rushed to a Ramallah hospital Sunday, after he complained of chest pains and a high fever. Abbas, 82, was hospitalized last week for a “minor surgery”, the PA’s mouthpiece WAFA reported last week. On Sunday, Abbas was rushed to a Ramallah hospital for treatment of “pneumonia and fever” a source close to the PA chief said, Yediot Ahronot reported. According to a source which spoke with AFP, the PA leader also suffered from chest pains. .....

Bone with bullet hole found by Russians in 1946 came from an unknown woman, not the German leader Tests on skull fragment cast doubt on Adolf Hitler suicide In countless biographies of Adolf Hitler the story of his final hours is recounted in the traditional version: committing suicide with Eva Braun, he took a cyanide pill and then shot himself on 30 April 1945, as the Russians bombarded Berlin. Some historians expressed doubt that the Führer had shot himself, speculating that accounts of Hitler's death had been embellished to present his suicide in a suitably heroic light. But a fragment...

Doomed? Why Iran's Economic Mess Will Get Worse Simon Constable The matter at hand is the decision earlier this month by the Trump administration not to certify the so-called nuclear deal, and that means Iran will soon be subject to harsh U.S. sanctions. Overall the result will be a squeezed economy. Current situation Even the latest official statistics for the Iranian economy don't look good. The unemployment rate stands at 11.9% and the inflation rate at 8.3%, according to TradingEconomics.com. However, at least some of the government figures may be more aspirational than actual. Take, for instance, the inflation rate....

GERMAN BANK TO HALT IRAN TRANSACTIONS IN JULY BY REUTERS MAY 18, 2018 21:25 BERLIN - Germany's No. 2 lender DZ Bank said on Friday it will suspend financial transactions with Iran in July following U.S. President Donald Trump's pullout from the nuclear deal with Tehran. Trump's withdrawal of the United States from the accord and his order that sanctions be reimposed have led several European companies to announce their exit from Iran, including French oil major Total earlier this week. "We will completely suspend our foreign payment transactions related to Iran starting July 1st," said a spokesman for Frankfurt-based...

This year, 27% of Democrats said their sympathies lied with the Israel over the Palestinians in their conflict, while 25% said the Palestinians. The rest said both or neither. Just two years ago (when the Democrats adopted more pro-Palestinian positions in their plank), 43% of Democrats said their sympathies aligned with Israel compared with 29% who said the Palestinians. It's not just that Democrats are split, it's how they're split. Establishment Democrats have been fighting off an insurgent progressive wing, and it's not any different on this issue. Liberal Democrats who pushed for the more pro-Palestinian language are far more...

Germany's intelligence service BND had in the 1990s obtained from a Russian informer a sample of the poison used against ex-double agent Sergei Skripal, German media reported Thursday, drawing a link to Moscow as the origin of the toxin. Britain has accused Russia of carrying out the nerve agent attack against Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March, but Moscow has denied the claims and argued that the country never had any programmes to develop the chemical weapon, known as Novichok. But German newspapers Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit as well as regional public broadcasters NDR and WDR said their...

ISIS threatens to behead Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in sick boast ahead of World Cup in Russia ISIS has threatened to behead star footballers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup in Russia. The Islamic extremists have already made several threats about the tournament, which kicks off next month, but the latest propaganda is the sickest so far. The Islamic State is increasing its calls for 'lone attackers' to strike as the terror group loses ground in Syria and Iraq. Barcelona star Messi has been pictured as part of ISIS threats before but now terrorists have vowed...

Iran and Russia Discuss Transacting in Crypto to Avoid International Sanctions Molly Jane Zuckerman Iran and Russia could start using cryptocurrencies to avoid Western sanctions, Russian news portal RBC reported yesterday, May 17. Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi, the head of the Iranian Parliamentary Commission for Economic Affairs, referred to cryptocurrencies as a promising way for both countries to avoid US dollar transactions, as well as a possible replacement of the SWIFT interbank payment system. At a meeting with Dmitry Mezentsev, the Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, Pourebrahimi said that they have “engaged the Central Bank of Iran...

Top Hillary Aide John Podesta Records Released – Show Ties to Podesta Group Arizona Border Ranchers Live in Fear as Illegal Immigration Crisis Worsens Top Hillary Aide John Podesta Records Released – Show Ties to Podesta Group Those of us who have been watching the Mueller Circus avoid the real collusion with Russia are no longer surprised when we see even more hypocrisy oozing from the Swamp. Consider: We just uncovered new documents from the U.S. Department of State showing the Podesta Group working on behalf of the pro-Russia Ukrainian political group “Party of Regions.” The documents also show...

Deadly protests in the southern Iranian city of Kazerun continued for a second day following the deaths of two protesters Wednesday... parts of the city looked “war-torn.” ...“Reports from a variety of sources are indicating anti-regime rallies and protests throughout the country, staged by people from all walks of life” “Whenever the Iranian regime becomes the target of a firm policy, this plays into the interests of the Iranian people and revives a nearly four-decade dispute,” he said. “(The) principle here is the fact that the Iranian people want regime change and are taking major steps towards this objective.”

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Recep AkdaÄŸ has ruled out returning the Syrian district of Afrin, captured by Turkish troops and their allies from Syrian Kurdish forces in March, to the Syrian government, Turkish pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah said. "A free and democratic Syria can only be built without (Syrian President Bashar) Assad. He has killed many of his fellow citizens and brought much suffering to his country," the newspaper quoted AkdaÄŸ as saying. He said that Turkey did not wish to remain in the area for the long term and wanted to return it soon to the Syrian people. "We...

Shortened title. Full title: ANOTHER MUELLER GAFFE: Lawyers Defending Russian Firm Tell Court Named Employees DON’T WORK FOR THEM – Mueller MADE IT UP What a Sideshow — The Mueller Case Is Falling Apart Lawyers defending the Russian company Concord Management indicted by the corrupt Mueller team again called out Mueller’s liberal hacks and labeled their allegations as “made up” nonsense. As reported on Wednesday, Concord Management’s lawyers revealed that Mueller’s team of ignored over 70 discovery requests they had made for information before the case. In response Mueller’s team offered to give Concord Management’s lawyers a massive amount of...

Richard Pipes, a renowned U.S. historian of Russia and an aide to former President Ronald Reagan, has died at the age of 94. Pipes died early on May 17 at a nursing home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his son Daniel said. Born in Poland in 1923, Pipes and his family fled the Nazi occupation of the country and moved to the United States in 1940. Pipes taught history at Harvard University, where he spent his entire academic career until retirement in 1996. He wrote numerous histories of Russia and the Soviet Union, becoming a world authority on the subject. In 1976,...