A year after the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem was established (Christmas Day, 1100). Thereafter there was no effective check to the expansion of the Crusaders’ power until the capture of their stronghold at Edessa (modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey) by the atabeg (governor) of Mosul, ʿImād al-Dīn Zangī ibn Aq Sonqur, in 1144.

Margaret Thatcher's courting of the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was a complex diplomatic affair involving accusations of violence, unannounced visits and a strained Marxist joke, according to a top secret file released on Friday.

Preparations for Gorbachev's first official visit to the UK in 1984 reveal the significance attached by Downing Street to improving personal relations with the man expected to be the next Soviet head of state.

Boris Johnson remains an avowed Russophile despite his record of opposing the Russian government, the former British prime minister has told Ukrainian media.

The politician was confronted about his love for Russian culture during an interview with the state news channel Rada TV last week. The host wanted to know whether his attitude to Russians changed “after all that has happened.”

“I am still a Russophile. I am still fascinated with Russian language, culture, Russian civilization. Only a fool would not be,” he said, according to a translation of the televised interview.

Former US President Donald Trump will not be allowed to criticize the special counsel, the court, or any of their staff members or families, Judge Tanya Chutkan announced on Monday. The gag order also applies to any witnesses and the substance of their testimony.

Chutkan stopped short of banning Trump from criticizing the US Department of Justice, President Joe Biden, or the fact that the trial is taking place in the District of Columbia, over 90% of which voted for the Democrats in 2020.

“This is not about whether or not I like the language Mr. Trump uses. This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice,” Chutkan said, justifying the ruling which granted the government a partial gag order.

US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday that Washington can “certainly” afford to support wars on two separate fronts, saying that its coffers are in good shape to continue backing US interests overseas in its support for Ukraine and amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

“America can certainly afford to stand with Israel and to support Israel’s military needs and we also can and must support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia,” Yellen said in a Monday interview with UK broadcaster Sky News in advance of a meeting with Eurogroup finance ministers in Luxembourg.

Securing financial support is becoming more difficult for Kiev as the country's Western backers shift their focus to domestic matters and geopolitical tensions, the Ukrainian finance minister told Reuters on Saturday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings in Marrakech, Sergey Marchenko said Kiev is having to make “twice the effort right now to convince our partners to provide us with support compared to the last annual meetings” in spring.

“I see a lot of tiredness, I see a lot of weakness among our partners, they would like to forget about the war but the war is still ongoing, full-scale,” the minister said, referring to the conflict with Russia.

Americans face a heightened threat from “lone wolf” terrorists inspired to replicate aspects of Hamas’ recent assault on Israel on US soil, FBI Director Christopher Wray told an audience of law enforcement officers at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference in San Diego on Saturday. 

Claiming there was “no question we’re seeing an increase in reported threats,” Wray warned his law enforcement colleagues, “We’ve got to be on the lookout, especially for lone actors who may take inspiration from recent events to commit violence of their own” – a reference to Hamas’ attack on Israel last Saturday.

“History has been witness to antisemitic and other forms of violent extremism for too long,” the FBI director continued, vowing to “continue confronting those threats.” 

The Western-promoted “rules-based order” is merely a cover for colonialism, as the presumed rules have never been agreed-on by anyone and are ever-shifting from one case to another, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

The president made the remarks in an exclusive interview with state-run broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) that was aired on Monday.

“Have you ever seen these rules? No, because no one has ever written them, and no one has ever agreed to them with anyone. How can we talk about order based on rules that no one has seen?” Putin stated.

The $31.4 trillion U.S. Government debt ceiling was surpassed ten months ago in January.

U.S. national debt surged by more than $500 billion in just the past 20 days to reach $33.5 trillion now, according to data provided by the Treasury Department last week.

On 1 April 1873, the Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff was born in the Novgorod Governorate in the Russian Tsarist Empire; on 28 March 1943, he died in Beverly Hills in California, where he had settled in 1942. The artist also made a stop in Switzerland, namely near Lucerne in Hertenstein, a district of the municipality of Weggis on Lake Lucerne. Here he spent a few years, having been forced to leave his homeland forever in 1917, to devote himself to composing and tending his garden. His work, like that of many other Russian artists, belongs to European culture.

Composer, pianist, conductor – and gardener

On the 150th anniversary of the birth and 80th anniversary of the death of Sergei Rachmaninoff

One of the oldest and most culturally rich countries in West Asia, Iran holds relics of the rise and fall of empires of the past. Tehran, its capital and largest city, full of architectural wonders, has a population of 9.5 million.

Israel has decided to put off the start of its ground operation against Hamas in Gaza due to adverse weather conditions, the New York Times has claimed. The newspaper is also reporting that the incursion will likely come at quite a price for the Israeli military, given its scope as well as the fortifications built by the militants.

In an article on Saturday the media outlet alleged, citing anonymous Israeli officers, that the “invasion was initially planned for the weekend but was delayed by a few days, at least in part because of weather conditions.” These are so far precluding Israeli pilots and drone operators from providing ground forces with air cover, the NYT explained.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed, its troops have built no defensive lines, and President Vladimir Zelensky has allowed corruption and incompetence to flourish, former adviser Aleksey Arestovich said on Saturday. New elections are the only way out of the impasse, he argued.

Zelensky’s focus on defending the Donbass city of Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) at all costs earlier this year drained men and resources that could have been sent south to participate in the summer counteroffensive against Russian forces, Arestovich wrote on Telegram.