Russia has announced that a helicopter carrying five people (2 officers and 3 crew members) was shot down in Aleppo today. It was returning from a "humanitarian" mission.

On August 1, the Russian military transport helicopter Mi-8 was downed by ground fire on the way to the ‪#‎Hmeymim‬ airbase after delivery of humanitarian aid to the Aleppo city in the ‪#‎Idlib‬ province. There were 3 crew members and 2 officers of the Russian Centre for reconciliation of opposing sides in Syria. The fate of the Russian servicemen is being found out.

What kind of humanitarian plane has rockets on board?. See also here. The video of the burning helicopter with the rockets published by Halab TV Today is here.
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ISIS has released Issue 15 of Dabiq Magazine, titled "Break the Cross." You can read a safe copy of the 82 page magazine here or here.

I immediately turned to the end to see if there was something written by hostage John Cantlie. There is not.

There are some new themes, such as the West is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't. Even if the bombings stop, it says the best the West can hope for is a temporary truce.

See page 30: "Why We Hate You & Why We Fight You." Shorter version: Because you are non-believers. The invasions and bombings are secondary.

ISIS seems intent on baiting the West into an all out war. It doesn't yet seem to grasp that only foolish politicians like Donald Trump and Republicans will fall for that. [More...]

Melania Trump's racy photos from 1996. Trump says,

When asked about the photos, Trump told The Post: “Melania was one of the most successful models and she did many photo shoots, including for covers and major magazines. This was a picture taken for a European magazine prior to my knowing Melania. In Europe, pictures like this are very fashionable and common.”

Trump displayed his lack of foreign policy chops today on ABC's This Week when he didn't know that Russian troops were in the Ukraine -- and had been for two years. Russia seized Crimea and annexed it in 2014, resulting in economic sanctions by the U.S. and countries in Europe. He suggested Crimea might prefer Russia. [More...]

Indonesia executed four more drug traffickers this week. Another 10 were taken from their cells on the notorious Nusakambangan prison island at Cilacap, Central Java, and brought to the killing field. Without explanation, these 10 were taken back to their cells. In all, 16 coffins were ordered. Indonesia is not publicly identifying who is next.

Those killed included two Nigerians, a Senegalese and an Indonesian man.

Those executed on Friday were Indonesian Freddy Budiman, as well as Nigerians Seck Osmane, Michael Titus Igweh and Humphrey Jefferson Ejike Eleweke.

Michael Titus Igweh testified police "electrocuted his genitals." Humphrey Jefferson Ejike Eleweke has always maintained his innocence. [More...]

Donald Trump came to Denver yesterday. His comments were all schlock, but 6,000 people, expecting to be awed, went to see him.

USA Today has the story, but it has autoplay video so I won't link to it. Among his more absurd comments:

• He has one of the best memories of anyone in the world
• If the U.S. elects Hillary, it will turn into another Venezuela
• He said several times his nomination speech got better TV ratings than Hillary's
• He didn't mention a single Republican running for office in Colorado (no down--ticket help from him)
• Ivanka really likes Chelsea, he wishes she didn't, but what are you going to do?

First, it was the DNC (Democratic National Committee) whose emails got hacked, possibly by hackers hired by Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU (also known as APT 28 or Fancy Bear) or by lone hackers on their own. Now, the FBI is investigating whether a similar breach at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is related and also the work of Russian hackers.

The FBI is treating the DNC and DCCC breaches as one investigation now, said one person briefed on the matter. At the same time, the bureau is doing a broader probe of Russian hackers targeting political organizations, including the Clinton campaign, the campaign of GOP nominee Donald Trump and Republican political action committees.

I doubt Trump's emails would be very interesting, but I won't be surprised if emails between his campaign staff and his two sons (Donald Jr and Eric) and son-in-law (Jared) are published they turn out to be quite revealing and embarrassing. If that happens, I wonder what Trump's reaction would be then.

For at least a week, there have been reports that the leader of Jabhat al Nusra in Syria, Abū Muhammad al-Jūlānī, (sometimes spelled al-Jolani and al-Joulani and al-Golani), is about to announce the group's split from al Qaida.

Yesterday, it happened. Announcements were made by both groups, emphasizing this is not an ideological split. The U.S says it's just a rebranding, PR move. Al Qaida and al Nusra say it's much more than that. [More...]

Hillary did what she needed to do. She was Presidential, confident, experienced, committed, and determined. It's so easy to picture her as Commander in Chief.

Her ending: The world is watching. Let's be stronger together. Let's look to the future. Let's build a better tomorrow for our children.

The crowd erupts. Tim Kaine joins her on stage. Then Bill. Donald Trump must feel like chopped liver right now. He should -- that's all he is.

Highlights below:

"I am not here to repeal the Second Amendment. I'm not here to take away your guns." I'm here to keep you from being killed by someone who shouldn't have a gun in the first place. [More..]

Windows 10 free upgrades end tomorrow. I've been dreading installing it on my office computer, because like everything these days, text is an afterthought to graphic icons and video. I have been using Windows 10 on my laptops for 6 months and I still waste far too much time trying to find things. I like text, not pictures. I rarely find the icons intuitive.

Here's the good news. This morning when I got the message "Your computer is ready to upgrade" and it told me all my files would be in the same place and I could switch back if I didn't like Windows 10, I took a deep breath and hit the "OK" button.

For a few hours I worked on documents while it was doing something in the background. Then I left and forgot about it. When I got back around 5 pm, there was a big message on the screen saying I was ready to go. The best part was it asked me if I wanted to use custom settings (like for Groove music and Windows photo program) and had a very small button to click that said "no, use my existing programs to open everything." So I clicked the very small button and lo and behold: My desktop looks just like it did in Windows 7, my photos open with Adobe Photoshop and my music and video is in iTunes. It also gave me the choice to turn off all the notifications to Microsoft and syncing apps and location services, which of course I chose to do. [More...]

Update: Obama knocked it out of the park at the end. So forceful, uplifting, genuine... and Here's Hillary! With Stevie Wonder's "Signed Sealed, Delivered" playing the background, the two of them make an amazing sight. I think Bill Clinton is so overcome with emotion he might cry. What a moment. Just the best. Thank you, President Obama. Welcome, Hillary Clinton. Anyone who doesn't think she will own this election is delusional. Americans are a lot of things, but they are not stupid enough to elect the inexperienced egotist Donald Trump.

Update: It's Obama time. After that horribly weak and depressing introductory video, I hope he reverses the tone and has something inspiring to say.

He does. He calls Hillary the woman who never quits, who is absolutely qualified to be President. He praises and vouches for Tim Kaine.

Best line about Trump: "Don't boo, Vote." Good question he asks: Does anyone believe that someone who never did anything for working people is now going to be your daddy?

Obama says he looks much older now than he did at his first convention 12 years ago. That would be Boston in 2004. Here's a photo I took of him at the Bloggers' Breakfast in Boston at the DNC: [More...]

I just tuned on the TV for the first time today. I caught the last part of Madeline Albright and thought she was terrific. I purposely waited until certain mothers were finished.

Now it's time for Bill Clinton.

"In the spring of 1971, I met a girl."

Bill looks very healthy, rested and tan.

He met Hillary at law school and it took him a few days to talk do anything but stare at her. She finally came up to him and said, "I'm Hillary Rodham, who are you?"

"We've been walking and talking and laughing together ever since." Through good times and bad, joy and heartbreak. "We built up a lifetime of memories."

"Knowing her was one of the greatest gifts Hillary ever gave me." [More....]

Open Thread.

Bill Clinton tonight in the 10 o'clock hour. Also Meryl Streep and Alicia Keys.

At 8 Mothers of the Movement.