US President Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office Monday after a two-week vacation rife with chaos -- and the dark clouds plaguing his fledgling presidency show no signs of clearing up. Seven months after taking office the real estate magnate's approval rating has plunged to a record low. [...]

Scientists at Stanford University in California say they have found lithium – which can be used for batteries – in supervolcanoes. The lead author of the report, Tom Benson, said the discovery could be great news for "clean, green energy." [...]

Russian scientists and local oil field services companies claim to have created a technology for thermochemical gas fracturing that could be an alternative to hydraulic fracturing and could increase oil production by between 1.7 and 6 times, Russia’s news agency RIA Novosti reports, citing the University of Tyumen’s press service. [...]

The Turkish Stream gas pipeline project will be implemented on time, regardless of the new US law that expands sanctions against Moscow, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday. Novak explained that the contracts concerning the construction of the gas pipeline were concluded, and the construction was underway. [...]

Commenting on the recent statement of White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon that the US is at 'economic war' with China, Hong Kong-based political scientist Joseph Cheng explained to Sputnik that the US, in fact, can't do much to prevent Beijing from growing into the world's economic leader and why the two countries should avoid a trade war. [...]

Amid expectations of the US launching investigations into China’s alleged theft of American intellectual property as well as unfair trade practices, Beijing appears unmoved by the imminent probe while US businesses fear reprisals in case the row unintentionally escalates. Washington is expected to soon announce investigations into how China tackles copyright protection, protectionism and mark [...]

The United States will most likely fail to oust Russia as the main supplier of gas to Europe, according to the Russian envoy to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov. "And if even Americans supplied liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe free of charge, they simply would not have had enough opportunity to replace Russian supplies," Chizhov said in an interview with Sputnik radio. [...]

Apple boss Tim Cook has become the latest executive to speak out against US President Donald Trump over Charlottesville violent protests. Tim Cook has criticized Donald Trump and his handling of the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, August 12, after a white nationalist rally turned ugly. [...]

The latest US sanctions targeting Russia's oil and gas sector will cause Gazprom some headaches in building the new gas pipeline to Germany, experts say. However, US restrictions are unlikely to stop the project. "The price of any project automatically increases," Tatiana Mitrova, director of the Skolkovo Energy Center told Reuters. [...]

Here’s hoping there's rent control in China: Employees at a factory that manufactures apparel for Ivanka Trump’s clothing business earn just $62 each week, for 60 hours of work, it has been revealed. There are 80 workers at the plant, which produces clothing for Ivanka Trump’s eponymous brand as well as for Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, The Washington Post reported. [...]

Boom Technology has raised $33 million to build and fly its first prototype. The company hopes to eventually build an aircraft that can travel from New York to London in three hours and fifteen minutes, less than half the time it would take on a conventional aircraft – and at a price that may surprise you! [...]

The proposed enlargement of BRICS (BRICS Plus) with the inclusion of powerful emerging economies would help fill the void created by US trade protectionism, international analyst Adrian Zelaia told Sputnik. Having analyzed Beijing’s idea to bring Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Nigeria, South Korea, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam into the BRICS group, consisting of Braz [...]

The extent of WikiLeaks' latest exposure is surprising and shocking, Australian researcher David Glance told Radio Sputnik, suggesting that the leak has dealt a heavy blow to both the CIA's image and US national security. Meanwhile, WikiLeaks signals that it has released less than one percent of its damning Vault 7. [...]

WikiLeaks is holding a press conference following the release of the first part of 'Vault 7,' the largest archive of CIA-related classified documents yet. Follow the live feed to find out more. Notice that there seem to be interruptions with the stream. [...]

Oil prices continued to fall on Thursday after substantial losses the previous day, dragged down by a surge in US inventories. The major benchmarks were down over a dollar with Brent crude trading at $51.87 per barrel. [...]

The WikiLeaks ‘Vault 7’ data dump allegedly detailing CIA hacking tactics has again thrown the privacy of electronic devices into focus. One viral video showing an Amazon Echo refusing to confirm a link to the US spy agency is summing up people’s fears. [...]

China has become the world’s largest producer of solar energy, according to a new report from the country’s energy administration. The most populous nation on Earth nearly doubled their capacity for solar power in 2016, but they still have a very low per-capita rate for solar power use. [...]

A complaint brought by the FTC and New Jersey Attorney General exposed their creepy data gathering practices. If you have a Smart TV, you definitely want to know about this lawsuit against Vizio, who collected data on viewers' viewing and use habits and then sold it to marketers, because it goes way beyond what they ever disclosed to television owners. [...]

Qatar Airways plane successfully landed in New Zealand’s Auckland after 16-hours-long non-stop flight, the airline said on Monday. According to media reports, the flight lasted 16 hours and 23 minutes, making it the longest commercial non-stop flight in history, with the plane crossing 14,535 kilometers (9,032 miles). [...]

If NASA intends to continue sending astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) or the moon, the space agency has little choice but to rely on Roscosmos’ Soyuz spacecraft, at least until 2019. On Tuesday, NASA filed a "presolicitation" requesting that private firms reach out to NASA if they can transport astronauts to and from the orbital research platform. [...]

9/11 marks the onslaught of the “Global War on Terrorism” (GWOT), used as a pretext and a justification by the US and its NATO allies to carry out a “war without borders”, a global war of conquest. A far-reaching overhaul of US military doctrine was launched in the wake of 9/11. [...]

Baku has expressed interest in the new Russian MC-21 passenger jets. The first contract might be inked next year. Azerbaijan is interested in purchasing Russian MC-21 passenger jets, the first contract to purchase 10 planes may be signed in 2017, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Monday. [...]