The only way for US President Donald Trump to liberate Raqqa, the de facto capital of Daesh (ISIS/ISIL), from terrorists, is to join forces with Russia and Damascus on the ground, Russian military expert Ivan Konovalov told Radio Sputnik. [...]

This week, the situation in southeastern Ukraine took a turn for the worse, with clashes intensifying between Kiev forces and Donetsk People's Republic militia. Concerned by the situation, Opposition Bloc Rada lawmaker Vadim Novinsky reminded President Petro Poroshenko of his 2014 election campaign pledge to end the war in the Donbass. [...]

Speaking to Sputnik, Neve Gordon, visiting Professor of Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees Donald Trump's presidency as carte blanche for Tel Aviv to act in the occupied territories. [...]

Both Beijing and Washington are by no means interested in unleashing an all-out trade war, experts believe. Beijing and Washington are exchanging signals and testing waters before starting a serious dialogue about the future of bilateral relations, Russian expert Nikita Maslennikov told Sputnik. [...]

The US shares responsibility for the ongoing migrant crisis, according to Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern. Speaking on the sidelines of an EU summit in Malta, he stated that American “interventions” are in part to blame for the refugee flows. [...]

The Russian Black Sea Fleet categorically denied claims by Kiev that a Ukrainian military transport plane came under fire from Russian drilling platforms in the Black Sea on Wednesday. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said earlier on Wednesday that a Ukrainian An-26 transport plane came under small arms fire from two Russian drilling platforms while flying near the Odessa gas field in the Bl [...]

The deputy speaker of the Russian State Duma says the US Congress is “transfixed on war and destruction,” after it issued an order to evaluate the ‘survivability’ of Russian and Chinese leaders in the event of a nuclear exchange. [...]

EU citizens are the most taxed in the world, they see inflation eating their savings; they are unhappy, Luc Rivet, Editor in Chief, Le Peuple magazine, told RT. Mischael Modrikamen, Belgian lawyer & ‘People's Party’ leader, also contributed his thoughts. [...]

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister says its troops are slowly advancing on rebel positions. He claims, however, that the steps were provoked by actions from anti-Kiev forces. “As of today, despite everything, meter by meter, step by step, whenever possible our boys have been advancing,” Igor Pavlovsky told the Ukrainian media on Wednesday.   [...]

If President Trump is talking about safe zones in Syria and the surrounding region, does he not know that there are already safe areas and camps run by the UNHCR in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, says foreign affairs commentator, Jonathan Steele. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin's interference is necessary because "international organizations know what is happening in Mexico, but do nothing," the author of a Spanish-language petition urging Putin to intervene in Mexico's internal affairs to solve the country's corruption problem told Sputnik Mundo. [...]

US mainstream media outlets, pundits and officials have pulled out all the stops in attempting to smear Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who traveled to Syria earlier this month and then had the courage to criticize the US's policy of funding and arming terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda on national television. [...]

Sanctions against Russia have failed to alter the Kremlin’s policies and actually increased popular support for Vladimir Putin. Now, there are growing calls for a change of tack. Like a lake reliant on multiple affluents, the individual headlines eventually morph into a whole. [...]

Thom talks Trump, trade, and trickle-down economics with economist Richard Wolff. Later on in the program, Thom talks with Alex Lawson of Social Security Works and Jessica Jackson Sloan of #cut50 about Trump’s pick of Steve Bannon to serve as chief White House strategist, how Democrats can win over working-class voters, and whether Trump could actually stage a fascist takeover of our democracy. [...]

An online petition to prevent US President Donald Trump making an official state visit to the UK has generated enough signatures to warrant it being considered for debate in parliament. [...]

An expert UN panel investigating ten separate airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen - in which at least 292 civilians died - has found that most were the result of an ‘ineffective targeting process’ or deliberate attacks on peaceful targets.   [...]

Bavarian prime minister said that the sanctions imposed on Russia should be lifted before the end of 2017. Horst Seehofer, the prime minister of Germany's state of Bavaria, said on Sunday that the sanctions imposed on Russia should be lifted before the end of 2017 and Moscow should return to the Group of Eight (G8) that brings together world’s largest economies. [...]

US border security won't get a significant boost if a wall is built along the country's southern land border, Mark Jones, chair in Latin American Studies and the Director of the Master of Global Affairs Program at Rice University in Texas, told Sputnik. [...]

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard appeared on CNN after finding facts that she believes proves Obama’s involvement in funding ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Gabbard went to Syria, then was interviewed by CNN afterward with Jake Tapper where she unloaded with information that Tapper didn’t want to hear. Tulsi Gabba [...]

The Iraq parliament want measures to be taken in response to President Trump’s executive order banning entry to the US to citizens of seven Muslim countries. Iraqis consider the measure “unfair,” and a panel has asked the government to “reciprocate.” [...]

A civilian transport vehicle capable of hauling up to 500 tons of cargo across oceans is in the early stages of development in Russia. The vehicle would fly just meters over the surface to utilize so-called ground effect for better fuel efficiency. A ground-effect vehicle is a combination of a maritime vessel and an aircraft. [...]

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s first telephone conversation indicates a new chapter will be opened in US-Russia relations, as, by reaching out to Moscow, the US leader has shown he’s capable of overriding internal opposition, Daniel McAdams told RT. [...]