French and Iraqi forces have uncovered a mustard agent and missiles in an area formerly controlled by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) during a sweep of eastern Mosul. The mustard agent was found in an abandoned storage area near the historic Nineveh ruins, AP reported, hoping to avoid attracting attention from locals [...]

In their first phone conversation that lasted nearly an hour, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the new US President Donald Trump have outlined their intent to cooperate on issues ranging from defeating Islamic State to mending bilateral economic ties. [...]

A new study from the Austrian Academy of Sciences shows that 40 percent of refugees in Austria believe religious commandments take precedence over the nation’s laws, prompting the country’s foreign minister to push for a rigorous new integration package. [...]

The video shows a passenger train making its first journey through the city of Aleppo for the first time in four and a half years. The war had left the railway service disrupted. However, as the city is returning to normal life, the train carried its first passengers through the newly liberated Aleppo. [...]

The MiG-35 multirole jetfighter fully meets the demands of modern-day aerial combat and will be a welcome addition to Russia’s fleet of light frontline fighters, the Russian Airspace Forces’ former deputy commander, Col. Gen. Nikolai Antoshkin told RIA. [...]

Russian constitutional proposals for Syria that were presented to the opposition at the Astana talks envisage that the president is elected for seven years and for no more than two consecutive terms, the document obtained by Sputnik, reads. [...]

Moscow's aerial operation in Deir ez-Zor will help to prevent militants from overrunning the Syrian Arab Army base and the key city in eastern Syria in the short term, but the operation will have an impact on other parts of the country, particularly the north, analysts told Sputnik. [...]

The recapture of Aleppo by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies marks a turning point not only in the conflict in Syria, but also in the dynamic of international conflict. For the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the rolling imperial engine of regime change via American-led military intervention has been stopped in its tracks. [...]

Regular readers of RT Editorial will know this column has provided evidence of how think tanks, which are increasingly indivisible from lobby groups, faithfully promote the specific agendas of their paymasters regardless of their stated high-minded missions. [...]

Germany is to get rid of the lèse-majesté law protecting heads of state or government from being publicly offended. The decision came after last spring the law was evoked by Turkish President Erdogan who tried to sue a German comedian for a satirical poem he found too insulting. [...]

Austrian police have arrested eight people in anti-terrorist raids conducted in Vienna and Graz, the country’s APA news agency reports. According to the local Kronen Zeitung newspaper, all of those detained were from the former Yugoslavia. [...]

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has called on the US to put an end to the “illegal war” she believes it wages in Syria after visiting Damascus and Aleppo. During her trip, she spoke with civilians, religious leaders, opposition leaders, and President Assad. [...]

US President Donald Trump said he’ll establish “safe zones’ within Syria for people fleeing terrorism, risking becoming even more involved in the crisis. He also believes the US should have “taken the oil” from Iraq as it pulled its troops out in 2011. [...]

Brexiteer professor Ted Malloch, who is likely to become the United States ambassador to the European Union, has predicted the looming failure of the single European currency. [...]

Russia’s Defense Ministry has said UK defense officials were putting on a show by escorting the Russian aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, while pointing at their own issues in the Royal Navy, such as the infamous Trident situation. [...]

Britain’s Supreme Court has ruled Parliament has the right to vote on Article 50 before it is triggered by the prime minister. The decision marks a serious blow for the Conservative government, which had sought to bypass the legislature. [...]

Royal Navy whistleblower William McNeilly leaked details about a number of serious test fire issues aboard Britain’s Trident nuclear submarine fleet a whole year before the June 2016 misfire that sent a missile careening towards the US. [...]

Director of the Center for the South Pacific Institute of International Studies, Shen Shishun, spoke to Sputnik China about the South China Sea and US involvement in the region. “The US has no territorial jurisdiction in the South China Sea and moreover is not a part of this conflict. [...]

Austria remains in favor of border controls and an upper limit on refugees, Interior Minister Wolfgang Subotka told German newspaper Die Welt. Having imposed controls at its border with Germany in September 2015 at the height of Europe's migrant crisis, Austria wants to continue with them indefinitely, Interior Minister Wolfgang Subotka told German newspaper Die Welt on Friday. [...]

Former Italian Prime Minister and European Commission ex-president Romano Prodi called on Europe to scrap immediately the anti-Russian sanctions, before US president Donald Trump does it first. [...]

Israel will not impose sanctions against Russia, even under US pressure, Israeli Ambassador to Moscow, Harry Koren said Tuesday. "There are no such plans… Israel is very sensitive to the issue of sanctions, because we are threatened every time with sanctions.   [...]

Lawyers for Edward Snowden have once again pushed for the whistleblower to be granted legal protection in the EU, saying that member states should "pay back" the American for uncovering the widespread surveillance practices of the US government. [...]