The U.S. mainstream media avoids the word “coup” when a disfavored leader is ousted, but the silence around Iran’s 1981 coup also may have served Ronald Reagan’s political self-interest in keeping secret his own "coup," as Mahmood Delkhasteh reflects. Brazil’s suspended President Dilma Rousseff calls her impeachment a coup d’état. Many academics and political experts agree that the [...]

Britain’s stunning referendum vote to leave the European Union has thrown a cat among the pigeons, not least in Washington, where it is feared that the “Brexit” could scupper its anti-Russian policy. That tacit policy is a foundation of the postwar international order whereby Washington – thanks to its trusty British acolyte – has been able to exert hegemony over Europe. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has received a letter in which his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for the death of the pilot who was killed when a Russian jet was downed over the Syrian-Turkish border last November, the Kremlin said. [...]

The upper house of the Swiss parliament on Wednesday voted to invalidate its 1992 application to join the European Union, backing an earlier decision by the lower house. The vote comes just a week before Britain decides whether to leave the EU in a referendum. Twenty-seven members of the upper house, the Council of States, voted to cancel Switzerland’s longstanding EU application, versus just [...]

As the U.S. and NATO mount provocative military maneuvers on Russia’s border, the West is oblivious to how these threatening gestures ratchet up prospects of thermonuclear war that could extinguish civilization, says Gilbert Doctorow. In his eulogy to Mohammed Ali at the Louisville memorial service, Rabbi Michael Lerner reminded us all of the distinguishing feature of “The Greatest,” that [...]

Official Washington’s neocon foreign policy establishment looks forward to more “regime change” wars in the Mideast and more “blank checks” for Israel, but ex-Ambassador Chas W. Freeman Jr. sees such actions as a continued march of folly. I have been asked to speak about the geopolitical dynamics of the Middle East, the realignments occurring among states there, and the prospects for [...]

Russia 'is poised to release emails from Hillary Clinton's private server', report claims Kremlin is ready to give green light on releasing the emails, report says Clinton has maintained no emails were intercepted by foreign sources But OilPrice.com cites US intelligence sources saying that they were Clinton would be at risk of violating Espionage Act if foreign governments or sources accessed cl [...]

While civilians who still live on the Turkish-Syrian border suffer from Islamic State attacks and blame Turkish army inaction, so-called moderate rebels of the Free Syrian Army, fighting side-by-side with Islamist extremists, openly admit Ankara’s support. [...]

The West is playing into the Islamophobic narrative blaming Islam for all the recent attacks, while the real cause is political radicalization, said political analyst Catherine Shakdam. Europe opened up its borders to radicals and faces terror, she added. [...]

The debate about whether to Remain in or Leave the European Union has been spiced up by Lord Howell of Guildford, who in his own words "decided to add some salt and pepper to the Brexit meal." Speaking at an In-Out debate, organized by the University of Kent, Lord Howell told the assembled audience of politicians, [...]

While criticizing Israeli policy, US National Security Advisor Susan Rice has nonetheless promised to provide a large military aid package to the Middle Eastern nation. Speaking at the American Jewish Committee Global Forum on Monday, Rice spoke of the necessity of a peaceful two-state solution. [...]

Andreas Maurer, chairman of the Die Linke party branch in the town of Quakenbrück in Lower Saxony, became the first German politician to publicly advocate recognizing Crimea as a part of Russia. Maurer, who recently returned from his trip to the Crimean Peninsula, told Sputnik that because [...]

The Austrian and Hungarian Governments are in a diplomatic row over thousands of migrants in Austria that Vienna says should be returned to Hungary under EU rules, which the Budapest administration is refusing to accept. Under the Dublin agreement, migrants arriving within the Schengen area — the zone in Europe where all countries remove internal borders — must be processed in the country o [...]

Siberian scientists have created an artificial heart they claim will be up to five times cheaper than its western alternatives. Doctors hope to test the first implants on animals this autumn. The new artificial heart design created by a team of cardiologists from the Novosibirsk State Research Institute of Circulation Pathology was unveiled at a medical forum in Novosibirsk on Thursday. [...]

Germany has no alterative than to reconcile itself with NATO's strategy, experts say, commenting on Berlin's plans to include Russia in its top ten major threats list. However, it is unlikely that NATO will use Germany as a 'battering ram' against Russia, they say. [...]

Over the past 10 years US companies have invested $5.8 billion in commercial real estate in Russia, the biggest among other foreign investors, according to consulting company Knight Frank. Overall foreign investments to Russian commercial real estate over the past 10 years have reached $15.9 billion. US companies account for 36.5 percent of the total sum. [...]

The Head of the Crimean regional German national-cultural autonomy of Crimea, Yury Hempel, criticized the new defense doctrine of the German authorities in which Russia is viewed as a global threat. Earlier, German newspaper Die Welt, citing governmental sources, reported that Germany's new defense doctrine, which is currently in the final stage of its preparation, will view Russia as one of th [...]

On September 19, 2000, going on 16 years ago, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the London Telegraph reported: “Declassified American government documents show that the US intelligence community ran a campaign in the Fifties and Sixties to build momentum for a united Europe. It funded and [...]

MPs who support remaining in the European Union may use their majority in Parliament to sidestep the public altogether and vote to keep Britain in the EU’s single market, meaning free movement of people, goods and services would stay despite a ‘Brexit’. A number of pro-‘Remain’ MPs have suggested using their 257 person majority to vote to keep the UK within the European Economic Area [...]

The US strategy in Europe is aimed at strengthening its control over EU and NATO states, selling more military equipment to its European allies to make super-profits for its military-industrial complex and to isolate Russia, political author Diana Johnstone told RT. [...]

The US doesn’t have any leverage over “moderate rebels” in Syria who coordinate their attacks with the Al-Nusra Front terrorist group; and it does not have a strategy for the region, experts tell RT. The Al-Nusra Front in Syria has started a major offensive. The terrorists resumed artillery barrages on residential areas of Aleppo. [...]

Former PM Tony Blair will respond to the Chilcot report on the legality of the 2003 Iraq invasion by arguing the Middle East state was devastated by Iran, Al-Qaeda and a powder keg of tribal animosity unleashed by Saddam’s removal, reports suggest. He is expected to defend the war while trying to externalize the continuing bloodshed, but not before the Chilcot Inquiry reports on July 6. [...]