The Europeans have let themselves to be drawn into an ‘insane march on Russia’ by concentrating the largest amount of military hardware on Russia’s borders since the Second World War, putting Europe at risk of a hot conflict. However, if there is one spark, Europe will be the first victim, according to Danish author Jens Jorgen Nielsen. [...]

The European Union has toughened its visa regime for Ukrainians as verification of applicants’ documents in consulates has become more rigorous and the number of refusals for multiple visa claims has rapidly increased, Kiev-based newspaper Vesti wrote. Even those in Ukraine willing to travel to the Euro-2016 in France are now seeing their visa applications turned down even though the EU earli [...]

Beijing looks to garner international favor through a massive investment effort in Europe and Asia. China is now nearly three years into Xi Jinping’s cooperative development strategy with European partners known as "One Belt, One Road," or the "New Silk Road." The plan is part of China's push to leverage their economic potential to maximize geopolitical influence. [...]

The Syrian Army launched on June 3 a large-scale offensive to liberate the city of Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the Daesh caliphate. Retired Syrian Major General Sabet Muhammad told the Russian newspaper Izvestia that the operation started from the town of Isriya, in Hama province, nearly 140 km to the west from Raqqa. [...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has come out with her approval for the creation of a common economic zone between the European Union and Russia. The chancellor made the statement during a congress of the regional branch of the Christian Democratic Union in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. [...]

With Washington undertaking the greatest military expansion in world history, oblivious to the global ramifications of its sheer arrogance and audacity, the time is ripe for Russia to make a symbolic gesture in America’s backyard. At the time of this writing, three US B-52 Stratofortress Bombers have just departed from a US airbase in North Dakota, [...]

Chile’s main solar power plants are supplying so much electricity that they have to give it away for free or face prices going down. The glut has been driven by the country’s booming copper industry. Chile’s growing energy demand has prompted the development of 29 solar farms to supply the central grid. [...]

Switzerland may become the first country in the world to introduce a universal basic income after Sunday’s referendum. If passed, every adult legally residing in the country would receive a monthly income of around $2,500, whether they work or not. [...]

In the upcoming government security policy guidebook currently being prepared by the German Defense Ministry, Russia will be designated one of 10 major challenges on par with terrorists, migrants and global climate change, reported Die Welt. The so-called White Paper is to be released sometime after the British referendum on EU membership, [...]

As the U.S. government ratchets up a new Cold War, Poland is taking hostility toward Russia to the next level, inviting in U.S. military bases and arresting an anti-NATO politician on vague “espionage” charges, writes Gilbert Doctorow. Since Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice Party returned to power last fall, the new government has been cracking down on independent media, reshaping the [...]

In what supporters described as "a victory for accountability for corporate crimes," a U.S. judge ruled in favor of allowing Colombians to sue former Chiquita Brand International executives for the company's funding of a paramilitary group that murdered plaintiffs' family members. [...]

Four illegal oil production facilities controlled by the terrorist group Daesh, also known as IS/Islamic State, have been destroyed by Russian fighter jets. "Russian air force jets destroyed four targets of illegal oil extraction, located to the northwest of Raqqa and controlled by Daesh militants," Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement. [...]

Former US senator and co-chairman of a 9/11 inquiry Bob Graham told German television that redacted US documents reveal a network of Saudi support for the al-Qaeda terrorists who carried out the attack which reaches as far as the Kingdom's government. [...]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Ankara will take retaliatory measures after the German parliament voted to recognize as ‘genocide’ the Armenian massacre of 1915. Turkey has already recalled its ambassador to Germany in protest. [...]

The US Treasury Department has exposed Saudi Arabia's total US debt holdings for the first time in 40 years, allowing analysts to answer the crucial question of whether or not Riyadh can carry out its threat to undermine America's economy. A month ago, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir threatened Washington, saying his country would sell off up to $750 billion in US Treasures and o [...]

For 41 years the amount of Saudi Arabia's holdings in US Treasuries remained shrouded in secrecy. What was behind the mysterious deal It seemed all was lost in 1974: following the Yom Kippur War (Arab-Israeli War) of 1973, the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an oil embargo in response to Washington's aid to Israel which led to the "first oil shock." [...]

Investors from Russia and Saudi Arabia have cut their combined holdings of US securities by more than $50 billion between mid 2014 and 2015, reports the Financial Times. Over the period, Saudi Arabia reduced its holdings by $26 billion, according to an annual US Treasury survey published earlier this week. [...]

If targeting the civilian population of an entire city with a nuclear bomb, and incinerating tens of thousands of men, women, and children in the process, is not worthy of an apology then ‘humanity’ has become a word without meaning. Step forward US President Barack Obama and his statement in advance of his visit to Hiroshima that he will not apologize for the nuclear bomb dropped by the U [...]

The belief that Vladimir Putin single-handedly “manufactured” the current conflict with the West to win domestic support, spark a surge in Russian patriotism and hold on to power at any cost, has been a staple of mainstream Western analysis of Russia since the Ukraine crisis began. That same belief — that Putin manufactures crises or otherwise inserts Moscow into them to distract an antsy [...]

Almost uniformly, the western think tankers and media types who comment on Russia purport to be strongly concerned with freedom. After all, the central tenet of their anger with the country’s rulers is what they perceive as a lack of democracy. The usual charge goes something like this. Putin is a “dictator” who is suppressing the liberty loving Russian people and crippling their hopes and d [...]

Looks like Spain is in trouble. The country has been slammed for “betraying its NATO allies” allowing Russian Navy vessels to refuel in its North African territories – but in reality what the claim does is expose a massive web of hypocrisy. [...]

Turkey has questioned its relationship with the US, with the deputy prime minister saying it is "unsuitable" for soldiers of a country which is friends with Ankara to wear the badges of a "terrorist organization." [...]