The Trump administration quietly downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union’s mission to the US late last year, without informing the diplomats themselves, a German report has revealed. The European Union’s delegation to the US, which had previously enjoyed nation-state ambassador status, was reduced to “international organization” sometime in late October or early November 201 [...]

Authorities in southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have closed highways and some railroads due to heavy snowfall in the region, according to Fox News reports. Thousands of tourists ended the Christmas holiday in the Alps on 6 January being evacuated due to heavy snowfall, including visitors to the popular Matterhorn in Switzerland, Fox News reported, saying that airports and trains have exp [...]

Aside from the trade wars, Apple has been hurt by a boycott in China and its own apparent arrogance towards Chinese laws. Apple had to cut its revenue outlook for the latest quarter, citing what it called an "economic deceleration" in China and emerging markets, according to a report by Agence France-Presse. [...]

Tensions have spiked between Russia and the UK, following the doxing of personal information and pictures of state-funded media employees in both countries. So where will the escalating tensions lead? Sputnik has discussed the issue with Journalist Ollie Richardson. [...]

The Chinese robotic probe Chang'e 4 has landed on the dark side of the moon, becoming the first manmade craft to alight on the unexplored surface, according to reports from Chinese state media. [...]

Germany’s major rightwing party, the AfD, threatens to push for a so-called ‘Dexit’ if the EU doesn’t restore its members’ national sovereignty and takes no action against “Islamization of Europe” within the next five years. [...]

Donald Trump has told Benjamin Netanyahu that the US is paying billions of dollars a year for Israeli security, and that Tel Aviv should not be worried about losing its influence in the region after US troops withdraw from Syria. [...]

Vladimir Putin unveiled that Russia had developed a new type of weapon that flies faster than the speed of sound and looks like a “fireball” in March 2018. Less than a week before the start of 2019, information about its successful test launch was released. [...]

The test of the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle took place on 26 December, when it reached a speed of Mach 27 and successfully struck a target 6,000 kilometres away. The Zvezda TV channel, the official media outlet of the Russian Defence Ministry, has published a new video of the test launch of the hypersonic missile Avangard, depicting it from the launch command centre. [...]

Crimea dramatically broke off from Ukraine and rejoined Russia in March 2014 following a peninsula-wide referendum, a month after a Western-backed coup rocked Kiev and overthrew Ukraine's democratically elected government. [...]

On 31 December, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Paul Whelan, accusing him of espionage and launching a criminal case against him. US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said the US demands the immediate return of the detained Paul Whelan and seeks an explanation of why he was arrested. [...]

As a rising number of critics accuse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of moving political goalposts to avoid ongoing corruption charges, observers in Tel Aviv note that ‘Bibi’ and his Likud party are on track to win the April elections by a slim margin. [...]

As the death of Jamal Khashoggi continues to cause international outrage, new footage has emerged purporting to show the journalist’s killers carrying body parts in suitcases into the house of the Saudi consul general in Istanbul. [...]

Christmas celebrations have literally radiated out across Syria and western media was curiously silent in the face of such displays of unity and solidarity among Syria's diverse peoples. [...]

Tensions between Washington and Beijing have escalated in recent months amid a growing number of US Navy "freedom of navigation" missions in the South China Sea and Chinese efforts to beef up its military presence in territories over which several Asian powers have overlapping claims. [...]

Claiming ‘anti-Semitism,’ the United States and Israel have jointly quit a legacy United Nations agency designed to promote international collaboration through scientific, educational and cultural reform. [...]

KIEV (Sputnik) - Several hundreds of people participated Tuesday in marches commemorating the birthday of the Ukrainian fascist collaborator Stepan Bandera in Kiev, media reported. [...]

The US 'withdrawal' from Syria might not mean the end of all its Syria-related operations where Israel is concerned, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed Washington’s ongoing commitment to Israel’s security on Tuesday. [...]

Businessmen from Saudi Arabia have expressed an interest in investing in Russia's Crimea, according to the region’s ministry of construction and architecture. "Representatives of the foreign [Saudi - Ed.] delegation expressed an interest in starting projects and setting up businesses in the republic," the ministry said, following a meeting with the Saudi businessmen. [...]

The country with the largest mineral reserves in the world, Russia, is the second top exporter of rare earth minerals. Its natural resources are estimated at tens of trillions of dollars. It has abundant supplies of oil, natural gas, timber and valuable minerals, such as copper, diamonds, lead, zinc, bauxite, nickel, tin, mercury, gold and silver. [...]

The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle flies 27 times faster than the speed of sound, making it impossible to intercept, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told Russia’s Zvezda television channel. Borisov spoke a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw what he described as the conclusive successful test of the Avangard and hailed it as a reliable guarantee of Russia’s security for de [...]

BEIJING (Sputnik) – Liberalization of the Chinese banking legislation provides Russian banks with an opportunity to receive full-fledged licenses for their work in China, Russia's Trade Representative in the Asian country, Sergey Iniushin, told Sputnik. [...]