Relatives of the Skripals are worried that Sergei and Yulia are being held in Britain against their will, and the daughter is not allowed to express her real feelings even in a telephone conversation with her cousin. The former intelligence agent’s cousin, 65-year-old Natalia Pestova, who lives in Siberia, has spoken out amid reports that the father and daughter could be granted political asylum [...]

The Turkish government has clashed with the US and other NATO members on a number of occasions in the past few years, raising questions over the country's membership of the military bloc and its future relations with the West. [...]

The White Helmets, which claim to be an impartial NGO, saving civilians in war-torn Syria, have repeatedly been busted using false videos of their daily rescue operations. The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, has published several clips and pictures, showing the alleged aftermath of the chemical attack in the city of Douma in Eastern Ghouta. [...]

US Defense Secretary James Mattis has not ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes against Syria in response to an alleged chemical attack in the militant-held town of Douma. Speaking with reports on Monday, Mattis said he wouldn't "rule out anything right now" after being asked if the US was mulling strikes against Syrian President Bashar Assad. [...]

Two Israeli F-15 fighters targeted Syria’s T-4 airbase in Homs province, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday. The jets fired eight guided missiles, but five of them were shot down before they hit the airfield. In a statement on Monday, the Russian military said: “Two Israeli Air Force F-15 jets fired eight guided missiles at the T-4 airfield.” [...]

Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said the country is considering an option of payments for oil in national currencies, in particular with Turkey and Iran. According to him, both countries are interested but there is also a matter of conversion of currencies and their further use. [...]

It would be illogical for the Syrian government, which previously seems to have acted strategically, to suddenly launch a chemical attack on Douma amid its successful recapturing of territory, experts told RT. [...]

The US was the only country in the world to oppose a resolution calling for Israel to be held accountable for war crimes, at the 29th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), held from 15 June to 3 July 2015. The US voted against “ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in” the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). [...]

The UK government is busy covering up traces in the case of the poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, the Russian Embassy in London said Sunday. On its official Twitter account the embassy commented on a recent report in The Sunday Times that the father and daughter may move to the US under new identities. [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US military policymakers and their political allies continue to block President Donald Trump’s repeatedly expressed desire to withdraw all US troops currently operating in Syria, analysts told Sputnik. Last week, Trump revealed that the United States would soon withdraw from Syria, however, there was no confirmation from the president's administration or the Pentagon. [...]

The US should, but likely won’t, pull out of Syria soon, independent journalist Eva Bartlett told RT’s Lee Camp. She added that you have to be “brain-dead” to believe the myths used by the US to justify the conflict. [...]

Nikki Haley has erupted in another fiery Russophobic rant, warning that Russia will “never be America’s friend.” Moscow can try to behave “like a regular country,” but the US will “slap them when we need to,” Haley said. [...]

An episode of Abby Martin’s Empire Files, featuring journalist Max Blumenthal and spotlighting rising militarism in Israel, has been blocked by YouTube in 28 countries, including Israel and the UK, for violating “local laws.” “Just notified by YouTube that Abby Martin’s interview with Max Blumenthal has been blocked from being viewed in 28 countries (including Israel) to ‘comply with l [...]

Sergei Skripal’s niece has written a letter to Theresa May after the UK abruptly denied her an entry visa to visit relatives, who are recovering from alleged poisoning by a military grade nerve agent, Victoria Skripal told Ruptly. Shocked by the British authorities’ refusal to grant her a visa to visit relatives recovering from the March 4 attack in Salisbury, Viktoria Skripal told RT’s Rupt [...]

With the largest joint U.S.-Israeli air defense exercise ever conducted having recently concluded, which involved over 2,500 American service personnel, and in the midst of heightened Israeli involvement in the Syrian war, we find ourselves asking... Are US troops ready to fight and to die for America’s Israel's defense? [...]

The price of the traditional safe haven gold increased on Monday after Beijing introduced retaliatory measures against American goods coming to China. After falling in the past three trading sessions, the yellow metal surged over $8 per troy ounce to $1,335. [...]

With secrecy surrounding the condition of poisoned double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Russian bloggers noticed that somebody logged in to Yulia Skripal's social media page when she was reportedly in critical condition. [...]

Moscow and Beijing will team up to create an integrated navigation system based on Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and the Chinese BeiDou. The satellite system will cover most of Eurasia. The countries will reportedly negotiate the merger in May at the International Conference on Advanced Technologies in Manufacturing and Materials Engineering in the Chinese city of Harbin, [...]

Muammar Gaddafi wanted to shatter the dominance of the greenback in the Middle East by introducing gold-backed dinar, but failed. China has a chance to finish what he started, one industry expert has told RT. “Ideas related to oil trade in currencies other than the dollar arose more than once.  [...]

Russia’s Embassy in London has sent a list of 14 questions to the UK Foreign Ministry, demanding that it reveals details of the investigation into the nerve-agent poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter. The questions, provided in full below, include a demand to clarify whether samples of the nerve agent А-234 (also known as “Novichok”) have ever been developed in [...]

Beijing is hiking up tariffs on more than 128 US imports, including fruit and pork, as part of a tit-for-tat response to US President Donald Trump’s $60 billion package of tariffs imposed against China. The additional fares, which range from 15 to 25 percent, will take effect on Monday, the Chinese Finance Ministry said on their website. [...]

Although German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas positively assessed the decision of European countries to expel Russian diplomats, he still expressed hope that Moscow and Berlin will remain partners. The expulsion of Russian diplomats from Germany should be taken merely as a sign of solidarity with the UK and other EU member states, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said. [...]