During his annual Good Friday prayer address to the faithful, Catholic Pope Francis stated that he is 'ashamed' of our planet, as it is "fractured by divisions and wars." Under tight security, the Pontiff presided over the ritual — attended by about 20,000 — at Rome's ancient Colosseum that commemorates the death of Jesus of Nazareth, the religion's most prominent avatar. [...]

More and more people in Italy are asking plastic surgeons to make them look like Barbie or Ken. Carlo Gasperoni, an associate professor in aesthetic surgery at the University of Rome Tor Vergata commented on the issue in an interview with Sputnik. [...]

Vietjet, a Vietnamese low-cost carrier commonly known as "bikini airline" has given its team of hot flight attendants a new way of providing its passengers with a pleasant journey. Vietjet, a low-cost carrier first launched in 2011, has unveiled a new route from Vietnam to India, despite causing controversy in 2012 when its five stewardesses all dressed in swimwear and danced for passengers midwa [...]

A recent study by professors at the Hanken School of Economics in Finland clearly shows that an intelligent man makes for the ideal marriage partner. Why does a partner's intelligence matter? Well most importantly, according to the study, they are faithful. This sounds all well and good, but as one dives deeper into the study, one might become suspicious of the reasons and may even find them som [...]

The coverage of a gang rape case, in which a woman was subjected to sexual abuse for 10 hours, has triggered a scandal in the Nordic nation, after the alleged perpetrators were portrayed as "victims" by national broadcaster SVT. A woman in the Malmö district of Lindängen was drugged and gang raped for several hours in early February. [...]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) congratulated Italy’s Lega party on achieving great results in the election, expressing hope that both parties would succeed in closing the Brenner Pass on the Italian-Austrian border, a migrant route in the eastern Alps, Roman Haider, the FPO’s foreign policy spokesman, told Sputnik on Monday. [...]

A documentary about a Syrian refugee in Germany, who happily lives on state handouts with his two wives and six kids, has angered many in the country where polygamy is against the law. The Spiegel TV film was aired over the weekend, telling the story of 32-year-old Ahmad A. who fled the fighting in Syria’s Aleppo back in 2015 with his large family, and found a safe haven in Schleswig-Holstein, n [...]

Anastasia Zagitova was forced to leave the ice-rink ahead of time, when the World Anti-Doping Agency officers demanded that she take a doping control test. “Several hours ago a doping control officer took blood sample from Alina. After that she was asked to give a urine sample, however, she was too nervous and failed to do it physically. [...]

The EPA is using a shady study to carve out a massive pollution exemption for dirty glider trucks. The Environmental Protection Agency is trying to protect a loophole that allows vastly more pollution than is typically permitted from heavy-duty commercial vehicles — all in the name of helping out a Trump supporter. [...]

The group is calling for a rational drug policy based on promoting responsible cannabis use, rather than repression and arrest. The Confederation of German Criminal Officers (BDK) has called for the legalization of cannabis, saying that its ban makes no sense. "The prohibition of cannabis has historically been arbitrary and until today it has been neither intelligent, nor purposeful," [...]

US President Donald Trump attacked Britain’s “broke” National Health Service (NHS) in a tweet that came just minutes after Brexiteer Nigel Farage appeared on Fox News to blame immigrants for stretched UK health services. [...]

Obesity could be spread among people living in close proximity, similarly to contagious diseases, according to a new report by researchers from the University of Southern California and think tank Rand Corp. Radio Sputnik discussed the findings with Louise Baur, Professor of child and adolescent health at the University of Sydney’s Westmead Clinical School. [...]

Congress has agreed to a temporary funding measure to end the government shutdown, but there is still no guarantee for bipartisan immigration reform. Native American activist Bill Means discussed the issue of humane reform with Dennis J. Bernstein. Following a brief government shutdown over the weekend, House Democrats conceded to fund the government until February 8. The deal came after congre [...]

Researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science have made a startling discovery: the most accurate climate models are those that predict the highest levels of global warming over the next 100 years. [...]

A new analysis conducted by a Chinese research paper published on Friday in a peer-reviewed journal entitled ‘2017 Was the Warmest Year on Record for the Global Ocean' detailed the last year to be the hottest year for ocean temperatures since records began being kept. [...]

Even when temperatures drop below -60 degrees Celsius (-76 degrees Fahrenheit), life in Yakutia doesn’t stop. Check out these life hacks, that help local people continue their lives as normal during the notoriously severe Siberian winters. [...]

Recently it was discovered that the Nestle corporation had been abusing their water permits in California, essentially stealing millions of gallons of water to bottle and sell to consumers in one of the most drought-ravaged states in the country. But Nestle’s disgusting story goes far beyond water stealing. Attorneys Mike Papantonio and Peter Mougey discuss this. Chocolate Bunnies, Slave [...]

A crew of Arctic expedition explorers was out casually one night in -50 degree Celsius weather - you know, like you do - with their pickup trucks in northern Russia when a nuclear-powered icebreaker came within feet of them as it cruised by. [...]

The roundups are getting worse. The checkpoints are getting worse. The harassment is getting worse. The things we were worried would happen are happening. No one is safe. No one is immune. No one gets spared the anguish, fear and heartache of living under the shadow of an authoritarian police state. [...]