German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected suggestions that the increased price of gas is due to Russian policy. Instead she has pointed the finger at the EU's own approach asking whether the bloc could have acted differently. Speaking on Wednesday, Merkel noted that Russia has never refused to deliver gas and has fulfilled its contractual obligations. “That’s why we should ask the q [...]

One in two Austrians prefers to keep their opinions to themselves, partly due to fear of being labeled an “alt-right,” a new survey shows, as people in the Alpine land appear to grow wary of “exaggerated” political correctness. An increasing need to watch one’s mouth, which is in no small way influenced by modern “woke” trends, seems to be “getting on the nerves” of many [...]

Just as it all ended badly for the West’s military interventions in Vietnam and Afghanistan, so it will in Kosovo. NATO has overstepped its mandate, overplayed its hand, and overstayed its welcome. As the last US military helicopters were leaving Kabul, Afghanistan, many, including myself, emphasized the similarities with America’s embarrassment in Saigon, South Vietnam – but one parall [...]

The accession of six Eastern European states would change the complexion of the European Union and likely spark an exodus from east to west. It’s no wonder, then, that some Western countries have got cold feet about the idea. A number of Western European countries have aired their concerns about the European Union’s ambitions to invite six Balkan states to join the bloc. Indeed, there [...]

Jordan is reopening its border crossing with Syria and resuming flights to Damascus. In Syria, more armed groups are laying down their weapons. But amid these positive developments, the US is hunkering down to inflict more pain. On September 29, Jordan's Nassib border crossing to Syria re-opened, meaning a resumption not only of travel but of trade between the two nations. In early October, [...]

The UK government looks set to approve Covid jabs for 12-15-year-olds, against scientific advice. This is bad enough, but suggesting it will benefit their mental health is an insult, given how this was disregarded in lockdown. Boris Johnson is currently finalising the UK’s winter Covid plan. Reports suggest most of the emergency coronavirus restrictions we have been living under for the pas [...]

Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine is finally set to be approved by the WHO after the country’s health minister said only ‘minor administrative procedures’ remain to be finalized following a meeting with the UN agency’s chief. All outstanding issues that had plagued the registration approval process have been resolved between Moscow and the World Health Organization (WHO), Health M [...]

Beijing has issued a further rebuke of Washington’s foreign policy, claiming the fall of Kabul further highlights that US military interventions aren’t working and that the vast war chest could have been better spent elsewhere. On Friday, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying delivered another damning appraisal of US interventionist policy, stating that Washington has a terr [...]

It really took a Florida man to get the current Pentagon boss to admit his inability to deal with the essential job of the military and remind Americans that he was behind the failed scheme to arm the “moderate rebels” in Syria. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, and Central Command head General Kenneth McKenzie proved much more adep [...]

A court in Austria has sentenced a teenage refugee from Afghanistan to 30 months in prison, of which he is only obliged to serve 10 months after he sexually abused a girl, age seven. The victim was awarded €500 in compensation. On Wednesday a court in Ried, Upper Austria reached a verdict concerning the shocking case of an Afghan teen who had lured a seven-year-old neighbor to a basement be [...]

American intelligence has long played an influential role in German politics, as CIA whistleblower Philip Agee explained in his revealing book ‘Dirty Work’. But as the country enters a new era, what will come next? On September 26, Germans went to the polls to elect their new government. As the results emerged, it became increasingly apparent that the Social Democratic Party (SPD) had nar [...]

MOSCOW, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The Kremlin warned on Monday that any expansion of NATO military infrastructure in Ukraine would cross one of President Vladimir Putin's "red lines", and Belarus said it had agreed to take action with Moscow to counter growing NATO activity. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Moscow ally, accused the United States of setting up training centers in Ukrai [...]

There's panic setting in across Europe of unaffordable fuel bills, gas shortages, blackouts and freezing households as winter approaches. And guess who's to blame? Well, of course, Russia! Amos Hochstein, an energy official at the US State Department, said there was deep concern about Europe not being to keep warm this winter because of "inexplicably low supplies of gas from Russia". The sinister [...]

One of America's most prominent diplomats, widely cast as the leading foreign force behind calls for regime change in the unrest that hit Ukraine in 2014, is hoping for a summit with officials in Moscow, Russian media reports. [...]

American companies operating in Russia have made direct investments amounting to a total of $96.05 billion, according to the sixth annual joint survey of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (AmCham) and Ernst & Young. The survey, which focused on the prospects for direct investment and bilateral trade between Russia and the US, was based on data from 160 companies. According to it [...]

The highly-discussed AUKUS pact between Washington, London and Canberra to arm Australia with a fleet of nuclear submarines is “reckless” and will only expose the country to danger on multiple fronts, Aussie trade unions said. Since its announcement a week ago, the trilateral deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered, yet conventionally armed, submarines has faced a wave of internati [...]

To understand why Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan would insult Moscow by declaring that Crimea is Ukrainian just ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, one has to understand his obsession with the Ottoman Empire. “We believe it is important to preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, including the territory of Crimea, whose annexation we do not recogniz [...]

China’s Foreign Ministry has rejected the United States’ charges of fraud against Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, which led to her detainment for several years, calling them “totally fabricated” and an act of political persecution. Meng – who is the daughter of Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei – finally returned home to China on Saturday following years of detainment in Canada. She had been arrested b [...]

The United States and its NATO allies invaded Afghanistan in late 2001, after the Taliban refused to extradite Osama bin Laden, leader of the al-Qaeda* terrorist group, who was suspected of masterminding the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania. As the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the deadliest terrorist attacks in US history, approaches, the Talib [...]

The US political establishment has suddenly rediscovered an interest in terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS-K, either as a cudgel to beat the White House with over the escape from Kabul, or an excuse to stay in Afghanistan. The Biden administration can’t seem to decide whether Al-Qaeda has been effectively eliminated – as President Joe Biden himself argued – or may still be in Af [...]

The abrupt US withdrawal from Afghanistan should not surprise anyone, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson told RT, saying the fact that Washington was able to deceive the world for two decades is more shocking. Washington’s 19-year-long war campaign in Afghanistan was one “big lie” that only benefited America’s military industrial complex and private contractors, Hrafnsson [...]

Austria’s top diplomat has warned ties between Moscow and the EU have hit historic lows and argued that both sides now need to urgently work to turn things around and form a partnership, given the importance of economic relations. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday following talks with his Russian counterpart, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg lamented the dismal sta [...]