Pfizer has reportedly raised the price of its Covid vaccine dose by a quarter, with Moderna also ramping up the price in its latest deal with the European Union. The two are making tens of billions of dollars in pandemic profits. According to the Financial Times, which has seen contracts between the two pharmaceutical companies and the EU, Pfizer's latest price for one vaccine dose was €1 [...]

Human rights group Amnesty International has condemned Lebanese officials ahead of the first anniversary of the deadly Beirut port blast, accusing authorities of “shamelessly obstructing victims’ quest for truth and justice.” The August 4, 2020 explosion destroyed swathes of the port city, causing billions of dollars in damage, killing more than 200 and injuring over 7,500. It was one o [...]

Chinese state-backed newspaper the Global Times accused the United States of holding “major responsibility” for the Covid-19 pandemic after a congressional report blamed China for the virus’ spread. In an editorial on Monday, the newspaper argued “that the US holds major responsibility for the global spread of the pandemic,” calling “every aspect of what the US has done” t [...]

A recently leaked study reveals the extent to which the British government wants to manipulate public opinion in the Balkan countries. And there are no prizes for guessing who is getting portrayed as ‘the bad guy’… Among a tranche of leaked UK government documents related to covert actions in the Balkans is a fascinating secret study, conducted by professional services firm WYG and pol [...]

Social media users have theorized that President Andres Manuel López Obrador could face severe repercussions after he refused to purchase Covid vaccines for children, vowing that Mexico wouldn’t bow to pressure from drugs firms. In remarks made earlier this week, the Mexican leader said his government was still waiting for the scientific community to demonstrate the benefits of vaccinating [...]

As the US approaches the completion of its withdrawal from Afghanistan, which should be over by September 11, as well as in light of more and more audible demands from Iraq to withdraw troops from its soil, questions are increasingly emerging about the assessment of the almost 20-year military presence and the success of these operations. The US has squandered trillions of dollars on the [...]

VIENNA - Austria will deploy approximately 400 soldiers to its eastern border to stem the influx of illegal migrants, the ORF public broadcaster reported on Saturday, citing Interior Minster Karl Nehammer. The minister stated that the practice of giving migrants asylum in the European Union had failed and Vienna had to overcome shortcomings of the EU border control effort by strengthening  its ow [...]

The consolidation of the Russia-China alliance this week spells the endgame for Western imperialism and the never-ending wars that it spawns. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and China’s leader Xi Jinping celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship, first signed in July 2001. The hallmark of that historic accord is a mutual commitment to peace, prosperity [...]

China and its two neighbors with significant relations - Russia and North Korea - have been strengthening their ties recently, as Chinese analysts said that ties among China, Russia and North Korea are totally different in nature from the US-Japan-South Korea alliance. Experts added that China, Russia and North Korea will continue to cooperate to safeguard regional peace and stability no ma [...]

MEXICO CITY/ BUENOS AIRES - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday that US-funded organizations were behind the recent protests in Cuba. On Sunday, Cuba witnessed its largest protests since 1994, fueled by anger over shortages of basic goods. Thousands of people demanded free elections and the resolution of social issues. According to local media, protests and gath [...]

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently characterized Moscow’s relations with Beijing as “the best in their entire history,” with the Chinese Foreign Ministry announcing last month that the two countries enjoy a “comprehensive partnership” and would “support each other in matters of protecting state sovereignty.” China’s ruling Communist Party-aligned Global Times [...]

Moscow has signalled to the world that it's not happy with NATO’s Exercise Sea Breeze manoeuvres in the Black Sea near the Crimean peninsula. Russia is warning Western allies that nothing good will come out of provocations in the Black Sea as any attempts to test Moscow’s willingness to defend its borders are “doomed to failure,” Russia's Embassy in Washington told Newsweek. "Manoe [...]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting on Saturday that he would not be silent about “Israel’s atrocities” in Palestine. According to the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency, Erdogan stressed to Abbas during the meeting that Turkey “did not” and “will not remain silent about Israel's atrocities in Palestine.”  [...]

If there’s one Western leader who knows the depth of corruption in Ukraine politics, then it has to be US President Joe Biden. His wayward son Hunter milked the country while daddy cemented the 2014 coup d’état in Kiev. The president knows cheery talk about reforms for joining NATO are meaningless platitudes to conceal a dysfunctional state that he helped create. Biden has belatedly in [...]

The latest OPCW report containing data on its response to the ‘poisoning’ of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has glaring inconsistencies, Moscow says, adding that the chemical weapons watchdog has failed to explain them. Russia will seek clarification from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on its latest report, the nation’s envoy to the chemical we [...]

The country’s economy is cratering, there are shortages of fuel and medicines, and people are going hungry on the streets. Yet what does the West worry most about? Hezbollah helping the starving get food. Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab has warned the international community that the country could collapse in days, as even Israel offers aid fearing the expansion of Lebanese H [...]

Twenty years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, US and allied troops are finally leaving Afghanistan as the Taliban seem set to return to power. This failure has created a generation of conservatives opposed to US interventionism. This week, when asked whether the US mission in Afghanistan was a failure as American and NATO troops handed over Bagram airfield to the Afghan army, President Joe B [...]

Austria is reeling from a tragedy that saw a 13-year-old girl die after being drugged and gang-raped. Yet a local feminist group seemed more enraged by media reporting the suspects’ nationality and casting a shadow on refugees. A group of activists from the group ‘Alerta Feminista’ broke into the offices of oe24 – the web portal of the Vienna-based daily newspaper Osterreich – lat [...]

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has found a link connecting mRNA vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna, to rare heart conditions following inoculation, and has recommended that these side effects are listed. The EMA published its findings that there is a risk of heart inflammation conditions - myocarditis and pericarditis – following the administration of mRNA Covid vaccines on Friday [...]

Diplomatic sources told the Financial Times this week that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were willing to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to a summit of European leaders. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that the European Union had to create a "format for dialogue" with Russia and its President Vladimir Putin to settle differen [...]

The Americans have made a lot of noise about the Uighurs, but given the region’s strategic importance to China and its richness in natural resources, that may be more about geopolitical machinations than human rights. Last week, China made a significant announcement that went somewhat under the radar. In the Xinjiang autonomous region in the far west, its oil companies have discovered an [...]

The number of tourists visiting Russia’s Crimea in 2021 is projected to reach at least eight million people, according to the region’s State Council’s Chairman of the Committee for Tourism, Resorts and Sports Alexey Chernyak. “Last year a lot of people of different ages visited Crimea for the first time, and were not disappointed at all,” Chernyak said on Tuesday, adding that "thi [...]