The deputy speaker of the Crimean parliament has sounded the alarm on escalating military activity on Russia’s borders, insisting that those living on the disputed peninsula just want to be left alone. In comments reported by RIA Novosti, Efim Fiks warned that an aggressive US-led campaign against the stationing of Russian troops in Crimea, which was reabsorbed into the country in 2014, is [...]

By ending visa-free access to Hong Kong for US officials, China is trying to curb their links with protesters. It’s another example of how Beijing is keen to barricade the city from what it sees as corrosive foreign influence. Earlier this week, the United States slapped a series of sanctions on 14 members of China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee. [...]

The city suffered a billion euros in damages during high tides last year, with floods rocking the landmark Italian city at least three times in November and December 2019. Venice has been flooded with water, with extremely heavy rain and strong winds causing the tide to surge. The flood waters reached as high as 122 cm on Wednesday morning, before further climbing to a 145 cm peak. The Ve [...]

A wide-ranging anti-coronavirus vaccination campaign began in Moscow on Saturday, with thousands signing up for shots online, in the Russian capital. Frontline workers were given first priority, as previous indicated. Those wishing to participate have to sign up online before receiving their initial dose of Sputnik V at one of the city’s 70 specialist clinics. The vaccine consists of two se [...]

The digital yuan cryptocurrency developed by China has the potential to be a gamechanger when it is rolled out fully. By ending the world’s reliance on the dollar, it will alter the geopolitical landscape forever. For several years now, China has been developing the digital yuan, the first cryptocurrency from a central bank and government in the world. And it’s nearing completion. [...]

Multi-billion-euro gas pipeline project Nord Stream 2 was put on pause last year after the United States imposed sanctions against firms involved in its construction. The project’s operator said on Saturday that it was planning to resume “the pipe-laying work” this year. American sanctions will not stop the Nord Stream 2 project from being completed, which could happen by the middle [...]

The Chang’e-5 spacecraft has accomplished a number of firsts for Beijing, including the first extraterrestrial takeoff and first independent placement of a Chinese flag on an extraterrestrial body. When its samples return to Earth, they’ll be the first brought back from the moon in 44 years. China’s Chang’e-5 lunar probe has finished its primary mission of collecting moon samples [...]

The Trump administration has long been critical of the EU, especially Germany, over their support for the transnational pipeline project, which will boost the capacity of Russia to sell natural gas to Europe. Washington insists that the EU must instead buy more expensive LNG from the US or other countries. The European Commission has condemned the US plans to expand the sanctions on Nord [...]

In a freshly-published book, Maria Butina has documented her time inside the American prison system, where she spent more than a year after being dubbed a foreign agent acting on behalf of Moscow’s ‘influence campaign.’ The book ‘#Prison diary’ is based on the journal Butina kept chronicling her experiences behind bars, including the time she spent in solitary confinement. [...]

The sale comes amid tighter restrictions from the United States in May, which blocked the Chinese tech giant's access to software and semiconductors made with US technologies. Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei Technologies, said he hoped Honor would become a strong competitor in the smartphone market and even surpass his company in the future, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday [...]

The original name of the small village has no special meaning or any connotations in German, while the new toponym will better reflect its pronunciation in the local accent. The Austrian village of Fucking (pronounced fooking in Standard German) will change its name to Fugging on 1 January 2021, Mayor Andrea Holzner told the broadcaster Oe24 Thursday. The move to rebrand the village comes [...]

The current administration actively supported the Venezuelan opposition figure, who orchestrated an unsuccessful coup attempt in 2018 and reportedly organised another one in 2019. Washington recognises Guaido as Venezuela's interim president and is pressuring the country with sanctions to force elected president, Nicolas Maduro to resign. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has stated tha [...]

A representative of the European Commission said the day before that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is in talks with the manufacturer of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus. The European Medicines Agency on Thursday confirmed to Sputnik that it's holding talks with the producer of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. "We have indeed been contacted by the developer and are discu [...]

Washington’s desperate attempts to stop the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany resemble mafia methods, senior German parliament member, Klaus Ernst, told RT, calling on the EU to fight back. “Their actions resemble those of a mafia,” Ernst told RT Deutsch on Wednesday, speaking about the renewed threats of US sanctions against the European companies [...]

After years of denial, Berlin has acknowledged that the US Air Force is using Ramstein Air Base in Germany to carry out drone attacks in anti-terrorist operations, Die Linke (the Left) MP Andrej Hunko told RT. They crucial role played by the Ramstein base – the largest American military facility on foreign soil – in controversial US drone killings in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Yem [...]

Washington already imposed sanctions on the Russian-German energy project late last year, tacking them on to the US National Defence Authorization Act. Now, a bipartisan group of lawmakers from both the House and Senate is reportedly looking to introduce additional restrictions against it before the end of the year. An influential group of German businesses has written a letter to Democra [...]

The ongoing US trade war with China has raised concerns about the United States deploying the ‘nuclear option’ of freezing China’s banking sector out of the global US dollar payments system, prompting the use of alternative currencies such as the euro and the yuan to settle financial transactions. The European Union’s single currency was the most used currency for global payments [...]

Any mention of the prosecution of Julian Assange has been removed from the EU's latest report on fundamental rights, despite the best efforts of MEPs such as Ireland's Clare Daly. The European Parliament passed the final version of the fundamental rights report for 2018 - 2019 on 25 November, excluding any mention of imprisoned publisher and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. An amendment [...]

After pandemic-related delays, Russia’s first electric car, called the Zetta, is set to enter serial production in late 2020, the country’s Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov has revealed. The Zetta will roll off the production line in the city of Tolyatti, one of the major centers of Russia's automotive industry. The cars will first be sold on the domestic market, but the initial [...]

Russia's space agency Roscosmos may be hit with US sanctions for the first time ever, as a draft document reveals the Russian Ministry of Defense might become the subject of economic penalties from Washington. As well as Roscosmos, the proposed sanctions would also target Rosatom, the federal nuclear energy agency, as one of 28 organizations in the aviation, rocket, space, nuclear, instrument [...]

LONDON – The UK judge presiding over the case of the Venezuelan gold in the Bank of England urged the legal team representing Venezuela's self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido to find “better excuses” for its failure to comply with a UK court order to pay for the legal costs of the appeal it lost in October. This is according to a statement by Venezuela Central Bank (BCV) lawyers, w [...]

There is a battle in the halls of the European parliament to ensure that the latest report on fundamental rights references the US prosecution and attempted extradition of WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange. The EU's parliament will be voting on its latest report on fundamental rights, which also encompasses media freedom. The report on fundamental freedoms for 2018 - 2019 ori [...]