Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to approve legislation making the ruble the main currency of exchange at all Russian seaports by next year, according to the Kremlin website. To protect the interests of stevedoring companies with foreign currency obligations, the government was instructed to set a transition period before switching to ruble settlements. [...]

Capital investment in 24 of the EU’s 28 member states has fallen dramatically over the past ten years, according to Eurostat. Countries in Europe’s east and south experienced the biggest drops in investment after the 2008 crisis. Investment decreased on average by 2.3 percent, falling to 20.1 percent of GDP last year. It stood at 22.4 percent from 2007 to 2017 period. [...]

US President Donald Trump has accused Germany of not contributing enough to the NATO budget – but will German Chancellor Angela Merkel dance to Washington’s tune? Politicians on both sides of Germany’s political spectrum shared their views with RT. [...]

The “ice age” against Moscow must be ended, the chairperson of Germany's Die Linke (Left Party) has stated, adding that sanctions against Russia hurt European companies. Speaking to Germany's Osnabrucker Zeitung newspaper on Saturday, Sahra Wagenknecht said the ice age in relation to Russia has to be ended. [...]

Since at least 1945, the United States has only fought stupid wars.  Some have been stupider than others, but, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, Democrats and Republicans have supported them all.  If Trump does get an Iran War going, count on bipartisan support for it too, though, for sheer stupidity, it would rival and perhaps even exceed the Kennedy-Johnson-Nixon war against Vietnam. More [...]

The project is beneficial both for Russia and European countries and doesn't pose any threat in terms of the EU's dependence on Moscow's energy supplies, the director general of the Austrian oil and gas concern OMV, Rainer Seele, told DPA. Decisions on the issue of the remaining permits for the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline are likely to be made in late summer 2018, Rainer Seele s [...]

Sources with direct knowledge of US intelligence reports say Russia is on the brink of developing a maneuverable, hypersonic nuclear-capable glider warhead that no US system can defeat. The sources, speaking to CNBC on condition of anonymity, reported that Russia tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic glide vehicle (presumably the Avangard) twice in 2016, and again in 2017. [...]

The British Government has allocated hundreds of thousands of pounds to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. This is what Peter Hitchens, the Sunday Mail’s journalist, revealed in his Twitter on Sunday. Hitchens raised questions about the group's independence, given that the organization defines itself as not affiliated to any political body. [...]

In spite of US threats, the EU is all set to protect its economic interests in Iran and has started implementing a 1996 law that would prohibit European companies from complying with any sanctions the US would reintroduce against Tehran. “Europe should be grateful to President Trump, because thanks to him we have got rid of old illusions,” European Council President Donald Tusk said at the sta [...]

The US has cleared the sale of 3,200 bombs valued at about $45 million, including powerful bunker busters, to Bahrain. The Persian Gulf monarchy is hosting the US 5th Fleet and has been involved in the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen. The order would consist of 1,500 Mark-82 general purpose bombs; 600 Mark-83 bombs; 600 Mark-84 bombs; and 500 BLU-109 “bunker busters,” bombs armed with special warhe [...]

It took thousands of people and 27 months to build a 19km bridge connecting Crimea to Russia’s mainland. This is how the titanic construction project unfolded – compressed in tree minutes of stunning timelapse footage.The Crimean bridge was opened earlier this week for cars. The video clip was produced from footage taken throughout the long months of construction to commemorate the date in hon [...]

The re-imposition of US sanctions on Iran and Washington’s threat to punish European companies for doing business there provides a good opportunity for ditching the dollar, according to RT’s Keiser Report host, Max Keiser. “The US uses the dollar as a weapon to promote US dollar hegemony and the US Empire. [...]

The attacks by European leaders against US President Donald Trump are getting sharper by the day. On the day Trump announced that he was ripping up the Iran deal, and that the US would impose sanctions on European companies trading with that country, the French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said that European states refused to be treated like "vassals" of the US [...]

Washington’s intention to re-impose the "toughest" sanctions on Iran appears to be playing into the hands of Chinese investors and oil futures traders, analysts have come to believe. Shanghai crude oil futures ISCc1 have recently seen a significant uptick in their trade volumes, which hit a record 250,000 lots last Wednesday, a day after Trump announced the US was withdrawing from the 2015 Iran [...]

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the country's military vessels will be on permanent standby in the Mediterranean Sea due to a terrorist threat in Syria. "Due to the remaining threat of incursions by international terrorists in Syria, our ships carrying Kalibr cruise missiles will be constantly deployed in the Mediterranean Sea," Putin said at a military meeting. [...]

President of the European Council Donald Tusk has lashed out at US President Donald Trump amid the recent decision of the latter to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal as well as a trade dispute between the US and a number of countries, including the European Union. The senior official said that EU should be grateful to Trump as he helped the bloc get rid of its illusions. [...]

The European Union is planning to switch payments to the euro for its oil purchases from Iran, eliminating US dollar transactions, a diplomatic source told RIA Novosti. Brussels has been at odds with Washington over the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which was reached during the administration of Barack Obama. President Donald Trump has pledged to re-impose sanctions against the Islamic [...]

Norman Finkelstein says that while Palestinian protesters in Gaza have bravely resisted their ghettoization under merciless Israeli fire. At least 43 Palestinians have been killed and 2,200 wounded by Israeli troops, Palestinian officials say, on the deadliest day of violence since the 2014 Gaza war. The violence came as the US opened its embassy in Jerusalem, a move that has infuriated Palesti [...]

The experimental new treatment, being developed by researchers from the Moscow-based Russian National Research Medical University, has been successfully tested on cancer-afflicted lab mice, showing a nearly 70% increase in the animals' lifespan. The drug consists of magnetite nanoparticles laced with a toxic cytostatic agent, which attacks and destroys tumor cells. [...]

Turkey has told Israel's ambassador to Ankara to leave the country over the killing of dozens of Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces, according to media reports. Eitan Naeh was summoned to the foreign ministry in Ankara on Tuesday and asked to leave over the deaths at the Gaza border, Haaretz reported. He was told to leave "for some time," a source told Reuters. [...]

A damning UN Security Council draft statement on Israel’s use of force against protesters at the Gaza border was blocked by the US. Nearly 60 people were killed as the new US Embassy opened in Jerusalem. Monday was the bloodiest day in six weeks of protesting by Palestinians at Israel’s border wall, during which hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured by Israeli soldiers. [...]

Less than a year after Donald Trump's notorious "fire and fury" threat against North Korea, the US is now offering aid and investment if Pyongyang ditches its nukes. The progress seems remarkable… if you have a short memory. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says North Korea only has to give up its nuclear weapons program to become America's next best friend. Aid, investment and diplomacy will t [...]