The months-long tit-for-tat between Beijing and Washington hasn’t yet shown any signs of stopping, but has, conversely, grown more intense in light of both trade issues with regard to tariffed imports, and an array of military-related moves, such as arms sales to Taiwan and China’s military deals with Russia. [...]

Russia's Defense Ministry has released a new batch of videos of cutting-edge weapons, first unveiled by President Vladimir Putin back in March. The footage shows new tests, as well as gives a grasp of the development process. The impressive set of new weapons was unveiled by Putin during his annual speech before the Federation Council back in March. [...]

New footage of the delivery of the Russian S-300 air defense system to the Syrian military has been published by the Russian Defense Ministry’s television channel. The video from Zvezda TV shows the arrival of the Russian An-124 Ruslan transport plane to an airfield in Syria and the unloading of the system’s components by Russian troops. [...]

Rome has still not reached an agreement with Berlin on the repatriation of asylum seekers who had first registered in Italy, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said, vowing to close airports to German flights transferring refugees. “If someone in Berlin or Brussels thinks of dumping dozens of migrants in Italy via unauthorized charter flights, they should know that there is not and there will be n [...]

This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Washington's sanctions policy a "colossal strategic mistake" which has only served to undermine the dollar's credibility as a global reserve currency. India's Central Bank and Ministry of Finance have been tasked with exploring the feasibility of rupee and barter-based trade agreements with crude oil producing nations such as Russia, Iran and [...]

The internationally acknowledged banking center has joined the voices from across Europe about creating an independent analog for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) amid US anti-Iran sanctions. Russia, which has already created its own system, voiced readiness to cooperate within a “euro-SWIFT” system. [...]

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkey does not intend to borrow loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) anymore, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Sunday. "We have closed the chapter of the IMF credits in order not to open it anymore," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday addressing the activists of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party in the town of Kizilc [...]

Attempts to use the US Navy to block Russia’s trade would amount to a declaration of war, a high-ranking senator commented on the US internal secretary’s idea of impeding Russia’s energy trade through a blockade. “A US blockade of Russia would be equal to a declaration of war under international law,” said the head of the Russian Senate’s Information Policy Committee, Aleksey Pushkov, [...]

As the scandals and legal trials dogging Israel’s first family continue unabated, the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, began her own trial on Sunday for fraud and breach of trust. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife, Sara Netanyahu, on Sunday showed up in court to begin her trial for fraud and breach of trust, in a continuing saga of the multiple scandals involving her husba [...]

The Saturday evacuation is the latest in a series of airlifts coming amid the Syrian Army's ongoing offensive on jihadists who still control small pockets of Deir ez-Zor, much of them empty desert. A number of wounded Daesh* terrorists militants have been evacuated by US helicopters from Syria's eastern Deir ez-Zor province, local sources said, as quoted by the Syrian news website Arabi Today [...]

Trade relations between the two countries have gone into a downward spiral of quid pro quo, with Washington slapping Beijing with new tariffs on $200 billion of imported Chinese goods in late September, while China hit back with levies on $60 billion of US products. [...]

Now that nine states and the US capitol of District of Columbia allow recreational pot, the plant’s national legalization appears to be a slam-dunk, and opponents are afraid. But in spite of a rapid shift of policy and politics over the use of marijuana in the US, the federal government nonetheless stubbornly continues to classify the plant alongside dangerously-addictive substance such as metha [...]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The second pipelay vessel has started working on the German section of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the pipeline's operator, Nord Stream AG, said. "The offshore pipelay vessel "Audacia" began its work on the Nord Stream 2 project today. "Audacia", operated by Allseas, is the second vessel together with the "Castoro Dieci" (C10) to lay the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the German [...]

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Jose Valencia Amores on Friday reaffirmed the country’s decision to grant asylum to the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website’s founder, Julian Assange. [...]

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) – German WKB Systems manufacturer offers Damascus to use its aerated concrete to restore buildings destroyed during the civil war, commercial director of the distributor of WKB Systems’ products in Syria told Sputnik on Friday. [...]

Following prohibiting firearms for foreigners, the conservative-leaning government is looking into imposing further restrictions on bladed weapons with exception of kitchen knives or hunting knives. According to the 2017 stats, most suspects in stabbing attacks are third-country citizens. [...]

The European Commission launched an attack on Italy's government this week, expressing its "serious concern" over Rome's spending plans and claiming they violate EU fiscal rules. Speaking to Sputnik, lawyer and Eurexit Association president Francesca Donato explained why the latent conflict between Rome and Brussels is likely to escalate. [...]

Earlier, US President Donald Trump stated that Saudi King Salman would be unable to stay in power for two weeks without Washington's support. In an interview with Bloomberg, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman specifically underscored that Riyadh "will pay nothing" to Washington for Saudi Arabia's security, adding that "all the armaments we have from the United States of America are paid f [...]

First batches of Russian-produced solar panels have been supplied to Europe, according to First Deputy Energy Minister Alexey Texler. “Export supplies have been started already, particularly from the Novocheboksarsk plant to Europe,” he said on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week on Friday. [...]

US authorities are now allowed to shoot down personal drones if they deem them to be a threat, thanks to a new bill which has been signed by President Donald Trump. But critics say the law could be easily abused. The FAA Reauthorization Act, signed by Trump on Friday, includes several points which are aimed at bringing US aviation rules up to speed with modern times – including new provisions to [...]

America is forever researching and developing new weapons for defending itself against enemies, both real and imagined. Yet it seems to have been taken unawares by a deadly new adversary in the form of suicide in the ranks. Many people have asked themselves at one time or another how soldiers are able to come to grips with the unspeakable horrors they must face as enemy combatants on some foreign [...]

The positive attitude between Russians and Americans seriously declined in the past year as did Russians' opinion of Donald Trump, according to a US study. Share of Americans who like Vladimir Putin remains almost unchanged. The share of Russians who describe their attitude to the US as positive fell from 41 percent in 2017 to just 21 percent this year, according to the paper published by Washingt [...]