The declining human rights standards on display with the Haspel and Pompeo nominations are the latest in a long line of policy failures that include the Obama administration’s lack of prosecutions of Bush-era torture, Nat Parry notes. President Donald Trump’s nominations of Gina Haspel to lead the CIA and Mike Pompeo to be America’s top diplomat are the latest indications of steadily erod [...]

Three countries agree with Britain that "it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack." President Donald Trump has consistently refused to punish Russia for its attacks on the United States and around the world — but that changed somewhat today. [...]

A first-ever full-scale audit of the Pentagon’s massive military budget promises details that may upset some, but according to government officials will be worth its nearly $1 billion price tag. According to US Department of Defense (DoD) undersecretary David Norquist, the ongoing audit of the Pentagon's books — the first ever for the enormous American military — will be worth the nearly $1 [...]

Central banks around the world have been building up their gold stockpiles to make sure they are stored on soil they can trust. The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) says it is bringing back three tons of the country’s gold reserves stored at the Bank of England in London, Gold Seek reported. The move to repatriate 130 million dollars’ worth of gold from Budapest previously stored on Britis [...]

The choice of former CIA director Mike Pompeo as secretary of state, America's vow to strike against the Syrian government again and UK PM Theresa May's groundless accusations against Russia this week are parts of one very disturbing trend, geopolitical analyst Phil Butler told Sputnik. [...]

Ukrainian MP Nadezhda Savchenko, who was lauded as a hero for her role in the Donbass military campaign and her prosecution in Russia, is now accused of plotting to blow up the national parliament in Kiev. [...]

France has undermined Theresa May’s attempts to garner support for punitive action against Russia, saying it wants more proof Moscow was behind the Salisbury poisoning. It accused the PM of engaging in “fantasy politics.” On Wednesday, May announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and the suspension of bilateral talks. [...]

A regional lawmaker from Germany has called Western sanctions against Russia “counterproductive,” and said accepting the choice that the Crimean people made in 2014 could bring peace to Ukraine. “I think that the sanctions introduced after Crimea held its referendum and was reunited with Russia are counterproductive. [...]

George Galloway has dismissed claims that Russia is “culpable” for the Skripal poisoning, saying it wouldn’t put a “signature” on such a crime. Moscow is preparing to expel British diplomats in retaliation for UK sanctions. Speaking to RT’s Bill Dod, the former Labour MP hit back at Prime Minister Theresa May’s allegations that Russia was behind the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and h [...]

On March 12, UK Prime Minister Theresa May stated before the British Parliament that Russia was "highly likely" responsible for the suspected poisoning in the UK of former officer of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Sergei Skripal. She added that the substance used in the poisoning had been identified as a military-grade nerve agent of the so-called Novichok group developed in Russia [...]

Moscow believes that the threats to Damascus to use force against Syria are unacceptable, Russia's permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Alexander Shulgin has said on Wednesday after US envoy's to UN statement about readiness to act militarily on Syria. [...]

Mike Pompeo will probably be a more effective diplomat than Tillerson. He’ll also be more hawkish. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held on to his job for 13 tense months despite repeatedly breaking with President Trump — and once reportedly calling him “a fucking moron.” [...]

Former NSA employee and whistleblower Edward Snowden speculated on Twitter that the nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel, could face arrest if she sets foot in the European Union because she allegedly was involved in a torture program at a secret CIA prison. "Interesting: The new CIA Director Haspel, who ‘tortured some folks,' probably can't travel to the EU to meet other spy chiefs without fac [...]

To cries of condemnation from the House of Commons, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn demanded concrete evidence of Russian involvement in the poisoning of Skripal before taking action against Moscow, calling for cooperation and diplomacy instead. His views are supported by the Russian Embassy - and academics with expertise in chemical weapons. [...]

The coverage of a gang rape case, in which a woman was subjected to sexual abuse for 10 hours, has triggered a scandal in the Nordic nation, after the alleged perpetrators were portrayed as "victims" by national broadcaster SVT. A woman in the Malmö district of Lindängen was drugged and gang raped for several hours in early February. [...]

Almost twenty years ago, the US Department of Defense was involved in dismantling a chemical research institute in the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, where the Novichok nerve agent was tested, according to the New York Times. A New York Times article published back in 1999 has revealed that the US closely cooperated with the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan to decontaminate the Chem [...]

Speaking at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, commander of US Central Command Joseph Votel has specifically touched upon the situation in Syria and Russia's role there. Army general Joseph Votel, head of the US Central Command has admitted that Syrian President Bashar Assad's government forces are prevailing in the war in Syria. [...]

Globally-renown physicist Stephen Hawking passed away, leaving a breakthrough legacy behind. One of the greatest minds of our time, he taught people a lot about both space and humanity. Sputnik has collected pearls of his wisdom. [...]

Following allegations by UK authorities that Russia was responsible for the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in the British city of Salisbury, the UK Foreign Office is preparing a smear campaign against the country. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday took to Twitter to comment on the UK Foreign Office's video about Russia, saying it is waging a "propaganda" war against Moscow. [...]

Prime Minister Theresa May has announced the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats from the UK since the Cold War over the alleged attack on a former spy. Moscow has denounced May's claims as baseless. The Russian Embassy in London called the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats announced by UK Prime Minister Theresa May over the poisoning of former intelligence officer Sergei Skripal "unacceptable, [...]

Russia has nothing to do with the alleged poisoning of Russian ex-double agent Sergei Skripal, the Kremlin said. Moscow will not accept any groundless threats or ultimatums, it added. “Moscow’s position [on the Skripal case] is well known… Moscow had nothing to do with the incident that took place in the UK,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. [...]

The speaker of the Russian lower house has said the West’s sanctions policy has been a response to Moscow's increased competitiveness, and had crashed Western plans to put a “tame and obedient” president in the Kremlin. “It is completely obvious that Russia is a very inconvenient competitor for them in many spheres, and they try to remove it from the field, often using unfair moves,” Vya [...]