The Russian defense ministry has conducted the final successful test of the Avangard hypersonic glider before its entry into service, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced. The weapon will be deployed in 2019, he added. [...]

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says American nuclear missiles must not be stationed in Germany, or anywhere in Europe, in Washington's arms control debate with Moscow. "The deployment of new medium-range missiles would meet with widespread resistance in Germany," Maas said in an interview with German news agency dpa. [...]

Veteran Norwegian politician Carl Hagen argued that Russia giving up Crimea is not a possibility and urged his colleagues to embrace this political reality. Norwegian right-wing politician Carl Hagen, who founded the Progress Party and served as its leader for many years, created a stir earlier this month by recognising Crimea as Russian, and has now penned an opinion piece in the Aftenposte [...]

In 2018, Russia's relations with Western countries severely deteriorated against the backdrop of numerous scandals and sanctions. In an interview with Sputnik on the eve of 2019, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, spoke about whether we should wait for further alienation, about Moscow's possible response to Washington scrapping the INF Treaty, the price of a potential conflict between Russia [...]

Journalist John Pilger has recapped major events and crises that unfolded across the globe this year in an interview to RT. The recent emerging scandal around the shadowy UK government-funded Integrity Initiative (II) leaked by Anonymous hacktivists has been hitting the headlines over the past month. [...]

SpaceX founder Elon Musk praised the Russian-built RD-180 rocket engine for looking awesome but said his bitter rivals Lockheed and Boeing ought to be ashamed of using it during their launches. The eccentric tech billionaire said a few nice words about the RD-180 on Twitter, while mocking his competitors at the same time. [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Earlier on Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US military was preparing to withdraw all of its forces from northeastern Syria. [...]

We live in a world fashioned by Washington, and as 2019 approaches the dire consequences remain woefully evident. In 1948 US State Department mandarin George Kennan – the man credited with devising the policy of containment vis-à-vis the Soviet Union at the end of WWII, – laid bare the focus of US foreign policy in the postwar period: [...]

It is obscene that governments are failing to make changes needed to avoid another global financial crash despite many economists warning that one is coming, writes Ken Livingstone. [...]

You will hear the following headlines in this Broadcast: -Moscow To Set Up Military Base In Caribbean -Kremlin chiefs call for Putin SHOWDOWN with Trump -Small ‘miscalculation’ over disputed islands could spark Major crisis -Russian nuclear-capable bombers fly over Caribbean Sea -North Korea condemns U.S. sanctions, warns denuclearization at risk -US to Resort to Use of Force if Iran Blocks St [...]

Democracy is in discredit and is no longer a precondition to have a country’s economy prosper, Patrick Buchanan, an American politician who served as a top advisor to three US presidents, suggests. [...]

Russia enjoys a record-low number of inmates, thanks to “humanization” of the penal code, deputy chief of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) has said, adding that the number of jailed people is expected to shrink further. Over the past few years, the number of inmates in Russia has dropped by nearly 250,000, the FSIN deputy head, Valeriy Maksimenko, told journalists on Friday. [...]

In March of 1951, Jacobo Arbenz came to power in Guatemala after having been resoundingly elected by the people. A little more than three years later, he was forced to resign in the midst of armed intervention. His reforms to redistribute unused land to poor peasants had fallen afoul of the United Fruit Company, which owned and warehoused vast tracts of Guatemalan land. The American corporatio [...]

Hungarian scholar George Szamuely tells Ann Garrison that he sees a 70 percent chance of combat between NATO and Russia following the incident in the Kerch Strait and that it is being fueled by Russia-gate. George Szamuely is a Hungarian-born scholar and Senior Research Fellow at London’s Global Policy Institute. He lives in New York City. [...]

The much-anticipated finals are due to take place in Thailand in mid-December, with Russia being represented by beautiful Yulia Polyachikhina from Cheboksary. The winner of the contest "Miss Universe — Iceland 2018" Katrin Lea Elenudottir, who is representing the Nordic country in the "Miss Universe" finals, was born in Russia, according to the news portal Taiga.info. [...]

Two long-range Russian bombers landed in Venezuela this week and the United States immediately flew into a fit of rage. Top diplomat Mike Pompeo had a virtual mental meltdown on Twitter, denouncing Russia and the South American country for daring to cooperate in holding a military exercise. [...]

Anyone who’s ever tasted teargas will attest how unpleasant it is. I tasted it in Paris on Saturday 8 December as the city turned into a war zone. I am writing these words in a hotel room in central Paris in the aftermath of a day of rage, unleashed by the self-styled gilets jaunes (yellow vests) mass movement of latter-day ‘enrages’ (angry ones) of French revolutionary repute. [...]

The wars of words between Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau may have grabbed headlines, but Canada has always remained a faithful US ally, apparently believing it's a safe bet. The strategy, however, has backfired. [...]

Forces are aligning against Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, lead by elements within the CIA and strong players in the mainstream media. But what is really behind this deterioration in relationship, and what are its implications? Following the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, western media and various entities, including the CIA, appear to have turned their back on Saudi C [...]

The European Union’s economic sanctions against Russia will be extended for another six months, European Council President Donald Tusk has said. The measures targeting Russia’s economy were due to expire next month. “The EU unanimously prolongs economic sanctions against Russia given zero progress in implementation of Minsk agreements,” Tusk said on Twitter. [...]

The Moscow-Damascus Intergovernmental panel has reached a series of agreements, including switching to national currencies in mutual settlements and commercial energy exploration in Syria. “Mutual settlements, transport and logistics - as far as I’m concerned these issues have been settled,” Vladimir Padalko, Vice-President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry told journalists on [...]

China is stepping up its involvement in Syria, not with its military, but with cash. For Beijing, war-torn Syria is an opportunity for reconstruction business. For Damascus, prosperity means peace.China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem have shown through their cordial  discussions that Beijing and Damascus are on the same page when it comes to envisaging the [...]