Retail sales in China are poised to surge this year and exceed US retail by more than $100 billion, bringing it the crown as the top global retail market, according to a forecast by research firm eMarketer. [...]

You could scour the bowels of US imperial crimes, from the Mexican-American War to the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam, and you won’t find a more brazen cynical act gangsterism than that which is now underway against oil-rich Venezuela. [...]

Russia accused the US of hypocrisy over its instigation of a coup in Venezuela, saying such actions are in sharp contrast to the outrage which Americans express over alleged interference in their own domestic political affairs. [...]

The Establishment Tulsi Gabbard smears have already begun, and they are bogus… The Jimmy Dore Show is a hilarious and irreverent take on news, politics and culture featuring Jimmy Dore, a professional stand up comedian, author and podcaster. With over 5 million downloads on iTunes, the show is also broadcast on KPFK stations throughout the country. It is part of the Young Turks Network-- th [...]

The US economy is booming – but fewer and fewer are reaping the benefits. The Keiser Report crunched the numbers behind America’s dwindling middle class, and warned that the country’s young are in for a rough, debt-ridden future. [...]

Berlin might face a lawsuit from one of Germany’s largest defense contractors, Rheinmetall, over its decision to halt all arms deals with Riyadh in the wake of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Der Spiegel reports. [...]

Syrian air-defense systems have repelled an attack in the skies over Damascus, state news agency SANA has reported. The Israeli Army said it was attacking "Iranian Quds" forces and warned the Syrian military not to retaliate. [...]

Richard D. Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he taught economics from 1973 to 2008. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University, New York City. Earlier he taught economics at Yale University (1967-1969) and at the City College of the City University of New York (1969-1973 [...]

The Central Bank of Russia reported purchasing 8.5 million troy ounces of gold in January-November 2018. With its 67.6 million ounces of gold Russia is now the world's fifth largest holder behind the US, Germany, France and Italy. [...]

For anyone triggered by my criticism of Cuomo, here’s a different video (linked at the end of my comment) where I give him credit. This issue with Cuomo’s questioning to AOC is the context - he never presses on politicians about “how can we afford to cut taxes for the wealthy,” “how can afford to pump even more into military spending,” “how can we afford to cut the corporate tax r [...]

Despite opposing the tariffs, the senator said they could prove to be an "effective tool" in pushing the US' international trade partners to sit down for bilateral trade negotiations. [...]

Earlier, President Trump accused the "Radical Democrats" of being a "Party of open borders and crime" amid the ongoing government shutdown standoff over funding for the US-Mexico border wall. [...]

New Delhi and Abu Dhabi have inked a currency swap agreement to boost trade and investment without involvement of a third currency like the US dollar. The swap is for an amount of two billion UAE dirham or 35 billion Indian rupees (US$495 million), according to the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi. [...]

A security researcher has blown the lid off the largest data breach in history as over 770 million emails and 21 million unique passwords have been exposed, eclipsing the Equifax and Yahoo hacks by a significant margin. [...]

US President Donald Trump's reported desire to see the US withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would not necessarily be a bad move, Dr. Peter Kuznick, a professor of history and director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, told Sputnik. [...]

Donald Trump has shown an apparent willingness to put the brakes on US military aggression abroad, notably in the Middle East and Central Asia. Yet the announcement coincided with more military moves against Russia and China. [...]

The US will begin its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia on February 2, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Andrea Thompson told NATO officials in Brussels. [...]

Despite years of Western sanctions, Russia will become the world’s fifth-largest economy as early as next year, surpassing Germany and the UK, multinational bank Standard Chartered said in its long-term growth forecasts. [...]

While it has long been clear that countries under US sanctions are more than motivated to turn their backs to the iconic greenbacks, the central bank’s interim review has shed some light on which economic zone Russia is intent to place its stake instead. [...]

Chinese investments in North America and Europe fell by 73 percent last year as a result of tightened US scrutiny of foreign takeover deals and Beijing’s restrictions on outbound investments. Data from law firm Baker & McKenzie showed that Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into the United States have also turned negative, falling to the lowest in seven years. [...]

Trade turnover between Russia and China soared by nearly 30 percent in 2018, reaching a record number of $107.06 billion, according to the latest report released by China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC). The agency noted that last year Russian imports of Chinese goods increased by 12 percent to $47.98 billion. [...]

Washington’s attempts to derail the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project to supply Russian natural gas to the European Union will definitely backfire, according to a geopolitical expert Dr. Pierre-Emmanuel Thomann. [...]