Several top officials have issued thinly veiled – and outright blunt – ‘warnings’ about war over the past week. While the beating of war drums worldwide remains just hot air for now, many messengers seem a bit too eager about it. War between US and China just 10-15 years away [...]

The Russian economy is currently in good shape, posting its first state budget surplus after years of deficit, according to a report published by the German outlet Welt. This “paradox” may have something to do with the new dynamics of the country’s currency, the ruble, and growing oil prices. [...]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed this week to reveal the “naked truth” about the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi; however, in fact, he didn't uncover anything extraordinary, but why? It is significant that the day before Erdogan’s much-hyped speech to Turkish parliamentarians, President Donald Trump dispatched his CIA chief to Turkey to “investigate” the evidence [...]

Libya has been in turmoil since the ouster of its long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Its eastern part is ruled by the country's parliament, supported by the Libyan National Army, while the UN-backed Government of National Accord headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj operates in the country's west. [...]

Good financial results shown by Russian companies may facilitate the return of foreign investment to the country, Moody's senior vice president Kristin Lindow told Sputnik news agency. “…Recent strong corporate profits quite naturally can result in repatriation of profits by foreign investors. Also, the cleanup that the CBR (Central Bank of Russia) has done in the banking system has significan [...]

The volume of trade between Russia and Germany has been growing and reached US$39 billion in the first eight months of 2018, according to documents prepared by the Kremlin’s press service. “In January-August 2018, Russian-German trade increased by 24 percent (adding $7.5 billion) compared with the same period in 2017,” the document says, detailing that “Russian exports to Germany rose by 3 [...]

A joint report by UBS and PWC showed that world’s billionaires’ wealth enjoyed its greatest-ever increase last year, hitting $8.9 trillion shared among 2,158 individuals. The past 30 years have seen far greater wealth creation than the Gilded Age” the report said. “That period bred generations of families in the US and Europe who went on to influence business, banking, politics, philanthro [...]

Markets across Europe surged on news that Angela Merkel will stop being German chancellor in 2021. The Monday rally was led by a surge in Merkel’s homeland, Germany. In Frankfurt, the DAX index surged nearly two percent on the announcement. Markets in France and the UK followed with the London FTSE surging 1.72 percent and CAC40 rising 0.75 percent. [...]

A key component of Russia’s future nuclear space propulsion system, which may revolutionize long-range exploration of the solar system, has been successfully tested, RIA Novosti reported. Since at least 2009, Russian space and atomic engineers have been developing a special space propulsion system, which uses a 1 megawatt nuclear fusion reactor as source of energy. [...]

From the outside looking in, the situation in the US looks volatile. The actual violence and the potential for more has led some to suggest that if it was anywhere else, the State Department would be issuing travel warnings. The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and bombs being mailed to opponents of President Donald Trump, they’re both terrible events, but they’re just the headlines of the last f [...]

US Republicans, their staffers and offices have seen at least eight attacks this year, the Daily Caller reported. Sputnik has discussed the reports of growing violence against politicians in the US with Daniel Kovalik, Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh. [...]

In a surprising victory, local protesters won a battle against the US tech giant, which wanted to revamp a local building into a technology campus. The residents of Kreuzberg, a part of Berlin, have succeeded in repelling Google from developing a campus in their neighborhood. [...]

Despite Washington's threats to impose sanctions on states buying military equipment from Moscow, many of them, such as Turkey, India and Indonesia, still stick with Russian weaponry, citing its outstanding quality. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin explained in an interview with Sputnik why many states around the world prefer to buy Russian S-300 and S-400 air defense systems over U [...]

Kristian Rouz – China and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment to deepening bilateral economic and financial ties at an economic forum in Beijing, reaching several potentially far-reaching deals and trade and investment. Economists say the results of this forum could produce longer-term positive consequences for the entire region. [...]

Just hours after a deadly synagogue shooting in Pennsylvania on Friday in which 11 were killed, US President Donald Trump offered a whopping lie to fans as a means of avoiding the cancellation of his evening political rally in Murphysboro, Illinois. In justifying a Saturday political rally only hours after the deadliest anti-Semitic tragedy in US history, Trump avowed to his audience that, followi [...]

The United States will pursue the development of a nuclear weapon stockpile until Russia and China come to their senses. This is what US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday. President Trump complained that Moscow has not done enough to adhere to the INF treaty. Sputnik discussed Washington's intentions behind the tentative INF withdrawal with Paul Craig Roberts, a prominent American ec [...]

The new European Right are likely to bring an end to EU expansionism towards Russia's borders and finally seal a post-Cold War settlement between Moscow and the West, Glenn Diesen, professor at the Higher School of Economics, has told Sputnik. The Bavarian 2018 landtag vote has yet again confirmed that right-wing conservatives and patriots are increasingly commanding support among the European pu [...]

The joint Future Combat Air System project was intended to replace European countries’ ageing warplanes with new EU-made jets. However, Belgium recently decided to switch to the US-made F-35 instead of buying European fighters. Recent talks between France and Germany pertaining to the joint project of a new jet, also known as the "Future Combat Air System (FCAS)," have resulted in a deadloc [...]

Interviews with half a dozen current and former Trump officials and Republicans with ties to the White House revealed that at least six of US President Donald Trump’s cabinet officials may depart after next month’s midterm elections, Politico reported Sunday. Earlier this month, Trump announced that US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley would leave her post at the end of 2018. [...]

President Trump’s withdrawal from the INF Treaty nullifies a historic precedent. Stephen Cohen elaborates on the following points regarding Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed by the US and (Soviet) Russia in 1987. For whatever reasons, both leaders at the time, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, had develo [...]

The Eurosceptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has gained seats in Hesse and now holds parliamentary seats in every single German state, according to exit polls. Meanwhile, Merkel's CDU has seen party support plummet. [...]

The Saudi-funded spread of Wahhabism began as a result of Western countries asking Riyadh to help counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the Washington Post. [...]