Earlier, the envoy claimed that US troops would be staying in the Arab Republic until the "enduring defeat" of Daesh*. He also said that Bashar Assad should not govern the country in the future, noting, however, that it's not the US' job to oust him. [...]

Syrian state media has repeatedly reported about the coalition’s airstrikes in the area of the Syrian city of Hajin leaving dozens of civilians dead, while the US-led coalition fiercely denies conducting strikes. [...]

A prominent international watchdog has launched an online investigative project that will allow Internet users worldwide to track the destruction caused by the US-led coalition's bombardment of Syria's Raqqa in 2017 that has resulted in numerous civilian casualties and the city being nearly completely razed to the ground. [...]

The West is worried by Russia boosting ties with its Cold War ally Cuba. The Russian Foreign Ministry has dismissed as “unscientific fiction” media reports about Russian military bases allegedly returning to Cuba, Alexander Schetinin, the head of the ministry’s Latin American desk, told Sputnik. [...]

A senior Cuban official says the country is looking closely at the Special Purpose Vehicle the EU is creating for Iran, because Havana may benefit from a similar mechanism. [...]

The US Air Force Chief of Staff has said that both China and Russia are ready to step in to fill a power vacuum in Latin America left by Washington. The United States should pay more attention to Latin America, lest China and Russia take root in the region, US Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein said in the wake of a trip to Colombia. [...]

Nord Stream 2 AG, a Swiss-based firm behind the construction of Gazprom’s gas pipeline across the Baltic Sea, has laid about 250 kilometers (155 miles) of pipes, company spokesman Jens Mueller told Sputnik. [...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and called for international efforts to tackle the migration crisis after a number of countries, including the United States, have refused to sign the accord. [...]

Although officially condemning the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Washington is unwilling to antagonise Riyadh, which it sees as an important business partner and a “great ally” in the region. [...]

Germany adopted an "open doors" policy in 2015, when a vast migrant wave flooded Europe. The ratings of Merkel's ruling party have since plummeted due to growing crime rates, for which some of the German chancellor's critics blame migrants. [...]

South Korea's Kim Jong Yang has been elected as chief of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), surpassing the Russian candidate, General Alexander Prokopchuk. Speaking to Radio Sputnik, E. Michael Jones, American writer, media commentator, and current editor of Culture Wars magazine, shared his views on the vote. [...]

Earlier, Reuters reported that certain members of the Saudi royal family are considering changing the line of succession to prevent Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from becoming the next king amid the Khgashoggi scandal. [...]

US President Donald Trump has stated that he has been briefed on the recording but he didn’t have to listen to the actual tape of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder. The Washington Post reported, citing CIA findings, that the Saudi Crown Prince had ordered journalist’s assassination in Istanbul last month. [...]

In September, China’s share of US Treasuries holdings had the highest decline since January as ongoing trade tensions with Washington forced the world’s biggest economy to take measures to stabilize its national currency. Still the biggest foreign holder of the US foreign debt, China slashed it’s share by nearly $14 billion, with the country's holdings falling to $1.15 trillion from nearly $ [...]

Assuming the position of Defense Minister after several high-profile resignations, Israeli Pime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has, for the sake of national security, warned remaining ministers against pushing for an early election. [...]

French President Emmanuel Macron has embarked on a charm offensive at the German parliament, hailing cooperation between Paris and Berlin as a protective force against global chaos and foes beyond Europe’s borders. [...]

Donald Trump said he has no desire to listen to an audio allegedly depicting the murder of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, but added that he had been briefed that it was a “very violent, very vicious and terrible” recording. [...]

In the aftermath of the deadly 9/11 terrorist attacks, the US has spent over $5.9 trillion on wars abroad that have resulted in the deaths of an estimated 500,000 people, according to Costs of War, research published by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Rhode Island’s Brown University. [...]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the United States on Sunday for voting against the UN resolution condemning Israel for occupying the Golan Heights area located at the Israeli-Syrian border. "On Thursday, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman informed me on the US decision to vote against the regular resolution slamming us for our presence in the Golan Heights. [...]

The US has said it will join Australia in the development of a naval base on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island to “protect the freedom of the seas,” in a move apparently aimed at curbing China’s presence in the Pacific. Australia, a staunch US ally in the Pacific, had already set its sights on Papua New Guinea’s Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island earlier in November, seeking to build a de [...]

Donald Trump’s turbulent European visit started with an “acrimonious” conversation with British Prime Minister Theresa May, who called to celebrate the Republican wins in the midterm elections, a Washington Post report claims. The conversation, which was never officially reported by either side, came on Friday as Trump was travelling to Paris aboard Air Force One, the newspaper claims citin [...]

For the first time, leaders of 21 Asia-Pacific economies have failed to issue a joint communique, as tensions between the US and China over trade and investment poisoned their annual summit. Pointing to the “two big giants in the room,” the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation’s (APEC) chair, Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, informed Sunday’s closing news conference [...]