The Saturday evacuation is the latest in a series of airlifts coming amid the Syrian Army's ongoing offensive on jihadists who still control small pockets of Deir ez-Zor, much of them empty desert. A number of wounded Daesh* terrorists militants have been evacuated by US helicopters from Syria's eastern Deir ez-Zor province, local sources said, as quoted by the Syrian news website Arabi Today [...]

Trade relations between the two countries have gone into a downward spiral of quid pro quo, with Washington slapping Beijing with new tariffs on $200 billion of imported Chinese goods in late September, while China hit back with levies on $60 billion of US products. [...]

Now that nine states and the US capitol of District of Columbia allow recreational pot, the plant’s national legalization appears to be a slam-dunk, and opponents are afraid. But in spite of a rapid shift of policy and politics over the use of marijuana in the US, the federal government nonetheless stubbornly continues to classify the plant alongside dangerously-addictive substance such as metha [...]

Earlier, US President Donald Trump stated that Saudi King Salman would be unable to stay in power for two weeks without Washington's support. In an interview with Bloomberg, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman specifically underscored that Riyadh "will pay nothing" to Washington for Saudi Arabia's security, adding that "all the armaments we have from the United States of America are paid f [...]

The US will reportedly provide Israel with more F-35s after Russia supplied Syria with S-300 missile systems. Moscow’s move came in response to the downing of a Russian military plane, which it partly blamed on Israel. US President Donald Trump decided to lend a hand to America’s most devoted ally following consultations at the “highest administration and military levels,” DEBKAfile, a mil [...]

The White House has stepped up its showdown with China, casting it as the new top bogeyman, with Mike Pence declaring that the notorious Russian interference and meddling ‘pales’ in comparison to Beijing’s influence in US affairs. China is increasingly assuming the role of number one villain for the White House administration, ahead of the US midterm election and amid the spiraling trade war [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Washington is making a “colossal” but “typical” mistake by imposing sanctions around the world and exploiting its dollar dominance, warning there will be consequences. [...]

Recent provocations in the South China Sea follow rising tensions between the US and China, but with rivalry expanding into the economic and political spheres, it seems Beijing is now encroaching on Russia's top-villain status. [...]

The US is withdrawing from the "optional protocol" in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, John Bolton has confirmed. He said it follows a case brought by Palestine, challenging the US embassy's move to Jerusalem. [...]

The US has lost its credibility since Donald Trump unleashed a global trade war, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, slamming Washington for sanctioning Turkey and trying to isolate Iran. “The US has embarked on a false path of solving political problems not through negotiations, but through the language of blackmail and threats,” Erdogan told the Turkish parliament on Monday. [...]

US President Donald Trump left the UN Security Council session he was chairing before it was over, leaving Nikki Haley in charge and sparking speculation about his whereabouts among the press. Around quarter after noon on Wednesday, after roughly two hours of speeches and declarations, Trump left the Security Council chambers with his security detail, letting his UN envoy Haley take over. [...]

The Pentagon will remove four batteries of PAC-3 Patriot missiles from three Middle-Eastern countries, according to the Wall Street Journal. The report said the missiles are needed elsewhere to counter China and Russia. [...]

If you can’t get them to keep quiet, ignore them, appears to be the playbook currently in use by OPEC. Tweets by US President Donald Trump demanding that OPEC boost its oil output as a means of lowering prices worldwide have been met with silence by the global fossil-fuel energy bloc. [...]

The US is looking to establish a permanent US military base in Poland. This is what President Donald Trump said on Tuesday following a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda at the White House. Sputnik discussed the potential establishment of a military base in Poland with Rick Rozoff - manager of the Stop NATO website. [...]

China has canceled the visit of its Navy commander to the US, in response to the sanctions imposed by Washington against Beijing over its military cooperation with Russia, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said. On Thursday, the US State Department imposed sanctions against Beijing’s defense procurement agency, the Equipment Development Department (EED), for its “significant transaction [...]

The tax and trade policies of Donald Trump are, in fact, what have contributed to the surge in oil prices, a US economics professor told RT, adding that the US President’s tough words to OPEC are a political stunt. On Thursday, Trump accused OPEC’s Middle East producers of “pushing for higher and higher oil prices” and demanded “they stop it,” adding that the US is “protecting those [...]

China has hit back at US attempts to force it out of multiple billion-dollar arms deals with Russia, with a defense spokesperson stating that Washington has “no right to interfere” in the dealings of two sovereign states. Wu Qian’s comments come after the US State Department imposed sanctions on Thursday against Beijing’s defense procurement agency, the Equipment Development Department (EE [...]

Washington has promised to increase pressure on Venezuela in the coming days, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowing to take a "series of actions" against the government of Nicolas Maduro in the “best interest” of Venezuelans. [...]

Donald Trump has threatened to impose even more tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing dares to impose tit-for-tat measures in response to Washington’s latest package of levies targeting some $200 billion of Chinese exports. [...]

Wall Street bankers, company executives and crisis management consultants say being labeled ‘anti-American’ will become a new crucial business risk under Donald Trump’s presidency, Reuters reports. Trump’s Twitter posts and public rebuke of major companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and General Motors have made other companies worry they may be next, according to businesses polled by the [...]

Trade wars between the United States and China could benefit Russia, according to the Russian Economic Development Minister Maksim Oreshkin. With tariffs growing, Russia could substitute American goods in China and India. These trade wars, these difficult relations between the United States and its trading partners is, first of all, an opportunity that opens on those markets. [...]

A new Taliban video shows insurgents openly celebrating the capture of an Afghan army base. It is the latest example of the inability of Afghan security forces to defend themselves against Taliban assaults. Continued battlefield catastrophes call into question [...]