About 20 politicians, businesspeople and public figures from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are planning to attend the Fifth Yalta International Economic Forum next spring, notwithstanding the countries' poor relations with Moscow and their governments' stubborn refusal to recognize the peninsula's status as part of Russia. [...]

The Open Skies Treaty covers most NATO member states as well as Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden and Finland. As a rule, flights of Russia and NATO member states are conducted on a reciprocal basis. The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has revealed in August that the US would not obligate any funds to implement the Open Skies Treaty until penalties ar [...]

Political correctness takes down top interviewer Megyn Kelly, and she didn't even see it coming... because she did nothing wrong. The Kremlin went on record reporting its interest in offering NBC host Megyn Kelly a job working for the Russian media. Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov mused about this situation, praising Mrs. Kelly for her interviewing skills but suggesting she might [...]

Europe is now facing the disastrous prospect of American missiles being reinstalled across its territory as they were in the 1980s. The Trump administration’s declared scrapping of a crucial arms control treaty is putting the world on notice of a nuclear war, sooner or later. [...]

The US will adopt harsh, Israeli-style tactics and will treat migrants at the Mexican border as armed and dangerous invaders if they throw rocks at US law enforcement, Donald Trump has stressed amid a mass military deployment. [...]

A new report reveals that Finland is the happiest country in the world based on a range of measures including GDP per capita, freedom to make life choices, and corruption levels.  Nordic countries take four out of the five top spots, and are well known to be stable, safe and socially progressive. [...]

The UK's Middle East minister seems unfazed by civilian suffering in Yemen, saying that ending Britain's arms sales to Saudi Arabia won't help, but that the probe into the Khashoggi death may influence Britain's support of Riyadh. When Alistair Burt responded to calls from the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, and the Oxford Research Group for the UK to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia, the minister [...]

Venice's iconic piazzas are covered in water, not pigeons, as three-quarters of the city is submerged following a storm that brought strong winds, rose water levels, and toppled trees. Water levels rose more than five feet (156cm / 61.4 inches), with photos showing locals and tourists wading their way through it. [...]

Utah state employees will get some relief from insane prescription drug prices, with their insurer’s offer to fund their travel costs to Mexico and to throw in $500 cash, because it's still cheaper than buying the drugs in the US. The unusual offer is being presented by PEHP, which insures 160,000 state employees and their family members. [...]

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. [...]

A number of European countries have recently signaled willingness to receive Russian natural gas through the Turkish Stream pipeline. Italy, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary are seeking to boost purchases of Russian hydrocarbons. In light of this trend the future of the expected US LNG boom seems bleak. [...]

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. [...]