The Russian president’s spokesman said Friday that President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on what an Israeli military delegation had to share with the Russian Defense Ministry on the downing of its jet in Syria, but stressed a decision on the Kremlin’s next step was premature. [...]

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 [...]

Hurricane Florence floodwaters have breached the dam at a retired Duke Energy coal power plant near Wilmington, North Carolina, likely causing a spill of coal ash into Cape Fear River. Floodwaters topped the earthen dike at the northern side of Sutton Lake on Friday. Water from the south end of the lake is flowing back into the river, Duke Energy spokeswoman Paige Sheehan told AP. [...]

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt predicts that the internet, as we know it, will split in two within the next decade, with one side led by China. However, Google seems okay with Chinese rule, once it gets to be involved. [...]

International rating agency Fitch has downgraded its 2019 global GDP forecast. The worsening trade conflict between Washington and Beijing is behind the decision, it said. According to Fitch, protectionist US trade policies have now reached the point where they are materially affecting what remains a strong global growth outlook. [...]

The German government is to resume arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies despite a domestic agreement not to deliver weapons to countries involved in the bloody Yemen conflict, local media report. [...]

Payment processing service PayPal has banned Alex Jones’s InfoWars, saying that the site “promoted hate and discriminatory intolerance” and thus violated their use policy. InfoWars itself broke the news on Friday, saying that PayPal sent them an email the day before informing Jones of the decision. [...]

After the US imposed sanctions on China for buying a Russian air defense system, Saudi Arabia, which is in talks to purchase it as well, hopes it won't suffer the same fate. It is, after all, one of Washington's best friends. [...]

The US dollar system has completely discredited itself and the confidence in the greenback is falling very sharply, according to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Sanctions by Washington are a sign of that. Russia is working on ways to cut its dependence on the US and the dollar system, Lavrov said Friday during his visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. [...]

Beijing has threatened that Washington will face “consequences” if it doesn’t withdraw the recent batch of sanctions against China over military cooperation with Russia. China’s Foreign Ministry did not mince words, saying Washington should immediately correct its “mistakes” before it’s too late or face the consequences for the decision. [...]

Senior US Air Force leaders said this week 74 new squadrons and some 40,000 personnel are needed to address what they called future threats. When asked by lawmakers,"What do you need to execute the National Defense Strategy," US Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said Monday that the service will need a lot more money, without diving into specifics. [...]

The Tibetan leader, himself almost a lifetime refugee, shocked the country that during the 2015 migrant crisis took in the most refugees per capita by saying that refugees coming to Europe will have to return home someday. "Europe belongs to Europeans," the Dalai Lama said at a conference in Malmö during his trip to Sweden, provoking strong reactions in some of Europe's most migrant-friendly coun [...]

Alibaba’s executive chairman Jack Ma has said that his promise to Donald Trump to create one million jobs in the US is no longer valid and viable after Washington slapped Beijing with new round of tariffs on $200bn worth of goods. [...]

Weeks of negotiations with the Trump administration have ended with carmaker Volkswagen (VW) agreeing to cease most of its operations in Iran, said US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, as cited by Bloomberg. “Volkswagen has told us they will comply with US sanctions on Iran,” said Grenell, adding: “We are pleased with this decision because Iran diverts its economic resources away from i [...]

The Russian Upper House speaker says the country’s authorities are preparing to quit the Council of Europe as Russian politicians are “tired” of constant reprisals from the body. Russian Upper House speaker Valentina Matviyenko made the announcement at a Thursday meeting with the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Liliane Maury Pasquier, adding that she [...]

New Delhi wants to encourage Russian investments and has invited the country’s companies to explore business opportunities and strengthen bilateral economic ties, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said. [...]

The Ruble-traded MOEX stock index is enjoying a bumper week as it reaches all-time highs on an almost-daily basis.The growth is linked to the strengthening Russian currency despite a threat of new US sanctions and high oil prices. [...]

Steve Paikin, host of the TVOntario (TVO) program The Agenda with Steve Paikin, speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges, a vociferous public critic of presidents on both sides of the American political spectrum, and author of the new book, America, the Farewell Tour. Hedges delivers the biting assessment of the state of American democracy that our neighbors to the North are not [...]

US President Donald Trump has accused OPEC’s Middle East producers of “pushing for higher and higher oil prices.” Trump, who is a proponent of cheap crude, has told OPEC countries they would not be safe for long without the US. [...]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has authorized the addition of 33 Russian defense and intelligence officials and entities to the ever-growing US sanctions list and also targeted a Chinese military entity for buying Russian arms. [...]

Before his links to the world was cut by his Ecuadorian hosts, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gave an interview on how technological advances are changing humankind. He said global surveillance will soon be totally unavoidable. The interview was provided to RT by organizers of the World Ethical Data Forum in Barcelona. Assange, who is currently stranded in the Ecuadorean embassy in London with n [...]