Russia’s decision to boost Syrian air defenses in response to the downing of an Il-20 plane amid an Israeli raid is meant to sting, but not pose a serious threat to Israel’s national security, experts told RT. Last week, a Russian Il-20 electronic warfare plane with 15 crew on board was shot down off Syria’s coast by a Syrian anti-air missile fired in response to an Israeli air raid. [...]

Washington is fiercely fighting for Germany’s energy market, trying to sell more of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the country, and to wrestle one of the biggest energy consumers away from Russian energy giant Gazprom. Germany currently gets around 60 of its natural gas imports from Russia. [...]

CAIRO (Sputnik) – Israel is guided solely by its military interests in the region, and this factor along with the lack of coordination with the Russian side led to the crash of Russia's Il-20 military plane in Syria, Egyptian military expert Adil Suleiman told Sputnik. The Egyptian analyst noted that the tragedy was the result of a lack of coordination at the operational and tactical levels. [...]

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. [...]

Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry reiterated, during a briefing on circumstance of the Il-20 incident, that blame for the Russian aircraft's crash fully rested with Israel, which put the Il-20 under fire of the Syrian air defense. The Russian Defense Ministry has additional compelling evidence in support of the materials presented earlier on Sunday at the briefing devoted to the dow [...]

The US has repeatedly denounced the Russian-European joint venture to build a direct gas pipeline from Russia to the center of the EU via the Baltic Sea. Apart from lambasting Berlin for colluding with Moscow, Washington has already laid the groundwork for sanctions against companies involved in Nord Stream 2. [...]

Russian-Polish relations have reached a low point in recent years, with the two countries unable to see eye to eye on energy security, NATO's military buildup on Russia's borders, or the construction of a missile defense shield on Polish territory which Russia believes would challenge global strategic stability. [...]

One of the world’s longest gas pipelines – the Power of Siberia – which is being created to deliver natural gas from Russia to China, is almost complete. The sides are now getting ready to ink a contract on another major pipeline. Agreement on the Power of Siberia 2 or the ‘Western Route’ for the supply of Russian gas from the Far East to China might be signed in the first half of 2019, [...]

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 [...]

Russia may walk out of a joint project with NASA to build a lunar station as it doesn’t want to “play second fiddle” in the effort. Instead, Moscow mulls joining forces with BRICS countries, a Roscosmos head has confirmed. [...]

US citizens are joining up to save a few bucks on food, but when it concerns unity over affordable healthcare they call it socialism, says Max Keiser of Keiser Report. He thinks they are brainwashed by the mainstream media. In this episode of the Keiser Report, the show’s hosts, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert, discuss the storm brewing over poor elderly citizens in the US and how Latin America bla [...]

Russia’s military presence in Syria has effectively turned the tide of war back in 2015, the year Islamic State was about to “roll over Damascus,” the head of Israeli Air Force intelligence said in an interview. The Aerial campaign Russia started against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in 2015 had “categorically” decided the fate of war in President Bashar Assad’s favor, Brig. Gen. U [...]

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 [...]

After weeks of controversy over migration policy and anti-migrant protests, the right-leaning Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has pushed back the German Social Democrats as the second strongest political force. They have shared leading positions with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union for years. The CDU is also losing points. [...]

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. [...]

There is good reason people are going to real assets. The U.S. government is “missing” $21 trillion between the DOD and HUD. This fact was uncovered by Fitts and economist Dr. Mark Skidmore last year. What was the government’s answer to this gigantic accounting fraud that is the size of the federal deficit? Give the government’s budgets basically classified national security status. [...]

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 [...]

The decision by Russia and Turkey on Idlib is an intermediate step; the demilitarized zone will prevent the shelling of Syrian troops at Hmeymim base, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. As for the Russian-Turkish agreement on Idlib, it is aimed primarily at eradicating the terrorist threat. This is certainly an intermediate step, because only a demilitarized zone is being created," Lavro [...]

ST PETERSBURG - The Bank of Russia not going to resume purchasing foreign currency on behalf of the Russian Finance Ministry even if the there is a decrease in volatility in the foreign exchange market, First Deputy Governor Ksenia Yudaeva said on Thursday. [...]

MOSCOW/KUNMING China National Gold will invest about $420 million in the development of the Klyuchevskoye gold deposit in Russia; another $65 million will be invested by India's SUN Gold, the annual production volume is expected at about 6.5 metric tons of gold per year, the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry said. [...]