This week Donald Trump signed the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), allocating $717 billion to the armed forces. The bill will fund the US Department of Defense, authorize a 2.6% military pay raise and increase the number of US troops by 15,600. [...]

Russian-owned assets in the United States worth hundreds of millions of dollars have been frozen as part of Washington’s sanctions campaign against Moscow since 2013, said US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Sigal Mandelker. “The actions of the US Treasury have had significant consequences for the financial interests of individuals and businesses that were affected, including the blocking of h [...]

Four years ago, I toppled from my bicycle to the street, dead at age 42 from cardiac arrest.  A stranger was giving enough to administer CPR, and I was conscious again in two-days time. I had no prior knowledge of my heart condition, don’t know who saved me, and when I woke in the hospital, had no idea why. [...]

The monotonously endless anti-Russia crusade serves a number of political agendas for Democrats and the Washington power structure.  It rationalizes Hillary Clinton’s stunning defeat, delegitimizes and weakens the Trump presidency, sets momentum for impeachment, and helps drive up Pentagon (and intelligence) spending.  Often forgotten is a yet another, deeper factor: Russia has long been targe [...]

White House national security adviser John Bolton stated on Sunday that he is interested in a proposal by Erik Prince - founder of private military company Blackwater - to shift the prosecution of the 17-year US war in Afghanistan away from the Pentagon to private mercenaries. [...]

Moscow responded to fresh sanctions placed by Washington on Monday over an alleged chemical weapons attack in the United Kingdom last March. Russian officials have slammed the United States and United Kingdom for their hypocrisy and reminded them of their own troubled past concerning chemical weapons usage. [...]

During their August 18 summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel noted that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project is profitable for both sides and should not be politicized. Speaking to Radio Sputnik, Gerhard Mangott, a political analyst from Austria's Innsbrook University, shared his views on the EU's energy issue. [...]

Mosul’s one-time economic center, the Old City, now bears a closer resemblance to a mass cemetery. A few meters from the al-Nuri mosque’s destroyed minaret, Mohammed Qadir, who is internally displaced, visits his former house. [...]

This week marks 65 years since the Western-orchestrated coup in Iran. August 19, 1953 is the day that Iranians were taught a hard lesson in the rules of the game when it comes to empire and hegemony. For on this day, the country’s democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, was overthrown at the hands of Washington and London. [...]

Qatar and Turkey have inked a currency swap agreement to boost liquidity and provide financial stability, Qatar’s central bank said, days after Doha pledged $15 billion of direct investment into Turkish markets. The deal, which aims to boost cooperation between the countries, was clinched on Friday. The agreement will set up a two-way currency exchange line and facilitate exchange of trade betwe [...]

The Iran nuclear deal, which was recently ditched by the US, humanitarian efforts in war-ravaged Syria, and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project… Putin and Merkel hold three-hour talks and are mostly on the same page. The surprise visit announced earlier this week between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place in Meseberg Palace, 65km north of Berlin, on Sa [...]

Today it seems like we are in another Cold War. It was breathtaking to watch our PM Theresa May immediately blaming Russia for the poisoning of the Skripals before the police had conducted their investigation into the evidence. Growing up after the Second World War our news was dominated by the threat from the Soviet Union, but when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991 I don’t think anyone could h [...]

South African authorities have reportedly started seizing white-owned land after negotiations on buying out the properties stalled. The first seizures are targeting game farms in the Northern province of Limpopo. The government had tried to buy the lands owned by Akkerland Boerdery Ventures for one-tenth of the land’s value, reports City Press, a Johannesburg-based news outlet. [...]

The temporary ban of a left-wing, pro-Palestine Facebook page was a part of a “massive rearguard action on the part of the establishment” carried out in the name of “fake news,” argued George Barda, of Occupy London, told RT. Upon reinstating the Occupy London page, which has more than 150k followers, Facebook said the ban was a mistake, though, according to Barda, the company gave “no r [...]

US President Donald Trump has praised Washington's cancellation of $230mn in funding for stabilization in war-torn Syria. Let "other rich countries" pay it, Trump says, while the US spends its money on its military and allies. The US officially ended support for stabilization projects in Syria on Friday. The $230mn worth of funding had been frozen for months before that however, after House forbid [...]

The Swiss resort of Chateaux-d’Oex is known for its hot air balloons. The Swiss resort of Davos is known for hot air. Or at least for one week a year, when some of the world’s biggest windbags meet to discuss ‘significant’ issues. [...]

BERLIN (Sputnik) – The German business community has urged the German government to strengthen its cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as a means to respond to the threat of protectionism stemming from the United States, head of the German Eastern Business Association said. [...]

Russia hopes to finalize two major defense deals with India by year’s end, with first deliveries of the S-400 air defense system potentially taking place in 2020, a Russian defense official has said. India defied US demands to drop the S-400 deal in favor of US weaponry, selecting the defense system to protect its skies in June following an agreement on technical and economic specifications earl [...]

Lockheed Martin’s social media appeal to send them the best photos of its products went horribly awry, as unimpressed Twitterati responded with gruesome images of the horrors of war. The world’s largest defense contractor and one of the top defense manufacturers posted a tweet last week, asking Twitter users to send them an “amazing photo” of a Lockheed Martin item. [...]

Starting around WWI, the US has experienced at least three waves of anti-Russia sentiment. What is unique about today's Russophobia is that it's not based on ideological differences, but rather raw political brinkmanship. When viewing particular chapters of American history since the turn of the 20th century, it becomes evident that US leaders have a tendency to believe, or feign to believe, that [...]

In August, China has marked the 10th anniversary of its high-speed railway endeavors. Speaking to Sputnik, Tom McGregor, a Beijing-based CCTV commentator and editor, explained how the country's bullet trains are bringing the nation together and facilitating China's economic growth regardless of the US tariff spree. [...]

The new bridge link connecting mainland Russia and the Crimean Peninsula is proving to be a huge hit with Russian drivers. The Crimean Bridge has broken another single-day record for car traffic, with 32,000 vehicles crossing the span on Sunday. About 1.6 million cars have crossed the bridge since it opened in May. [...]