Global central banks bought more bullion last year than at any time since 1971, when the US ended the gold standard. Governments added 651.5 tons of gold to their coffers in 2018, according to the World Gold Council. It said that Russia, China and Turkey are leading the gold-buying spree. [...]

US foreign policy in Syria is schizophrenic and opportunist as they are combating the Assad government, which has done the bulk of the fighting against Islamic State and the terrorists in general, Brian Becker, from the anti-war ANSWER Coalition told RT. [...]

Russia will deliver 300 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Wednesday, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said. "We receive humanitarian support every day. On Wednesday, 300 tonnes of Russian humanitarian aid will be legally delivered to the international airport of Caracas," Maduro said on Monday at a meeting with scientists. [...]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Ankara will take retaliatory measures after the German parliament voted to recognize as ‘genocide’ the Armenian massacre of 1915. Turkey has already recalled its ambassador to Germany in protest. [...]

Europe will pay half as much for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia than what US energy companies offer, according to independent Russian gas producer Novatek. [...]

Turkey has had numerous problems with other nations recently. But after the German Parliament voted in favor of labeling the 1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide, Ankara is losing its "only friend in Europe," an article in Foreign Policy read. [...]

Marking a first during his presidency, US President Donald Trump signed his first-ever veto on Friday, rejecting a congressional resolution to overturn his decision to declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border. [...]

Last week made clear that Bernie Sanders won’t be the Democratic nominee. But a meeting of the Democratic Platform Committee in Washington also made it clear that the Vermont senator will wield considerable influence over the party’s future.The primary season developed into a fight for the future of the Democratic Party, with Sanders channeling the concerns of many younger, liberal voters, and [...]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A Venezuelan court has remanded Roberto Marrero, an aide to the country's self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaido, into custody for the period of the investigation, Marrero's lawyer Joel Garcia said on Friday. [...]

"I will be with you, whatever," former British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to U.S. President George Bush on July 28, 2002. That vow was made public Tuesday in the damning Chilcot Inquiry, underscoring the investigation's conclusion: The invasion of Iraq was decided on well before all peaceful resolutions were exhausted, proving—as critics have long-contended—that the disastrous intervent [...]

The European Union is ready to stand by its companies and launch a WTO case should Washington enact a law allowing US citizens to sue foreign firms doing business in Cuba. [...]

Focusing on domestic issues, Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech sidestepped the deep concerns anti-war Democrats have about her hawkish foreign policy, which is already taking shape in the shadows, reports Gareth Porter. As Hillary Clinton begins her final charge for the White House, her advisers are already recommending air strikes and other new military measures against the Assad regime in [...]

In its second scathing critique of a high-ranking US figure in less than a week, Pyongyang has described demands by the US national security adviser, John Bolton, for proof that North Korea is in the process of denuclearisation as “nonsense". [...]

Italy may very well be joining the US anti-Daesh operation in Libya, having offered Washington the use of Sigonella air base in Sicily for USAF raids into the North African country. Sputnik spoke to Italian military journalist Mirko Molteni about why Italy has once again allowed itself to become involved in a NATO air war over Libya. [...]

In March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated Ankara’s commitment to its deal with Russia on the purchase of S-400 missile systems, adding that Turkey may subsequently look into buying S-500 systems. [...]

This year's World Social Forum (WSF), which is being held in Montreal this week, is off to a rocky start as hundreds of international activists were denied entry due to Canada's restrictive visa policies. Aminata Traoré, who is one of the candidates to replace United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, was among those barred from attending.   [...]

As Wall Street reels from the shock of a trade war exploding to new heights in the form of tariffs and counter tariffs, there’s another reality that is setting in — that China seems happy to walk away from trade talks. [...]

President Petro Poroshenko has warned that Kiev may be forced to introduce martial law if the deterioration of the situation in eastern Ukraine and the standoff with Russia over Crimea continues. Offering their thoughts, Ukrainian political scientists suggested that if Kiev does introduce martial law, it won't be because of any threat from Russia. [...]

The Russian Armed Forces will soon begin receiving a number of the newest air defence systems, a top Aerospace Forces officer said. Speaking to the official armed forces newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, Aerospace Forces Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Yuri Grekhov disclosed that the development of the S-500, the successor to the S-300 and S-400 air defence systems — has reached its final stage, as [...]

The main architect of Washington’s plan to rule the world has abandoned the scheme and called for the forging of ties with Russia and China. While Zbigniew Brzezinski’s article in The American Interest titled “Towards a Global Realignment” has largely been ignored by the media, it shows that powerful members of the policymaking establishment no longer believe that Washington will prevail i [...]

Austria has voted to ban glyphosate, the main ingredient in Bayer-Monsanto’s notorious Roundup weedkiller, becoming the first EU country to outlaw the chemical, creating a PR disaster for the troubled German company. [...]

The New York Times’ editorial board, fresh from peddling anti-Russia conspiracies for two years, has made a remarkable about-turn. Now the paper wants closer relations with the Kremlin, all to thwart China’s ambitions. [...]