Pro-government Syrian forces are expected to enter Afrin enclave “within hours,” local media report. Earlier, an adviser to the Kurdish administration said a deal has been reached to allow Syrian forces into the embattled area. [...]

US troops must immediately shut down their zone of control in southern Syria in the area of Al-Tanf, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested when asked what should be done to help the Syrian peace settlement. Lavrov was referring to an area on Syria’s border with Jordan and Iraq, which the US declared to be under its protection last year. Among other things, it contains the Rukban refug [...]

Indonesia finalizes a billion-dollar deal pertaining to the purchase of 11 Sukhoi Su-35 jets from Russia. According to Indonesian Defense Ministry spokesman Totok Sugiharto on Saturday, the contract, worth a total of $1.14 billion, was finalized by representatives from both countries in Jakarta. [...]

The gradual lifting of sanctions against Russia may start if the Moscow-backed plan to deploy UN peacekeepers in the conflict area of eastern Ukraine is implemented, interim German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said. [...]

Americans have a remarkable tolerance for child slaughter, especially the mass murders of the children of others. This emotional indifference manifested itself vividly after the disclosure of the My Lai Massacre, when dozens of Vietnamese infants and children were killed by the men of Charlie Company, their tiny corpses stacked in ditches. After the trial of Lt. William Calley, more than 70 percen [...]

Myanmar's persecution of the Rohingya has reached levels of genocide claims, but no serious action from the US has been forthcoming. In Myanmar today, the thugs have won. Any moral leadership we thought Aung San Suu Kyi possessed has been badly damaged. Her former supporters have made a vocal call for her to give back her Nobel Peace Prize. The word "genocide" is now used, with some justification, [...]

In the wake of another deadly school shooting in Florida, the lessons of past massacres in Vietnam can teach us about U.S. violence and the need to reform unchecked gun culture, discusses Lawrence Davidson. Back in October 2016 I wrote an analysis entitled “Are Humans Natural-Born Killers?” It described and commented on research on the origins of human violence published in the science jour [...]

The EPA is using a shady study to carve out a massive pollution exemption for dirty glider trucks. The Environmental Protection Agency is trying to protect a loophole that allows vastly more pollution than is typically permitted from heavy-duty commercial vehicles — all in the name of helping out a Trump supporter. [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Turkey's upcoming purchase of S-400 air defense missiles systems from Russia could trigger US secondary sanctions against Ankara, a new report on Washington’s relations with Ankara from the Turkish Heritage Organization said. [...]

Recent changes to the US’ tax rates coupled with its current-account shortfall are creating stormy waters for the greenback and there is already evidence that the ship is letting in water. Bloomberg financial journalists have stated the greenback “is under the siege”, citing what they call “twin deficits”. So what’s the evidence? [...]

NATO’s rapid expansion has not necessarily strengthened the alliance and the US should rethink its hostility towards Russia, former US Secretary of Defense William Perry said on RT’s SophieCo program. [...]

In this episode, we speak to Professor Mohammad Marandi from the University of Tehran ahead of the Iran-Turkey-Russia trilateral in Istanbul, which seeks to defeat British-backed atrocities in the Middle East. Britain’s former ambassador in Damascus on whether the US and the UK are using chemical attack allegations to justify breaches of the UN Charter. Plus, rock guitar legend Brian May on how [...]

Commenting on the claim made by the Iranian military that the US has provided direct assistance to Daesh in Afghanistan, political analyst Ahmad Wahid Mozhda told Sputnik that many Afghan politicians and ordinary Afghans are saying the same thing. According to the observer, the US's likely goal is to cause problems for the country's neighbors. [...]

Permanent Syrian envoy to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari has emphasized that the US presence in his country runs counter to a UN Security Council resolution which stipulates preserving Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. [...]

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Israel would not accept any restrictions in Syria. Radio Sputnik discussed the isssue with ​​​Dr Tim Anderson, Australian analyst, Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, author of the 'Dirty War on Syria'. [...]

"The Security Report 2018" has cited ordinary Germans as saying that Russia is a less serious threat to world peace than the US and apparently it's all due to Donald Trump, claim the authors of the report, which also shows a decline in confidence in the German army. [...]

Responding to NATO’s muscle flexing in Eastern Europe and the Baltics, which Moscow sees as a threat, Russia is upgrading its missile defenses with new and more accurate interceptors. The Russian military has successfully tested a new interceptor missile of for its A-135 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) system at a testing range in in Kazakhstan. [...]

On his five-day Mideast trip US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is travelling through states dissatisfied with Donald Trump's foreign policy which makes his tour a "mission impossible," Joseph Camilleri, Emeritus Professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, and fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, has told Radio Sputnik. [...]

Syrian government forces discovered warehouses stocked with weapons and ammunition, including arms produced in Israel, in Deir Ez-Zor, which had been liberated from the terrorist group Daesh (ISIS) on February 14. A day later, the Syrian state news agency released footage of the weapons. [...]

Lori Robinson, head of US North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), said during Senate testimony that the US military is concerned about the new generation of Russian cruise missiles. Russia has prioritized the development of advanced cruise missiles capable of holding targets within North America at risk from distances not previously seen," Robinson said before the Senate Armed Serv [...]

The director of national intelligence warned Congress that climate change could cause "upheaval" this year. The top US intelligence official warned Congress this week about the threat of “abrupt” climate change, contradicting the Trump administration’s efforts to drive climate out of national security discussions. [...]

Controversial former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik has accused the FBI of “wasting resources chasing Russian collusion,” instead of pursuing tips about potential criminals, such as the Florida school shooter. [...]