Global political figures have welcomed the Russian military pullout from Syria, and while many have called the Kremlin’s decision “unexpected,” it is seen as clearing the way for dialogue while a truce in the five-year-old war is negotiated in Geneva. Acknowledging that five months of military campaigns have mostly succeeded in their primary objective of eliminating the immediate wider th [...]

The EU has a stated goal of promoting prosperity and stability in the Middle East and North Africa. However, its efforts to secure Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements with its southern neighbours have so far had limited success. Luigi Scazzieri writes that with Covid-19 likely to generate a significant economic fallout in the region, it is time for the EU to make a more ambitious offer. [...]

Syrians feel immense gratitude towards Russian military and Aerospace Forces with the popularity of Vladimir Putin soaring. The partial withdrawal of Russian troops from the country is a matter of concern for the Syrian community, but the faith in Moscow's help is unwavering, according to the US media. [...]

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has downgraded engine maker Rolls-Royce’s credit rating to junk, citing the disruption caused to global air travel from the coronavirus pandemic. The British company’s rating has been lowered to “BB” from “BBB”, (below investment grade) in response to Rolls-Royce’s worsening near-term prospects as whole fleets of planes remain gro [...]

The recapture of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra was the single biggest defeat for ISIS since it declared its caliphate, but the West does not seem interested. Why? Because then they’d have to give some credit to Russia. Indeed, it must have been a tough weekend for Western media’s favorite Syria pundits. [...]

This week, the top US diplomat announced fresh sanctions against four Chinese officials accused of “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy,” and said that the Trump administration was “not finished yet” in increasing pressure on the Chinese “Marxist-Leninist monster.” The Global Times, a newspaper which is an offshoot of the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated People’s Daily, has [...]

The Paris and Brussels attacks are blowback from what Islamic State terrorists see as betrayal by Western benefactors who thought using jihadists could bring “regime change” in Syria, says Pakistani analyst Nauman Sadiq. France under President Nicolas Sarkozy played a lead role in fomenting the insurgency against the Gaddafi regime in Libya in 2011, and Sarkozy’s successor, Francois Holla [...]

After pandemic-related delays, Russia’s first electric car, called the Zetta, is set to enter serial production in late 2020, the country’s Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov has revealed. The Zetta will roll off the production line in the city of Tolyatti, one of the major centers of Russia's automotive industry. The cars will first be sold on the domestic market, but the initial [...]

Moscow and Tehran are holding talks on digging a ship canal from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf, said Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanai, speaking to students in St. Petersburg. Any canal linking the two has to go through Iran. "Yes, this issue is being discussed", said the ambassador on Thursday without specifying details, quoted by TASS. [...]

Over the past 15 years, RT has become indispensable by offering an alternative perspective on world events, newsmakers from all over the globe said, as they sent congratulations to the broadcaster on its anniversary. RT went on-air for the first time on December 10, 2005, from its studios in central Moscow. Since then, it has grown into a global news network, broadcasting 24/7 in English, Ara [...]

The Austrian government is about to enforce a tougher asylum law. According to it, the government will be entitled to declare a state of emergency. If this happens, no refugee would be able to apply for asylum in Austria any longer. The opposition and other critics speak of a “de facto abolition of the right to asylum”. [...]

GENOA, Italy - The report in the medical journal The Lancet on the safety and efficacy of the Russian vaccine against the novel coronavirus has put Sputnik V among the world's top vaccines, David Livermore, a member of the scientific advisory board on Sputnik V, said in an interview with Sputnik. On Tuesday, peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet published an interim analysis from the [...]

Bernie Sanders’ campaign team has slammed reports of voting irregularities at the New York state primary as “absurd” after more than 125,000 Democrats were unable to cast their ballots due to a mixture of broken voting machines, missing ballots and purged voter rolls. [...]

The two powers have pledged to join forces amid renewed tensions with western nations in recent months, including further financial support from sanctions and concerns about state sovereignty. Beijing will boost cooperation with Russia as western countries slap further sanctions on Moscow, it was reported on Monday. [...]

It’s late in the afternoon and we are stuck behind a school bus in Northern Croatia as we drive through the what the GPS says is the miserable little town of Apatija, which my Croatian friend Juraj says literally translates to “apathy” in Croatian.   [...]

While Joe Biden has vowed to "press" Moscow on human rights issues in Geneva, he may be given a dose of his own medicine one day given Washington's record of human rights abuses both at home and abroad, according to economist and author Dr. Paul Craig Roberts. President Joe Biden has vowed to bring up human rights issues during an upcoming meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Put [...]

While the U.S. expands spending on wars and “regime changes” – and slashes its budget for science and infrastructure – China is making different choices, now rapidly closing the gap on scientific innovation, writes John V. Walsh. The headline reads, “The Rapid Rise of a Research Nation: China’s economic boom is mirrored by its similarly meteoric rise in high quality science.” [...]

A recently leaked study reveals the extent to which the British government wants to manipulate public opinion in the Balkan countries. And there are no prizes for guessing who is getting portrayed as ‘the bad guy’… Among a tranche of leaked UK government documents related to covert actions in the Balkans is a fascinating secret study, conducted by professional services firm WYG and pol [...]

As the West is sucked deeper into the Syrian conflict and starts a new Cold War with Russia, the mainstream news media has collapsed as a vehicle for reliable information, creating a danger for the world, writes Robert Parry. Does any intelligent person look at a New York Times article about Russia or Vladimir Putin these days and expect to read an objective, balanced account? [...]

A court in Austria has sentenced a teenage refugee from Afghanistan to 30 months in prison, of which he is only obliged to serve 10 months after he sexually abused a girl, age seven. The victim was awarded €500 in compensation. On Wednesday a court in Ried, Upper Austria reached a verdict concerning the shocking case of an Afghan teen who had lured a seven-year-old neighbor to a basement be [...]

Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the 20th century’s iconic figures. While Ukraine’s decision to blacklist him for supporting Russia’s re absorption of Crimea is ludicrous, Western media's silence is odious, if depressingly predictable.   [...]

Moscow has announced that it will completely suspend the operations of its mission to NATO, two weeks after the US-led bloc expelled eight Russian diplomats for alleged 'undisclosed espionage' at its Brussels headquarters. Speaking on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also revealed that the NATO information bureau in Moscow will be forced to shut down as part of retaliatory measu [...]