Relations between Russia and Ukraine have significantly deteriorated since Crimea's reunification with Russia in 2014, which has not been recognised by Ukraine or Western states, who subsequently imposed economic and political sanctions on Moscow. [...]

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”. [...]

The US-backed ‘interim president’ of Venezuela Juan Guaido isn’t violating the 30-day constitutional limit because the legislature backing him voted to make it not apply, ‘explained’ the US special envoy Elliott Abrams. [...]

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. [...]

A group of Russian military personnel arrived in the Venezuelan capital Caracas on 23 March to participate in consultations with government officials on bilateral defence industry cooperation as the ongoing political crisis in the Latin American country has heated up. [...]

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.   [...]

Even as Washington is wooing New Delhi, India is seeking to buy Russian-made military hardware. The most recent deal would see the purchase of more than 450 tanks from Moscow for $1.93 billion, and it's not even the biggest one. [...]

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.” [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US government is ending sanctions waivers for Iranian oil importers to provoke a violent insurrection or establish a casus belli for an external invasion, former UK Ambassador Peter Ford told Sputnik. [...]

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? [...]

The United States on Monday announced its decision to halt shipments of F-35-related equipment due to Ankara's plans to purchase Russia's S-400 missile defence system. Turkey, a US-NATO ally, has been planning to purchase 100 F-35 fighter jets from the US. Sputnik discussed this with Oliver Steward, a political strategist from the UK. [...]

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.   [...]

A US federal judge declined Wednesday to preliminarily enjoin a congressional subpoena for US President Donald Trump's financial records, ruling that Deutsche Bank was free to comply with the demand. [...]

Progressive groups welcomed President Barack Obama's call to expand Social Security by increasing taxes on the wealthy, praising the effort and crediting it in part to "relentless grassroots activism" and Bernie Sanders' political efforts. [...]

US citizens are weary of endless wars, Virginia State Senator Richard Black believes. He warned President Donald Trump against dragging the country into another one with Iran, and blamed John Bolton for being the top warmonger. [...]

The Head of the Crimean regional German national-cultural autonomy of Crimea, Yury Hempel, criticized the new defense doctrine of the German authorities in which Russia is viewed as a global threat. Earlier, German newspaper Die Welt, citing governmental sources, reported that Germany's new defense doctrine, which is currently in the final stage of its preparation, will view Russia as one of th [...]

Washington has unleashed a fresh barrage of threats against Tehran, with US President Donald Trump warning it against “playing with fire” and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo branding it a “top sponsor of terrorism.” Fresh from rekindling his strange bromance with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, Trump has returned to his war-mongering ways, leveling a vague new warning at Iran. [...]

Unless you follow politics closely, you could be forgiven for thinking that Hillary Clinton has locked up the Democratic presidential nomination. This is not true. She still doesn’t have the requisite number of delegates. That could, and probably will, happen next month when her lead in superdelegates puts her over the top at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia – when the sup [...]

Huawei has laid off around 70 percent of staff at its Futurewei Technologies research arm in the US. Despite recent signals that Washington was easing pressure on the Chinese tech giant, the ban is still in force. [...]

What are the social, political, and economic ingredients for a revolution? Pulitzer Prize-winner Chris Hedges has a few ideas. He’ll examine the looming collapse of our civil society, the frightening rise of demagogues, the transformation of political discourse into hate speech, and the political awakening of the Christian Right, the neo-Confederates, the Tea Party, right-to-life groups, nativi [...]

Beijing has blasted US President Donald Trump’s claims that China is a “currency manipulator,” and promised to halt the import of US agricultural goods after the White House announced plans to slap 10 percent tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese imports from September. [...]

The revelation that the Democratic National Committee’s server may not have been hacked by Russia but by a disgruntled member of the U.S. intelligence community is a sign of how much anxiety about Hillary Clinton there is in that community, Judge Andrew Napolitano said on "Fox and Friends" this morning. Judge Napolitano said that intelligence officials are particularly upset that the class [...]