How does the latest US decision to impose sanctions against eight more Russian companies play into the Trump administration’s promise to improve relations with Moscow? RT spoke with experts. The restrictive measures were introduced against such companies as Russia’s main weapons exporter Rosobornexport and Aviaexport over their alleged violation of US non-proliferation law concerning Iran, [...]

A Pentagon official has said that the US will retain the right to carry out a nuclear strike in response to a conventional attack. A 'no-first-use' policy would erode US allies' belief that they are protected, he said. [...]

Moscow will continue to support Syrian Army troops in their anti-terrorism effort, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, after being asked whether Russian policy had changed following a reported chemical attack in the Idlib province.   [...]

Moscow's sovereign gold stockpile jumped up to over 2,100 metric tonnes last year, with the country's status as a major gold producer allowing for reserves to be built up using domestically sourced bullion. [...]

The UK, which recently said it could launch a preemptive nuclear strike “in the most extreme circumstances,” runs the risk of being “wiped off the face of the Earth,” the deputy head of a Russian upper house committee said. [...]

Israel has the full arsenal needed to take on Hezbollah in Lebanon and eliminate the Iranian threat in Syria, the outgoing IDF Northern Command chief boasted, warning Damascus against using S-300s to protect its sovereignty. [...]

The Russian Investigative Committee has launched criminal cases against Ukrainian servicemen and officials responsible for indiscriminate use of artillery in the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic that resulted in civilian casualties. [...]

One of the negotiators on the Venezuelan side was allegedly Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, who is thought to have had a last-minute change of heart. The Trump administration had an agreement in place with Venezuela's military that President Nicolas Maduro would be arrested during this week's attempted coup, the Spanish newspaper ABC reports, citing a source in the US National Securit [...]

The European Parliament has passed a nonbinding resolution calling for the reintroduction of visa requirements for American citizens, raising the stakes in a long-running battle over the United States’ refusal to grant visa-free access to citizens of five European Union countries. [...]

President Trump is reportedly waiting for the Iranians to get on the phone and start talking business to resolve the dangerous looming military crisis in the Persian Gulf. Step One was for the US to pile on the threats of an “unrelenting” assault on the Islamic Republic. Step Two is for the US president to dangle an overture for dialogue with Tehran in order to avert war. [...]

America is often referred to as the "Land of the Free," but as citizens prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, their satisfaction with the country's freedom is significantly lower than it was a decade ago, according to a newly released Gallup poll. The survey found that although 91 percent of Americans were satisfied with the freedom in their lives in 2006, only 75 percent feel the same way t [...]

China has managed to outperform the US and the UK in a German ranking of the world’s most reliable trade partners, compiled from the latest survey of 2,000 German companies by Frankfurt-based Commerzbank. [...]

The Iraqi army and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), not the US, should take the credit for the recent liberation of Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group, Iraqi Vice-President Nouri al-Maliki said on Friday. [...]

The president earlier threatened to slap tariffs on the remaining $300 billion in Chinese goods coming into the United States unless Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to meet with him at the G20 meeting in Osaka, Japan to hammer out a trade deal favourable to Washington. [...]

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump wrote via Twitter that the US nuclear arsenal was stronger and more powerful than ever before. The statement has come amid the ever-growing tensions between the United States and North Korea. Answering the question of whether Trump has been able to increase and upgrade the US nuclear arsenal, Schultz said: [...]

The nosedive comes against the background of the ongoing trade row between Beijing and Washington, which, however, showed signs of nearing a resolution late last month when President Trump announced that he will not impose new tariffs on China. [...]

The relationship between Turkey and the EU are further deteriorating, Dr. Rainer Rothfuss, geopolitical analyst and consultant, told RT. Rainer Rupp, publicist and former German intelligence officer, also joins the conversation. Turkish President Recep Erdogan urged nearly 3 million German Turks not to cast their vote for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, Martin Schulz’s Socia [...]

Twitter deemed presidential hopeful Kamala Harris utterly “destroyed,” after fellow candidate Tulsi Gabbard landed dizzying verbal haymakers on the former California prosecutor. Naturally, ‘Russian bots’ were swiftly blamed. [...]

The Senate passed a $700 billion defense policy bill on Monday, exceeding what even Trump requested. Come you masters of warYou that build all the gunsYou that build the death planesYou that build the big bombsYou that hide behind wallsYou that hide behind desks– Bob Dylan, Masters of War, 1963 The US Senate passed a $700 billion defense policy bill on Monday that puts the US on track to have [...]

On Jul. 23, an F-35 went fully visible on popular flight tracking website Flightradar24.com as it performed a mission out of Nevatim airbase. The aircraft could be monitored for about 1 hour as it went “feet wet” (over the sea) north of Gaza then flew northbound to operate near Haifa. [...]

As President Trump taunts North Korea’s leader with schoolyard insults, the terrifying possibility is that his threat to “totally destroy” a country of 25 million people could involve the U.S. in another genocide, warns David Marks. The level of insult and hostile name-calling between world leaders was taken to a new extreme by Donald Trump in his speech before the U.N. General Assembly. [...]

It’s better not to be a “more normal country” if that means being as prone to invasions and coups as the United States, top Russian ministers have said, firing back at bizarre remarks by a new Pentagon chief. [...]