Over the past 10 years US companies have invested $5.8 billion in commercial real estate in Russia, the biggest among other foreign investors, according to consulting company Knight Frank. Overall foreign investments to Russian commercial real estate over the past 10 years have reached $15.9 billion. US companies account for 36.5 percent of the total sum. [...]

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 [...]

Addressing International Media Forum "New Era of Journalism: Farewell to Mainstream", Julian Assange said that about 80 percent of the US National Security Agency budget is privatized. He also said that Google is engaged with the US White House and Hillary Clinton's elections campaign. Google has power to control information flow, he added. [...]

On September 19, 2000, going on 16 years ago, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the London Telegraph reported: “Declassified American government documents show that the US intelligence community ran a campaign in the Fifties and Sixties to build momentum for a united Europe. It funded and [...]

MPs who support remaining in the European Union may use their majority in Parliament to sidestep the public altogether and vote to keep Britain in the EU’s single market, meaning free movement of people, goods and services would stay despite a ‘Brexit’. A number of pro-‘Remain’ MPs have suggested using their 257 person majority to vote to keep the UK within the European Economic Area [...]

The US strategy in Europe is aimed at strengthening its control over EU and NATO states, selling more military equipment to its European allies to make super-profits for its military-industrial complex and to isolate Russia, political author Diana Johnstone told RT. [...]

The US doesn’t have any leverage over “moderate rebels” in Syria who coordinate their attacks with the Al-Nusra Front terrorist group; and it does not have a strategy for the region, experts tell RT. The Al-Nusra Front in Syria has started a major offensive. The terrorists resumed artillery barrages on residential areas of Aleppo. [...]

Former PM Tony Blair will respond to the Chilcot report on the legality of the 2003 Iraq invasion by arguing the Middle East state was devastated by Iran, Al-Qaeda and a powder keg of tribal animosity unleashed by Saddam’s removal, reports suggest. He is expected to defend the war while trying to externalize the continuing bloodshed, but not before the Chilcot Inquiry reports on July 6. [...]

Thanks to Edward Snowden’s revelations, the US government can no longer directly collect everything that we communicate with each other electronically, Tom Devine, legal director at the Government Accountability Project, told RT America’s Manila Chan. [...]

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has spoken out against US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, calling her a “war hawk with bad judgment” who gets an “emotional rush out of killing people.” “A vote today for Hillary Clinton is a vote for endless, stupid war,” Assange wrote via the @wikileaks Twitter account on Tuesday. [...]

The Central Bank of Russia became the world's leading purchaser of gold when it bought 356,000 ounces of the precious metal in February, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). China took second place; its Central Bank purchased about 320,000 ounces of gold in February, according [...]

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. [...]

History has seen a number of secretive agreements which had major impact on the global economy, from hiding investments to taking gold reserves. Some of the stories are real, and some are rather legends. Here are some examples of how global financial decisions have been made behind closed doors. [...]

The Europeans have let themselves to be drawn into an ‘insane march on Russia’ by concentrating the largest amount of military hardware on Russia’s borders since the Second World War, putting Europe at risk of a hot conflict. However, if there is one spark, Europe will be the first victim, according to Danish author Jens Jorgen Nielsen. [...]

The European Union has toughened its visa regime for Ukrainians as verification of applicants’ documents in consulates has become more rigorous and the number of refusals for multiple visa claims has rapidly increased, Kiev-based newspaper Vesti wrote. Even those in Ukraine willing to travel to the Euro-2016 in France are now seeing their visa applications turned down even though the EU earli [...]

Beijing looks to garner international favor through a massive investment effort in Europe and Asia. China is now nearly three years into Xi Jinping’s cooperative development strategy with European partners known as "One Belt, One Road," or the "New Silk Road." The plan is part of China's push to leverage their economic potential to maximize geopolitical influence. [...]

The Syrian Army launched on June 3 a large-scale offensive to liberate the city of Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the Daesh caliphate. Retired Syrian Major General Sabet Muhammad told the Russian newspaper Izvestia that the operation started from the town of Isriya, in Hama province, nearly 140 km to the west from Raqqa. [...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has come out with her approval for the creation of a common economic zone between the European Union and Russia. The chancellor made the statement during a congress of the regional branch of the Christian Democratic Union in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. [...]

As the prospect of Donald Trump in the White House moves from ludicrous to terrifying, it’s time to reconsider the electability question. Despite polls suggesting that Hillary Clinton is more likely to lose the general election than Bernie Sanders, her supporters routinely argue that Sanders’ program is too radically utopian to have a chance. [...]