The Hill reports in “Obama, Democrats at odds before State of the Union address” that “a group of House Democrats on Monday held a press conference introducing the State of the Union … by condemning the TPP, a mammoth trade deal among 12 Pacific Rim countries that would encompass as much as 40 percent of the world’s economy.” [...]

Investments by German businesses in the Russian economy exceeded €3 billion in 2018, marking the highest level since before the financial crisis more than a decade ago, according to the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce. [...]

One of the charms of the future is its powerful element of unpredictability, its ability to ambush us in lovely ways or bite us unexpectedly in the ass. Most of the futures I imagined as a boy have, for instance, come up deeply short, or else I would now be flying my individual jet pack through the spired cityscape of New York and vacationing on the moon. [...]

In a rare moment of honesty, Mike Pompeo admitted to an audience that the CIA trains employees to “lie, cheat and steal.” While he seemed to find the whole thing funny, not everyone is amused, as RT found out. The CIA often asks American citizens and international leaders to believe some extraordinarily high-stakes claims. [...]

“One of the greatest stories of the 20th century was that we doubled the life expectancy of adults,” Terry Fulmer, head of the John A. Hartford Foundation, remarked recently. In the last quarter-century, Washington has helped fight this trend. Consider the dark news Health Affairs delivered this month. Mexico saw a “decline in life expectancy from 2005 to 2010 among men nationwide,” mai [...]

While the European Parliament elections are approaching with stakes being high, German MEP and former chairman of the National Democratic Party (NPD) Udo Voigt has spoken about the party's plans for the next legislative term, as well as its priorities and concerns. [...]

One of the epic miscarriages of justice of our time is unraveling: The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention – the international tribunal that adjudicates and decides whether governments comply with their human rights obligations – has ruled that Julian Assange has been detained unlawfully by Britain and Sweden. [...]

he world’s largest air carrier, American Airlines, has become the first major US airline to buy 50 long-range, single-aisle A321XLR jets from Airbus as Boeing is tries to win back customers’ trust after two recent crashes. [...]

After more than a decade of legal battles and stonewalling, the Department of Defense released 198 photos relating to prisoner abuse by U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. The photos were released in response to an ACLU lawsuit that we have been litigating for almost 12 years. [...]

The trade volume between Russia and China is expected to continue to accelerate and reach new heights, doubling the current record level of $108 billion, the Russian economy ministry says. [...]

The host of RT's InTheNow show asked the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman some tough questions during a 26-minute interview. Anissa Naouai wanted to know if Russian media are following a narrative from the Kremlin to counter BBC and CNN [...]

Syria’s ancient city of Aleppo was filled with bustling markets and historical buildings before it was engulfed in the devastating conflict. Now, before and after photos show progress in rebuilding its war-torn sites. [...]

Critics charge that the plan 'offers no viable solution to ending what Guantánamo represents, any more than it offers either freedom or justice for remaining prisoners.' President Barack Obama on Tuesday outlined his long-awaited plan to close the Guantánamo Bay military detention center in Cuba, [...]

Three-quarters of Germans say that a US troop pullout won’t leave them defenseless, but almost as many believe their own army would be of little effect, a poll found, amid reports that Washington may move its assets to Poland. [...]

Sen. Sanders finds himself on the defensive in his uphill primary fight against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination in part Hillary Clinton has scored points against Bernie Sanders by tagging him as a “single-issue candidate” who harps again and again on income inequality. [...]

US Citizenship and Immigration officers can now use fake social media accounts to surveil foreigners seeking visas and citizenship, even after years of US lawmakers blasting foreign rivals for supposedly doing the same. [...]

Surveillance drones haven't started hovering outside and above the homes of Americans en masse just yet, but former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura claims he's left the United States just in case. Ventura, a 62-year-old professional wrestler-turned-politician, says his new Ora TV program 'Off the Grid' is being filmed in secret somewhere in Mexico where the all-seeing eye of American unmanned [...]

A Russian TV crew has managed to obtain video proof of Turkey’s increased military presence on the Syrian border, as it filmed fortifications and tanks on the frontier. The lodgments are heavily fortified by tanks and self-propelled guns, REN-TV crew reported from the scene. [...]

An explosive essay calling out the lack of legitimate expertise about Iran ought to be a wake-up call for the US foreign policy field. Yet the same problem also affects Washington’s analysis of Russia, China and many other places. Imagine a field of study in which less than a third of the experts had related doctorates, half of them could not read, speak or write the language required, and just [...]

As the race for the White House heats up, Russian observers have noticed something different this cycle: that one of the race's leading contenders isn't anti-Russian, for a change. Political analyst Gevorg Mirzayan takes a closer look at candidates Clinton, Sanders and Trump, trying to fathom their positions on Russia.   [...]

Turkey’s operation in northeast Syria has “undermined” the US-led campaign against Islamic State terrorists, the Pentagon has claimed, warning that Washington will be “pressing” their NATO allies to sanction Ankara. [...]

The West’s lack of response to recent attacks on Russian diplomatic missions in Ukraine, particularly the embassy in Kiev, is a sign of “hypocrisy and duplicity,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. Amid a spate of attacks, Moscow is monitoring the situation around its embassy in Kiev and frequently communicates with the Russian ambassador and his staff [...]