Reports that the US is preparing to put B-52 nuclear bombers on 24-hour alert are nothing short of a “major escalation of US nuclear war readiness,” Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste watchdog at Beyond Nuclear said on Monday’s episode of Loud & Clear. [...]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A Venezuelan court has remanded Roberto Marrero, an aide to the country's self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaido, into custody for the period of the investigation, Marrero's lawyer Joel Garcia said on Friday. [...]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out against Israel Sunday, calling it a ‘terrorist state’ that ‘kills children.’ Erdogan promised to fight to the bitter end against Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state. [...]

The European Union is ready to stand by its companies and launch a WTO case should Washington enact a law allowing US citizens to sue foreign firms doing business in Cuba. [...]

The US ambassador to the United Nations has fallen victim to a phone prank perpetrated by a famous Russian duo, with whom she discussed the affairs of a fictional South China Sea island nation and the alleged harassment of the Ukrainian president by Kevin Spacey. [...]

In its second scathing critique of a high-ranking US figure in less than a week, Pyongyang has described demands by the US national security adviser, John Bolton, for proof that North Korea is in the process of denuclearisation as “nonsense". [...]

Since the new Russia-China oil supply agreement took effect at the start of the year, PetroChina’s largest refinery has almost doubled the amount of Russian pipeline crude oil that it is processing. A senior industry source with direct knowledge of the volumes told Reuters, the 410,000-bpd PetroChina refinery in the northeast port city Dalian will process 260,000 bpd of Russian pipeline crude oi [...]

In March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated Ankara’s commitment to its deal with Russia on the purchase of S-400 missile systems, adding that Turkey may subsequently look into buying S-500 systems. [...]

DAVOS (Sputnik) - Reports on disagreements between Russia and India in the area of defense industry cooperation are based on speculation and the two states maintain strong ties in defense cooperation and are developing a partnership on transfers of technology, Mobashar Jawed Akbar, Indian minister of state for external affairs, told Sputnik. [...]

As Wall Street reels from the shock of a trade war exploding to new heights in the form of tariffs and counter tariffs, there’s another reality that is setting in — that China seems happy to walk away from trade talks. [...]

The US must withdraw its troops from Syria’s northern Manbij region and put an end to its support for Kurdish militia in the area, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu demanded Saturday. Cavusoglu told reporters on Saturday that the US needs to immediately withdraw from the region near the city [...]

The Russian Armed Forces will soon begin receiving a number of the newest air defence systems, a top Aerospace Forces officer said. Speaking to the official armed forces newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, Aerospace Forces Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Yuri Grekhov disclosed that the development of the S-500, the successor to the S-300 and S-400 air defence systems — has reached its final stage, as [...]

So far, the story of the US F-35 fighter aircraft in Norway has been a drama of epic proportions. Soon after the first jets landed on Norwegian soil, it was discovered that the expensive warplanes designed to be the backbone of Norway's defense lack adequate protection and will have to be stored in tents for lack of hangars. [...]

Austria has voted to ban glyphosate, the main ingredient in Bayer-Monsanto’s notorious Roundup weedkiller, becoming the first EU country to outlaw the chemical, creating a PR disaster for the troubled German company. [...]

The director of national intelligence warned Congress that climate change could cause "upheaval" this year. The top US intelligence official warned Congress this week about the threat of “abrupt” climate change, contradicting the Trump administration’s efforts to drive climate out of national security discussions. [...]

The New York Times’ editorial board, fresh from peddling anti-Russia conspiracies for two years, has made a remarkable about-turn. Now the paper wants closer relations with the Kremlin, all to thwart China’s ambitions. [...]

The appearance of two Su-57 fighters at Syria's Hmeymim Airbase, yet to be confirmed by the Russian MoD, has nevertheless got defense observers and armchair analysts alike talking. But what might the planes be doing there? Is their deployment strictly testing-related, or is it also meant to send a political message? Sputnik investigates. [...]

US President Donald Trump is essentially buying votes with money from American taxpayers after his aggressive tariff policy on China boomeranged on US farmers, Professor Richard Wolff has told RT. To compensate for lost crop sales to China, the Trump administration announced aid for farmers, expected to total $28 billion. [...]

In one short, simple sentence written some years ago, US scholar and Russia expert Stephen F Cohen got to the heart of the matter: “The Cold War ended in Moscow, but not in Washington.” This indispensable context is how the section of Russian President Vladimir Putin's March 1, 2018, address to the Russian Federal Assembly, dealing with foreign policy and security, has to be understood. [...]

The US Congress has moved forward with legislation to impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project in defiance of criticism from Washington's allies in Europe, as the joint venture brings together Russia’s Gazprom, Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall, Austria’s OMV, France’s Engie, and Anglo-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell. [...]

One week ahead of the Russian presidential election, President Vladimir Putin appeared in a feature-length promotional film, where he shared some of his core beliefs. In the movie, released today, Vladimir Putin answered how he manages self-control in different situations, saying “When somebody loses his temper, he shows weakness. [...]

Japanese national broadcaster NHK has calculated the potential economic loss to the country from suicides at more than $4 billion a year. The calculation is based on 23,000 suicide victims in 2015, aged from 15 to 69 years, and had they lived and worked until their 70s. [...]