The US has a serious addiction problem. George W Bush previously warned about its “addiction to oil”. Current President Trump this week declared the nation’s addiction to opiate drugs an “emergency”. While his predecessor Barack Obama’s calls for firearms controls following numerous mass shootings fueled concerns of “gun addiction”. [...]

While the European Union has failed to provide coordinated assistance to Italy in time to prevent the virus, Russia has filled in and dispatched military health workers, virologists and equipment to help the country handle the pandemic. A video went viral of an Italian man replacing a European Union flag with a Russian one, in a gesture of gratitude to Moscow for helping combat the corona [...]

A Russian interceptor has been scrambled to stop a rogue US fighter jet from actively interfering with an anti-terrorist operation, the Russian Defense Ministry said. It also accused the US of provoking close encounters with the Russian jets in Syria. [...]

BERGAMO, Italy - Russian military personnel and Italian military nuclear, biological and chemical experts have jointly disinfected nursing homes in three settlements in Italy's Lombardy region, the Russian Defence Ministry announced on Saturday. "Russian military experts, together with the military personnel of the radiation, chemical and biological protection unit of the Italian armed forces disi [...]

Baroness Cox, a member of the House of Lords, shared her views on the future of Syria, highlighting Russia’s success in “expelling” terrorist groups from the country and giving the Syrian people the right to choose their own future. At the same time in a revealing interview to Sputnik she expressed her concerns (and hopes) with UK policy in Syria. [...]

Austrians will soon be able to walk with no restrictions and gather in groups of 10, as coronavirus measures will be gradually lifted starting next month. The easing of the self-isolation measures was announced by Health Minister Rudolf Anschober, who said that the spread of the novel coronavirus remains quite slow and the forecast for the upcoming month looks “very good.” He also said that th [...]

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has become the wealthiest person in history and the first to outrank Microsoft’s Bill Gates on the rich list, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Gates was the only one to have made 13-figure fortune. [...]

American LNG exports are estimated to have dropped by around a half since January due to a collapse in demand which led to lack of storage space in overseas facilities. Buyers of US-extracted liquefied natural gas (LNG) may cancel up to 60 percent of July orders, as the energy industry is reeling from a global glut caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg reports, citing a survey of [...]

Israeli pilots are taking a stand against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mission to expel tens of thousands of African migrants from the country, publicly declaring they will not “deport refugees to their death.” [...]

Amnesty International’s latest report details that it has logged at least 125 separate cases of police violence against US residents within two weeks of the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Officers across the nation were accused by Amnesty on Tuesday of violating the human rights of peaceful protesters, bystanders and members of the press 125 times between May 26 [...]

Joe Biden keeps scoffing at Russia and seems to genuinely believe it is a rapidly declining power. This incorrect assumption suggests senior US politicians are receiving extremely poor intel on the subject. At first glance, Biden would make an unlikely fan of the Scottish writer J.M. Barrie, [...]

US President Donald Trump accused the Pentagon’s top brass of starting wars in order to hand billions to arms makers, drawing shocked reactions from his liberal critics and foreign policy hawks – some playing both roles at once. “I'm not saying the military's in love with me – the soldiers are,” the president said at a White House press conference on Monday. [...]

Russian lawmakers have called for a thorough investigation on the origins of the man-portable missile launcher that was likely used by militants in Syria to shoot down a Russian fighter jet before killing the pilot in a firefight. "Certainly, we will investigate, including a great many things: [...]

The World Health Organization expects Europe to see a rise in the daily number of Covid-19 deaths in October and November, the head of the body's European branch told AFP. Cases in Europe have risen sharply in recent weeks, especially in Spain and France. More than 51,000 new cases were reported on Friday alone in the 55 countries monitored by WHO Europe, which is more than the highest peak in Ap [...]

On his five-day Mideast trip US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is travelling through states dissatisfied with Donald Trump's foreign policy which makes his tour a "mission impossible," Joseph Camilleri, Emeritus Professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, and fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, has told Radio Sputnik. [...]

According to the hacktivist collective, the files provide, for the first time, “a detailed map” on the British intelligence services’ clandestine operations in Syria to fund, arm and provide a sanitized, publicly acceptable media voice to an array of opposition militants and jihadists seeking to topple the Assad government. Anonymous, the international hacking group behind the 2018 [...]

An article mentioning “NATO’s Eastern Front” in a headline got Germany’s Die Welt newspaper in hot water, with furious readers accusing it of warmongering. The term Eastern Front is associated with the 1941 Nazi invasion of USSR. [...]

Americans were stunned to learn that the Doctors Without Borders humanitarian aid group is operating inside the US to help with Covid-19, after CNN medical expert Dr. Sanjay Gupta drew attention to their efforts. “This is probably one of the worst stories I’ve covered in my career here at CNN. … Doctors Without Borders have come to the United States to do their work,” Gupta said, whi [...]

Commenting on President Putin recently touting advanced Russian weapons and lawmaker Alexander Sherin signaling Moscow's readiness to stand up for its partners, including Ankara, Turkish military expert Beyazit Karatas told Sputnik that these statements indicate that Ankara does not need NATO's deterrence systems. [...]

Any mention of the prosecution of Julian Assange has been removed from the EU's latest report on fundamental rights, despite the best efforts of MEPs such as Ireland's Clare Daly. The European Parliament passed the final version of the fundamental rights report for 2018 - 2019 on 25 November, excluding any mention of imprisoned publisher and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. An amendment [...]

Russia will speed up the delivery of its S-400 air defense systems to Turkey at the latter’s request, says Russian presidential aide Vladimir Kozhin. Talking to TV channel Rossiya 24, Kozhin, aide on military and technical cooperation to the president of Russia, said that Russia plans to start shipping the systems in early 2020. [...]

By ending visa-free access to Hong Kong for US officials, China is trying to curb their links with protesters. It’s another example of how Beijing is keen to barricade the city from what it sees as corrosive foreign influence. Earlier this week, the United States slapped a series of sanctions on 14 members of China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee. [...]