China is the world's biggest crude consumer and buys most of its oil from Russia. However, most settlements are still in US dollars. The launch of the petro-yuan now allows Moscow and Beijing to use national currencies instead. China and Russia are actively reducing dependence on the dollar in bilateral trade. In October 2017, Beijing launched a payment system for transactions in yuan and Russian [...]

The amount of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the US is growing so rapidly that the country has a potential to become the new epicenter of the pandemic, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) has said on Tuesday. WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris was asked whether the US could become the new epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic. “We are now seeing a very large acceleration in [...]

The Western response to the Salisbury poison attack on ex-Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal is clear, but not unanimous. Austria, alongside some other European countries, has refused to expel Russian diplomats, though Vienna expressed "unqualified solidarity with the UK." The British ambassador to Austria repeatedly expressed a demarche to Vienna because of the Austrian side's refusal to [...]

President Donald Trump last week hinted that the US would wade into the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia at the appropriate time, saying low gasoline prices were good for American consumers despite hurting the industry. US President Donald Trump was quite happy with Saudi Arabia’s plans to oust Russia from certain oil markets by hiking oil production, Politico reports citin [...]

After paying billions in fines over an emissions-cheating scandal in the US, Volkswagen now has to park thousands of bought-back diesel automobiles at nearly 40 facilities across America. The German automaker has paid over $7.4 billion to buy back nearly 350,000 diesel vehicles in the US as of February, according to the court filing, seen by Reuters. [...]

The initial human volunteers have been selected to test a Russian vaccine against the deadly new coronavirus in trials set to begin in late June. The project's chief developer is leading by example by taking his place among them. Work on the biological preparation began in February at the Vector Institute, Russia’s leading virology and biotechnology research center. It's based in Novosibirsk, th [...]

From the Archives:  As President Trump faces opposition from his generals to pull U.S. troops from Syria, here's a look back to a similar fix another new president had gotten himself into, as Ray McGovern reported on March 28, 2009. I was wrong. I had been saying that it would be naïve to take too seriously presidential candidate Barack Obama’s rhetoric regarding the need to escalate the war [...]

The Covid-19 pandemic should be a rallying call to change an economic system that spends billions each year on the tools of war but can't produce a decent healthcare system, bestselling author John Perkins told RT. Perkins is best known for his book 'Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,' in which he describes how American corporate elites plunder other nations to enrich themselves. [...]

"Smart missiles should fly toward terrorists, not legal governments": Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman said in response to Donald Trump's tweet. Radio Sputnik discussed Donald Trump’s warning to launch strikes against Syria with Mark Taliano, an independent investigative reporter and author of the book 'Voices from Syria'. [...]

The murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police has forced the American people to take a long, hard look at their country and what it stands for. The rest of the world is looking too. It is not a pretty picture. The image of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, prompting a plaintive cry for help (“I can’t breathe”) before dyi [...]

After allegations of a chemical attack in Syria, Western fighter jets were soon revving their engines, ready to unleash a “humanitarian intervention.” Chemical weapons inspectors were on their way to the Syrian town of Douma to investigate whether an attack had actually happened, but cruise missiles and tornado jets can go extremely fast, and embarrassingly arrived a whole day before the in [...]

Amid the ongoing pandemic multiple nations and regions are re-introducing restrictive measures and halting travel to affected areas. The number of cases is spiking dramatically in Latin America, India, and the US. At the moment, the United States remains the worst-hit country with over 5 million confirmed cases and at least 163,000 deceased, according to Johns Hopkins University. Brazil o [...]

There has been no recent reporting on the Skripal case in which a British-Russian double agent and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury, England. There even seem to be attempts to change the public record of the case. The British government alleged that the Skripals were poisoned by Novichok, a deadly nerve agent, and blamed Russia for it. There are stiill many open questions to ask but the [...]

The Arctic Palladium project which involves development of several platinum-group metal deposits on Russia’s Taimyr Peninsula is nearing completion. It is expected to turn Russia into the world’s top producer of platinum metals. The platinum-group metals (PGMs) is a group of six metals: ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum. They have similar physical and chemical p [...]

Donald Trump’s trashing of the Iran nuclear deal this week was not just an attack on Iranian sovereign interests. The US president was also poking European allies in the eye. In abruptly withdrawing the US from the international nuclear treaty, Trump warned that his administration was preparing to re-impose harsh sanctions on Tehran, and that those sanctions would also hit European commercial in [...]

After months of campaign promises to help ordinary Americans, President Donald Trump’s first 100 days have revealed that his true policy priorities are benefitting corporations and the wealthiest few at the expense of everyone else. His actions and those of his administration have been characterized by broken promises, gross conflicts of interest, and a stark erosion of transparency, ethics, and [...]

I have written and spoken extensively about the agenda behind the unfolding global financial crisis and here I will expose the coordinating force, or at least the prime one, behind that agenda and so much else, including 9/11. It is widely known as Zionism or, as I call it, more accurately, I suggest … Rothschild Zionism. I add the ‘Rothschild’ to constantly emphasise the true creators of [...]

The US State Department has warned the Turkish government of “potential serious consequences” to the two nations’ security relationship should reports of Ankara testing the Russian S-400 air defense systems prove true. “If confirmed, we would condemn in the strongest terms the S-400 test missile launch as incompatible with Turkey’s responsibilities as a NATO ally and strategic partn [...]

Overwhelmed by the city’s growing homeless population, which has increased by 12 percent in just two years, and facing an increase in complaints from neighborhoods about encampments, the Los Angeles City Council has declared a “shelter crisis.” The measure was adopted by the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday in a 14-0 vote. [...]