Incumbent Chancellor and Christian Democrats chair Angela Merkel is to leave the top party post in December, having refused to see re-election. In contrast to the German “Mutti,” who opened the country's borders to over one million migrants in 2015, all three CDU leader candidates have spoken out for stricter regulation. [...]

More than 7 million Americans across 27 states are impacted. Water supplies for more than 7 million Americans in 27 states are contaminated with an industrial chemical at levels higher than what federal scientists say poses a minimal lifetime risk of cancer, according to a new analysis by Environmental Working Group (EWG). [...]

Russia is updating its navigation rules for a contingency involving another nation’s warships attempting to sail along the Northern Sea Route. Such a passage would require prior notification from the Defense Ministry. [...]

As President Trump taunts North Korea’s leader with schoolyard insults, the terrifying possibility is that his threat to “totally destroy” a country of 25 million people could involve the U.S. in another genocide, warns David Marks. The level of insult and hostile name-calling between world leaders was taken to a new extreme by Donald Trump in his speech before the U.N. General Assembly. [...]

Russia enjoys a record-low number of inmates, thanks to “humanization” of the penal code, deputy chief of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) has said, adding that the number of jailed people is expected to shrink further. Over the past few years, the number of inmates in Russia has dropped by nearly 250,000, the FSIN deputy head, Valeriy Maksimenko, told journalists on Friday. [...]

The Russia-NATO collaboration could be in jeopardy over the US' recent moves to enhance its military presence in Europe. "The United States is doing everything to push Russia to withdraw from the agreement. [...]

The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle flies 27 times faster than the speed of sound, making it impossible to intercept, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told Russia’s Zvezda television channel. Borisov spoke a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw what he described as the conclusive successful test of the Avangard and hailed it as a reliable guarantee of Russia’s security for de [...]

The gradual acceptance of digital currencies, with major exchanges about to launch bitcoin futures trading, may prompt some oil producing nations to ditch the US dollar in crude trade in favor of cryptocurrencies, an oil analyst says. Russia, Iran and Venezuela have more than one thing in common. All three are major oil producing nations dependent on the dollar since the global crude market i [...]

Set up by scammers to trick users into thinking there is a new update for their WhatsApp, a downloadable malware has been promoted via spam messages on the mobile application. Messages warning against a fake update called 'WhatsApp Gold' and a video supposedly carrying a virus called "martinelli," have resurfaced online. Users would receive a notification saying: "If you know anyone using [...]

Russian General Staff Chief Army General Valery Gerasimov said that there was movement of militants from the US base in Syria’s At-Tanf, which is currently fully blocked by the Syrian army. “In At-Tanf the area is blocked by the Syrian troops … The most important thing is that we witness movement of militants from there,” Gerasimov said. [...]

A cybercrime group has released thousands of documents related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. The group, which calls itself “The Dark Overlord”, stole the data from private insurance companies, law firms and government agencies and demanded a ransom. [...]

Ukraine’s hryvnia has hit rock bottom, now 34 against the euro. This is the lowest point for the Ukrainian currency ever tracked. The hryvnia has also plunged to a record low against the Russian ruble, trading at 4.99 hryvnia to 10 rubles. The Ukrainian currency is on its hat-trick against the US dollar. One dollar is worth 28.44 hryvnia; the historical record was 30.01 hryvnia in February 2015. [...]

VIENNA (Sputnik) - Austria supports Macedonia as well as other Western Balkan countries on their path toward EU membership, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Wednesday, following talks with Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in Vienna. [...]

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pointed the finger at Syrian President Bashar Assad for the reported chemical incident in East Ghouta, while ultimately blaming Russia for it, regardless of who actually committed the attack. [...]

Vladimir Putin unveiled that Russia had developed a new type of weapon that flies faster than the speed of sound and looks like a “fireball” in March 2018. Less than a week before the start of 2019, information about its successful test launch was released. [...]

Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to safeguard the United States from the purported evils of socialism – but critics note that the US president is fine with giving government subsidies to the rich and well-connected. [...]

The problem-ridden US fighter-jet, projected to become the backbone of the Norwegian defense, as well as the nation's costliest defense purchase, is being met with increasing criticism in the Nordic country, as complications keep piling up. Reds leader Bjørnar Moxnes expressed his indignation over billions of kroner splurged on a plane, which has "a thousand errors" and cannot be used half the ti [...]

As the US pushes for regime change in Venezuela, Caracas has moved closer to Moscow. Despite US claims that Russia threatens world democracy, analysts say it’s Washington which is responsible for neglect to international law. [...]

Syrian government forces discovered warehouses stocked with weapons and ammunition, including arms produced in Israel, in Deir Ez-Zor, which had been liberated from the terrorist group Daesh (ISIS) on February 14. A day later, the Syrian state news agency released footage of the weapons. [...]