LONDON: A letter from T.E. Lawrence in which he complained he was no longer able to travel outside the UK, less than 15 years after his role in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, sold at auction on Thursday for more than $14,000. In the letter, written in October 1932, Lawrence expresses h»»»

Everything that has kept the Russian economy growing since 2020 has now been exhausted and long-term growth could drop to 1.6%, a Kremlin think tank told Vladimir Putin on August 19. Without a change of model, growth settles at 1.6% a year over the coming decade - roughly half the 3% Putin has set »»»

An upcoming network of railways and highways stretching from Russia to the Indian Ocean coast will become a mega project comparable to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Andrey Grozin of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies explains to Sputnik. The recent transport crises a»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Western countries do not view Ukraine as an independent state but use it as a staging ground for threats against Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. "Judging by its course in recent years, I mean the West, it does not even need Ukraine a»»»

BusinessGlobal issuesDrought in Germany and Europe are driving up costsAstrid Prange de OliveiraOngoing drought in Europe is causing rivers to dry up and crops to fail. Transport costs are rising and the price of food has exploded. Is inflation due to extreme weather? https://p.dw.com/p/5J9iUThe Rh»»»

Central bankers do not usually forecast the weather. The European Central Bank's chief economist has just put one into his. The Climate Crisis has gone beyond a fringe obsession of hippie tree-hugers and entered the studies of central bankers, who have been forced to sit up and take notice of the u»»»

Russia and Myanmar signed ten documents in the Kremlin on August 18, including a joint declaration on countering Western sanctions. The talks between Vladimir Putin and Myanmar's president Min Aung Hlaing produced a package covering nuclear power, liquefied natural gas, a deep-water port and search»»»

Riyadh: Known to thousands simply as Falafel in Hotpot, Xuling, a Chinese/Arabic content creator, has built a unique platform connecting two of the world’s oldest civilizations — those of China and Saudi Arabia. Through language, culture, and everyday experiences, she shares a fresh perspective on »»»

A frigate from Russia’s Northern Fleet is escorting the LNG carrier Portovyy en route from the Baltic Sea towards Murmansk. The tanker is likely to proceed to the Northern Sea Route. The two vessels were spotted together in the Baltic Sea earlier this week. The frigate Admiral Kasatonov was on its »»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Union is aiding terrorism by transferring income from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. "Transferring funds to Ukraine is nothing less than aiding and abetting terrorist attacks. This is a direct»»»

Central bankers do not usually forecast the weather. The European Central Bank's chief economist has just put one into his. The Climate Crisis has gone beyond a fringe obsession of hippie tree-hugers and entered the studies of central bankers, who have been forced to sit up and take notice of the u»»»

Moscow continues to send GRU officers to Norway under diplomatic cover. The Barents Observer looks at their identities. Colonel Sergei Belousov has held the position of military attaché at the Russian embassy in Oslo since around the middle of 2025. According to leaked data, Belousov is registered »»»

Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica has accused YouTube of waging a “war” against people who think independently and “tell the truth,” after the Google-owned platform deleted his channel without any warning. YouTube removed Kusturica’s ‘My Life’ channel on Wednesday, without publicly elaborating on th»»»

Russia is destroying Ukraine's weapons “before they ever end up being used against its troops,” Viktor Litovkin, a retired Russian Army colonel and veteran military analyst, tells Sputnik. Russia's strikes on military plants, logistics hubs, and weapons depots pack a triple whammy effect: Ukraine c»»»

Dubai: Tensions across the Middle East escalated on multiple fronts on Thursday, with a US aircraft carrier strike group arriving in the region, a tanker reportedly seized by armed men off Yemen, and President Donald Trump threatening further economic pressure on Iran. Gulf states called for de-esc»»»

Moscow continues to send GRU officers to Norway under diplomatic cover. The Barents Observer looks at their identities. Colonel Sergei Belousov has held the position of military attaché at the Russian embassy in Oslo since around the middle of 2025. According to leaked data, Belousov is registered »»»

Moscow continues to send GRU officers to Norway under diplomatic cover. The Barents Observer looks at their identities. Colonel Sergei Belousov has held the position of military attaché at the Russian embassy in Oslo since around the middle of 2025. According to leaked data, Belousov is registered »»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom is holding talks with another 15 countries on the construction of nuclear power plants, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said on Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin convened a meeting to discuss the development of nuclear energy. On Th»»»

Today, nuclear energy is a source of pride for Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. Putin convened a meeting on the development of nuclear energy. On Thursday, the Russian nuclear industry marks the 81st anniversary of its founding."Today, nuclear energy - with its powerful concentration »»»

This week The Telegraph reported that “Russians withdraw billions from banks amid fears Putin could seize deposits.” What actually happened is Russian bank deposits have doubled since the start of the war in Ukraine and are still rising. Russians are not taking money out of banks; they are putting »»»

A local man inspects the aftermath of Russian missile strike on a residential area of Kyiv early Thursday. Photo by Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A Russian aerial assault on Kyiv overnight killed at least 13 people and injured 40, with officials saying Ukraine was effectively defenseless ag»»»

In the first six months of 2026, coal was among the commodities that generated a significant trade surplus for Kyrgyzstan, with the surplus exceeding $44,725.7 million. Coal and lignite exports were 7.5 times higher than imports. The main export destinations were Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China, a»»»

The scenario that keeps Western planners awake is easy to describe and, it turns out, almost entirely unstudied: Russia moves on a Nato member while China moves on Taiwan, The Atlantic reported on August 17. Asked what the West would actually do if Russia and China opened two fronts in Europe and T»»»

The scenario that keeps Western planners awake is easy to describe and, it turns out, almost entirely unstudied: Russia moves on a Nato member while China moves on Taiwan, The Atlantic reported on August 17. Asked what the West would actually do if Russia and China opened two fronts in Europe and T»»»

U.S. President Donald Trump pledged "economic warfare" against Iran and threatened any country that trades with it, prompting Iran to dismiss the plan on Thursday as a continuation of failed policies. The war between the two countries, started by the U.S. and Israel in February, appears stalemated,»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia appreciates the efforts of all countries that sincerely want to contribute to the Ukrainian settlement, but there are still few of them, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. "We highly appreciate the efforts of all countries that demonstrate a sincere desire t»»»

Around 1 billion soms has already been paid to oil traders in Kyrgyzstan in subsidies to keep retail prices for gasoline, diesel fuel and autogas down, the Antimonopoly Regulation Service reported. According to the agency, the actual cost of fuel is currently significantly higher than the prices mo»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian armed forces took control of Nikolaipolye settlement in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday. "Units the Yug battlegroup, as a result of active operations, liberated the settlement of Nikolaipolye in the Donetsk People's R»»»

Russia has begun deploying upgraded Pantsir-SMD air defense systems designed with recent combat experience. The Pantsir-SMD can carry up to 48 mini-missiles for intercepting FPV and reconnaissance drones while also using standard missiles against larger aerial targets.The latest surface-to-air miss»»»

Applications have so far been submitted by athletes from 112 countries for the World Nomad Games, including Australia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Spain, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, the United States, Uzbekistan and others, the Gam»»»

The biotech process development center at Sputnik Technopolis, operated by R-Pharm Group - a resident of the Technopolis Moscow special economic zone - is working on 11 original molecules to develop new therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases, announced Deputy Mayor Maxim Liksutov. "Following »»»

In the first half of 2026, Kyrgyzstan’s foreign trade deficit in dairy products reached $12,772.7 million, despite a significant increase in exports by domestic producers in June. Total imports were almost 1.8 times higher than exports and amounted to $29,406 million, highlighting the domestic mark»»»

A Russian Il-76 firefighting aircraft crossed Bulgarian airspace on Wednesday evening before landing in Serbia, where it has joined efforts to contain large-scale wildfires. Serbian authorities thanked Moscow for the assistance, while the flight also prompted questions in Bulgaria over the circumst»»»

A Russian missile barrage overnight on Thursday killed at least 12 people and wounded 40 in Kyiv as explosions echoed across the capital throughout the night, local authorities said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had been preparing the attack "for a long time".  Russian bo»»»

The US has imposed sanctions on two senior International Criminal Court (ICC) officials, accusing The Hague-based institution of overstepping its authority. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday designated ICC President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, describing the court a»»»

Relying on arms supplies from Europe, Zelensky has escalated strikes on Russia’s civilian populated areas, Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik says. "Terrorist warfare is the strategy chosen by Zelensky… The targets of these deliberate strikes are the civilian population and civilian objec»»»

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP): Australia will begin to sell uranium to India for peaceful purposes after the two countries' leaders signed an administrative deal Thursday, enacting an agreement on exports of the material that was held up for years over concerns about weapons use. Australia's Prime M»»»

At the end of August and beginning of September, Kyrgyzstan expects an unprecedented number of high-level guests. In connection with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit and the opening of the VI World Nomad Games, the country is expected to be visited by the heads of 21 states. This »»»

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year, seeking to revive their first-term relationship. Trump said it was important to “get along” with Kim and claimed Pyongyang possessed 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, amid concerns among US »»»

KYIV/MOSCOW: Attacks on shipping have shut down more ​than 97 percent of Russia and Ukraine’s grain export capacity in the Azov and Black Sea basin, cutting off a major source of low-cost supplies and helping to drive up global prices. The two major grain exporters have intensified attacks on ports»»»

Russian bombardment killed six people and wounded dozens in Ukraine's capital and its surrounding region overnight, authorities said Thursday. The attack that damaged residential buildings, a medical facility and an educational institution left five people dead and 23 wounded, the Kyiv city militar»»»

KYIV/MOSCOW, Aug 19 : Attacks on shipping have shut down more ​than 97 percent of Russia and Ukraine’s grain export capacity in the Azov and Black Sea basin, cutting off a major source of low-cost supplies and helping to drive up global prices. The two major grain exporters have intensified attacks»»»

MANAMA: The Kingdom of Bahrain welcomed the success of the mediation efforts undertaken by the United Arab Emirates between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Ukraine, which resulted in a new prisoner exchange involving 206 detainees from both sides. Bahrain described the achievement as a p»»»

Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) said the United States and Canada have reached a trade deal, with tariffs on Canadian imports expected to be reduced to zero for American farmers, subject to the finalisation of documents. "We had a very good conversation with the »»»

View taken from a Danish F-16 interceptor of the Nord Stream 2 gas leak just south of Dueodde, Denmark, on September 27, 2022. The leak was one of three on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. File Photo courtesy of Danish Defense | License Photo Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A Ukrainian man was arr»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Alice Weidel, co-chair of the opposition right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, accused the German government on Wednesday of remaining inactive four years after the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The German Attorney General's Office announced on Wedn»»»

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday the EU would "stand firmly" behind the International Criminal Court after the US levied new sanctions against its president, Tomoko Akane, in a move the ICC called a "flagrant attack" on its independence. "These sanctions are a flagr»»»

The Pacific is warming faster than at any point in history, and central bankers have started writing it into their forecasts. A super El Niño now under way began in June and is expected to run into 2027. Carbon Brief analysis of forecasts from 14 modelling groups finds that 96% of runs predict the »»»

From heavy Bayraktar drones and small, cheap FPV UAVs to ballistic, cruise and MLRS threats, NATO’s incremental delivery of ever-deadlier and more complex strike means to Ukraine was supposed to break Russia. Instead, it forged objectively the best air defense system in the world, Bureau of Militar»»»

Slovenian MP from the ruling Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) Žan Mahnič has called on the government to stop providing intelligence and security reports to President Nataša Pirc Musar, citing suspicions that she could be connected to a Russian spy network. The president's office strongly rejected »»»