A troubling new report released by the Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM) today states that President Putin has issued a dreaded “Black Notice” to all Russian ministries banning the foreign travel of all “vital and essential” civilian and military persons under the powers granted to him by Articles 87 and 88 of the Constitution. The... 

The United States engineered a text messaging network in Cuba to try and spread unrest in the communist country. More than 40,000 people have shared news and opinions using the service. The documents obtained by the Associated Press state the project was led by Joe McSpedon, a US government official, who attracted a team of high-tech wizards from around the globe to set up a site that could reach... 

Shortly after the US warned Russia over its “provocative actions” with regard Ukraine… *KERRY: RUSSIA MILITARY MOVE ON UKRAINE WOULD BE GRAVE MISTAKE RiaNovosti reports defense minister Sergei Shoigu saying Russia plans “to expand permanent military presence outside its borders by placing military bases in a number of foreign countries,” including Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua,... 

A large screen shows Cuba’s President Raul Castro speaking at the opening ceremony of the CELAC Summit in Havana, Cuba on January 28, 2014. Cuban President Raul Castro has urged cooperation between Latin American and Caribbean nations without the involvement of the United States. “We should establish a new regional and international cooperation paradigm,” Castro said in Havana on... 

In 1994, Cuba established the dual monetary system following the fall of the Soviet Union, which financially supported Cuba for decades. Cuba’s top economic official says the government will eliminate a currency pegged to the US dollar, in a move to end its dual-currency system and address problems of economic inequality. Vice-President Marino Murillo told parliament on Friday that the convertible... 

After years of being held at the US Naval Base in Cuba without trial, Ibrahim Idris, one of two Sudanese detainees released on Thursday, said US prison officials had “systematically tortured” him in the course of his 11-year imprisonment at Gitmo. Idris, who has been described by US officials as mentally ill, delivered his comments in a news conference in Khartoum, just hours after returning... 

Russia is going to write off 90 percent of Cuba’s $32 billion Soviet-era debt as part of a deal to end a 20-year dispute, according to diplomatic sources cited by Reuters. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev agreed to write off the island’s debt during a visit to Havana in February 2013, stressing details would be finalized by the end of the year. In October, the two sides announced a refinancing... 

In an overwhelming UN vote, 188 countries have called on the US to lift its 53-year trade embargo on Cuba. Havana has slammed the financial sanctions as a flagrant violation of human rights and said they are tantamount to genocide. The recording-breaking opposition to the embargo saw Israel isolated as the only country to vote in support of the US. Palau, the island nation that got behind the US last... 

Twenty-one countries, including US allies France and Mexico, have now joined talks to hammer out a UN resolution that would condemn “indiscriminate” and “extra-territorial” surveillance, and ensure “independent oversight” of electronic monitoring. The news was reported by Foreign Policy magazine, which has also obtained a copy of the draft text. The resolution was proposed earlier this... 

Havana – Renowned Cuban and foreign professors attend the XIII International Course on Dengue, expected to be held on the premises of the Institute of Tropical Medicine “Pedro Kourí” (IPK), in the Cuban capital from August 12 to 23. The current epidemiological situation, surveillance, genome replication, viral challenges and advances in vaccines, vector ecology, control methods,... 

A Panamanian presidential security detail walks on the deck of North Korean-flagged ship at the Manzanillo International container terminal in Panama on July 16, 2013. Panamanian officials have announced detaining a North Korean flagged ship at the Panama Canal, alleging that the vessel, which departed from Cuba, was engaged in arms trafficking. Panama’s President Ricardo Martinelli said on Tuesday... 

Ex-CIA contractor Edward Snowden was not seen aboard the plane to Havana on which he was reportedly traveling, reports RT’s correspondent on the flight. The plane has already landed in the Cuban capital. The Russian airline Aeroflot previously confirmed that Snowden had checked in for flight SU150 to Havana with two seats (17A and 17C) in his name. However, journalists on board the plane said there... 

Washington says it expects the Russian government to ‘look at all options available’ to expel Edward Snowden to the US to face espionage charges. That’s after the White House expressed ‘disappointment’ China and Hong Kong didn’t detain the NSA leaker. “We expect the Russian government to look at all options available to expel Mr. Snowden back to the U.S. to... 

Maintenance of Guantanamo has been revealed to cost over $150 million each year, with immediate estimates citing it one of the most expensive prisons in the world. This comes as the hunger strike at the detention facility is far from over. Follow RT’s day-by-day timeline of the Gitmo hunger strike. The prison camp situated at the US naval base in Cuba costs over $900,000 annually per prisoner, placing... 

A force-feeding chair at US Guantanamo military prison’s psychiatric ward, called the Behavioral Medical Unit, taken from a military handout video dated April 10, 2013. The UN human rights body has censured force-feeding of hunger striking captives at US military prison and torture camp in Guantanamo, Cuba as “torture” and a violation of international law, while the number of inmates being force-fed...