Interviews

UK Labour MP Emily Thornberry said on 6 February she denounced the Venezuelan government, indirectly accusing Nicolas Maduro of 'betraying' socialism and advocating snap elections in Caracas. The news comes weeks before seven Labour MPs resigned from the Labour party over UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's stance on the Latin American country.

The Andrei Stenin International Photo Contest is an annual competition for young photojournalists aged between 18 and 33, and serves as a Russian platform for exciting new talent, allowing them to make a name for themselves on the world stage.

In 2017, Russia and Zambia signed a deal to cooperate in the construction of a nuclear science and technology centre in Zambia, which is expected to begin in 2019. Sputnik spoke on the issue as well as on additional prospects for cooperation between the two countries with Zambian Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Malanji.

With nearly forty years having passed since his untimely murder, John Lennon remains one of the most iconic musicians to have ever lived, with both his solo releases, and of course albums with the Beatles retaining their popularity in the modern era.

The Spanish central government has called a general election; as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faces a crisis of confidence from his Catalan backers. Could he be ousted after less than a year in power? Sputnik spoke with Andrew Dowling; Reader in Hispanic Studies at Cardiff University for more…

On 14 February, UK lawmakers voted to reject May's motion asking the legislature to reaffirm support for her efforts to seek changes to the divorce agreement after the original deal was voted down on January 15th.

US President Donald Trump will use his executive authority to declare a national emergency in order to secure border wall funding, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed in a statement on 14 February. Sputnik discussed this issue with with Dr. Clodagh Harrington, Associate Professor of American Politics, at De Montfort University.

The 15th of February marks the 30th anniversary of the pullout of Soviet troops from the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. The Soviet-Afghan War lasted from December 1979 to February 1989, with troops from the Soviet Army and its allied Afghan government forces fighting against the Mujahideen, supported by the United States and its allies.

In an exclusive interview with Sputnik, former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai summed up a two-day "intra-Afghan" summit in Moscow (5-6 Feb), gave his assessment of the US negotiations with the Taliban and spoke of Russia's role in advancing the peace process in Afghanistan.

The situation in Caracas is deteriorating, with some countries recognising self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido as the head state of Venezuela. Rome, however, has refused to recognise Guaido, stressing that it is crucial to avoid a military conflict in the South American country.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Sputnik whether he is ready for direct talks with the Israeli prime minister in Russia and what he thinks about US actions in the Middle East. He also spoke about what the State of Palestine will do to have its independence officially recognized, about reconciliation with Hamas, and relations with Israel.

UAE’s ambassador to India, Dr. Ahmed Albanna, in an exclusive interview with Sputnik said that by observing 2019 as the “Year of Tolerance,” his country is aiming to challenge extremism doctrines of hatred and intolerance and to expose religious misinterpretations that are being propagated by terrorists worldwide.

In an exclusive interview with Sputnik, Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, revealed how he was kidnapped in Syria and ended up imprisoned in Lebanon, and explained what he really knows about the disappearance of famous Shia religious leader Musa al-Sadr.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Valentina Shvartsman - Washington and Moscow are far from negotiating a new deal to replace the dying INF treaty during the current US administration, but they should strike a deal that would include North Korea and China in the future, Howard Stoffer, a former UN SC counter-terror official and an ex-US diplomat, told Sputnik.

Venezuela has been mired in yet another crisis as US-backed opposition candidate Juan Guaidó openly declared himself acting president on 23 January amid an ongoing political coup against current Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro's government, with the Venezuelan Supreme Court freezing Guaidó's accounts and barring him from leaving the country.

New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch published a scathing report lambasting the governments of China, Russia, Venezuela, Iran and other traditionally 'anti-US' nations, accusing the former of everything from dissappearing former Interpol president Meng Hongwei to censoring the US-backed #MeToo movement, without providing sources or evidence.

Tourism contributes a sizeable 10 percent to the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made all-round efforts to boost this sector and in his tenure, the e-visa policy, which was launched in November 2014 for 44 countries at nine airports, has now been extended to 166 countries at 26 airports and three seaports.

Sputnik has interviewed Gustavo Tarre, ambassador to the Organisation of American States (OAS) that Venezuela’s National Assembly appointed despite a decision by the legitimate government under Nicolas Maduro to withdraw the country’s membership in the organisation.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Asgardia, a micro-nation that calls itself a space kingdom whose territory currently consists of one satellite orbiting around the Earth, seeks to make the Internet nearly free for all users by launching a vast network of satellites and using optical transmission, Minister of Finance of Asgardia Leon Shpilsky told Sputnik.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has given an exclusive interview to Sputnik, discussing relations with Russia, the ongoing crisis in the Latin American state and prospects for negotiations with the Guaido-led opposition, as well as US policy toward Caracas, including new sanctions on state oil company PDVSA.