The Kurils are part of Russia and a legitimate base for its military, the former president has said Moscow is not against signing a peace treaty with Japan, but Tokyo must understand that the Kuril Islands are and will remain part of Russia, former president Dmitry Medvedev has said.

Global credit rating agency S&P warned on Monday that it could cut Israel’s sovereign credit rating if the war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas expands to other fronts.   In October, S&P maintained Israel’s ‘AA-’ rating but lowered the country’s credit outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’, citing risks that the Israel-Hamas war could spill…

The dollar-based international financial system is becoming “risky,” the head of Russia’s central bank says More and more countries are looking for alternatives to the Belgium-based SWIFT financial messaging system, the head of the Russian central bank, Elvira Nabiullina, told RIA Novosti in an interview on Tuesday.