It’s time for the US to “get out of ridiculous endless wars,” President Donald Trump said ahead of a withdrawal of US troops from border areas in northeastern Syrian as the Turkish military prepares for an anti-Kurdish incursion. [...]

Russia began trial production of the next-generation mobile air defense system earlier this year, and plans to start mass production of the system in the second half of next year. The operational effectiveness of Russia’s S-500 air and missile defense system “greatly exceeds any active air defense system in the world,” China’s Sina news portal has suggested. [...]

Yemeni Houthi rebels have released footage of what they say was a victorious offensive on the border with Saudi Najran province. It shows scores of captured military troops, including what seem to be Saudi officers, and hardware. [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Department of State has approved a proposed sale of 150 Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine in a deal valued at nearly $40 million, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a press release on Thursday.  "The Government of Ukraine has requested to buy one hundred fifty (150) Javelin missiles and ten (10) Javelin Command Launch Units (CLUs)," the releas [...]

A missile-attack warning system that Moscow is helping Beijing put together will drastically increase China’s defense capabilities, President Vladimir Putin said, noting that only Russia and the US currently have such technology. [...]

Investigative journalist Jurij Kofner is a German citizen. To question the extent to which his country’s policy decisions are influenced by America’s agenda, he explores Germany’s post-war history to understand how relations with the US were formed. He also looks into the dynamics of the two countries’ cooperation under the umbrella of NATO [...]

Russia and Turkey are discussing possible deliveries of Russia's Su-35 or Su-57 fighters, with Ankara expressing significant interest in this purchase, Russia's federal military-technical cooperation service reported, following Erdogan's visit to Moscow. [...]

Under development since 2012, the 20+ tonne stealthy flying wing design began rigorous military testing earlier this year. The Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik heavy unmanned combat aerial vehicle may one day become a full-fledged replacement for all sorts of combat aircraft, including the latest generation of Russian fighter jets, Izvestia has reported, citing the military and a military aircraft specialist [...]

The US Treasury Department designated a Russian maritime company, three Sovfracht directors and five vessels for an alleged scheme to evade sanctions to facilitate the delivery of jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria. [...]

PATRIOT PARK, Russia (Sputnik) - Russia is ready to deliver S-400 air defence systems to Iran, but it has not received a relevant request from Iran yet, the press service of the Russian Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation told Sputnik on Friday. [...]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia does not rule out discussing with Iran deliveries of air defence assets and radio-electronic equipment to the country, as well as the creation of an integrated system of Persian Gulf security, Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation Director Dmitry Shugayev said. [...]

Previously, a source in the Russian Defence Ministry expressed an opinion that American Patriot systems, which were protecting the oil refineries, failed to do their job due to their low efficiency against drone swarm attacks. [...]

Testing started earlier this year, the 20+ tonne flying wing design, thought to be capable of carrying up to 2.8 tonnes of precision armament, has been dubbed the Hunter (‘Okhotnik’). The Russian Ministry of Defence has released footage of the first flight of the Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik drone, showing the unmanned aerial vehicle taking off from a test airfield and conducting a 20 minute flight at [...]

The United States kicked Turkey off its F-35 program after Ankara opted to buy the Russian S-400 air defense system. Experts believe that Turkey may now look to buy its military aircraft from Russia. The Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Mustafa Şentop, said earlier this week that Turkey may buy Su-35 and Su-57 fighter jets on favorable terms after the US kicked it off its F-35 st [...]

Mikhail Galperin, Russia's deputy justice minister and representative in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), and UK lawyer Michael Swainston have been added to the database of the notorious website that lists Ukraine’s public enemies, but the court has nothing to say about it. [...]

The president went on the offensive against Beijing at the General Assembly on Tuesday, saying he wouldn’t accept a “bad deal” on trade, and accusing China of using “massive market barriers, heavy state subsidies, currency manipulation,” and other malign tactics, while urging the country to “honour” its commitment to “protect Hong Kong’s freedom.” [...]

Last week, the Trump administration imposed new economic sanctions against Iran, targeting its central bank and its sovereign wealth fund. The head of Iran’s Central Bank Abdolnaser Hemmati said Wednesday that Iran and Russia have turned to bilateral trade in national currencies as both countries fall under US sanctions. [...]

The UK government has ruled out a peaceful intervention to save historic travel agent Thomas Cook, and 9,000 jobs, but has declined to rule out (a far more expensive) military intervention in the Gulf. [...]

Now that US military aid to Kiev has been weaponized in the rapidly heating civil war in Washington itself, it would be the perfect time to confront the fact that US meddling was primarily responsible for the chaos in Ukraine. [...]

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Nitze, armed with surface-to-air and Tomahawk cruise missiles, was redeployed off the northeast coast of Saudi Arabia, as part of the US effort to “plug the holes” in its ally’s air defenses. [...]

Chinese trade negotiators suddenly changed their plans on Friday, cancelling a visit to meet US farmers after they wrapped up trade talks in Washington this week. The Chinese delegation has changed its travel schedule heading back to China earlier than planned, according to Nicole Rolf, the Montana Farm Bureau Federation’s director of national affairs. [...]

An explosive essay calling out the lack of legitimate expertise about Iran ought to be a wake-up call for the US foreign policy field. Yet the same problem also affects Washington’s analysis of Russia, China and many other places. Imagine a field of study in which less than a third of the experts had related doctorates, half of them could not read, speak or write the language required, and just [...]