The South China Sea has turned into Asia's battleground for supremacy between Beijing and Washington, Richard Javad Heydarian, a specialist in Asian geopolitical affairs, notes, adding that the US decades-long naval hegemony in the region may soon vanish into thin air. [...]

Early suspension of US reliance on the Russian RD-180 rocket engines to deliver heavy payloads into space will cost US taxpayers as much as $5 billion, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday. In 2014, the US Congress passed a law demanding [...]

Can the U.S. Department of Education be trusted to protect the millions of Americans with federal student loans? U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has tussled with the federal agency before, isn't so sure. She said as much in a letter (pdf) sent Thursday to acting Education Secretary John King Jr., [...]

The US-Chinese standoff in the South China Sea is heating up, with Washington dispatching a small armada to the area following reports that Beijing had reinforced a key island with fighters and air defenses. Much has been said and written about the dispute, with Russian analysts left pondering: if push comes to shove, what will Russia's role be? [...]

Certain people in America’s defense establishment believe that only governments that do Washington's bidding are “truly legitimate.” Others have ideological reasons to stir up tensions with Russia. This fuels discord and creates an unstable world. Imagine if a major Russian media outlet carried an article with the headline, “How We Can Defeat Obama.” [...]

The US State Department declined to answer questions about what information Washington may have shared with the Dutch authorities in the MH-17 probe. Dutch parliamentarians have criticized the absence of evidence the US said it had about the incident. [...]

As the British gear up for a referendum to decide whether or not to remain in the EU, the most important fact about the EU is never mentioned. This is the overwhelming influence the US exerts on it. Britain’s politicians and media completely ignore this, focusing instead on Germany. Wild claims are even made the EU is a “German empire” [...]

The FBI wants the encryption keys to the iPhone, yet has a poor track record since September 11, 2001 of protecting Constitutional rights. After an inexplicable and terrible crime was committed in December, leaving 14 dead and 22 injured in California, the public was informed that an act of terror had been committed. We were told that the culprits were a San Bernardino County Health Department [...]

The Obama administration, eager to assuage Saudi Arabia’s anger over the Iran nuclear deal and the failure to achieve “regime change” in Syria, has turned a blind eye to Riyadh’s savaging of Yemen, even though that is helping Al Qaeda militants expand their territory, writes Jonathan Marshall. For nearly a year, the Obama administration has turned a blind eye to the humanitarian catastr [...]

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, has lashed out at remarks recently made by the US State Department’s deputy spokesman, who urged Russia to “put up or shut up” over Syria’s truce, calling them rude and offensive. [...]

The ceasefire deal worked out by Russia and the United States indicates that Washington does not intend to help Turkey, should it decide to send ground forces to Syria and accidentally clash with Russia, former US diplomat Jim Jatras told RT. [...]

With the Syrian ceasefire set to take effect on Saturday, journalist Steven Sahiounie tells Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear about the situation on the ground, and describes Syrians’ hesitations about the United States’ true intentions. "There is hope, but on one condition: that the American government and their allies put pressure on Saudi Arabia and Turkey to stop their militants on the [...]

The Pentagon is pointing fingers in advance because it is unhappy with having the brakes put on some of the things it wanted to do in Syria, Karen Kwiatkowski, a retired US Air force Lieutenant Colonel, told RT. he relationship between Russia and the US has often been very strained but recently [...]

In my archives there is a column or two that introduces the reader to John Perkins’ important book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.  An EHM is an operative who sells the leadership of a developing country on an economic plan or massive development project. The Hit Man convinces a [...]

American soldiers are launching drones from a base in Cameroon. The surveillance flights bring the U.S. closer to the brutal war against Boko Haram. Yet the latest drone mission solidifies an alliance with an unsavory African strongman: Cameroonian President Paul Biya, who has clung to power for 33 years, almost as long as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and is regarded as a corrupt, remote, and aut [...]

Moscow is not discussing alternative plans for a political settlement in Syria, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has said. The Russian-American peace initiative is going to be formalized through a UN Security Council resolution. “We’re perplexed by our Western partners, the US included, mentioning the existence of some kind of ‘Plan B,’ Nothing is known on that one, we are consi [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has held phone talks on the ceasefire plan brokered by Moscow and Washington with the Syrian president and Saudi king, as well the leaders of Israel and Iran. Vladimir Putin and Bashar Assad held a phone conversation on Wednesday and “discussed various aspects of the Syrian crisis in the light of realization of the Russian-American declaration on cessation of [...]

The US media coverage of the Syrian war is completely divorced from reality, award-winning American author and foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer writes, adding that much of the US press is reporting the opposite of what is actually happening on the ground. Americans have almost no real information about what is going on in Syria, and much of the blame for this lies with US mainstream media, [...]

US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said that the United States encourages opposition groups in Syria to take part in ceasefire agreed on under US-Russia deal on Monday. The United States encourages opposition groups in Syria to take part in ceasefire agreed on under US-Russia deal on Monday, US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in a press release. [...]

Critics charge that the plan 'offers no viable solution to ending what Guantánamo represents, any more than it offers either freedom or justice for remaining prisoners.' President Barack Obama on Tuesday outlined his long-awaited plan to close the Guantánamo Bay military detention center in Cuba, [...]

A part of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) will not participate in the ceasefire deal unless al-Nusra Front is involved, a commander of Ahrar ash-Sham militants said Tuesday. On Monday, Russia and the United States announced an agreement on cessation of hostilities between the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad and the armed opposition factions had been reached. The agreement will come into [...]

By adopting terms for a cessation of hostilities together with Russia, the US showed Turkey it is not going to support Ankara’s efforts to send troops into Syria and NATO won’t come to rescue them later, former US diplomat Jim Jatras told RT. How confident can we be that this new agreement will hold?   [...]