Lockheed Martin’s F-35, the most expensive aircraft in history, "is almost like an invisible fighter," in the words of US President Donald Trump; however, a new report indicates an Israeli version of the warplane showed up on a publicly accessible flight tracker on the web. The jet was detected by flight tracking site Flightradar24.com flying north along the Israeli coast after taking off from [...]

QUITO (Sputnik) - The defense for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who resides at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, is concerned about the Ecuadorian authorities' silence regarding his future, Assange's lawyer Carlos Poveda told Sputnik. "We sent two letters to the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry 10 days ago and five days ago respectively and expressed concern about the issue of refusal to grant [...]

A volunteer with the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, was caught on video dumping the mutilated bodies of Syrian Army troops. The volunteer was summarily fired by the group after he was filmed participating in the dumping of dead pro-Syrian government fighters. [...]

A far-reaching US Defense Department multi-project initiative to “train and equip” personnel around the world for the fight against terrorism (to the tune of billions) has failed to improve the capabilities of local fighters in more than half of its projects, according to a federal watchdog. [...]

The United States has been ramping up pressure on countries around the world in an effort to bring Iran’s oil revenue “down to zero.” Turkey will have no part in possible US sanctions on Iran, the newspaper Dunya reported, citing the country’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. “We had a US delegation here and we […] explained to them that we believe that [such moves] are a mistak [...]

Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) does not have specific data on possible attempts by Russia to affect the 2017 Bundestag elections, according to a report. "After Russia took measures to intervene in the presidential elections in the US and France, as well as launching numerous cyber attacks against the German Bundestag, politicians, parties and political [...]

A Czech politician has referred to Syria as an example of how dangerous it can be to ignore the rules laid down by the international community for the sake of defending "values" that are unable be clearly defined. Former Czech Foreign Minister Karl Schwarzenberg has slammed the current approach in modern world politics in an interview with the newspaper Basler Zeitung, suggesting that the pre- [...]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Hungarian government is unlikely to reverse its tough stance on migration and asylum policies, despite pressure from the European Union, though it may resort to minor concessions, Tibor Bana, the deputy chairman of Hungary’s parliamentary committee on European affairs, told Sputnik. [...]

BERLIN (Sputnik) – Germany recorded an unprecedented increase in the number of extremists from the right, left and Islamist camps in 2017, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said. "Today, there are 774 potentially dangerous Islamists [in Germany], more than ever before," Seehofer told reporters, adding that it was necessary to boost the work in order to extradite these persons to thei [...]

Industrial representatives say the tariffs would harm the US itself. Germany's Federation of Industries (BDI) has warned that tariffs imposed by Washington on the EU risk harming the US itself. On June 1, the US imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the EU, and now the White House is currently threatening to extend the tariffs to cars and car parts as well. Jean-Claude Ju [...]

Problems have been plaguing the new class of US destroyers, with the first ship in the series also having faced technical issues during early testing. The Zumwalt-class destroyer USS Michael Monsoor has been forced to return to the shipyard after one of its Rolls-Royce MT30 marine gas turbine engines suffered irreparable damage during acceptance trials, Rear Adm. William Galinis said in an [...]

The US has only one possibility to stay in Syria, to start interacting with Moscow and Damascus on the return of refugees, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. The only opportunity for the US to retain its presence in Syria is to start cooperating with Moscow and Damascus in their efforts to assist the return of refugees and temporarily displaced people to their homes, the R [...]

Deutsche Bank’s problems in the US continue as this time around, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has found the bank’s subsidiaries were likely involved in questionable trading schemes over a period of at least five years. Kristian Rouz — The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has moved to slap a hefty fine on Deutsche Bank as a settlement payment in a probe into  [...]

Instead of hitting Russia's energy sector, Washington's sanctions imposed on Moscow since 2014 have finally backfired on major US oil and gas companies, depriving them of lucrative opportunities and forcing them out of Russia. While Russia is boosting oil output following a decision by OPEC and non-OPEC producers to ease extraction cuts, US petroleum companies are reaping the bitter fruits of� [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - A bill will be introduced in the US Congress to strengthen pressure on Russia by imposing sanctions on the country’s foreign debt in addition to increasing existing sanctions on the energy and financial sectors, US Senators Lindsey Graham and Bob Menendez said in a statement. [...]

RT’s Keiser Report remembers the media hysteria of 2014, when many Western news outlets claimed Russia wouldn't survive the introduction of international sanctions and the ruble crisis that followed. Max and Stacy also discuss a claim by the IMF’s former representative in Russia that there “will never be a debt crisis”with the country’s current economic team in charge, which is the wor [...]

Over a half of Russian women under 35 claim they would have romantic relations with a foreigner but almost 70 percent of them name “the ability to leave Russia” as the most attractive part of such affairs, a new poll has found. 57 percent of respondents said they are currently ready for an affair with a foreigner. The proportion is even higher for the age group between 18 and 23 years – 78 [...]

On the world’s Grand Chessboard, the US is fighting for control and influence. And there are countries where its ambassadors are perceived more as imperial governors than simple channels of communication. [...]

The majority of Germans support Nord Stream 2, a poll revealed Monday. It also showed that most dismissed Donald Trump’s negative comments on the pipeline as a tactic to promote US liquefied gas in Europe. Two thirds of respondents support the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline because it would help provide Germany with a more reliable supply of natural gas, according to the the Forsa poll, which [...]

The UK is to offer asylum to members of the White Helmets, a Syria-based volunteer rescue group which operates in areas controlled by jihadists. The move has prompted dire warnings about who exactly Britain might be admitting. [...]

Switzerland’s financial regulator has accused Rothschild Bank AG and its trust subsidiary of violating anti-money laundering law in relation to 1MDB, the troubled Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. According to the regulator, both Rothschild Bank AG and Rothschild Trust AG failed to check where assets from a client came from. [...]

The number of unsuccessful deportations from Germany has increased by more than 200 percent, as every second deportable migrant stayed in the country by not appearing for their expulsion appointment. An internal evaluation by the federal police found that, as of the end of May, only 11,100 scheduled deportations had been successful out of a planned 23,900, according to the report by Deutsche Wirt [...]