Air Force Maj. Gen. James F. Martin Jr. fainted at the rostrum during a media briefing when he was talking about the F-35 plane in Pentagon on Wednesday. The high-ranking officer was delivering a report on the Air Force budget and in particular about the future of the ill-fated F-35 program when he experienced a dizzy spell. [...]

In a report detailing NATO’s deterrence policy, a Canadian senator for the Defence and Security Committee of the alliance’s Parliamentary Assembly accidentally revealed several sites the US uses to store its weapons of mass destruction in Europe. The list includes bases in Turkey, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium. [...]

While Russia has presented a draft resolution to the United Nations asking all parties to respect Syria’s right to sovereignty, the United States and France have criticized the move as a mere distraction. This is unsurprising given that the US and France are both currently violating Syria’s sovereignty. [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US President Donald Trump in multiple letters to Congress said he rejected resolutions that call for prohibiting weapons transfers to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and several other countries. [...]

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for the introduction of an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia over its operation in Yemen, The Greens political group reported on its website. The resolution calls for an EU-wide arms embargo against the country, until alleged breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen have been investigated, the group wrote. [...]

In the age of Trump, American diplomacy seems to have died. After two years in the White House, the US president has alienated countless world leaders, including close allies. Trump’s free-wheeling, reprobate style has caused Washington foreign policy establishment to shudder, decrying how his presidency has damaged the United States’ world standing. [...]

From the New York Times editorial board to a Republican-friendly super PAC, it appears unease is widespread over Hillary Clinton's continued refusal to release transcripts of recent paid speeches she gave to some of Wall Street's most powerful firms. In a sharply-worded editorial in Friday's print edition, the Times described Clinton's excuses for not releasing the transcripts as those of a "mi [...]

There is no word on how many iPhones could have been impacted by the recently-discovered exploit, but they could number in the thousands in a worst-case scenario. Project Zero, a group of Google security analysts detecting and exploring zero-day vulnerabilities in popular software products, has reported a long-time hack in iPhones that helped crooks steal users’ personal data – and even track [...]

The United Nations human rights chief on Friday warned that the U.S. government risks opening a "Pandora's Box" if it successfully forces Apple to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the suspected San Bernardino shooters. "Encryption and anonymity are needed as enablers of both freedom of expression and opinion, and the right to privacy," [...]

The US and Saudis are so intent on pointing the finger at Iran for the oil facility strikes because admitting the Houthis could hurt the kingdom so badly after five years of war in Yemen means facing the war’s complete failure, an expert told Sputnik. However, if they do attack Iran, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has promised it’ll be “all-out war.” [...]

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has accused the US State Department of attempting to influence a Russian court’s decision in the case of Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko. Zakharova questioned the authenticity of the statement attributed to US Secretary of State [...]

The Austrian-American actor, filmmaker, businessman, politician, and former professional bodybuilder has visited Russia numerous times over the past few decades. The Actor agreed with a statement that the most beautiful women live in Russia and noted the intelligence and talent of Russian beauties. [...]

Hundreds of tractors disrupted traffic in the Finnish capital on Friday, when thousands of farmers arrived in Helsinki to protest the catastrophic situation in the agricultural sector and ongoing sanctions against Russia. [...]

The US dollar’s status as the world’s major reserve currency, which it held for decades, could come under threat, according to Anne Korin from the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. “Major movers” such as Russia, China, and the European Union have a strong “motivation to de-dollarize,” Korin, the co-director at the energy and security think tank, told CNBC. [...]

The early March assassination of Honduran social movement leader Berta Cáceres provoked international outcry, and calls for 2016 presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton to discuss her support of the country’s 2009 coup, which ousted democratically [...]

Russian military forces have delivered food and provided medical assistance to the residents of Raqqa in the first such humanitarian mission aimed at helping civilians who are struggling to survive in the city scarred by war. The first column of Russian military trucks loaded with food and medical supplies entered the capital of Syria's northern province on Monday. [...]

Following high-profile meetings in Moscow, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a joint news conference on Thursday night. Both diplomats agreed on the importance of strengthening bilateral relations between Washington and Moscow. [...]

The Tu-22 strategic and maritime strike bomber is one of the mainstays of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ strategic bomber fleet, capable of fielding a broad range of standoff weapons including the Kinzhal, an air-launched, nuclear-capable hypersonic, maneuverable cruise missile unveiled by President Putin in a speech to lawmakers in 2018. [...]

“One day they sell energy, the next they blow up power lines,” said Crimea's First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Sheremet, adding that the peninsula is done with energy supplied from Ukraine. "We have definitely decided to abandon supplies of Ukrainian electric energy. We do not need it. [...]

US officials including President Trump have formally justified the drone strike assassination of Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in part on the basis of the “imminent threat” he allegedly posed to US interests and service members overseas. But do these claims really line up with reality? Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani was appointed commander of the Iranian Revolutionary [...]

Less than an hour after polls closed in Wisconsin on Tuesday night, major news outlets called the night a victory for Bernie Sanders – the latest in a string of recent wins. SandersAs of this writing, with approximately 88% of precincts reporting, CNN reported Sanders winning with 56.2 percent of the vote compared to rival Hillary Clinton's 43.5 percent – a double-digit margin. [...]

Vladimir Putin’s plane landing in Bishkek despite heavy fog and high humidity is no reason to doubt the skills of Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu’s pilots, who decided to reroute to another airport, a veteran aviator has said. The Russian president’s Ilyushin Il-96-300PU was approaching the airport in the capital of Kyrgyzstan late on Thursday after the crew of Shoigu’s plane had already de [...]