United States

US officials have confirmed that two Russian warplanes flew “simulated attacks” this week near a US warship stationed in international waters near Russia. Two unarmed Russian Su-24 fighter jets came extremely close to the USS Donald Cook that they created “a wake in the water”, US officials say. Sky News reports: The overflights are said to have occurred on Monday and Tuesday and were described by US officials as “more aggressive than anything we’ve seen in some time”.

Another Obama corporatocracy conspiracy theory becomes fact as The Boston Globe reports shoemaker 'New Balance' is renewing its opposition to the far-reaching Pacific Rim trade deal, saying the Obama administration reneged on a promise to give the sneaker maker a fair shot at military business if it stopped bad-mouthing the agreement.

Ask people which is the most important structure that keeps the US capital markets humming day after day, and most will likely erroneously say the New York Stock Exchange, which however over the past decade has transformed from its historic role into nothing more than a TV studio for financial cable networks. Some might be closer to the truth and say that the most important building is the true New York Stock Exchange located in Mahwah, New Jersey however that also is not true as the NYSE now accounts for just a small fraction of total traded volume.

Samuel Oakford reports on a welcome measure from the Senate:

Two US Senators introduced legislation on Wednesday that would halt future sales of aerial munitions to Saudi Arabia until President Obama verifies that the Saudi government is respecting international humanitarian law in waging war in Yemen, that it doesn’t support listed terrorist groups, and that it is pursuing all measures to eradicate al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

The Pentagon is up in arms that two Russian jets flew dangerously close to a U.S. destroyer in the Baltic Sea, creating a “wake” in the waters surrounding the warship. The two low flying Russian Su-24s performed a “simulated attack” that goes against military conventions in peacetime, according to the Pentagon. Sputnik reports: While sailing through the Baltic on Tuesday, the USS Donald Cook reported that Russian aircraft performed repeated flybys within 30 feet of the destroyer.