Thousands of people celebrate with Kosovo and Albanian flags in Pristina on February 17, 2009 (L). Sevastopol residents at a celebratory show held after the referendum on Crimea’s status (R). The West has so far refused to legitimize Crimea’s decision to secede from Ukraine. Yet Kosovo, which was a part of Serbia, also broke away from its parent country, but has been recognized by the US and... 

Libertarian Kentucky Senator Rand Paul warns in a speech today that he believes US spooks and shadow government agencies are ” drunk with power”, and that elected representatives are privately afraid of those operating behind the curtain. In a scheduled appearance at the University of California-Berkeley, Paul will address the continuing domestic spying controversy. In prepared comments Paul... 

As Washington imposed sanctions against Moscow over the Ukrainian crisis, a group of Russian officials arrived in the United States to inspect the US strategic nuclear arsenal. The surprise inspection earlier this week of the nuclear arsenal in San Francisco was agreed to under the 2010 New START arms control treaty, The Washington Post reports. Under the treaty, Russia and the United States each... 

The administration of US President Barack Obama says Washington is “very concerned” about Russian forces near Ukraine’s eastern and southern borders, saying training exercises might not be the only purpose they are there for. The White House says intelligence from the field has bolstered their skepticism that as early as coming days Moscow might engage in military incursions into Ukraine, an... 

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy (R) and Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk sign the political provisions of the Association Agreement on March 20, 2014. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy says Ukraine’s interim government has signed the “political” provisions of an association agreement with the EU. “Signing [the] political part [of the] EU-Ukraine Association... 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law the documents officially making Crimea part of Russian territory. Putin signed the bills at the Kremlin on Friday, completing the process of making Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea region part of the Russian Federation. The Russian president also signed legislation creating two new Russian administrative districts: Crimea and the port city of Sevastopol. Before... 

The people of Crimea fixed a Soviet-era mistake with the Sunday’s referendum and the will of the people should not be punished by sanctions, said former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. “Earlier Crimea was merged with Ukraine under Soviet laws, to be more exact by the [Communist] party’s laws, without asking the people, and now the people have decided to correct that mistake. This should... 

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has published a reciprocal sanctions list of US citizens, consisting of 10 names, including: House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, Senator J. McCain; and advisers to President Obama D. Pfeiffer and C. Atkinson. These officials, along with another five named by the Foreign Ministry, are banned from entering the country. The move comes in response to US sanctions... 

Former intelligence officials say most of Snowden’s documents are related to US military capabilities. Former US intelligence officials have warned that American whistleblower Edward Snowden might disclose US war plans to China and Russia, according to a report. The Hill reported in an article on Wednesday that “US officials might not know for years whether former National Security Agency contractor... 

Israel believes agreement reached on Iran’s nuclear program presents an existential threat. Despite what is characterized as substantive progress in talks between Iran, the United States, and the European Union on Iran’s nuclear program, the state of Israel has announced it is allocating in excess of 10 billion shekels for war preparations. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz cites three members of... 

From Left to Right: Aleksey Gromov, Sergey Ivanov, Sergey Naryshkin, Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, Vladimir Yakunin, Gennady Timchenko. US President Barack Obama has announced a new executive order imposing further sanctions on top Russian officials and businessmen. The order also allows for measures against Russian energy, mining, defense, and engineering sectors. “We’re imposing sanctions... 

Retaliatory air strikes carried out by Israel against Syrian army positions killed one person and injured seven, according to Syria’s armed forces said. The strike came just hours after four IDF soldiers were wounded by a bomb attack in the Golan Heights. A Syrian armed forces statement said the strikes targeted three sites near the ruined city of Quneitra in southwestern Syria, including an... 

Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at the State Department in Washington, Tuesday, March 18, 2014. US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Russia about the Ukraine crisis, saying the “nationalistic fervor” in Crimea is similar to the build-up before World War II. During a speech at the State Department on Tuesday, Kerry said he saw a “nationalist fervor which could, in fact, infect in ways... 

American and German inspectors will make observation flights over Russia and Belarus within the framework of the international treaty on Open Skies. The mission is set to verify the true position of Russian troops and military equipment. Starting from March 17, military inspectors from the United States and Germany will perform flights over European Russia and Belarus to check the real whereabouts... 

Vice Admiral John McAnally (R) and the Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral Sir Charles Montgomery from the British Royal Navy. Vice Admiral John McAnally has warned that Britain will be forced to abandon its nuclear weapons arsenal if Scotland votes for independence in September. In an article published on Sunday by The Daily Telegraph, McAnally wrote that Scottish independence poses “the biggest strategic...