American poultry producers exported 267,000 metric tons of chicken valued at USD 303 million to Russia in 2013. Russia has decided to impose restrictions on poultry imports from the United States because of “harmful residues.” Russia’s Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS) said on Thursday that the new decision would come into effect as of December 5. VPSS said it made the... 

Zaporozhskaya nuclear plant There has been an accident at a nuclear plant in the southeast of Ukraine, Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk has revealed during the first session of his new Cabinet. A minor accident occurred at Zaporozhskaya nuclear plant, the largest in Europe, last Friday, according to the facility’s website. A reactor was switched off and put to maintenance as a result. The incident... 

The US Army plans to bolster US armored presence and keep rotations of American troops in Eastern Europe to provide “deterrence against Russian aggression.” Lt. Gen. Frederick “Ben” Hodges, the new Army commander in Europe, said that 100 Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles would be deployed into Eastern Europe. “We are looking at courses of action for how we could pre-position... 

This file photo shows an apartment building destroyed by fighting in the Lugansk city of Lysychansk. Ukraine and pro-Russians have “agreed in principle” on a truce in the country’s volatile eastern region of Lugansk, that will come into force on December 5, the pan-European security watchdog says. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) made the announcement in a statement... 

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting in the Presidential Palace in Ankara December 1, 2014. Russia is forced to withdraw from the South Stream project due to the EU’s unwillingness to support the pipeline, and gas flows will be redirected to other customers, Vladimir Putin said after talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “We... 

There is as yet no method to mimic Jesus Christ and turn water into wine, but German chemical engineers have proved they can perform miracles of alchemy. They are now finalizing the assembly of a rig that changes water into gasoline. The German company says it has developed an engineering installation capable of synthesizing petroleum-based fuels from water and carbon dioxide. The ‘power-to-liquid’... 

The most popular name for baby boys in the UK is Muhammad, according to a new chart for 2014 compiled by BabyCentre. The name, also spelled as Mohammed and often given after the Muslim prophet, has seen an enormous gain in popularity, jumping 27 ranks. “Traditionally Mohammed is often given to the first-born boy in Muslim families,” managing editor at parenting website BabyCentre, Sarah Redshaw,... 

A truly grim Ministry of Defense (MoD) report circulating in the Kremlin today states that President Putin has ordered over 2,000 top military officers to immediately begun duties at the National Defense Control Center (NDCC) which is, in fact, Russia’s “wartime government” headquarters in Moscow as “global war nears”. According to this report, Putin’s order came immediately after his... 

An elevator every 30 seconds will be a feature of future skyscrapers, promises German tech giant ThyssenKrupp. They have unveiled technology that allows more than one car in a single shaft and the lifts can go sideways as well as up and down. The company says its invention will revolutionize modern architecture, because central blocks of elevator shafts, a necessary element of today’s buildings,... 

A car moved by the La Berre river after the city of Portel-des-Corbieres, southern France, was flooded following heavy rains on November 30, 2014. In southern France, more than 1,500 people have been forced to evacuate their homes amid the country’s worst flooding in over a decade. According to French officials, between “800 and 1,000 people” were evacuating their homes along the Agly river in... 

A Russian convoy of trucks transporting humanitarian goods enters Ukraine’s restive eastern city of Donetsk, November 30, 2014. Russia has sent another aid convoy to Ukraine’s restive east amid the on-and-off exchanges of fire between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russians and the worsening humanitarian situation there. On Sunday, more than 1,200 metric tons of supplies, including construction materials,... 

Hundreds of people have gathered near the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood with St. Andrew’s Cross flags, music and speeches in a celebration of Scottish nationhood, amid continued demands for independence as St. Andrew’s Day celebrations got underway. Poetry recitals, speeches and songs were on the agenda, as people wrapped themselves in flags and “Yes”-related paraphernalia. Even... 

Scientists discover a new property of graphene that could have major new applications. An unexpected property of a form of carbon graphite the material in pencil lead could revolutionize green energy development. Positively charged hydrogen atoms or protons are allowed to pass through graphene although it remains totally impermeable to all other gases, including hydrogen itself, said a report by The... 

The air defense missile system “Patriot” Are the US, NATO and Russia on a mad spiral leading to war in Europe? Is it inevitable? Far from it. The US-propelled vassal Petro Poroshenko, currently starring in the oligarch dance in Ukraine this week advanced the proposition that Ukrainians in the near future, after his “reforms”, will be asked to vote on whether to join NATO. Let’s be... 

DANS Chairman Vladimir Pisanchev (R), Bulgaria’s Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov (C) and Deputy Chief Prosecutor Borislav Sarafov (L) announce results of operation against promoting Islamic State at a briefing in Sofia, 26 November 2014. Bulgarian prosecutors have charged seven people with membership of a criminal group preaching radical Islam and propagating war, local media reported on Wednesday. The...