The guided-missile destroyer USS Ross. Ukrainian and American naval forces are taking part in joint maritime drills dubbed Sea Breeze 2014, which began on Monday in the northwestern part of the Black Sea and will last till September 10. “Today in the north-west part of the Black Sea, we are beginning the joint Navy exercises of Ukraine and the US, known as ‘Sea Breeze 2014’. The exercises will... 

The European Union has formerly adopted a fresh package of sanctions against Russia despite Moscow’s retaliation warnings. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy announced the sanctions on Monday saying that their implementation will take place over the next few days. Referring to the ceasefire deal between pro-Russian activists and the Kiev government, he said that “This will leave time... 

Colleague lays flowers in memory of photo journalist Andrey Stenin killed in southeastern Ukraine, at the Rossiya Segodnya building. Russian journalist Andrey Stenin, missing in eastern Ukraine for a month, has been confirmed dead, RIA Novosti, the news agency where he worked, reports. He was in a vehicle traveling in a convoy of escaping civilians when it came under heavy fire. Stenin apparently died... 

Thousands of British protesters have marched into London’s iconic Trafalgar Square against the government’s program to privatize the UK’s National Health Service, the NHS. The protest march for the NHS was organized by a coalition of activists, political parties and national trade unions. Hundreds of these protesters have been marching for a week from Jarrow, a town 300 miles north of the... 

Support for Scotland’s Yes campaign is on the rise as the country’s independence referendum draws nearer, a new opinion poll shows. According to a poll conducted by YouGov for the Sunday Times, 51 percent of Scottish voters plan to vote yes, while 49 percent will vote no. A similar YouGov poll published on September 2, showed 47 percent of the respondents said they’d vote in favor of... 

Russian consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has suspended all confectionery imports from Ukraine after discovering two Ukrainian companies broke consumer protection laws. “In order to ensure the rights of consumers, starting September 5 Rospotrebnadzor is suspending the import of confectionery goods produced in Ukraine to the Russian Federation,” the watchdog said in a statement on Friday. The... 

A new rapid reaction force, likely numbering at least 4,000 and ready to be deployed within 48 hours, will be created in Eastern Europe, after a decision by the 28 NATO member states following a conference in Wales. “This is a demonstration of our solidarity and resolve,” said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the summit, largely dedicated to Ukraine, and attended by the country’s... 

Pro-Russians have accused Ukrainian government forces of breaking the ceasefire deal just hours after it went into effect, pledging to pursue their independence drive in the east. A leading member of the parliament established by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said on Saturday that Ukrainian units had launched several missiles toward the pro-Russian militants’ positions in the... 

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front party, says the EU is to blame for the crisis in Ukraine as it forced the situation where Kiev had to choose between East and West. Now that France is joining sanctions against Russia over the alleged direct interference in the political crisis in Ukraine and Paris is considering suspending the €1.2 billion deal of two Mistral helicopter... 

Last president of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev Ex-Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has again blamed the ongoing turmoil in Ukraine on the hasty and thoughtless breakup of the USSR. He noted that a peaceful outcome could only be reached through resumed dialogue between Russia and the US. The former Soviet leader expressed these opinions in the afterword to his latest book of memoirs called “After... 

A foreboding report sent from the Office of the President (OoP) to all Kremlin departments today states that President Putin has ordered all nuclear forces to their highest alert status and is, in effect, now running the Federation from one of Russia’s most secretive bunker complexes below Barnaul Airport located in the Altai Republic which is part of the Siberian Federal District. According to... 

Herbert E. Meyer, a nutcase who was a special assistant to the CIA director for a period during the Reagan administration, has penned an article calling for Russian President Putin’s assassination. If we have “ to get him out of the Kremlin feet-first with a bullet hole in the back of his head, that would be okay with us.” http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/08/how_to_solve_the_putin_problem.html As... 

William Binney With the escalating Ukrainian crisis towards the top of the agenda at this week’s NATO summit in Wales, a group of former American intelligence workers is urging the alliance to be careful before crafting a response. Sixty foreign leaders and dozens of diplomats and defense officials from around the globe will convene at the event this week and are expected to approve a plan that calls... 

A column of BMD-2 airborne combat vehicles move towards the assembly area of combined forces of the Central Military District and airborne troops at the Chebarkul firing range as part of a sudden operational readiness test. Moscow is to review its military doctrine, a move that is caused by expansion of NATO in Eastern Europe, problems of missile defense and the crisis situation in neighboring Ukraine,... 

Ukraine’s bid for closer ties with the west could come at a cost. With the IMF set to loan the country $17 billion, the deal could also see GMO crops grown in some of the most fertile lands on the continent, warns Frederic Mousseau. Very few, not least the Ukrainian population are aware of these details, but according to Mousseau, who is a Policy Director at The Oakland Institute, in return for...