The US military announced Friday it was closing down 21 military facilities in half a dozen countries across Europe, a move the Pentagon said would trim $60 million in fat annually. The closures, however, will not affect US troop strength on the continent because they are comprised mostly of recreational and housing facilities at American and NATO military bases across Europe. [...]

Among the many targets for the UN National Security Agency'€™s electronic surveillance is the Vienna-based headquarters of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Austrian media reported. The OSCE is mentioned among the targets for NSA in the National Intelligence Priorities Framework (NIPF), a confidential document outlining intelligence gathering priorities, reported on [...]

The overall death toll in the unprecedented floods that have raged across the Balkans has reached 44, as more bodies were recovered from the Serbian town of Obrenovac on Sunday. [...]

New research from the Global Sustainability Institute has found that Britain, France and many other European countries have low reserves of fossil fuels, and their home grown energy could be entirely reliant on imports in several years. The study found that the UK has just 5.2 years of oil, 4.5 years of coal and three years of gas before it completely runs out of fossil fuels, said the researchers [...]

Some of Europe'€™s biggest companies like UK'€™s BP and Germany's BASF have told their governments economic sanctions against Russia would hurt them badly. The warning comes as Russia, the US, Ukraine and the EU are discussing the crisis in Geneva Thursday. [...]

There is no large Russian military presence in East Ukraine, head of EU intelligence, Commodore Georgij Alafuzoff, has said. The spy chief has dismissed multiple accusations from the West alleging Russian involvement in the unrest in the region. In an interview with Finnish national news broadcaster, Yle, Alafuzoff said the Russian military had nothing to do with the seizing of government building [...]

Kiev calls for UN peacekeepers in east Ukraine and protesters ask Vladimir Putin for help after surrender deadline passes. Pro-Russian separatists occupying the regional government building in Ukraine's eastern city of Donetsk have vowed to take control of strategic infrastructure across the province they have declared an independent "people's republic". [...]

Vladimir Putin addressed a letter to the leaders of several European countries, to which Russian natural gas is supplied via Ukraine's territory. Ukraine’s economy in the past several months has been plummeting. Its industrial and construction sectors have also been declining sharply. Its budget deficit is mounting. [...]

The satellite images released by NATO that allegedly show a current build-up of Russian troops near Ukrainian border were taken in August 2013 amid military drills, a source in the General Staff of the Russian Army has said. [...]

No legal means exist to challenge mass surveillance, said NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, testifying to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. A former NSA contractor, Snowden was speaking to the PACE session in Strasbourg via a video link-up from Moscow. [...]

US officials on Friday slammed plans to construct an EU-centric communication system, designed to prevent emails and phone calls from being swept up by the NSA, warning that such a move is a violation of trade laws. Calling Europe’s proposal to build its own integrated communication system “draconian,” the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said American tech companies, which are w [...]

Imperial soldiers cannot be judged. In Italy it'€™s almost impossible. In the last 15 months, the Italian Judiciary have asked to proceed against 113 American soldiers for various crimes, but the Italian minister of justice denied authorization in 91 cases. t works like this: when the US Army wants to judge a soldier in the USA who committed a crime in Italy, they have to ask the relevant Italia [...]

US president will use visit to brand Russian leader as a menace to international system built up by Europe and US. Barack Obama has charged Vladimir Putin with being a menace to an international system built up over decades following the Russian leader's sudden appropriation of part of Ukraine. [...]

Exactly 15 years ago, on March 24, NATO began its 78-day bombing of Yugoslavia. The alliance bypassed the UN under a “humanitarian” pretext, launching aggression that claimed hundreds of civilian lives and caused a much larger catastrophe than it averted. [...]

Serb nationalists trying to suppress reminders of atrocities committed against country's Muslims 20 years ago. After survivors and bereaved families put up a memorial to the mass slaughter in 1992 of Muslims in Višegrad, the response of the Serb authorities in the eastern Bosnian town was as unsubtle as it was symbolic. [...]

Luke Harding: Lenin's statue still stands in Donetsk where loyalty to the old regime and Russian propaganda have inspired protests against the Kiev 'fascists'. But is this really the next Crimea? In Donetsk's main square, Ukraine's communist leader, Petro Symonenko, was giving an impromptu address to the party faithful. [...]

Recent events are both a knee-jerk reaction by Putin and a culmination of his years of grievances with the international order. When Vladimir Putin summoned the entirety of Russia's political elite to the St George's Hall of the Kremlin to announce that Russia would "welcome back" the territory of Crimea last week, the atmosphere was almost as if they were celebrating a military victory. [...]

Belbek commander reportedly taken away by Russian troops as Obama hopes to increase Russia's isolation on upcoming Europe trip. The White House on Saturday responded cautiously to the news that Russian troops had forced their way into a Ukrainian airbase in Crimea. [...]

Fifteen years after NATO invaded Yugoslavia, memories of the 78-day bombing are still haunting present-day Serbia. Above all, people ask why the alliance brought them death and destruction. RT presents its documentary 'Zashto?' from the war-torn country. [...]