US whistleblower Edward Snowden was among five winners of the Swedish human rights award, announced in Stockholm on Wednesday. The decision to the honor former National Security Agency contractor might have cost the 2014 Right Livelihood Awards’ jury the ability to announce the winners from Swedish Foreign Office pressroom, a usual place for such statements since 1995, Foundation director Ole [...]

More than 90,000 people have signed an online petition calling for last weeks’ Scottish Independence vote to be recounted, backing accusations that the referendum was marred by vote-rigging. “We the undersigned demand a re-vote of the Scottish referendum, counted by impartial international parties,” the petition reads. [...]

It was the West that armed and financed ISIS and it is “outrageous” to blame Muslims for supporting extremists and close their bank accounts when they’ve done nothing wrong, Massoud Shadjareh from the Islamic Human Rights Commission, told RT. Earlier in September, some US banks closed dozens of accounts without any explanation. Letters were sent to business owners, nonprofits, and student [...]

London politicians gulled Scottish voters out of independence by making a false "vow" to grant Glasgow extra powers, First Minister Alex Salmond has said. He also raised the prospect of another referendum, saying the break-up is inevitable. Alex Salmond, leader of the 'Yes' campaign and the outgoing head of the Scottish National Party (SNP), told the BBC's Sunday Politics program that the UK go [...]

Moscow is bewildered by Washington's warmongering rhetoric, which accompanied President Petro Poroshenko's visit to the US. Russia has also noted all the Russia-unfriendly opinions voiced recently by hawkish American politicians. “We’ll keep in mind all signals, including those unfriendly towards Russia, that were heard during the visit of the Ukrainian president to Washington,” commented [...]

The Scottish referendum is a real victory for people power, although the UK establishment was against it. Now Wales needs to ensure that its needs and demands are heard as well, leader of the Party of Wales (Plaid Cymru), Leanne Wood, told RT. Scotland walked a very long road to get this referendum. Have they blown their chance? [...]

New intelligence has emerged warning Washington that its upcoming confrontation with the Islamic State may leave it blind to a more sinister and direct threat from a much lesser known terrorist group that has arisen from the ashes of the Syrian war. Very little information is being released at the moment by anyone within American intelligence circles, but the group calling itself Khorasan is sa [...]

A reported claim by Ukraine's Defense minister that Russia used tactical nuclear weapons against his troops sparked sarcastic comments from Moscow and criticism from the rival Ukrainian Interior Ministry. “So Russia did use tactical nuclear weapons against Ukrainian troops,” the journalist wrote on his Facebook page, citing Geletey’s words. [...]

The families of German citizens killed in the Malaysian plane crash in eastern Ukraine are planning to sue the Ukrainian authorities in the European Court of Human Rights, accusing them of manslaughter by negligence. Ukraine should have closed its airspace if it couldn’t provide for the safety of flights over its territory, Elmar Giemulla, a professor of aviation law representing the three fa [...]

Catalonia's president, Artur Mas, has said he will put his signature on a decree calling for a "consultation" on independence from Spain on November 9, despite Madrid deeming any potential referendum unconstitutional. “I will sign the decree for the consultation in Catalonia, in fact I will call this consultation for November 9 as agreed some months ago with the majority of Catalan political [...]

The CIA's European Division has halted its operations in Western Europe in response to several spying scandals in Germany and the continent's negative reaction to the revelations of spying by the National Security Agency on European leaders and citizens. The stand-down order has been in effect for two months. [...]

The Scots have lost their stab at independence by a tiny 10-percent margin. Analysts predicted that only a "yes" vote would send waves throughout Europe, but the dire economic situation of other independence-seeking regions can't be eclipsed so easily. In a historic referendum on Thursday, Scotland voted 55 to 45 percent to stay in the four-nation United Kingdom. [...]

Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) is resigning from office after losing Thursday's independence referendum. Scots voted to stay in the UK following an intense campaign. The ‘No’ campaign rallied 55 percent of votes against 45 percent ‘Yes’ votes. [...]

DAVID MILLER, Co-editor of Neoliberal Scotland: Class and Society in a Stateless Nation, said... “For me the first question is what is the best outcome in terms of the power of the British state in the world. Given its historically negative role (not least in Iraq), anything that challenges its power has my support. In London they are scared that they will be ejected from the UN Security Coun [...]

Germany has long had a reputation for excellent infrastructure. But in recent years, both public and private investment has dwindled dramatically, and officials are increasingly concerned about how to solve the problem. They have good reason to be worried. Despite its shiny façade, the German economy is crumbling at its core. That, at least, is how Marcel Fratzscher sees it. With the country's [...]

The political imperative to “do something” against the brutal Islamic State has brought President Obama and congressional majorities together on a plan for a limited U.S. military response, but this strategy could actually make matters worse, says the Independent Institute’s Ivan Eland. Although President Obama insists that no American military “boots on the ground” will be used to de [...]

A preliminary report on the crash of the MH17 released this week by the Netherlands has answered no questions Russia was interested in, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. "International experts have spent three weeks in Kiev, [they] talked with Ukrainian authorities. [...]

The fight against terrorism must begin by placing more pressure on those countries which are supporting and financing insurgents in Syria and Iraq, Syrian President Bashar Assad said while speaking with an Iraqi security official in Damascus. Assad's comments were made during a Tuesday meeting with Iraq's national security adviser, Falah al-Fayadh, “on efforts by the Iraqi government to confr [...]

The British establishment is breathing a collective sigh of relief. The people of Scotland have chosen Westminster rule over political sovereignty, and the Union remains intact. Scotland’s pro-independence campaigners, bent on separatism and self-determination, claimed they had the momentum to realize an independent Scottish state. But they were mistaken. [...]

The US claims Syrian President Bashar Assad has broken the chemical weapons treaty he agreed to earlier this year, by launching chlorine gas attacks in Syrian villages. It comes as the Senate officially approved a plan to arm and train Syrian rebels. US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday accused Assad of breaching the terms of the global pact on chemical weapons, by unleashing chlorine g [...]

President Petro Poroshenko has requested NATO give “special” security status to Ukraine. Addressing the US Congress, he called on Washington to provide Kiev with “more military equipment, lethal and non-lethal” to “keep peace” in the east of his country. While President Barack Obama previously pledged only non-lethal assistance to Kiev, such as bullet-proof vests and helmets, Porosh [...]

An independent Flanders with Brussels as its capital will be best for the Flemish people who represent 60 percent of the Belgium population, and provide 80 percent of its economy, Flemish MP Tom van Grieken told RT. Following in the footsteps of Scotland, Veneto in Italy and Catalonia in Spain, and Belgium’s Flemish region may become the next to hold a referendum on independence. [...]