Kiev'€™s military offensive into the east and south of Ukraine has all but ensured the failure of the Geneva agreement, setting the stage for a Russian response as NATO deploys troops to the region. As the bloody military crackdown continues in predominately Russian-speaking areas of the country, the deteriorating situation in Ukraine has given rise to appalling inter-ethnic violence. [...]

Despite clear evidence that the pro-Kiev radicals set Odessa's House of Trade Unions ablaze on Friday killing dozens, the mainstream media is being ambiguous about the causes of the tragedy.  On Friday, Ukraine’s eastern town of Odessa saw brutal street battles between pro-autonomy activists and nationalist radicals which left 46 people dead. [...]

Numerous US agents are helping the coup-appointed government in Ukraine to "€œfight organized crime"€ in the south east of the country, the German newspaper Bild revealed. According to the daily, the CIA and FBI are advising the government in Kiev on how to deal with the ‘fight against organized crime’ and stop the violence in the country’s restive eastern regions. [...]

"All that glitters is not gold; all that shivers is not gold" Mythology has it that Midas, the king of Phrygia, was able to turn everything he touched into gold -- "the Midas Touch".  According to Aristotle, the legendary figure died of starvation as a result of his greed to transmute everything from its natural substance to gold. [...]

Vermont lawmakers have passed legislation that requires food made with genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, to be labeled as such. The law, the first of its kind in the US, must now get approval from Gov. Peter Shumlin, who has supported the bill. [...]

The Russian Foreign Minister says the US should take responsibility for those whom they put in power instead issuing ultimatums to Moscow. "Before giving us ultimatums, demanding that we fulfill demands within two or three days with the threat of sanctions, we would urgently call on our American partners to fully accept responsibility for those who they brought to power,” said Lavrov during a pr [...]

A California-based surveillance vendor that sells access to license plate databases and the devices that indiscriminately collect that information has been reportedly cashing checks from the Internal Revenue Service and other federal offices. [...]

While the Geneva framework agreement seems to be an attempt to de-escalate tensions over Ukraine, it’s a question to what degree the US and the West are really genuine in this agreement, geopolitical analyst Eric Draitser told RT. The US and the EU are still mulling more sanctions against Moscow. [...]

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. [...]

United States President Barack Obama said Thursday afternoon that his administration is prepared to take further action against Russia if an agreement reached earlier in the day in Geneva concerning the crisis in Ukraine fails to materialize. [...]

There is no doubt that the US has been meddling with the internal politics of Ukraine and continues to do so, though this time it has miscalculated, former MI5 agent, Annie Machon, told RT. It’s very interesting timing. The heads of the major Western intelligence agencies tend to have their diaries fairly well locked down for months in advance, so for him to suddenly have made this trip shows ei [...]

Russia has "€œno mass surveillance in our country,"€ according to President Vladimir Putin, after he was asked a surprise question by whistle blower Edward Snowden at his Q&A session, adding "€œour surveillance activities are strictly controlled by the law." [...]

The interim president of Ukraine Turchinov wants to beat the Russians into intervening and provoke war between NATO and Russia, as it'€™s the only reason he can hold power, foreign affairs analyst Daniel Patrick Welch told RT. Russia has called Kiev's action irresponsible and warned that it could trigger a full-blown civil war. How far do you see the situation going? [...]

White House spokesman Jay Carney confirmed that CIA Director John Brennan visited Ukrainian capital Kiev over the weekend and met with high-ranked Ukrainian officials. Previously, deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich accused Brennan of ordering a crackdown on pro-Russian activists in the east of the country. [...]

The critical "€œHeartbleed"€ bug reported earlier this week to have affected the security of most of the internet was discovered by researchers at the United States National Security Agency two years earlier, according to a new report. On Friday afternoon, Bloomberg News journalist Michael Riley reported that the NSA knew about the monstrous flaw for at least two years ahead of this week’s [...]

Europe should switch from promises to real action to help Ukraine out of the economic chaos, says Russia'€™s President Putin. “What’s the problem for the near future? It’s that Russia can’t bear the brunt [of helping Ukraine] in a one-way fashion,” Vladimir Putin told the Security Council meeting on Friday. [...]

President Vladimir Putin says it was "€œstrange"€ to learn of the US reaction on a Russian letter to the leaders of EU'€™s top gas-consuming nations, as it was in no way designed for Washington'€™s eyes. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki has accused Russia of reneging on an agreement that offered reduced gas prices to Kiev and using “energy as a tool of coercion against Ukraine. [...]

A new bill introduced in Congress looks to ban states from implementing their own labeling laws when it comes to food containing genetically engineered ingredients. According to Reuters, US Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) introduced the legislation on Wednesday, which is intended to head off bills in about 24 states that would require companies to inform customers when their food is produced using genet [...]

The United States Air Force commander in charge of the NATO alliance'€™s military presence in Europe said on Wednesday this week that US troops may soon be deployed to the region as tensions continue to worsen near the border between Ukraine and Russia. In an interview with the Associated Press, US Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove said that forthcoming plans intended to ensure stability in Europe [...]