Chancellor Angela Merkel was not the only NSA target in the German government, as WikiLeaks has released a new tranche of documents containing a list of the phone numbers of German ministers and officials whose privacy was breached by the US spy agency. Sixty-nine high-ranking members of the German government, including the economy and finance ministers, as well as Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabrie [...]

Armed people in uniform speaking fluent English with no accent have been spotted in Mariupol in the aftermath of the rocket hit, fuelling allegations that foreign private military contractors are serving among Ukrainian troops. [...]

A secret memo prepared by a Congressional think tank and seen by the Daily Mail says that the US may need a "reassessment of the special relationship" with its key economic partner, Britain, "because its geopolitical setting has been changing." Winston Churchill's 1946 speech to Westminster College, in Fulton, coined the phrase "special relationship" to describe the exceptionally friendly polit [...]

In a dramatic shift for the US military, the army is considering the use of bullets that can expand and break up when striking a target to make new pistols more lethal, raising concern that doing so would violate international law. According to the Army Times, the Pentagon recently reviewed the use of “special purpose ammunition” and determined the army could look into enabling its next-gen [...]

Let’s start with some classic Russian politics. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov is drawing up Russia's economic strategy for 2016, including the government budget. Siluanov – essentially a liberal, in favor of foreign investment - will present his proposals to the Kremlin by the end of this month. [...]

Deputy head of the Federation Council’s committee for foreign affairs has said an international court must look into all US wars, in particular the Vietnam campaign that killed thousands of civilians and caused significant damage to many innocent people. Russian senator urges international tribunal into US-Vietnam war Deputy head of the Federation Council’s committee for foreign affairs ha [...]

Around 30 percent of the world's population is now obese, while 50 percent is expected to fall into the category by 2030. Meanwhile, 5 percent of global deaths each year are linked to the condition, creating a drag on the global economy. A new report by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) revealed the not-so-hidden cost of an increasingly sedentary population that has acquired a bad taste for f [...]

The evidence is mounting... While broadly-speaking, both 'hard' and 'soft' macro data has disappointed, as we noted previously, the scale of those 'missed expectations' is stunning - worst since Lehman. While this is blamed on weather, the fact is that America had 30% less snow this year than last and still, as the following charts strongly suggest, the YoY drops are on a scale that screams "reces [...]

Cul-de-sacs and fault lines: There is no shortage of either in today’s Ukraine. The government in Kiev appears to be losing its ability to rule as international creditors grimly await the conditions of Ukraine's financial default. As rumored, is Washington now looking for a way out? CrossTalking with Patrick Smith, Marcus Papadopoulos, and Nebojsa Malic. [...]

The leader of the Ukrainian far-right group Right Sector has called on the National Guard, army and security forces to stop obeying Kiev's orders amid the ongoing standoff between their armed nationalists and police in western Ukraine. “Nobody can take away our right to a last fight,” Yarosh wrote on his Facebook page, calling the Ukrainian government “traitors.” [...]

A new Texas law signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott prohibits cities and towns from imposing local ordinances to prevent fracking and other potentially environmentally harmful oil and natural gas activities. In debating the law, Texas lawmakers emphasized the state’s successful development of oil and gas for more than 100 years. [...]

Sberbank has issued its first yuan-denominated letters of credit that involve funding from the Export-Import Bank of China to Russia’s largest pharmaceutical company. Pharmasyntez, Russia’s leading drug manufacturer, appealed to Sberbank with a request for funding credit guarantees in Chinese national currency as part of contracts for the supply of imported pharmaceutical products worth ove [...]

Freshly out of the Greek Finance Minister’s chair, Yanis Varoufakis has declared that his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble wants to punish Greece – sacrificing it to reform the monetary union. In his article forDie Zeit, Varoufakis said that the goal of the German finance minister is to "discipline member states who opposed his very special plan to reform the eurozone by sharpening the [...]

Just over a year ago, thousands of Ukrainians took to Kiev's main square, angry at oligarchs and corruption. But instead of "Europe" and prosperity, they got a coup, more oligarchy, and war. During the three-month “people power” spectacle in Kiev's Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) that began on November 21, 2013, one of the protesters' favorite chants was “Who doesn't jump is a [...]

MasterCard and Visa have suspended service for Russian banks in Crimea, saying the decision complies with US sanctions. "According to the US sanctions imposed against Crimea on December 19, 2014, Visa currently cannot provide services and offer their products in the Crimea. This means that we can no longer issue or accept bank cards in Crimea, and service them in ATMs," the company has confirme [...]

It's unlikely that Snowden will ever be removed from the US wanted list, as he told the truth about the "bastion of freedom" that lectures other states while spying on its own citizens, said Matteo Bergamini, director of Shout Out UK. It’s been two years since the publications of the NSA documents by Edward Snowden. What is the biggest achievement that came out of the revelations? [...]

A summit of all EU leaders scheduled for Sunday has been cancelled with eurozone leaders only meeting to "conclude talks on Greece" On Saturday, a meeting of Eurogroup finance ministers was adjourned without reaching any conclusion. Early on Sunday, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, tweeted that the eurozone leaders’ meeting will start at 14:00 GMT. [...]

A senior State Duma MP has said that Russia would look into possibility of the visit to Crimea by the head of PACE'€™s Social-Democratic caucus, Andreas Gross, albeit not within the remit of the Russia-PACE dialogue. Aleksey Pushkov, chair of the lower house Committee for International Relations, told TASS that after Russian delegation withdrew its participation in PACE in protest of the sanc [...]

The CIA wants to erase tens of thousands of internal emails sent by most covert and counterterror officers after they leave the agency, leading US senators and transparency advocates to fear the plan would mean the loss of vital government records. The spy agency’s proposal, first submitted to the National Archives in January but only now revealed to the public, would mean only the emails of [...]

The Royal Navy has launched an investigation into whistleblower William McNeilly, who exposed horrid security lapses in UK's trident nuclear program which make it easier for intruders to access some secured areas than enter "most nightclubs." UK authorities are “concerned for the whereabouts” of the 25-year old whistleblower, who went absent without leave and cooperated with WikiLeaks to po [...]

The Austrian army has been sent to assist in introducing tougher border checks amid the growing migrant crisis, Reuters cited the country's vice-chancellor as saying. At least 2,200 soldiers will assist police in tackling the refugee crisis on the border, according to a statement from the Austrian government. [...]

Twenty-five years after that embodiment of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall, was torn down by ecstatic Germans, the world observes the anniversary as it rushes headlong towards a new confrontation. As the celebration unfolds in Berlin to rejoice in a unified country – and to some extent a unified world – some of the people who shaped the events two-and-a-half decades ago approach the date in a [...]