Easter should be a time of celebration for Christians, but for those of the faith living in the Middle East, there hasn't been too much to celebrate in recent years. "Kill the Christians" is the title of a new BBC documentary, to be broadcast this week. [...]

The Catholic Church has signed its first treaty with Palestine, making official its de facto recognition of the state. Israel reiterated that it regretted the decision. The treaty first announced in May concerns the activities of the Church in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. [...]

A delegation of French lawmakers is coming to Russia to pay a visit to the Crimea - the first such visit since the region's accession to the Russian Federation in March 2014. The head of the mission, MP Thierry Mariani said in an interview with Russian business daily Kommersant that it will consist of nine members of the French National Assembly and one senator. [...]

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says "third world" Europe is finished and some British industrialists agree. However, the reality is far more complicated. It's not the continent that's finished - it's Europe's neoliberal elites who are in peril. Andy Street, the managing director of Britain’s prestigious retailer John Lewis claimed recently that France was “finished.” [...]

Dog lovers everywhere, rejoice! They really do love us on a chemical level. Dogs were found to make use of the “lovers’ hormone,” Oxytocin, to sneak their way into our hearts. That’s the first time the mechanism was observed between species. We know it as the love hormone: it spikes when we hug, kiss and make love. It also exists between a mother and infant, as they gaze into each other [...]

From Patriot Act to the USA Freedom Act, America's debate on government surveillance of citizens - thanks to Edward Snowden - has created some heat but hardly any light in American politics. NSA backers claim the new law is reform, but isn't it only a distinction without a difference? CrossTalking with Fred Fleitz, Ken O'Keefe, and Ivan Eland. [...]

Russia will supply coal and electricity to Ukraine without prepayment, Vladimir Putin's spokesman said. Ukraine is trying to cope with energy problems amid an ongoing crisis in the industrial east. This proves the president’s political goodwill and support, “particularly before New Year,” said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Saturday, as quoted by TASS. [...]

Moscow may team up with Beijing to create a scientific station on the Moon. The challenge for Russia is to build its own space station by 2024 to achieve its lunar exploration goals. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who supervises defense-related policies, the question on "bringing China in as the main partner in creating a lunar scientific station," is currently being [...]

Ukrainian nationalists accused of having links to Nazi Germany have been legalized, praised as freedom fighters and granted social benefits in legislation signed by president Poroshenko as part of so-called "de-communisation" package of laws. Such paramilitary groups as Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), as well as other underground groups that [...]

Take a look at what it takes to perform aerobatics with awesome Russian pilot Svetlana Kapanina, the Pilot of the Century and most honored aeronaut ever. Cockpit cam footage was taken during her flight in Sochi, on Extra 330LC RA-1568. The video shows the Black Sea coastline and Sochi Winter Olympics infrastructure, such as the stadiums and the Olympic village. [...]

For several years, Official Washington blinded itself to the growing radicalism of the Syrian opposition, all the better to portray the Assad regime as the “bad guys” and the rebels as the “good guys.” Now, everyone is pointing fingers about the ISIS “surprise,” as ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar explains. The recent burst of recriminations about what the U.S. intelligence community d [...]

The Ukrainian Parliament has approved new regulations on martial law, which among other things allows for extrajudicial detention and relocation of Russian citizens in the country. The law was approved by 254 deputies out of 322. It regulates how martial law can be declared in Ukraine and the changes to legal procedures it brings. [...]

The UN special peace envoy to Syria has urged the international community to take advice from Russia to resolve the four-year-long civil war that has claimed 210,000 lives and left 1.5 million Syrians with injuries and disabilities. “Russia has influence on Damascus, and it’s very important that they get involved," Staffan de Mistura, who was challenged by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-mo [...]

The economic burden of Western sanctions has pushed Russia to the east in search of business opportunities. Judging by the outcome of President Putin’s visit to India - 20 high-profile deals struck – Moscow’s ‘pivot to Asia’ is getting a warm welcome. Russian President Vladimir Putin achieved this during his visit to India spanning 23 hours and 15 minutes and at a summit meeting with [...]

The Russian military is putting the finishing touches to its very own heavy military UAV. The drone is part of a wider modernization effort, with the cutting-edge flagship S500 missile system coming in 2017. The drone “already exists,” according to Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov. [...]

Winning the battlefield called public opinion has never been so important nor so divisive. The western media’s assault on Russia approaches sensory overload, but is it effective? There is a vast ongoing propaganda war being played out – whose propaganda should we be worried about? [...]

South Carolina state police have released dascham footage from officer Michael Slager’s car captured moments before he shot an unarmed black man named Walter Scott. The video shows Scott running away after being pulled over. Made public Thursday by the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the footage does not reveal any details about the moment unarmed man Walter Scott was ki [...]

The Obama administration appears to be spinning the Ukraine crisis out of control and doing serious damage to trans-Atlantic relations all at once. Tensions between Europe and the U.S. over how to address the year-old crisis in Ukraine have simmered just out of sight since the elected president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted last February 22. [...]

Warsaw has paid €230,000 to two former inmates of CIA "black site" prisons, which used to be on Poland's territory - a move that has raised questions in the country. "Poland has fulfilled the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights," Deputy Foreign Minister Rafał Trzaskowski said on Thursday, RIA Novosti reports. [...]

A man claiming to be a Ukrainian major general and former assistant to the country's defense minister has announced he is now working with the forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. "I am Ukrainian Armed Forces Major General Aleksandr Kolomiyets. [...]

Finland has struck a blow for genuine exceptionalism in Europe. Anti-NATO parties dominated polls while Euroskeptic cred was championed not only by the longstanding anti-EU party, but also, uniquely within the eurozone, by the Social Democratic party. Depending on your perspective, Finland may conjure recollections anywhere from Sibelius’ exquisitely lyrical Karelia Suite to the speedy monosy [...]

Russia's upper house of Parliament, the Federation Council, has ratified the plan to deliver 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China. The deliveries are slated to begin as early as 2018. The bill hashes through the detail of exactly how the nearly 4,000 kilometer long pipeline will be built and operated. [...]