Austria, Spain and South Korea have been approved as founding members of the Asia Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB), the Chinese Finance Ministry announced Saturday. A founding member of the bank has the right to help write its rules and Saturday’s additions bring the number of prospective founders to 41. The exact number of founding members will be finalized on April 15. [...]

Crimean head Sergei Aksenov said that after the establishment of Crimea as a free trade zone, businessmen from a number of European Union member states and Israel have visited the republic and expressed their interest in investing in the region. [...]

Although some lawmakers, including Democrats, believe Congress should have a say in any potential removal of Iranian sanctions, most Americans say Congress should not keep a possible a nuclear deal from being implemented. Roughly 61 percent of Americans support the framework agreement struck between Iran and the P5+1 (the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany) earlier this month, according [...]

France's intelligence chief has questioned NATO's claims of Russia preparing to attack Ukraine as their agents failed to spot any activities signaling this - either before or after the crisis began. A statement by the chief of France’s military intelligence, General Christophe Gomart, was published on the National Assembly’s website. [...]

The presence of a radioactive, cancer-causing element has increased in parts of Pennsylvania where hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been on the rise in recent years, according to a new study. Researchers with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said this week they’ve discovered a correlation between radon levels and fracking across the Keystone State. [...]

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 [...]

Ukrainian MPs have passed a law banning communist and national-socialist totalitarian regimes, and all their symbols. Another bill celebrates 20th-century nationalists accused of links to Nazi Germany, granting them social benefits. A new law equating communism to Nazism by banning both regimes was passed in the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, on Thursday. [...]

California lawmakers took a step forward in protecting citizens who record or photograph the actions of police - but do not obstruct their duties - from reprisals by law enforcement, passing legislation out of committee. [...]

The chief of police for North Charleston, South Carolina, told reporters on Wednesday that he was "sickened" by video that surfaced this week of a local police officer fatally shooting an unarmed man eight times from behind. “I have watched the video and I was sickened by what I saw,” Chief Eddie Driggers said at a press conference on Wednesday. “And I have not watched it since.” [...]

The US may no longer be in control of the global economy, warned former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, urging Washington to regain dominance by honoring commitments and stopping its own hypocrisy. China’s establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and Washington’s failure to stop its traditional allies from joining, was a development without precedent since the [...]

The Russian ruble has hit 55.3 to the dollar Monday, its highest value this year. The currency has become the best performer during the first three months of the year, after it finished 2014 as one of the biggest losers. The ruble gained above one percent against the US dollar, standing at 55.3 and at 60.8 to the euro at the closing on Moscow Exchange on Monday. [...]

Athens is currently trying to negotiate a new bailout deal with its Troika of creditors, but if that falls "Plan B" could reportedly involve getting rid of the euro and cutting off its banking system from the European Central Bank. [...]

An International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has slammed conditions faced by migrant workers building Abu Dhabi's $27-billion Saadiyat Island cultural hub, set to feature new branches of the Louvre and the Guggenheim museums. [...]

On the eve of Easter Sunday, people took to the streets of Germany in support of world peace and denouncing militarization, the arms trade and NATO's role in conflicts around the globe. The main pacifist demonstration took place in center of Berlin on Saturday, where police estimated that over 1,000 people participated. Representing some 40 different organizations, activists united under the sl [...]

Although Russian President Putin has worked to form a strong and lasting partnership with Washington - in fields as diverse as fighting terrorism and exploring outer space - the spirit of goodwill and bilateral relations has not been reciprocated. [...]

Increased US military posturing, troop buildup in Eastern Europe and a continued effort to show strength destabilizes the region and creates a scenario where one wrong move could spark a global conflict, journalist Marcus Papadopoulos told RT. [...]

A well-monitored vote should be held in Crimea to let the people of Crimea decide if they want to be Russians or Ukrainians, US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said at the annual US-Russia Forum in Washington DC. Crimea's secession from Ukraine took place after a new government was installed in Kiev through a coup in February, 2014, which alienated Crimea's majority Russian-speaking population of [...]

When Gordon Duff delivered the keynote address at the Damascus Conference on Combating Terrorism and Religious Extremism, this sent major shock-waves around the World among World Leaders and Top Intel Officers. Within minutes communiques were being sent back to leaders and Intel of most major nations, and within 24 hours all World Leaders of any significance had received memos on the content of [...]

The process of destroying America's largest remaining stockpile of chemical weapons began on Wednesday in Colorado, more than a decade after the Defense Department approved the destruction of 780,000 shells containing 2,600 tons of mustard agent. It will take four years to destroy the inventory leftover from World War II at Pueblo Chemical Depot in southern Colorado. [...]

The Pentagon is yet to officially acknowledge the downing of a surveillance drone over ISIS-free territory controlled by the Syrian govt, but scarce details of the incident hint at US involvement going beyond its self-mandated anti-ISIS plan in Syria. Anonymously, US military sources have confirmed that the country has lost contact with one of its drones over Syria, after SANA news agency repor [...]

Despite the predictions, the Israeli left has been soundly beaten in Tuesday's elections by its more honest "right wing", whose commitment to the total eradication of the Palestinians as any kind of political entity is openly stated. The defeat of the Zionist Union, ostensibly committed to negotiations and a two-state solution, should not, therefore, be read as the defeat of any genuine desire [...]

The Obama administration claimed an unmatched commitment to government transparency this week, even as it denied or delayed more requests for public information than ever, and claimed exemption from freedom of information laws. After announcing that its Office of Administration would no longer be subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on the National Freedom of Information Day, the Wh [...]