A Parliamentary report examining the mass collection of private communications by UK security agencies has defended the practice as “essential.” The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) report, published on Thursday, said only a “tiny” proportion of data collected was ever seen by human eyes. [...]

While most civilized people view the Swastika and other Nazi symbols as abhorrent reminders of unspeakable evil, the Washington Post trotted out a new way of seeing them – as “romantic” – a sign that apologists for Ukraine’s coup regime know no limits, reports Robert Parry. The U.S. mainstream media’s deeply biased coverage of the Ukraine crisis – endlessly portraying the U.S.-bac [...]

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. [...]

Failure by the US to investigate Saudi Arabia’s connection to the 9/11 attacks is among the factors that led to the rise of ISIS, Bob Graham, a former senator and co-chairman of the official inquiry into 9/11, told The Independent in an interview. Graham has expressed doubts about the US’s reliance on Saudi Arabia as an ally in fight against Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL). [...]

Anti-war activists will descend on London on Saturday to protest against British airstrikes on Islamic State (IS, ISIS/ISIL) positions in Iraq. Groups including the Stop the War Coalition plan to march through London, past Downing Street, to voice their opposition to the UK’s military intervention, which began after winning parliamentary approval last week. [...]

A danger from the “war on terror” was always that it would encourage the spread of an authoritarian U.S. state, ignoring international law abroad and constitutional rights at home, a process that is now growing more apparent with impunity for both torturers and police who kill minorities, writes Nat Parry. By Nat Parry The international fallout from last week’s long-delayed release of [...]

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. [...]

An extended period of calm on the bond markets has led many to conclude the euro crisis is over. But German central bank head Jens Weidmann says in an interview that the coast still isn't clear and that there is still great need for reforms. SPIEGEL: Mr. Weidmann, you are notorious for being a tough critic of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. But the euro crisis seems to be over, la [...]

The Russian government has decided to pull out of a major student exchange program with the US. The American side apparently violated the terms and conditions, with a Russian schoolboy not returning home, having been adopted by a gay couple. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented a note to the US Embassy in Moscow, saying that the country is canceling the largest US-Russian educational excha [...]

An analysis of cartridges used by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria shows that their newest ammunition is of American origin. China and the Soviet Union were identified as the biggest sources of munitions, but with bullets made 25 years ago. The Conflict Armament Research (CAR) group analyzed the origin of some 1,700 small-caliber cartridges collected from areas in Syria and Iran where [...]

Security forces in Kiev are blocking entry to Ukraine’s eastern regions, the parliamentary speaker of Donetsk People’s Republic said on Tuesday. "Ukraine has completely blocked Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. No one can leave without a pass," Andrey Purgin told Rossiya-24 television news channel, noting that even with a pass people are not allowed to leave eastern territories. [...]

The US is no stranger to fatal railway accidents: over the last decade, dozens of lives were lost, and hundreds of people injured in train wrecks. All this is due to lack of funding, infrastructure and development, critics say. The latest Amtrak train crash has left at least six people killed and dozens injured, with the cause of the crash remaining unknown. [...]

NATO member states have started supplying weapons to Ukraine, the country's Defense Minister said on TV. His comments came a few days after a similar statement by a Ukrainian presidential aide sparked a diplomatic scandal and a rash of denials. In an interview with Channel 5, Ukrainian Defense Minister Valery Geletey said that he had held verbal consultations with the defense ministers of the � [...]

RT correspondent Paula Slier faced strong anti-Russian bias during an OSCE panel on the freedom of journalism. She was invited to speak about her experience as a reporter while covering the situation in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. Slier was attending a panel entitled ‘Professional Journalist: How to escape a deadly danger’ inWarsaw, Polandon Thursday, where she wanted to share her [...]

Russia's Federation Council will boycott a scheduled business roundtable with US Senators next month, and has voiced intentions to stop co-operation with all sanction-supporting EU parliaments. The decision by members of the upper house to stay away from the October 14-15 summit in New York was voiced by the Council’s International Affairs Committee to Izvestia newspaper. [...]

American soldiers discovered more than 4,990 chemical munitions in Iraq, according to Iraqi and US officials and previously classified intelligence documents, which may now be in the hands of Islamic State militants. For much of the duration of the Iraq War, which saw US soldiers open a military invasion against the Ba’athist country in March 2003 amid tremendous international outcry, US forc [...]

Two US Navy F/A-18 Hornets have crashed in the western Pacific Ocean, the US Navy has confirmed. One pilot has been rescued, while the second is still missing. “Two F/A-18 Hornets from Carrier Air Wing 17 embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) crashed at 5:40 p.m. local time, today, while operating at sea in the western Pacific Ocean,” said a statement from the US Navy. [...]

A total of 1,300 troops from 15 nations, either active NATO members or would-be members, have come together for a military exercise in western Ukraine – even as the fragile truce in the east of the country barely holds. The exercise, code-named “Rapid Trident” has been an annual event since 2006, and has been organized by the Germany-based US European Command (EUCOM). It was initially pla [...]

Leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Armenia have signed a treaty that will make Erevan a new member of the Eurasian Economic Union, a free trade zone made up of former Soviet states to rival the European Union. The deal was signed Friday at the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union in Minsk. [...]

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified before the 17-month-old House Select Committee on Benghazi for the first time. The daylong hearing often turned into shouting matches between lawmakers, while Clinton looked on bored or amused. [...]

Kiev officials and representatives of the two self-proclaimed republics in southeastern Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire, as the contact group met behind closed doors in Belarus. The two sides accompanied by representatives of Russia and the OSCE were meeting in the Belorussian capital, Minsk, in an attempt to end the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine. [...]

The Ukrainian parliament has approved laws on special status for the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions, as well as amnesty for those participating in the hostilities. The special status law has received 277 ‘yes’ votes from a total of 450 MPs, while the amnesty law was approved by 287 parliamentary members. The session of the Verkhovna Rada is underway during which MPs are to ratify an agreement [...]