Airplane cabin cleaning crews at New York's LaGuardia International Airport began a 24-hour strike on Wednesday, citing, in part, possible exposure to the Ebola virus. Meanwhile, a poll found most Americans want flights banned from Ebola-ravaged areas. Around 200 Air Serv employees who work on domestic flights to LaGuardia began their strike on Wednesday evening. [...]

The mother of a victim killed in the Malaysian plane crash in eastern Ukraine has started legal proceedings to sue the Ukrainian authorities in the European Court of Human Rights, demanding about $1 million for pain and suffering. The mother of “Olga L.”, a German citizen, submitted her case against Ukraine to the European Court of Human Rights last week. She is demanding €800,000 (roughl [...]

Prisoner swaps in Ukraine are in danger of stalling as rebels say they will no longer tolerate Kiev's practice of producing random people for exchange instead of actual members of militia and political prisoners. Prisoner exchanges are a crucial part for consolidating the shaky truce in eastern Ukraine. The peace deal signed in Minsk, Belarus, on September 5 states that all captives must be eve [...]

Some 17 million elderly Americans are in need of government-funded meal services, but 90 percent of them don't receive it, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. About 83 percent of those adults in need are food insecure. “An estimated 90 percent of low-income older adults do not receive meals services like those funded by Title III programs, according to our analy [...]

Hundreds of Denver-area high school students walked out their classrooms in a mass protest against what they call an attempt to censor their history curriculum by refocusing it on topics that promote citizenship, patriotism and obedience. Students at six Denver-area highs schools walked out their classrooms en masse, protesting a plan by the conservative-majority Jefferson County school board t [...]

Russia doesn't want to escalate tit-for-tat sanctions with the West, but is ready to do whatever is necessary to protect its legitimate interests, including those of national security in all its dimensions, Russia's FM told The Daily Telegraph. Peace in Ukraine can only be attained through a broad national dialogue that includes all regions and its terms cannot simply be dictated by a “govern [...]

As President Petro Poroshenko signed the lustration law, the trash dumping of lawmakers in Ukraine is gaining momentum. The General Prosecutor warned that there is a thin line between the so-called "trash lustration" and lynching. Poroshenko signed the law that establishes the legal framework for checking government officials linked to the rule of ousted President Yanukovich. [...]

The EU is considering forbidding all Russian state-owned firms from borrowing or raising money on European capital markets in the possible next round of sanctions against Russia being prepared by the European Commission. This and other proposals were discussed at a meeting of European ambassadors in Brussels on Monday, Reuters reports citing diplomatic sources. [...]

The UK's top law enforcement officer says Britons must be prepared to sacrifice their freedoms online if they want to be protected from terrorists and cyber criminals. This includes giving authorities access to private email and social media contents. Speaking to The Guardian, the director general of the National Crime Agency (NCA), Keith Bristow, warned that the UK’s biggest threats are beco [...]

For the first time in two decades, through a spate of school shootings at the likes of Columbine, Colorado and Newtown, Connecticut, more Americans say it is more important to protect gun rights rather than to increase gun control, Pew Research found. Pew’s latest poll on American attitudes regarding gun rights found that 52 percent of respondents are more concerned about the protection of t [...]

Members from both sides of the US political spectrum say a Yes vote in Scotland's independence referendum may compromise the UK-US strategic relationship. A weakening of Washington's top military ally and the fate of the UK's nuclear arsenal are key. Representative Bradley Sherman [D-CA], who has vocally opposed the prospect of Scotland breaking away from the UK, said America’s foreign policy [...]

Sweden's newly-formed center-left government is set to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state, said Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. If Stockholm proceeds with the move it will be the first EU-member to officially endorse Palestinian statehood. "The conflict between Israel can only be solved with a two-state solution, negotiated in accordance with international law," Lofven said in the parliamen [...]

Ukrainian CyberBerkut hacktivists claim that they have penetrated the internal network of Ukraine's Defense Ministry and found proof that Kiev is getting secret data from MH17 crash investigators, including information which implies its involvement. A document, posted on the website cyber-berkut.net, and allegedly downloaded from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry network, dates back to August 7 and [...]

Islamic State jihadists have released a video which they claim shows the beheading of a 44-year-old British aid worker, David Haines, who has been held hostage since his abduction last year. The masked man in the latest video released across social media on Saturday night claims that Haines was killed because of UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s pledge to arm Kurdish forces in order to battle [...]

A whole parking lot's worth of luxury Rolls Royces, Bentleys and Mercedes Benzes went up in flames in downtown Moscow in the early hours of morning. Their estimated worth was about $3.3 million... and they may all be owned by the same person. Arson is suspected at this time, according to authorities. [...]

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 [...]

Living longer and healthier lives may be more under our control than we think. Contrary to media hype and the posturing of politicians, Ebola and ISIS are very unlikely to cause our early deaths. More likely to shorten American lives are some unhealthy behaviors that are actually somewhat under our control, like overeating to the point of obesity and overdosing on drugs. [...]

Pope Francis in a highly emotional appeal called for equal pay for men and women during his weekly General Audience in St Peter's Square, Rome. "Why is it taken for granted that women must earn less than men? No! They have the same rights. The discrepancy is a pure scandal," he said as cited by Reuters. [...]

Washington harshly criticized Israel's decision to move forward with new settlements in east Jerusalem on Wednesday, adding that the plan could alienate Tel Aviv from "even its closest allies." US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the development – which calls for more than 2,600 new homes in a highly contested area of east Jerusalem – would make world nations “question Israel� [...]

The number of Americans aged 16 and older not participating in the labor force hit 92,898,000 in February, tying December's record, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Over the longer trend, the labor force participation rate was between 62.9 percent and 62.7 percent from April 2014 through February, and has been hovering around 62.9 percent or lower in 13 of the [...]

Victoria Nuland's anti-Russian rhetoric comes from the neocon camp of US politics, seeking to stir the Ukraine crisis, thrilled by the prospect of defense industry expansion and more arms sales, Daniel McAdams of the Ron Paul Peace Institute told RT. World leaders and international monitors agree the situation in Ukraine is generally improving. Why are we still witnessing aggressive rhetoric fr [...]

The Russian embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus was shelled on Tuesday, with Moscow stating that it considers the attack on its diplomatic mission an act of terror. Two mortar rounds landed on the premises of the Russian Embassy in the afternoon, “one of them fell near the main entrance, the other hit an administrative building," Asiya Turuchiyeva embassy's spokeswoman, told RIA Novosti [...]