Ukrainian troops fired internationally banned phosphorus bombs at Donetsk and Mandrykino in eastern Ukraine overnight, the Donetsk People’s Republic has said. “Ukraine’s Army uses phosphorus munitions during the shelling of Donetsk, Mandrykino on July 26, 2014,” the DNR said in its Twitter microblog Saturday. A YouTube video confirms the claims. A representative of Russia’s General [...]

A doctor in Belgium has refused medical help to a 90-year-old Jewish woman with a fractured rib, saying that she needs to be sent to Gaza to "get rid of" the sharp pain she is suffering. “I’m not coming,” the physician said and hung up after receiving the call at 11pm Wednesday. [...]

At least 13 civilians and likely dozens more have been killed by continuing artillery barrages, as government troops close in on militia positions around the city of Gorlovka in eastern Ukraine. A 1-year old - killed next to her parents - and a 5-year old are among the dead, according to information published by the Donetsk regional administration. Several local journalists on the ground have r [...]

The West is tightening the financial screws on Moscow, but German companies are already feeling the kickback of a slowing Russian economy and weakening ruble. Russia is Europe’s third-largest trading partner, so a spluttering Russian economy, exacerbated by the Ukraine crisis, is seriously affecting German companies. In 2013, Germany exported 36 billion euro worth of goods to Russia. [...]

Recess begins without lawmakers acting on legislation to fund firefighting efforts in Oregon, Washington and California. President Obama had requested $615 million in emergency funding to help the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department pay for firefighting efforts, and the Democratic-controlled Senate proposed a $2.7 billion spending bill to deal with both the wildfires and the influx of u [...]

France'€™s foreign minister has accused the UK of double standards following its criticism of the Russian Mistral warship deal. Referring to Russian oligarchs in the UK, he said that Britain must tend to its own backyard before attacking French policies. Following the Malaysia Airlines plane crash in Ukraine, British Prime Minister David Cameron criticized Paris for its plan to go ahead with [...]

Peter Schiff says two catalysts this week could send gold prices higher. Despite the constant drumbeat of geopolitical turmoil, gold, which investors often buy in times of uncertainty, has fallen 6 percent from its March highs. But even with the sell-off, bullion's biggest gold bug isn't throwing in the towel anytime soon. [...]

The United States and Europe last week announced the imposition of stronger sanctions against Russia in response to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. German industry may be among the losers. It wasn't that long ago that Kremlin officials could hardly avoid laughing when asked about the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the West. As long as every NATO member state jealously sought to protect [...]

UN chief Ban Ki-moon tells Israel to 'end this madness' after bombardment kills at least 10 people and injures dozens. A third deadly attack on a United Nations school sheltering people fleeing bombardment in Gaza was strongly condemned by both the UN and the US on Sunday, with UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, calling it a "moral outrage and a criminal act" and pleading for an end to "this madness". [...]

France, Germany, and Italy are among EU members who don't want to follow the US lead and impose trade sanctions on Russia. US sanctions are seen as a push to promote its own multibillion free-trade pact with Europe. “France, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, and EU President Italy see no reason in the current environment for the introduction of sectorial trade and [...]

The UN Security Council has condemned the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine, called for an international probe into the incident in a unanimously adopted resolution. All 15-member states voted to pass the Australia-proposed resolution, condemning “in the strongest terms” the crash of Malaysian plane on July 17 in Donetsk region of Ukraine, which resulted in 298 people dead. [...]

The number of emergency workers and first responders who have developed different types of cancer after being at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks has doubled since last year. According to the New York Post, more than 2,500 first responders and other rescuers who took to the site of the former World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks have been diagnosed w [...]

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights believes the world owes a "great dea" to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, saying he should not face trial for his revelations of sweeping state surveillance as they have served the public interest. “Those who disclose human rights violations should be protected: we need them,” Commissioner Navi Pillay told reporters on Wednesday. [...]

Revelations of the National Security Agency's global spy program, together with civil strife in Ukraine has severely damaged Barack Obama's popularity among Brazilians, Germans and Russians, a major US polling agency reported. Thanks to a series of global scandals, the United States in general, and its commander-in-chief in particular, [...]

The White House is tracking visitors to its website, despite proudly promising that WhiteHouse.gov complies with federal privacy laws and does not use cookies. The AddThis tracker is present on every page on the site, according to EFF. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) studied the White House site for the new type of online tracking system after a new report by ProPublica found that the [...]

Russian-made firearms are reportedly flying off the shelves of American gun stores after the United States Treasury Department announced sanctions last week against the maker of the popular AK-47 rifle. Kalashnikov Concern, the company responsible for the eponymous gas-operated 7.62 caliber assault rifle known largely around the world as the AK-47, is among the latest Russian-owned entities to [...]

Some Western states and Kiev rushed to find Russian involvement in the MH17 crash having no evidence to back their claims, Russia's Deputy Defense Minister told RT. He invited Ukraine to answer 10 questions to prove their commitment to an impartial probe. Speaking to RT, Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov has criticized Western countries for jumping to conclusions just “24 hours [...]

This is how to go about causing a traffic jam. A nude woman sunbathing in the capital Vienna caused snarl ups on a major road when she positioned her naked body out of a window to get the maximum out of the sun's rays. According to Austrian newspaper Heute, the naked woman was snapped by student Gregory Shakaki lying on her window ledge with her legs dangling out of a third floor window. [...]

Stalled progress towards EU membership has shifted Turkey's economic interest, and it is now looking for closer cooperation with Russia's Customs Union, Economic Development Minister Aleksey Ulyukayev said. Ulyukayev discussed the plan with Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci at the G20 trade ministers meeting in Sydney, Australia, over the weekend. [...]

Austrian officials say they are baffled to explain a UFO sighting in which dozens of people reported seeing between 50 and 100 objects flying in formation. The incident happened over the Aichfeld basin near the city of Knittelfeld in the southern Austrian state of Styria where eyewitness Juergen Trieb, 41, and his girlfriend Waltraud Kaliba, 40, managed to take this snap before the high speed o [...]

A Malaysian Airlines' Boeing-777 has crashed over Ukraine, close to the border with Russia. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Geraschenko said the plane carrying 285 passengers and 15 crew members fell. [...]

The UK's spy agency has developed a number of crafty tools to monitor and comb the web, planting false information when necessary, Glenn Greenwald said while disclosing a fresh batch of Snowden's files. The tools were created by the Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG) within the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), according to the leaked documents. [...]