Former NSA agents-turned-whistleblowers are testifying before a German parliamentary committee as the Bundestag investigates America's wiretapping methods with one of them branding the NSA approach "totalitarian." It is hoped that evidence from the two US citizens, William Binney and Thomas Drake, will shed light on the methods of surveillance used by the American National Security Agency (NSA) [...]

Russia's president has blamed the turmoil in Ukraine on the country's newly-elected leader Petro Poroshenko. Vladimir Putin also criticized the West for its intention to turn the planet into a "global barracks." Russia’s president has laid the blame for the ongoing turmoil between Kiev and south-eastern regions squarely at the feet of Petro Poroshenko, after the Ukrainian leader terminated the c [...]

The first delivery of Russian Sukhoi fighter jets arrived in Iraq on Saturday, the country's Defense Ministry said. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is hoping the jets will make a key difference in the fight against ISIS. The Iraqi Ministry of Defense on Sunday confirmed receiving five Su-25 fighter jets in accordance with the deal with Moscow. [...]

A Verkhovna Rada deputy who is also an ex-defense minister of Ukraine, said during a prime time talk-show that the country' "patriots" would be justified"to kill" Russian President Vladimir Putin if he came to Kiev. [...]

In an apparent breach of the ceasefire, Ukrainian forces shelled residential parts of Slavyansk for nearly an hour on Sunday, destroying buildings and killing at least 3 civilians. Ukrainian media claimed that a pro-Kiev checkpoint had been attacked. [...]

The US is aggressively pushing NATO allies in Europe towards sanctions, while some of them are resisting for their own economic interests because it is harmful to them, Sara Flounders, the head of the International Action Center told RT. [...]

Supporters of Sunni Islamists waging a campaign of terror across Iraq have vowed that any US airstrikes against its fighters will be met with attacks on Americans. The group has also threated to commandeer its own Air Force as Iraq risks disintegrating. A twitter account with 21,000 followers, dubbed the “League of Supporters”, called for ISIS sympathizers to post messages warning America not [...]

The situation in Ukraine is gradually leading to a humanitarian catastrophe, and it is aggravating every day. Russia sees it as its duty to expand assistance to refugees from Ukraine, displaced persons and to the Ukrainians who stay in the conflict-torn areas. Russia is extending humanitarian assistance to the people of the southeastern part of Ukraine without formal agreement with the Ukrainian a [...]

President Vladimir Putin has proposed that the upper house call off the March 1 resolution allowing the head of state to use the armed forces on the territory of Ukraine, said presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. [...]

As the United States mulls whether or not to provide military support to Iraq in its battle against Sunni insurgents, recent reports indicate the White House wants Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki out of power. [...]

In less than three years US fighter jets have returned to Iraqi skies, as Obama's administration has authorized "manned and unmanned" surveillance flights there to keep an eye on the ISIS jihadist group that threatens to overrun the whole of Iraq. [...]

In an unprecedented move, Ukrainian self-defense forces and Kiev's troops have carried out an exchange of dead bodies near Donetsk. However, a fragile ceasefire reached for the exchange was interrupted by shooting. [...]

Ukraine does not control its territory and is unable to guarantee not only the lives of its own citizens but also the economic safety of the pipeline operation, or the businesses on its territory, political scientist Mateusz Piskorsky told RT. Ukrainian authorities suggested the blast may have been caused by a terrorist attack. So can Ukraine be trusted as a transit country anymore? [...]

The coal miners of the Donetsk region have stayed away from work and marched in downtown Donetsk against Kiev'€™s military campaign against Ukrainian citizens, which has already killed over 250 civilians, according to the UN. A rally on Donetsk’s central Lenin Square initially attracted about 1,000 people. [...]

A TV camera recorded the moment Russian journalists (from Rossiya TV) came under fire while working near Lugansk, E. Ukraine. Two journalists died from wounds sustained during the Ukrainian military barrage. Reporter Igor Kornelyuk passed away on the operating table, a doctor at a local hospital confirmed to RT. [...]

The Ukrainian President is sitting at the top of a living volcano and must understand that exacerbating conflict with Russia will put an end to his presidency, Michael J. Carley, professor of history and 20th century international relations, told RT. [...]

Ukrainian police have detained two men with a package presumably containing a homemade explosive device near Russia'€™s consulate in the city of Odessa. The explosive has been sent for inspection, the local Ministry of Interior reports. [...]

The Sunni militants fighting to make an Islamic state in Iraq have scored another victory in their move to control more territory. They captured Tal Afar, a city of 200,000 residents in north-west of the country. The city was taken just before dawn on Monday, Mayor Abdulal Abdoul confirmed to AP. [...]

Radical Sunni militants who have been capturing cities in northwest Iraq claimed on Twitter that they executed 1,700 Iraqi soldiers. The radicals posted graphic photos as evidence. The photographs, which were posted on the Twitter account associated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL), came with captions that described their alleged massacre. [...]

Tony Blair'€™s essay on how the Middle East should blame its own religious dynamics for its troubles -€“ instead of Western attempts at intervention - has seen London Mayor Boris Johnson launch a scathing attack on the "€œunhinged"€ former PM. Johnson’s strong condemnation is a reaction to the arguments made in the former British Prime Minister’s piece entitled 'Iraq, Syria and the Mi [...]

After failing to pay its gas bill, Ukraine now has to pay in advance for any natural gas from Russia, Gazprom said on Monday. Both companies have filed lawsuits against each other at the Stockholm Arbitration Court. “This decision was taken due to systematic failure of Naftogaz Ukraine to pay. [...]

Historical analogies may be inaccurate, but Americans may need to look at their own civil war and compare it to what is happening in Ukraine now. Today the US supports a murderous criminal adventure that has little to do with unifying the country. [...]