Ukraine Moves Toward NATO Alliance with Parliament Vote

Ukraine Moves Toward NATO Alliance with Parliament Vote

Signaling a step toward NATO membership and further western alliance, the Ukraine parliament on Tuesday voted to drop the country’s ‘non-aligned’ status, which had prevented the country from joining such military coalitions. Observers note that the decision is likely to antagonize Russia, which has been vocally opposed to Ukraine’s increased alignment with NATO. After the…

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NASA Chooses Boeing, SpaceX for Transit to International Space Station

NASA is bringing space travel back to the United States. The agency announced this week that Boeing and SpaceX will transport American astronauts to the International Space Station using their CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecrafts. The private contracts are worth $4.2 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively. The contracts are needed after Russia decided to halt…

UN: Ukraine Death Toll Doubled in Past Week

The death toll from ongoing conflict in Ukraine has nearly doubled in the past week, the United Nations human rights office said Wednesday. A “very conservative estimate” indicates that as of Aug. 10, 2,086 have died, compared to 1,129 on July 26, spokesperson Cecile Pouilly told media. Pouilly added that the rising toll marked a…

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Exxon Mobil Begins Drilling Russia’s Arctic Waters in Spite of Sanctions

Despite increasing western sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, Exxon Mobil has begun drilling their first well in Russia’s pristine Arctic territory on Saturday. “Today, commercial success is driven by efficient international cooperation,” Reuters reported Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying on a video conference with Glenn Waller, ExxonMobil’s lead manager in Russia,…

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President Obama Accuses Russia of Launching Artillery into Ukraine

President Obama delivered a statement from the White House on Tuesday regarding the situation in Ukraine. The president accused Russia of launching artillery strikes into sovereign Ukrainian territory. The president’s remarks were delivered two days after the US government released satellite images purporting to show Russian rockets being fired into Ukraine. The Obama administration is…

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Senator Joe Donnelly Wants More Sanctions for Russia

Senator Joe Donnelly (D-IN) offered tough words to Russia in an interview with a local TV station. The senator spoke to Tom Powell about the conflict in Ukraine and the recent attack on a civilian jetliner. Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down last Thursday in the rebel-controlled eastern half of Ukraine, killing all 295…

Malaysia Airlines Plane Shot Down Over Eastern Ukraine

A Malaysia Airlines jet carrying 295 passengers crashed on Thursday near the Russian border in rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine. The flight was on its way to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam. According to the Associated Press, Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister, claimed on Facebook that a surface-to-air Buk Launcher was used to shoot down…