International

Ukraine and NATO condemned Vladimir Putin for gloating over Russia's annexation of the Crimea during the Russian President's first trip to the peninsula post-Russian takeover. Several eastern provinces are also voting to secede from the former Soviet province, backed by pro-Russian elements widely believed to members of Russian security forces.

The pro-Russia insurgency in eastern Ukraine decided Thursday to go ahead with Sunday's referendum on autonomy despite a call from Russian President Vladimir Putin to delay it. Polls show the split between the east and west of the country further increasing.

The United States has agreed to sign a long-term lease agreement with the government of Djibouti, President Obama announced Monday, cementing the U.S. military's presence at Camp Lemonnier, a key foothold for the killer drone program.

Russia has everybody worried. Their invasion of Ukraine has threatened the post-Cold War security the west had enjoyed since the fall of the Soviet empire. The military's incursions "shatter the myth" of stability, said US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

The Syrian government and the rebels revolting called a 48-hour truce in the city of Homs, so that rebels who have been trapped there can retreat. The city, called the "capital of the revolution," was one of the first great victories for the rebels, but has since been under a steady stream of bombardment and artillery fire.

Conservationist and brother to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Mark Shand, died of an apparent accidental fall Wednesday. Camilla and her husband Prince Charles were "utterly devastated" by the news of his sudden death.

U.N. human rights investigators have confirmed that hundreds of civilians were killed because of their ethnicity after rebel forces seized a disputed town in South Sudan last week, the United Nations said Monday.

KBR and Halliburton – two major U.S. military contractors – can be sued for the health impacts of trash incineration on U.S. soldiers who served in the war in Iraq, according to a new court decision that allows a series of 57 lawsuits against the companies to go forward.

Flyers distributed in the Ukrainian City of Donetsk require Jews to bring a $50 fee to cover the placement of a "religious nationality" mark in passports, and to register their property and possessions with local authorities. Jews who failed to comply would face deportation. This is not a a WWII history lesson, but an actual news story.

NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden appeared Thursday on Russian state television via video link, where he posed a question to Vladimir Putin's during the president's annual question-and-answer program: Is the Russian government spying on millions of people?