The Syrian presidential election surprised both Syrians and their allies and enemies. The poll, which everyone agrees was legitimate, mobilized 73.42% of the electorate, despite the inability of some people to get to the polls because of the occupation of part of the country by foreign mercenaries. Bashar al-Assad won 88.7% of the vote and his mandate has been extended for 7 more years.
For the past several months, the 11 remaining member states of the London Group (formerly known as the "Friends of Syria" at the time when there were 114) denounced the Syrian presidential election on June 3 as a "farce". According to them, on the one hand it would be ludicrous to hold an election in a country plagued by a "civil war", on the other hand, the outgoing President Bashar al-Assad is a tyrant, using massive torture and bombing his own people, and therefore illegitimate. According to these 11 states, the only way out of a war that has already left "at least 160,000 dead Syrians" would be by giving way to a "transitional body" designated not by the Syrians, but by themselves, the London Group.

A US Navy Super Hornet jet fighter crashed in the Pacific Ocean off the southern coast of California late Wednesday night, the US Navy said. This is the second crash of a US marine jet in the area in 24 hours.

The Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet jet "impacted the water" as it approached the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) at about 10pm local time (6am GMT) Wednesday.

"The pilot ejected from the aircraft, was recovered safely and is currently aboard Carl Vinson in stable condition," the Navy said in a statement.

The jet was part of the Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 81 based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana in Virginia. The jet has not been recovered from the crash.

An investigation has been launched into the crash's causes, while all operations have been halted aboard the USS Carl Vinson.

Exports of liquefied natural gas from the US won't solve the EU's energy security problems, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said after the G7 meeting in Brussels.

Barroso said US President Barack Obama expressed readiness to increase the supply of natural gas to the EU at the March summit in Brussels, however the two leaders did not discuss the matter at their Thursday meeting in the framework of the G7.

This process will take a certain amount of time, the European Commission President said stressing the EU cannot create "the illusion that gas from the US is going to solve our problems."

EU energy security has become a key issue amid the developing crisis in Ukraine. As a result of Kiev's substantial gas debt to Russia, the price for Ukraine was raised from $268.50 to $485.50 per 1,000 cubic meters in April after Russia cancelled two discounts. Kiev authorities have been demanding Moscow lower the rate, refusing to pay back the full debt until then.

Lithuania, the last Baltic nation outside the currency union, has finally been given the green light to join the euro area, after its bid was turned down 8 years ago. The country could adopt the single euro currency on January 1, 2015.

The European Commission and the European Central Bank accepted Lithuania's application on Wednesday.

"Lithuania's readiness to adopt the euro reflects its long-standing support for prudent fiscal policies and economic reforms. That reform momentum, driven in part by Lithuania's EU accession ten years ago, has led to a striking increase in Lithuanians' prosperity: the country's per capita GDP has risen from just 35% of the EU28 average in 1995 to a projected 78% in 2015," Olli Rehn, the European Commission Vice-President responsible for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro, said in the statement.

The ECB looked at eight European Union countries - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and Croatia. Only Lithuania met all the criteria to join.

Lithuania first applied for membership on January 1, 2007. It was rejected, as inflation was above the EU's target by 0.1 percentage point, and expected to go higher. In 2008 it grew to hit 12.5 percent.

The Council will make a final decision on the matter in the second half of July, after EU officials and state heads meet at the European Council from June 26-27. Then the council will also agree on a set conversation rate for Lithuania's currency the litas to the euro. Eighteen countries already share the currency, a requirement for all member states except for the UK and Denmark.

In order for a country to adopt the euro, it needs to tie its currency to the euro for a two-year period, as well as keep debt below 60 percent of GDP and inflation within 1.5 percentage points of the three lowest rates among the euro zone.

The European Commission said that inflation, the key stumbling block to Lithuania joining the eurozone previously, has been overcome.

In the 12 months leading up to April 2014, Lithuania's average inflation rate was 0.6 percent, well below the reference value of 1.7 percent, and will likely remain below this level in the coming months, the ECB report said.

The Ukrainian government has canceled the huge annual Victory Day military parade in Kiev that commemorates the capitulation of Nazi Germany on May 9th. The government will only offer a prayer service for the victims of World War II and wreath-laying ceremony because they are supposedly worried about the potential for violence. But the real issue is that during World War II the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in the west collaborated with Nazi Germany and the eastern Ukrainians fought for Russia. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler regularly spent time in his eastern front military bunker at Vinnitsa in Ukraine. By the end of World War II, 6.85 million Ukrainians were dead. During the Victory celebrations over the next three days, Russia and the West will continue to face off in their new Cold War.

The German invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa that began on June 22, 1941. On the eve of Barbarossa, about four thousand Ukrainians, operating under German Wehrmacht orders, sought to cause disruptions behind Soviet lines. After fighting for the German during the invasion, Ukrainians collaborated with their German occupiers by participating in the local administration, in German Schutzmannschaft police and serving as concentration camp guards.

The winner of the presidential election race was not declared officially and the counting was still going on when US President Barack Obama already recognized Petro Poroshenko as the new leader of Ukraine no matter there were many doubts about the election results being trustworthy.

First of all the decision to launch the preterm election was taken by the Ukrainian parliament under the barrel of a gun. The members of parliament were literally made get inside the hall and vote. Those who opposed the procedure were beaten up, their family members threatened. In some cases electronic cards were taken away to ensure the needed result.

Is Ukraine being destroyed by the West's mainstream media? How does Europe refer to democracy in terms of the current situation in this country? Is the West interested in 'European values' for Ukraine? Or is the US just improving its 'crisis management' skills there? And what should we expect from the meeting in Normandy? CrossTalking with Diana Johnstone, Eric Draitser and Uli Brueckner.

Head of Petr Poroshenko's campaign office in one of the districts of Ukraine's Vinnitsa region of was found dead on Thursday, according to Interfax.

The man's body with a gunshot wound to the head was found in his own car on one of the city of Nemirov's streets around 12.30 pm local time on June 5, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Government intelligence agencies have direct access to telecommunication companies' infrastructure which allows them to spy and record phone calls leaving no paper trail, the UK's largest mobile phone company Vodafone has revealed.

The British operator said wires have been attached to its phone networks in some of the 29 countries in which it operates in Europe, as well as around the world, the Guardian reported. Governments similarly connect to other telecom groups, reportedly allowing them to listen to or record live conversations. In some cases, the surveillance agencies can also track the whereabouts of a customer.

"For governments to access phone calls at the flick of a switch is unprecedented and terrifying," Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti told the Guardian. "Snowden revealed the internet was already treated as fair game. Bluster that all is well is wearing pretty thin - our analogue laws need a digital overhaul."

Russia has just announced a hugely strategic decision that may alter the regional power matrix and bug India at a time when the just-installed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was looking to deepen ties with Moscow.

Sergey Chemezov, head of Russian state-run technologies corporation Rostec, announced on Monday that Russia has lifted an embargo on supplying weapons and military hardware to Pakistan. He also said that Moscow is negotiating the delivery of several Mi-25 helicopter gunships to Islamabad. "The decision was taken and we are negotiating the delivery of helicopters," the Voice of Russia quoted Chemezov as saying.