Eighty-five Ukrainian border guards who had been hiding on Russian territory for almost three days because of fighting at Ukraine's Izvarino border crossing point were turned over to the Kiev authorities at Russia's Chertakov-Melovoye border crossing, the Rostov region branch of the Russian Federal Security Service's (FSB) Border Guard Directorate said in a press release.

"The information available to the FSB branch for the Rostov region indicates that 100 Ukrainian border guards, among them 20 officers, arrived from the Izvarino crossing point at Russia's Donetsk border crossing from 10:30 pm Moscow time on June 20 to 10:00 am on June 21. Of them, 15 border guards who crossed into Russia have refused to return, and the other 85 have been turned over to the Ukrainian side," according to the press release.

Weapons and ammunition apparently abandoned by Ukrainian border guards - 53 AK-74 assault rifles, three pistols, one grenade launcher, 116 grenades, and 7,812 cartridges - have been found in the area surrounding Russia's Donetsk border crossing point, it said.

More than 80 Ukrainian border guards crossed to Russia after the attack on Ukraine's Izvarino checkpoint overnight. Two people were wounded, the head of the Rostov regional border guard department, Vasily Malayev, told Itar-Tass.

"Unidentified armed people on Friday attacked the Ukrainian checkpoint of Izvarino (named Donetsk on the Russian side). More than 80 Ukrainian border guards came from Izvarino to (the Russian station of) Donetsk at about 22:30 Moscow time and asked for shelter from pursuing armed persons. Two among the Ukrainian border guards were wounded. First aid was rendered to them," the Russian official said.

None among Russian border guards and civilians was hurt. The Russian side took additional border guard strengthening measures.

Earlier on Friday, another incident occurred on the Ukrainian-Russian border. Malayev said fighting started near the Ukrainian point of Dolzhansky (Novoshakhtinsk on the Russian side) at 18:40 Moscow time between militiamen who controlled the border and soldiers of Ukrainian armed forces or the National Guards.

The Russian station was also under fire, and a Russian customs officer was wounded at the site. He has undergone an operation, and there is no threat to his life. The border checkpoint stopped working.

Buildings, communication systems and other installations of Novoshakhtinsk were seriously damaged by mortar fire from the Ukrainian side.

Marks were seen on buildings from ammunition of various calibers and systems, Malayev said, TASS reports.

As violence in Iraq escalates and hawks beat the drums of war, people on the ground in Iraq and across the U.S. are urging the Obama administration: don't go down the same path of military intervention that created the current crisis.

Public Opinion vs. War Hawks

According to a poll released Tuesday, 74 percent of people in the U.S. are against sending combat troops into Iraq. Rather than allowing that overwhelming opinion to shape the narrative, corporate media has given platform to the same hawkish voices who called for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Among the vocal proponents of using U.S. military might are Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham. The two issued a statement last week calling for "U.S. air strikes, among other military and intelligence actions and additional support for our Iraqi partners."

In an op-ed published Tuesday, The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuval asked, "Can someone explain to me why the media still solicit advice about the crisis in Iraq from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)? Or Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)? How many times does the Beltway hawk caucus get to be wrong before we recognize that maybe, just maybe, its members don't know what they're talking about?"

The Ukrainian Health Ministry told Interfax it has information that four children have been killed in a military operation in the Donetsk region. It has no information about children killed in the Lugansk region. The press service did not specify the causes of death. At the same time, Tatiana Bakhteyeva, head of the parliamentary committee on healthcare, said on Monday over forty children have died of shrapnel and bullet wounds in Donbass.

"According to official reports filed by forensic experts, four people have been killed. Those children were killed in the Donetsk region. There is currently no information on the children killed in the Lugansk region," the Ukrainian Health Ministry press service reported on Monday.

The press service for Tatiana Bakhteyeva said she has received information on over forty children killed in Donbass form her own sources. "She received this information from her own sources, primarily form morgues and doctors."

"Unfortunately, information on the number of killed is not being collected in a centralized way," Bakhteyeva was quoted by her press service as saying.

Seattle Police are investigating a report of a drone peeping into a woman's apartment window.

Police were called to the downtown Seattle apartment complex on Sunday morning after she spied an unmanned aerial vehicle hovering outside the building. The woman said she was concerned the drone was looking into her apartment.

After calling police, an employee of her apartment building says he went outside and saw two men piloting the drone. They packed up their gear, which included a video camera, and drove off before police arrived. Authorities say they are checking for surveillance video that may help identify the men.

Drones and what role they should play in society have been a hot item in Seattle for quite some time. Last year, former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn ordered the Seattle Police Department to abandon its plan to use drones after an uproar from citizens and privacy advocates.

Source: AP

Exposure to several common agricultural pesticides during pregnancy increases the risk of developmental delays and autism in children by two-thirds, a new study found. While researchers did not say pesticides cause autism, a direct link is plausible.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis' MIND Institute tracked associations with specific classes of pesticides (including organophosphates, pyrethroids and carbamates) and later diagnoses of autism and developmental delay in children. They used maps from the California Pesticide Use Report (1997-2008) and the addresses of expectant mothers to track women's exposure to agricultural pesticide spraying during their pregnancies.

Developmental delay, in which children take extra time to reach communication, social or motor skills milestones, affects about four percent of US. kids, the authors wrote. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 68 children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), also marked by deficits in social interaction and language.

An official with New York's Oath Keepers organization denied the group held "far-right, anti-government views," and then called on law enforcement officers to disobey orders and join them in their fight against socialist tyranny.

John Wallace, vice president of the state's Oath Keepers group, cited an alleged New York State Intelligence Center counterterrorism bulletin reportedly leaked to InfoWars that linked the organization and similar groups to the recent shootings of law enforcement officers by extremists.

Wallace complains that the document, which has not been confirmed as legitimate, based its conclusions on news reports by "left-wing" and "communist" organizations such as the New York Times, Huffington Post, and CNN.

"What the state of New York has done, used left wing publications, organizations to identify the targets that they want to eliminate and put pressure on so that we stop doing what we're doing," Wallace said. "How can you be in favor of the Constitution, how can you take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and be a patriot, and be somehow put on a terrorist list made up and manufactured by basically communist organizations?"

The Oath Keepers are primarily made up of current and former law enforcement officers who promise not to enforce laws they deem to be unconstitutional - and they urge others to do the same.

Kenova - A popular summer attraction in West Virginia will now be marred its tight security. Swimmers at the famous Dreamland Pool will now have police officers searching their bags as they attempt to use the public facility.

The landmark attraction has been around for nearly 90 years, and is owned by the taxpayers of the city of Kenova. Now, upon entry, cops will shuffle through the public's belongings as they try to use those facilities.

Police are justifying the dragnet searches because of two "incidents" involving drugs on the property during this season's crowded opening weekend. One incident pertained to a person smoking pot in the parking lot; the other involved ladies getting high in the bathroom.

A U.S. Navy sailor from Washington State is currently serving on a submarine thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean, but a judge has ordered him into an impossible custody scenario: Appear in a Michigan courtroom Monday or risk losing custody of his 6-year-old daughter.

Navy submariner Matthew Hindes was given permanent custody of his daughter Kaylee in 2010, after she was reportedly removed from the home of his ex-wife, Angela, by child protective services. But now a judge has ordered him to appear in court Monday, or risk losing his daughter to his ex-wife in addition to a bench warrant being issued for his arrest, ABC News reports.

Hindes' lawyers argue he should be protected by the Service Members Civil Relief Act, which states courts in custody cases may "grant a stay of proceedings for a minimum period of 90 days to defendants serving their country."

But the Michigan judge hearing the case, circuit court judge Margaret Noe, disagrees, stating: "If the child is not in the care and custody of the father, the child should be in the care and custody of the mother."

• Student of all abilities were hit
• Researchers say students would perform better without their gadgets

Even the smartest college students suffer academically when they use the Internet in class for non-academic purposes, researchers have warned.

They say that the huge number of students who take phones, tablets and laptops to lecture could be seeing their grades slip.

The researchers say students would perform better without their gadgets - but admit a ban would be impractical.

The Michigan State University study, funded by the National Science Foundation, found that students of all abilities were hit.

'Students of all intellectual abilities should be responsible for not letting themselves be distracted by use of the Internet,' said Susan Ravizza, who led the study.

Tens of thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday afternoon in protest at austerity measures introduced by the coalition government. The demonstrators gathered before the Houses of Parliament, where they were addressed by speakers, including comedians Russell Brand and Mark Steel.

An estimated 50,000 people marched from the BBC's New Broadcasting House in central London to Westminster.

"The people of this building [the House of Commons] generally speaking do not represent us, they represent their friends in big business. It's time for us to take back our power," said Brand.

"This will be a peaceful, effortless, joyful revolution and I'm very grateful to be involved in the People's Assembly."

"Power isn't there, it is here, within us," he added. "The revolution that's required isn't a revolution of radical ideas, but the implementation of ideas we already have."

A spokesman for the People's Assembly, which organised the march, said the turnout was "testament to the level of anger there is at the moment".