RT America -- September 5, 2014

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and eastern separatists signed a 12-point ceasefire agreement Friday afternoon, bringing a cautious optimism to the war-torn country. The deal came after representatives from Kiev and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics met in Minsk, Belarus at the urging of Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Cessation of hostilities, prisoner swaps and access for humanitarian aid are the central points of the arrangement, as RT’s Paula Slier explains.

First under fire for its connection the heavy handed police response to protests in Ferguson, MO, the Pentagon’s “1033” program is now at the center of another controversy. The Department of Defense has suspended over 180 police departments across the country for losing scores of military-grade weaponry and vehicles provided by the initiative. M14 and M16 assaults rifles, shotguns, pistols and entire Humvees have slipped through the cracks and are unaccounted for after being transferred to local law enforcement agencies, according to a report by Fusion. RT’s Ameera David takes a look at this latest scandal to surround the program.