The U.S. and Global Security Review - Blog by Michael Novakhov

Putin, Poroshenko Are in Regular Contact, Says Finnish Leader Monday August 18 th , 2014  at  12:31 PM 1 Share Aug. 16, 2014 11:38 a.m. ET Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, right, speaks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto during a meeting in Kiev on Saturday  Agence France-Presse/Getty Images HELSINKI—Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko are regular in contact over  developments in Ukraine , Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said Saturday after concluding a two-day trip to Russia and Ukraine. Mr. Niinisto held a three-hour meeting with Mr. Poroshenko in Kiev on Saturday, after a meeting of a roughly equal length with Mr. Putin in the Russian resort town of Sochi on Friday. "Mr. Putin had no concrete requests," Mr. Niinisto told to reporters at Helsinki Airport. But he added, "In my understanding, [Mr. Putin and Mr. Poroshenko] are exchanging views." The Finnish president...

After Brown autopsy, mom wants officer arrested Monday August 18 th , 2014  at  12:25 PM 1 Share Yamiche Alcindor and John Bacon, USA TODAY  12:16 p.m. EDT August 18, 2014 A demonstrator carries a picture of Michael Brown, 18. (Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images) FERGUSON, Mo. — A preliminary autopsy report has convinced the family of Michael Brown that the police officer who shot him should be arrested, a lawyer for the family said Monday. "His mother asked the questions that ... lawyers could not answer -- what else do we need to get them to arrest the killer of my child?" lawyer Benjamin Crump said at a press conference here. Crump said Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, asked if her son suffered pain before he died. Pathologist Michael Baden, who conducted the autopsy, "shared his opinion that he did not suffer," Crump said. Baden, who also spoke at the press conference, said Brown, 18, was shot least six times,...