Environmental Protection Agency

The former US Army private responsible for the largest leak of classified material in U.S. history has been granted an official name change.

A Kansas judge allowed Bradley Edward Manning to change his name to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning in a Wednesday ruling.

Ukrainian forces have regained control of a government building in the eastern city of Mariupol.

The operation to drive out the pro-Russian demonstrators occupying the city hall building was staged overnight. They were successfully removed by government forces without any casualties or injuries, the BBC reports.

Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have reached a reconciliation deal, after claiming to represent Palestine as rivals since 2007.

The two movements' representatives announced attempts to form a unity government would be formed in the coming weeks.

The number of victims of the sunken South Korean ferry Sewol passed 150 and is expected to rise, as divers found new entries to the submerged levels. 

Dozens of bodies recovered on Tuesday and 28 the day before. Over a hundred passengers remain missing.

Russia will respond if its interests in Ukraine are attacked, the country's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

The Greek government is to ask the Eurozone whether it could introduce a gradual decrease of corporate taxes, with the request due to be made on next euro area meeting on May 5.

Pieces of debris that "might turn out to be a wreckage" of the Malaysian MH370 flight were found at a beach in the west of Australia, according to local media reports.

Finland is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with NATO, under which it will be able to receive assistance from foreign forces.

The country's Defense Minister Carl Haglund was however ruled out that it could join the alliance.

According to Finnish broadcaster YLE's website, the Memorandum of Understanding resembles a military interoperability deal.

The acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov ordered that actions against rebel groups in the east and south of the country be renewed.

His decision was announced short after two men were found dead after being "brutally tortured", in Turchynov's words quoted by the BBC.

Mustafa Dzhemilev, the leader of Crimean Tatars, has been refused entry into Russia, Crimea included.

Russian authorities have imposed a ban on Dzhemilev, who is an MP from Prime Minister Yatsenyuk and presidential candidate Tymoshenko's Batkivshchina, until 2019, RBC Daily has reported, citing the Mejlis (the Tatar assembly).