ARTEMIVSK, Ukraine – Ukraine's military has acknowledged that Russia-backed separatists have overrun another town in their onslaught against government troops in the east of the country.

Military spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said the separatist forces, backed by tanks, attacked the town of Vuhlehirsk on Thursday and government troops were fighting to push them out.

The loss of the town would make it even more difficult for the government to hold onto Debaltseve, a nearby railway hub that sits between the two main rebel-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Debaltseve has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting since the rebel offensive began this month after weeks of relative quiet.

Seleznyov said the rebels fired Grad multiple rocket launchers at the railway station overnight.

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McCain to protesters: 'Get out of here, you low-life scum'

Sen. John McCain earned some applause inside a Senate Armed Services hearing this morning after he erupted at protesters of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, calling them “low-life scum.”

“I've been a member of this committee for many years, and I have never seen anything as disgraceful and outrageous and despicable as the last demonstration that just took place,” said McCain, R-AZ.

Protesters from the group CodePinkswarmed behind Kissinger as he arrived alongside two other former Secretaries of State, Madeleine Albright and George Shultz, for a hearing on U.S. national security strategy.

They held up signs calling Kissinger a criminal and chanted “arrest Henry Kissinger for war crimes” -- citing some of his more controversial decisions during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

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Senator John McCain Calls Out Protesters Who Swarmed Henry Kissinger (ABC News)

In a statement today following the hearing, McCain further condemned the CodePink protest, saying members of the group "physically threatened" Kissinger to the point that "some senators were concerned enough... that they came down off the dais to support the witnesses."“You know, you're going to have to shut up, or I'm going to have you arrested,” McCain said as Capitol Hill Police tried to remove the protesters. “Get out of here you low-life scum.”

Kissinger, 91, didn’t acknowledge the protesters, who again interrupted him later in the hearing prior to his opening statement.

“Dr. Kissinger, I hope on behalf of all of the members of this committee on both sides of the aisle -- in fact, from all of my colleagues, I'd like to apologize for allowing such disgraceful behavior towards a man who served his country with the greatest distinction,” McCain said. “I apologize profusely.”

"With no U.S. Capitol Police intervening, the episode went on for several minutes," McCain said in his statement. "I have spoken to the Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee and the U.S. Capitol Police, and expect that those responsible will be held fully accountable for their actions.”

A Texas House Republican is under fire for telling Muslim visitors at the state capitol to pledge allegiance to the U.S.
Dismisses criticism

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union extended by six months an existing set of sanctions against Russian and pro-Russia separatist officials because of the continued fighting in eastern Ukraine and was planning further action, officials said Thursday.

"We have shown that the EU is ready to take further measures," EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said.

The new radical left-wing government in Greece didn't fall immediately in line with plans for further actions against Russia and insisted a stronger statement against Moscow should be toned down first.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said there was no direct reference to Russian responsibility for the new developments in Ukraine in the joint statement and "the main thing that we wanted removed, and over which there was a two-hour battle, was the proposal for new sanctions."

Instead of mentioning the threat of new economic sanctions, the joint statement only mentioned "any appropriate action" was on the table for the Feb. 12 EU summit of government leaders. It was wording seen as a concession to those seeking to keep dialogue going with Russia.

France and some others said that while firmness was essential, room for negotiation had to be kept open.

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Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, third right, speaks with other EU foreign ministers and ambass …

Kotzias said Greece believes new sanctions won't bear fruit, and questioned whether the EU wanted to crush Russia, "resulting in pain for the whole of Europe."

"Sanctions haven't worked anywhere, except for countries in the process of collapse," Kotzias said. "Also, when you impose sanctions, you should know what consequences they will have. For example, the sanctions created financial problems for Greece."

Mogherini said that on top of Thursday's decision to extend the first batch of sanctions currently affecting some 130 people, the EU was also preparing a list of new officials to be put on the visa ban and asset freeze program, which could be confirmed as soon as Feb. 9.

"We hope that this can help in putting pressure, in particular on Russia, to make positive steps and prevent the negative steps that we have seen in the recent days," Mogherini said.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said "one might reasonably conclude" that the U.S. is considering additional sanctions on Russia, though he said there were no specific plans to announce at this time. He said the White House was in close contact with European counterparts.

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Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, center, speaks with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, …

Last March, the EU imposed the first visa bans and asset freezes against officials linked to Russia's annexation of southern Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. The measures were due to expire this March, and Thursday's decision will extend them until at least September.

Pressure for more action has been building since last weekend's attacks on Mariupol, when rockets crashed into a densely populated eastern district, killing 30 and wounding several dozen. International observers said a preliminary assessment indicated the attack had been mounted from rebel-held areas.

Since Russia's annexation of Crimea, the EU has steadily increased restrictive measures. In July, the EU imposed economic sanctions which, combined with the drop in oil prices, have stung Moscow.

Meanwhile, Russia has extended its walkout from Europe's human rights watchdog after again losing its right to vote over the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, meeting in the French city of Strasbourg on Wednesday, voted to renew sanctions against Russia at least until April. Russian delegate Alexei Pushkov said Thursday that his delegation's walkout would continue the rest of the year.

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Julie Pace in Washington, and Nicholas Paphitis in Athens, contributed to this report.

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Raf Casert can be followed on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/rcasert

Dear Mr. Speaker,

This letter is about the invitation you extended to my Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to address a joint Session of Congress a mere two weeks before the Israeli elections in March. I read your invitation and saw your tweet and immediately wondered why you had decided to involve yourself in our electoral process.

About 6,000 miles separate you, in your elevated Washington, D.C. office, from us, here in Israel, but the distance does not annul our will, aspirations or the right to make decisions.

It appears to me that your principal aim in inviting Netanyahu was to attack President Obama politically, a tactic that I, having covered politics for many years, including a long stint as Ma'ariv's Washington correspondent (when I also covered you, though we've never met) can appreciate. You went for Obama's jugular, not to say spat on him.

But at the same time you are crudely interfering in our affairs -- 9 million citizens who are not the 51st state of the United States. We here in our special and volatile place in the Middle East don't particularly want you to step in and set our public agenda.

The person who chose to call elections 34 months ahead of the end of his term is our Prime Minster, whom we elected a mere 24 months before.

Netanyahu wasn't able to agree with his Finance Minister, Yair Lapid, about a 0 percent VAT Bill, and he dismissed Lapid plus five other ministers while calling for elections.

Mr. Boehner, Israel is undergoing such a severe housing crisis such that people feel they have no recourse, and the Finance Minister attempted to find a solution to the problem, albeit in a clumsy and odd way. Netanyahu at first agreed, then disagreed, in short zigzagged, and Israeli citizens are furious that in six years in office he has been unable to restrain galloping housing and cost-of-living prices. Did you know that going to the grocery store is much, much more expensive in Tel Aviv than it is in America?

Despite the fact that Netanyahu wants to talk about Iran and terror 90 percent of the time, polls here, in our little Zionist country, show that people are actually concernedabout how they will make it to the end of the month. A big social justice movement took over our streets a few years ago and Netanyahu promised to help the simple people, a promise he has failed to keep.

And then you show up, with a crassness I don't remember, and shove Netanyahu's Congressional address on Iran and extremist Islam onto our public agenda, despite the fact that Iran deadlines have come and gone for years now. Who knows this better than I, who has covered it for years?

In truth, what do you care? You come here on expensive junkets, stay -- I'm sure -- at top hotels, without so much as a thought for the difficulties faced by the chauffeur driving you or for the salary of the guard at the hotel's entrance. Why don't you speak sometime with the housekeepers or the reception desk clerks and try to understand why Israelis can't stand to hear the word "Iran" again?

So now that you have become Netanyahu's cheerleader (you know you'll make an appearance in his campaign ads, right?) and you're pleased that you managed to give Obama a black eye or embarrass the Democratic Party, I hope you receive this letter in which I want simply to deliver a message about an aspect you may have preferred to ignore: you are interfering with our democratic process in a blunt, unforgivable manner. I hope that our future leaders, whoever they may be, won't forget it.

Tal Schneider, political correspondent and blogger, Politi.co.il (the Plog)

Translated by: Noga Tarnopolsky