Yahoo! News: World News

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• Malaysia jet sent 'pings' after going missing, sources say
• Venezuela says death toll from protests rises to 28
• Gaza rockets, Israeli air strikes persist despite truce call
• Crimea leader sees over 80 percent backing Russia union
• U.N. sees serious setbacks in anti-drugs fight
• Mediator Brahimi says Syria election now won't aid peace talks
• Venezuela cracks down as protests rage on
• Missing plane sent signals to satellite for hours
• US commander: More focus on Haqqani militants
• Mexico's main opposition party quits energy talks amid graft scandal
• Four feared dead in British helicopter crash
• 4 believed killed in Britain helicopter crash
• Ukraine accuses Russia of 'military aggression'
• England in Rome: Win 1st, win big 2nd
• New Indian Ocean search may be opened for Malaysian jet: U.S.
• Benfica stun Tottenham, Juve held in derby
• Benfica, Valencia big winners in Europa League
• Mormon missionary dies in Micronesia
• New Mexico nuclear repository mishap leaves Los Alamos waste quandary
• Van Persie wants to extend deal at Man United
• Gaza militants say truce restored
• Russia vows to veto U.S. draft at U.N. declaring Crimea vote illegal
• Security boosted as Jamaica rapper's trial ending
• Guam wife accused of murder for hire plot
• Former Obama adviser: Build Canada pipeline
• BP regains ability to do work for government
• Ukraine prompts fresh U.S. look at use of Russian rocket engines
• Leaked documents purport to reveal Turkish graft allegations
• Ex-Libyan PM denounces no-confidence vote as falsified
• Russian troops engage in war games near Ukraine
• NATO should intervene in Crimea 'before massacre': Tatar leader
• Jordan steers England to victory on 'home' ground
• Chinese win pairs, Canadian wins men's short
• Vettel warns those writing off his title chances
• In drought-stricken California, court rules smelt fish get water

Malaysia jet sent 'pings' after going missing, sources say Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:36 PM PDT By Anshuman Daga and Mark Hosenball KUALA LUMPUR/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Satellites picked up faint electronic pulses from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 after it went missing on Saturday, but the signals gave no information about where the stray jet was heading and little else about its fate, two sources close to the investigation said on Thursday. But the "pings" indicated its maintenance troubleshooting systems were switched on and ready to communicate with satellites, showing the aircraft, with 239 people on board, was at least capable of communicating after losing touch with air traffic controllers. An international search for the 777, which left Kuala Lumpur early Saturday bound for Beijing, involves at least a dozen countries. Ships and aircraft are now combing a vast area that has been widened to cover the Gulf of Thailand, the Andaman Sea and on both sides of the Malay Peninsula.

Venezuela says death toll from protests rises to 28 Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:56 PM PDT By Daniel Wallis CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's state prosecutor said on Thursday the death toll from a month of violent protests had risen to 28, after the nation's top court ordered opposition mayors to dismantle barricades set up by street protesters. State prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz, speaking on the sidelines of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, also said 1,293 detainees had been released and 104 remained in custody accused of serious crimes during the anti-government demonstrations. President Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver elected last year to succeed the late Hugo Chavez, has declared victory over a "coup" attempt and does not look in danger of being toppled.

Gaza rockets, Israeli air strikes persist despite truce call Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:59 PM PDT By Dan Williams and Nidal al-Mughrabi JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) - A small armed faction in the Gaza Strip fired rockets at Israel on Thursday, drawing retaliatory air strikes and pushing cross-border violence into a third day despite a truce called by the more powerful Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. The clashes have been the most intense since the Gaza war of November 2012. This time, however, casualties have been scant with winter rains keeping many people indoors, and Israel's Iron Dome interceptor shooting down some of the Palestinian rockets. Hamas, the Islamist movement governing Gaza, has also kept its fighters out of this flare-up so far.

Crimea leader sees over 80 percent backing Russia union Posted: 13 Mar 2014 01:07 PM PDT By Aleksandar Vasovic SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) - The leader of Crimea's separatist authorities said more than 80 percent of the region's people supported the break with Ukraine and union with Russia that they will vote on in a referendum on Sunday. Sergei Aksyonov, who came to power as Russian-backed forces seized the Black Sea peninsula last week, dismissed opponents' accusations that he will fix the outcome on Moscow's orders. Now Crimea's prime minister, he told Reuters on Thursday that the plebiscite would deliver a "Yes" vote to accepting Russian sovereignty without recourse to fraud. "The process will be transparent and fair," he said inside Crimea's regional parliament building.

U.N. sees serious setbacks in anti-drugs fight Posted: 13 Mar 2014 01:27 PM PDT By Fredrik Dahl and Derek Brooks VIENNA (Reuters) - The global fight against narcotics has suffered serious setbacks, including record opium cultivation in Afghanistan and a surge of trafficking-related violence in Central America, the U.N. anti-drugs chief said on Thursday. Yury Fedotov also noted some successes, such as a shrinking cocaine market, at the start of a two-day meeting that will review implementation of a 2009 plan of action to combat the drugs problem before a special session of the U.N. General Assembly in 2016, amid a heated debate on the merits of drugs liberalization. Fedotov, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said reductions in the supply and demand for some drugs in one part of the world had been partly offset by increases elsewhere. "We are strongly concerned about the vulnerability of some regions, notably West Africa and East Africa, to illicit drug trafficking," Fedotov said.

Mediator Brahimi says Syria election now won't aid peace talks Posted: 13 Mar 2014 11:40 AM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - If Syria goes ahead with an election that would likely secure a new term for President Bashar al-Assad, the opposition will probably not be interested in pursuing further peace talks with the government, peace mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Thursday. Assad has not yet announced whether he will stand for a third term, in defiance of protesters, rebel fighters and Western foes who have demanded he go. A Western diplomat inside Brahimi's closed-door briefing for the Security Council said Brahimi told its 15 member nations that he doubted another 7-year term for Assad would put an end to the suffering of the Syrian people. Two rounds of peace talks mediated by U.N.-Arab League peace mediator Brahimi in Geneva failed to bring the government and opposition any closer to agreement on a transitional government as called for in a declaration adopted at an international conference in the Swiss city in June 2012.

Venezuela cracks down as protests rage on Posted: 13 Mar 2014 05:00 PM PDT Police in protest-hit Venezuela stepped up a campaign of arrests and raids on Thursday, as authorities said the death toll from more than a month of anti-government demonstrations had risen to 28. President Nicolas Maduro has vowed to take "drastic measures" to quell the student-led protest movement launched on February 4, fueled by public fury over deteriorating living conditions in the oil-rich country. Violent crime, shortages of essential goods like toilet paper and inflation have combined to create the most serious challenge yet for the leftist Maduro, who succeeded the late Hugo Chavez last year. Earlier in the day, Venezuelan state prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz -- speaking on the sidelines of the UN's Human Rights Council in Geneva -- said 28 people had been killed and 365 injured since the protests first erupted.

Missing plane sent signals to satellite for hours Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:58 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysia Airlines plane sent signals to a satellite for four hours after the aircraft went missing, an indication that it was still flying for hundreds of miles or more, a U.S. official briefed on the search said Thursday.

US commander: More focus on Haqqani militants Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:54 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Allied and Afghan forces are putting a greater focus on going after the Haqqani militant network, which has threatened to disrupt the Afghan presidential elections in April, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Thursday.

Mexico's main opposition party quits energy talks amid graft scandal Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:51 PM PDT Mexico's opposition conservative party on Thursday walked out of talks over the fine print of a landmark energy bill, accusing the government of using a graft scandal to gets its way, in a move that could delay the rollout of the key legislation. The National Action Party (PAN) lawmakers said they would not return to the negotiating table until their conditions were met, raising the risk that the imminently expected laws will not be approved before the government's end-of-April deadline. Mexico's Congress in December approved a constitutional reform pushed by President Enrique Pena Nieto that ends state oil giant Pemex's 75-year monopoly on crude production and aims to lure private investment into the ailing energy sector. However, the so-called secondary laws of the reform, which include details on implementation and regulation, were still being negotiated in Mexico's upper house until Thursday, when PAN lawmakers abandoned the process.

Four feared dead in British helicopter crash Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:47 PM PDT Four people are believed to have died in a helicopter crash in the eastern England county of Norfolk on Thursday, according to local police. Police were called to the accident scene near the town of Beccles at 7.30pm local time (1930 GMT), according to Norfolk Constabulary. "The helicopter has been confirmed as a civilian aircraft and the four occupants on board are thought to have died in the crash," said a police statement. A spokeswoman for East of England Ambulance Service added: "Sadly, it is believed that four people in the helicopter ... died in the crash.

4 believed killed in Britain helicopter crash Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:38 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — Four people are believed to have died after a civilian helicopter crashed in

Ukraine accuses Russia of 'military aggression' Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:32 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ukraine's prime minister told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that Russia had carried out "military aggression" in Crimea, and dramatically switched from English to Russian to ask Russia whether it wants war.

England in Rome: Win 1st, win big 2nd Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:31 PM PDT ROME (AP) — England made a big deal last week of decrying any hint of arrogance in the side.

New Indian Ocean search may be opened for Malaysian jet: U.S. Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:25 PM PDT A new search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean as authorities try to determine what happened to a missing Malaysian airliner, the White House said on Thursday. "It's my understanding that based on some new information that's not necessarily conclusive, but new information, an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "And we are consulting with international partners about the appropriate assets to deploy." Carney did not specify the nature of the information, and he sidestepped a question about whether the United States had confidence in the Malaysian government's investigation. "What I can tell you is that we're working with the Malaysian government to try to find the plane;

Benfica stun Tottenham, Juve held in derby Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:24 PM PDT Tim Sherwood's prospects of remaining in the Tottenham Hotspur manager's job long-term were not helped as his side lost 3-1 at home to Benfica in their Europa League last 16, first leg on Thursday. Portuguese league leaders Benfica extended their unbeaten run to 24 matches and made it nine consecutive wins in all competitions with a victory that was given to them by a goal from Rodrigo and a Luisao brace, with Christian Eriksen pulling one back for the hosts. Amid speculation that Spurs will move to bring in experienced Dutchman Louis van Gaal as coach in the summer, Sherwood saw his team suffer a defeat that leaves them in a very difficult position heading into next week's return leg in Lisbon. The visitors, who lost last season's final to Chelsea in Amsterdam, took the lead half an hour in when Ruben Amorim released Rodrigo with a superb pass in behind the defence, and the Brazilian-born Spanish striker curled a fine finish around goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Benfica, Valencia big winners in Europa League Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:21 PM PDT Benfica and Valencia secured convincing away wins to take a giant step toward the Europa League quarterfinals on Thursday while Real Betis surprisingly beat Sevilla 2-0 in a fierce Spanish derby played for the first time on the European stage.

Mormon missionary dies in Micronesia Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:21 PM PDT SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A 20-year-old Mormon missionary is dead after a fatal fall in Micronesia.

New Mexico nuclear repository mishap leaves Los Alamos waste quandary Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:18 PM PDT By Joseph J. Kolb ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Reuters) - The Los Alamos National Laboratory is evaluating how to meet a June deadline to permanently discard plutonium-tainted junk in light of a prolonged shutdown of a New Mexico nuclear waste dump after an accident there last month, a lab official said. Los Alamos, one of the leading U.S. nuclear weapons labs, has been forced to halt shipments of its radioactive refuse some 300 miles across the state to the nation's only underground nuclear repository, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, near Carlsbad, according to lab spokesman Matt Nerzig. The repository has remained closed while the U.S. Department of Energy investigates the origins of a radiation leak that occurred there on February 14, exposing at least 17 workers at the facility to radioactive contamination. Nerzig said about 1,000 temporary storage drums of the waste remain at the Los Alamos National Laboratory awaiting shipment to the repository near Carlsbad.

Van Persie wants to extend deal at Man United Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:09 PM PDT MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Robin van Persie has rubbished talk that he is unhappy at Manchester United, saying he wants to extend his contract at the English champions.

Gaza militants say truce restored Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:05 PM PDT Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Gaza's Islamic Jihad announced Thursday that an Egyptian-brokered truce had been restored following a brief but intense confrontation a day earlier when Israeli warplanes pounded the Strip after heavy cross-border rocket fire. But the truce, which was to have taken effect at 1200 GMT, was being tested after the Israeli military reported further rocket fire from Gaza hours later and launched retaliatory air strikes for a second night. "Israel Air Force aircraft targeted four terror sites in the southern Gaza Strip and three additional terror sites in the northern Gaza Strip," a military statement released around midnight (2200 GMT) said. Palestinian security officials and eyewitnesses said that the targets were facilities of the Hamas military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades, near Gaza City and a base of the smaller militant Popular Resistance Committees in the southern town of Rafah.

Russia vows to veto U.S. draft at U.N. declaring Crimea vote illegal Posted: 13 Mar 2014 04:01 PM PDT By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States circulated a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that would declare Sunday's planned referendum on independence for Ukraine's Crimea region illegal, but Russia has vowed to veto it, council diplomats said. Diplomats said the one-page resolution would urge countries not to recognize the results of the vote in pro-Russian Crimea, whose parliament has already voted to join Russia. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power told reporters after a meeting of the 15-member Security Council that the resolution was aimed at changing Russian calculations "before innocent lives are lost." Speaking in the council, she said the resolution would "endorse a peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis based on international law and (the Security) Council's mandate to act, when necessary, to ensure global security and peace." Power described the planned referendum, which is expected to overwhelmingly back Crimea's unification with Russia, as "hastily planned, unjustified and divisive" and a violation of Ukrainian sovereignty.

Security boosted as Jamaica rapper's trial ending Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:58 PM PDT KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaican authorities blocked off streets around the Caribbean island's supreme court Thursday as a high-profile murder trial for dancehall reggae star Vybz Kartel went to the jury.

Guam wife accused of murder for hire plot Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:52 PM PDT HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — A Guam woman is charged with offering someone land, cash and a sport utility vehicle to poison her husband.

Former Obama adviser: Build Canada pipeline Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:51 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's former national security adviser said Thursday that Obama should approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a message that "international bullies" can't use energy security as a weapon.

BP regains ability to do work for government Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:50 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The oil company behind the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history can once again perform work for the federal government.

Ukraine prompts fresh U.S. look at use of Russian rocket engines Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:50 PM PDT The Pentagon is going to take a fresh look at U.S. reliance on Russian-built engines to power American rockets that launch large U.S. government satellites into orbit, in light of the Ukraine crisis, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress on Thursday. U.S. dependence on Russian engines has long been a concern of U.S. lawmakers, but those worries were heightened by mounting tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia's seizure of Crimea, an autonomous region in Ukraine. Asked at a congressional hearing about whether it was time for the United States to develop additional capabilities for making powerful rocket engines given the situation in Ukraine, Hagel said: "You're obviously referring to the relationship we have with the Russians on the rocket motors." "I think this is going to engage us in a review of that issue.

Leaked documents purport to reveal Turkish graft allegations Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:49 PM PDT By Dasha Afanasieva and Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Twitter account behind a string of leaks in a Turkish corruption scandal posted late on Thursday what it presented as police files detailing graft allegations against four former ministers, dealing a further blow to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan weeks before elections. The Twitter account using the pseudonym @HARAMZADELER333 posted links to a 299-page document and a 32-page document presented as police files from an investigation that became public on December 17 with a series of dawn raids. Former interior minister Muammer Guler, former economy minister Zafer Caglayan and former environment minister Erdogan Bayraktar each saw a son detained on December 17 as police went public with their long-running corruption inquiry.

Ex-Libyan PM denounces no-confidence vote as falsified Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:49 PM PDT Former Libyan prime minister Ali Zeidan on Thursday denounced a no-confidence vote by his country's parliament that led to his dismissal as a "falsification", in a statement on rolling news channel France24. Zeidan also rejected allegations of corruption. "There is a falsification and manoeuvering," he said, claiming that only 113 members of parliament had voted for his dismissal, fewer than the 120 needed for a no-confidence vote to be valid. On Tuesday, it was announced that the no-confidence motion was approved by 124 of the 194 members of the General National Congress, MPs said.

Russian troops engage in war games near Ukraine Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:47 PM PDT SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Russia conducted new military maneuvers near its border with Ukraine on Thursday, and President Vladimir Putin said the world shouldn't blame his country for what he called Ukraine's "internal crisis."

NATO should intervene in Crimea 'before massacre': Tatar leader Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:45 PM PDT Simferopol (Ukraine) (AFP) - Tatar community leader Mustafa Dzhemilev on Thursday urged NATO to intervene in Crimea to avert a "massacre" and called on the Crimean Tatars to boycott the upcoming referendum to join Russia. "If other measures do not work, then NATO should intervene like in Kosovo," Dzhemilev told AFP in a phone interview from Brussels, where he was preparing to meet NATO officials on Friday. NATO intervention "usually only happens when there is a massacre, we want it to happen before there is a massacre," said Dzhemilev, currently a lawmaker in Kiev who spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call earlier this week.

Jordan steers England to victory on 'home' ground Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:42 PM PDT Bridgetown (Barbados) (AFP) - England resisted a late West Indies surge and held on for a consolation five-run victory in the third and final Twenty20 international at Kensington Oval on Thursday. Despite surrendering the series to the home side 2-1, the match was a personal triumph for Chris Jordan. The Barbados-born all-rounder smashed Dwayne Bravo for four sixes off the final over of the England innings to lift his team to 165 for six after they had lost six wickets for 40 runs following an opening stand of 98 between Michael Lumb (63) and Alex Hales (38). He then claimed three for 39 and took an outstanding catch on the boundary to dismiss Bravo, a magnificent effort that was enough to earn him the man of the match award in very familiar surroundings as West Indies were restricted to 160 for seven.

Chinese win pairs, Canadian wins men's short Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:42 PM PDT SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Xiaoyu Yu and Yang Jin of China skated off with the Junior Pairs gold medal at the world championships Thursday.

Vettel warns those writing off his title chances Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:35 PM PDT MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Sebastian Vettel has a warning for those already writing off his chances of a fifth consecutive Formula One title — the season is long and the team's current engine problems won't last.

In drought-stricken California, court rules smelt fish get water Posted: 13 Mar 2014 03:30 PM PDT By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California appeals court sided with environmentalists over growers on Thursday and upheld federal guidelines that limit water diversions to protect Delta smelt, in a battle over how the state will cope with its worst drought in a century. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court should not have overturned recommendations that the state reduce exports of water from north to south California. The plan leaves more water in the Sacramento Delta for the finger-sized fish and have been blamed for exacerbating the effects of drought for humans. In a blog post, Damien Schiff, an attorney for growers, said the ruling "bodes ill for farmers, farm laborers and millions of other Californians dependent on a reliable water supply." Efforts to save the Delta smelt, which lives only in the wetlands stretching north of San Francisco, have been described as a humans versus fish battle.

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