Yahoo! News: World News

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• Investigators focus on foul play behind missing Malaysia plane: sources
• West prepares sanctions as Russia presses on with Crimea takeover
• U.S. to seek extradition of Ukrainian industrialist
• Suspected Uighurs rescued from Thai trafficking camp
• U.S. prosecutors again indict Indian diplomat Khobragade
• Israel fires into Lebanon after bomb targets its soldiers
• Backstrom to get silver medal despite drug test
• Rival theories on Malaysia flight's disappearance
• Anelka leaves West Brom following quenelle ban
• Audit says US project in Haiti missed carbon goals
• Salvadoran castaway in Mexico to fulfill promise
• 3 tourists cleared in St. Maarten burglar death
• Lawyer: Oregon man fears return after FBI actions
• Canadian PM to visit Ukraine next week
• Lawyer: US man fears return after treatment
• Syrian presidential election law excludes most opposition leaders
• Mexico to draw line on vigilantes
• Obama's promise to review deportations has risks
• Biden heading to Europe amid Ukraine tensions
• Scientists expect traces of ocean radiation soon
• Biden to visit Ukraine's neighbor Poland, Lithuania next week: White House
• Slovak PM Fico fights political newcomer for presidency
• French court sentences Rwandan over genocide
• UN chief: top mediator Brahimi to go to Iran
• Rwandan ex-intel chief convicted in genocide trial
• Missing plane: Piracy theory gains more credence
• Top Asian News at 11:01 p.m. GMT
• Obama, Biden kick off St Patrick's Day early in DC
• US, West brace for Crimea vote to leave Ukraine
• Crimea edges closer to vote, as US-Russia talks fail
• US officials issue alert for Americans in Russia
• EU leaders announce fresh aid during C.Africa visit
• Bayern proposes Karl Hopfner as new club president
• US urges Thailand to protect detained Uighurs
• Peru former President Fujimori hospitalized after stroke
• El Arabi leads Granada to 3-3 draw at Getafe

Investigators focus on foul play behind missing Malaysia plane: sources Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:48 PM PDT By Niluksi Koswanage and Siva Govindasamy KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - An investigation into a missing Malaysian jetliner, now into its second week, is focusing more on the possibility of foul play as evidence suggests it was deliberately flown hundreds of miles off course, sources familiar with the Malaysian probe said. Two sources told Reuters that military radar data showed an unidentified aircraft that investigators suspect was Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 following a commonly used navigational route toward the Middle East and Europe when it was last spotted early on March 8, northwest of Malaysia. That course - headed into the Andaman Sea and towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean - could only have been set deliberately, either by flying the Boeing 777-200ER jet manually or by programming the auto-pilot. A third source familiar with the investigation said inquiries were focusing more on the theory that someone with knowledge of navigational waypoints - used by airlines to track established commercial flight paths - had diverted the flight off its scheduled course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

West prepares sanctions as Russia presses on with Crimea takeover Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:17 PM PDT By Andrew Osborn and Lina Kushch SEVASTOPOL/DONETSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Dozens of Russians linked to Russia's gradual takeover of Crimea could face U.S. and EU travel bans and asset freezes on Monday, after six hours of crisis talks between Washington and Moscow ended with both sides still far apart. Moscow shipped more troops and armor into Crimea on Friday and repeated its threat to invade other parts of Ukraine in response to violence in Donetsk on Thursday night despite Western demands to pull back. EU diplomats will choose from a long list of 120-130 possible Russian targets for sanctions on Sunday, as pro-Moscow authorities who have taken power in Crimea hold a vote to join Russia in the worst East-West confrontation since the Cold War.

U.S. to seek extradition of Ukrainian industrialist Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:24 PM PDT By David Ingram and Michael Shields WASHINGTON/VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.S. government will ask Austria to extradite Ukrainian industrialist Dmytro Firtash to face charges filed in a Chicago court arising from an investigation into international corruption, U.S. prosecutors said on Friday. One of Ukraine's most influential oligarchs, Firtash, 48, was arrested in Vienna on Wednesday. "Firtash's arrest is not related to recent events in Ukraine," they said in a reference to the political crisis between Ukraine and Russia.

Suspected Uighurs rescued from Thai trafficking camp Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:13 PM PDT By Andrew R.C. Marshall HAT YAI, Thailand (Reuters) - Police rescued about 200 people believed to be Muslim Uighurs from a human smuggling camp in southern Thailand, police sources said on Friday, in the latest crackdown on a burgeoning trafficking network in Southeast Asia. The latest trafficking victims, possibly from China's troubled far-western region of Xinjiang, brings the total number of people freed from human traffickers to well over 800 since Reuters exposed the whereabouts of the illegal camps in a December 5 investigation. The raid is further evidence that human smugglers in southern Thailand - already a notorious trafficking hub for Rohingya boat people from Myanmar - are exploiting well-oiled networks to transport other nationalities in large numbers, despite an ongoing crackdown by Thai police. "The human smugglers are expanding their product range," said Police Major General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, who has launched a series of raids on trafficking camps in southern Thailand, including the 200 rescued on Wednesday.

U.S. prosecutors again indict Indian diplomat Khobragade Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:02 PM PDT By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - A grand jury in New York has returned a new indictment against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade for visa fraud, two days after a U.S. judge dismissed a similar indictment because she had diplomatic immunity. Khobragade's arrest in December and a subsequent strip search drew outrage in India, causing a major diplomatic rift between the United States and India. "Unfortunately, I can have no comment at this stage," Khobragade's lawyer, Daniel Arshack, said in an email. "The government of India will respond in due course." The new indictment effectively returns the case to where it was before Wednesday's dismissal.

Israel fires into Lebanon after bomb targets its soldiers Posted: 14 Mar 2014 01:18 PM PDT Israel fired tank rounds and artillery into southern Lebanon on Friday, its military said, in retaliation for a bomb that targeted Israeli soldiers patrolling the border. The Israel-Lebanon border has been mostly quiet since Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah fought an inconclusive war in 2006, even as civil war has raged in neighboring Syria over the past three years. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the Israeli fire targeted "Hezbollah terror infrastructure in southern Lebanon" and that a hit was confirmed. Earlier this month Israel said its troops shot two Hezbollah gunmen who tried to plant a bomb further east near the fence between the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and Syrian-held territory.

Backstrom to get silver medal despite drug test Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:50 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — Swedish hockey star Nicklas Backstrom will receive an Olympic silver medal even though he was suspended from the final in Sochi after a positive drug test.

Rival theories on Malaysia flight's disappearance Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:48 PM PDT The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has generated dozens of theories on where it is now, from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea, and how it vanished. Here's a rundown of what we know and what we don't, along with clues and theories about what happened to the Boeing 777 jetliner:

Anelka leaves West Brom following quenelle ban Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:31 PM PDT WEST BROMWICH, England (AP) — Striker Nicolas Anelka announced Friday he was leaving West Bromwich Albion and terminating his contract with immediate effect after being suspended for five matches by the Football Association for a racially aggravated goal celebration.

Audit says US project in Haiti missed carbon goals Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:30 PM PDT PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A U.S. program that seeks to save Haiti's forests by shifting people away from charcoal stoves has largely failed to reach its goals, according to an audit by the U.S. Agency for International Department.

Salvadoran castaway in Mexico to fulfill promise Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:27 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Salvadoran fisherman who says he spent 13 months adrift in the Pacific Ocean has arrived in Mexico ready to meet with the family of a young companion who died early in the voyage.

3 tourists cleared in St. Maarten burglar death Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:24 PM PDT PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (AP) — A group of U.S. and Swedish tourists who caught a man breaking into their rented villa and held him in a chokehold that led to his death will not be prosecuted, officials announced Friday.

Lawyer: Oregon man fears return after FBI actions Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:24 PM PDT PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — An attorney for an American man who claims he was tortured in the United Arab Emirates at the behest of the U.S. government said Friday that his client is too afraid to try to travel back home.

Canadian PM to visit Ukraine next week Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:22 PM PDT OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Prime Minister Stephen Harper will briefly visit Ukraine next week during a European trip, the first G7 leader to do so since the new government took office under the shadow of Russian intervention.

Lawyer: US man fears return after treatment Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:20 PM PDT PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — An attorney for a man who claims he was tortured in the United Arab Emirates at the behest of the U.S. government says his client is too afraid to attempt to travel back to the United States.

Syrian presidential election law excludes most opposition leaders Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:19 PM PDT By Stephen Kalin BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's parliament has set residency rules for presidential candidates, state media said on Friday, a move that would bar many of President Bashar al-Assad's foes who live in exile as the uprising in the major Arab state enters its fourth year. Assad has not yet announced whether he will stand for a third term in defiance of rebels fighting to overthrow him and Western leaders who have demanded he go to help end Syria's civil war and make way for a democratic transition. U.N.-Arab League peace mediator Lakhdar Brahimi warned ON Thursday that the Syrian opposition will probably not be interested in pursuing any peace talks with the government if it goes ahead with an election highly likely to secure a new term for Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for 44 years.

Mexico to draw line on vigilantes Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:18 PM PDT MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities have finally served notice to vigilantes fighting a drug cartel in western Michoacan state that their illegal tactics will no longer be allowed.

Obama's promise to review deportations has risks Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:16 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's new promise to seek ways to ease his administration's rate of deportations aims to mollify angry immigrant advocates but carries risks for a White House that has insisted it has little recourse.

Biden heading to Europe amid Ukraine tensions Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:15 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says Vice President Joe Biden will travel next week to Poland and Lithuania amid tensions in nearby Ukraine.

Scientists expect traces of ocean radiation soon Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:13 PM PDT Scientists have crowdsourced a network of volunteers taking water samples at beaches along the U.S. West Coast in hopes of capturing a detailed look at low levels of radiation drifting across the ocean since the 2011 tsunami that devastated a nuclear power plant in Japan.

Biden to visit Ukraine's neighbor Poland, Lithuania next week: White House Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:12 PM PDT U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Poland, which borders Ukraine, and Lithuania next week to meet with leaders of the two countries to reassure them about defense commitments under NATO, the White House said on Friday. Biden will meet with the president and prime minister of Poland, and the presidents of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, the White House said in a statement. "During his meetings, the Vice President will consult on steps to support Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and affirm our collective defense commitments under the North Atlantic Treaty and our enduring support for all of our allies and partners in Europe," the White House said.

Slovak PM Fico fights political newcomer for presidency Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:10 PM PDT By Jan Lopatka PRAGUE (Reuters) - Slovaks vote on Saturday to pick a new president in an election that will either cement Prime Minister Robert Fico's power in the central European country or usher in an independent. A Fico victory would give his center-left Smer party full control of all the main power centers, even if the Slovak constitution does not grant the president himself a huge political role. Fico, 49, took Slovakia into the euro zone in 2009 and has kept the country of 5.5 million friendly to investors despite levying extra taxes on banks and utilities. This gives a fighting chance to Andrej Kiska, a businessman-turned-philanthropist whose chances to beat Fico have grown in the latest opinion polls.

French court sentences Rwandan over genocide Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:09 PM PDT A French court sentenced a former Rwandan army captain to 25 years in prison over the 1994 genocide Friday, in a landmark ruling just weeks ahead of the massacre's 20th anniversary. Pascal Simbikangwa, a 54-year-old former member of the Rwandan presidential guard, was found guilty of perpetrating genocide and of complicity in crimes against humanity. Prosecutors in the trial -- the first of its kind in France -- have asked for life imprisonment for Simbikangwa, branding him an ethnic "cleanser" who was "radically committed" to his work and a "man capable of the worst".

UN chief: top mediator Brahimi to go to Iran Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:08 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N.-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi will visit Syria's close ally Iran this weekend to try to break a deadlock in political talks aimed at ending Syria's three-year war, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Friday.

Rwandan ex-intel chief convicted in genocide trial Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:03 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — Paris court delivered France's first-ever conviction for genocide Friday, sentencing a Rwandan former intelligence chief to 25 years in prison over the 1994 killings of at least 500,000 people in the African country.

Missing plane: Piracy theory gains more credence Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:02 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Piracy and pilot suicide are among the scenarios under study as investigators grow increasingly certain the missing Malaysian Airlines jet changed course and headed west after its last radio contact with air traffic controllers.

Top Asian News at 11:01 p.m. GMT Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:02 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Piracy and pilot suicide are among the scenarios under study as investigators grow increasingly certain the missing Malaysian Airlines jet changed course and headed west after its last radio contact with air traffic controllers. The latest evidence suggests the plane didn't experience a catastrophic incident over the South China Sea as was initially suspected. Some experts theorize that one of the pilots, or someone else with flying experience, hijacked the plane or committed suicide by plunging the jet into the sea.

Obama, Biden kick off St Patrick's Day early in DC Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:00 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Irish eyes were smiling on the White House a few days early this year.

US, West brace for Crimea vote to leave Ukraine Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:00 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — The West braced Friday for a vote by the Crimean Peninsula to secede from Ukraine — and likely be annexed by Russia — as the last attempt for diplomacy broke down despite threats of costly international sanctions and other imminent penalties against Moscow for forcibly challenging a pro-European government in Kiev.

Crimea edges closer to vote, as US-Russia talks fail Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:58 PM PDT The United States and Russia failed Friday to resolve a Cold-War-style standoff sparked by Moscow's military intervention in Crimea, as the clock ticks down to the region's vote on splitting from Ukraine. US Secretary of State John Kerry flew in early Friday for whirlwind talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in London, with few illusions that Sunday's Moscow-backed referendum in the strategic Black Sea peninsula could be averted or delayed. But US hopes of at least winning assurances from Lavrov that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not move swiftly to annex Crimea and that Russian troops would be pulled back to their barracks were broadly dashed.

US officials issue alert for Americans in Russia Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:56 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department is advising U.S. citizens in Russia to be alert amid the potential for increased public demonstrations and anti-American actions in Russia in connection with Russian actions in the Crimea.

EU leaders announce fresh aid during C.Africa visit Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:46 PM PDT Bangui (Central African Republic) (AFP) - A European delegation on Friday announced 81 million euros ($112 million) in aid for the Central African Republic during a meeting in the capital Bangui with interim President Catherine Samba Panza. "The Central African Republic and its people are facing unprecedented challenges, and it is more important than ever that we act now to put in place the foundations for stability and future development," European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs said at a press conference. Brussels has also granted Bangui 20 million euros to finance the elections due to take place early next year.

Bayern proposes Karl Hopfner as new club president Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:43 PM PDT MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich's board of management has nominated Karl Hopfner as the club's new president to replace Uli Hoeness, who resigned after a tax scandal.

US urges Thailand to protect detained Uighurs Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:40 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department is urging Thailand to protect about 200 ethnic Uighurs it says have been rescued by Thai police from a camp in the nation's south.

Peru former President Fujimori hospitalized after stroke Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:36 PM PDT Peru's jailed former president, Alberto Fujimori, was hospitalized and in stable condition on Friday after suffering a small stroke, doctors said. Fujimori, 75, was conscious and talking on Friday afternoon following a stroke in his jail cell in the morning, said Dr Juan Barreto, with the Clinica La Luz in Lima. "He is a little bit delicate." Fujimori started to have problems with blood flow to his brain four days ago, and a magnetic resonance imaging scan confirmed he had a stroke on Friday that impaired movement of his left arm, said Jose Luis Ore, the medical director of the clinic. "He won't be released today and probably not tomorrow." Fujimori, who has been imprisoned since 2007 on charges of human rights abuses and corruption committed during his 1990-2000 term, often coordinates with members of his political party from his jail cell and criticizes President Ollanta Humala via Twitter and Facebook.

El Arabi leads Granada to 3-3 draw at Getafe Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:34 PM PDT MADRID (AP) — Striker Youssef El Arabi scored two goals and set up another to pace Granada in a wild 3-3 draw at Getafe in the Spanish league on Friday.

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