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Chris Christie advisers had a 'personal relationship' involved ahead of ... - New York Daily News Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:25 AM PDT A romance between two top advisers to Gov. Chris Christie hit the breakdown lane in the weeks before Bridgegate. Fired deputy chief of staff Bridget Ann Kelly and ex-campaign manager Bill Stepien shared a "personal relationship" that ended about a month before the four-day George Washington Bridge traffic jams, according to a report released Thursday. Kelly, whose email launched the government-generated gridlock, became "personally involved" with Stepien at some point after April 2013, the report says. The mention of the spring fling, which had ended by early August 2013, was included in a 344-page report after a $1 million, taxpayer-funded "Bridgegate" probe — conducted by Christie's hired attorney. Unsurprisingly, lawyer Randy Mastro found Christie without blame in the scandal. "Our investigation found that Gov. Christie did not know of the lane realignment beforehand and had no involvement in the decision to realign the lanes," the report declares. Neither Kelly nor Stepien was interviewed during the Mastro probe. Both were cut loose by the governor in January when word of the punitive lane closings became public. If I were a cynical person, I would think that's a rather blatant attempt to deflect attention from more important matters. Stepien's attorney was perplexed by the inclusion of the relationship between two single adults in a report about the governor's role in the scandal. "If I were a cynical person, I would think that's a rather blatant attempt to deflect attention from more important matters," said Kevin Marino, attorney for Stepien. "Since I'm not, I'll say I can't imagine the relevance. At least we know that the impulse to exalt anything remotely salacious, however irrelevant, is paramount." Michael Critchley, attorney for Kelly, did not immediately return a call for comment. Marino said the two staffers shared "a brief dating relationship," and the report says Stepien broke it off. "By early August 2013, their personal relationship had cooled ... and they largely stopped speaking," the report said. The report implicates Kelly and former Port Authority executive David Wildstein, a Christie appointee, in the lane closings that targeted Fort Lee, N.J., Mayor Mark Sokolich. "As to whether anyone else may have knowingly participated in this plan ... our investigation has not found any evidence of anyone else's involvement," the report declares. esandoval@nydailynews.com

Obama meets Pope Francis at the Vatican - Irish Times Posted: 27 Mar 2014 09:30 AM PDT Was there a certain chill in the Vatican air? When Pope Francis and US president Barak Obama stood to pose for the cameras in the Vatican Library this morning, it was hard not to notice that one man, Mr Obama, was all smiles and grins whilst his interlocutor, Pope Francis, remained sombre, serious and impassive. Reading the Vatican tea leaves can be an overrated sport and it may well be that the very different body language from both men meant relatively little but it sure as hell did not look that way. Curiously, however, this had seemed to be a very successful visit. For a start, the two men had a 50-minute meeting in the Apostolic Library, an unusually long encounter which would suggest at the very least that they had plenty to say to one another. For a second, the day had begun on an auspicious note with an interview in Milan daily, Corriere Della Sera, in which the US president was full of praise for Francis, calling him a "great moral authority" whose words carry "enormous weight". He added: "The Holy Father has inspired me and people all over the world with his strong commitment to social justice and with his message of love and compassion, particularly for those among us who are poor and vulnerable. "He does not just preach the Gospel, he lives it. We have all been struck and moved by his humility and his acts of compassion." Mr Obama also suggested that, even if he did not agree with everything that Pope Francis said, he nonetheless had great respect for the pope's "courage" when it came to addressing "the great social and economic issues of our time". "I am convinced that his is a voice to which the whole world should listen. He challenges us. He calls on us to think of those people, especially those less well-off, whose lives are conditioned by the decisions we take." When he was greeted by the pope in the Apostolic Library in the papal palace, Mr Obama more than once said how glad he was to be there, thanking the pope for receiving him. "It's a great honour to be here, thank you for receiving me. I bring greetings from my family. The last time, I brought my family with me." All of that certainly sounds as if the two men are on the same page or at least close to it. Furthermore, they are likely to share the same concerns and worries about major international issues such as the civil war in Syria, the Russia-Ukraine crisis over Crimea and any number of conflagrations in African. The sweetness and light, however, may have ended when Pope Francis questioned the president about his healthcare policies, about US abortion services and also about the president's public approval for same-sex marriage. You would also have to concede that the two men are certainly not on the same page when it comes to their transport arrangements. Whilst Francis likes to use an ordinary Ford Focus or indeed the Vatican bus when he moves outside the Holy See, the US president turned up for his audience with the classic 50 car strong motorcade that may well meet security requirements but which, frankly, borders on the ridiculous. Mr Obama, who was accompanied today by secretary of state John Kerry, was making his second official visit to the Vatican following a meeting with Pope Benedict in 2009. Mr Obama is just the last in a long line of US presidents, starting with Woodrow Wilson just after the first World War and including Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush senior and junior and Bill Clinton who have all met with the pope of the day, nearly always in the Vatican. PA

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Bin Laden's son-in-law convicted of conspiring to kill Americans - Los Angeles Times Posted: 26 Mar 2014 08:55 AM PDT after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Sulaiman abu Ghaith, 48, faces life is prison when he is sentenced Sept. 8. The case has given the public its first and possibly only chance to watch a terrorism trial related to the 2001 attacks unfold in civilian court. Unlike other high-profile terrorism suspects accused of crimes arising from the attacks, Abu Ghaith bypassed the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after his arrest last year. Instead, he was brought directly to New York, where his trial began March 5 just blocks from where the World Trade Center towers once stood. The case hinged in part on the importance of Abu Ghaith's role as a spokesman for the terror group. Prosecutors maintained it was an important one. "This man was not Osama bin Laden's puppet," said Jonathan Cronan, an assistant U.S. attorney, as he pointed his finger at Abu Ghaith during the trial "He was not a robot." Cronan insisted Abu Ghaith was a high-ranking Al Qaeda leader who was summoned to Bin Laden's cave in the mountains outside Kabul, Afghanistan, on the evening of Sept. 11, 2001. There, Abu Ghaith was asked to deliver a rousing speech heralding the killings and urging young Muslims to stage more attacks, Cronan said. "Al Qaeda's purpose was to murder Americans, and the defendant was all in," Cronan said as Abu Ghaith listened through an interpreter. But Abu Ghaith's defense attorney, Stanley Cohen, dismissed the government's case as based not on evidence but on recordings and videos, including one showing hijacked jets slamming into the World Trade Center towers and the buildings enveloped in black smoke. "It was intended to sweep you away ... in anguish and pain," said Cohen, comparing the prosecution's case to a movie. "The movie's over, the lights are back on, and we've walked out of the theater. Let's look at the evidence," he said, before dismissing the government's allegations as "speculation" and its witnesses as liars or frauds. Also shown repeatedly to the jury during the trial were frames of a video made Sept. 12, 2001, that showed Abu Ghaith seated next to Bin Laden and two other top Al Qaeda leaders as they tried to justify the attacks. Jurors deliberated roughly five hours before convicting Abu Ghaith of conspiring to kill Americans, providing material support to terrorists; and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Follow LA Times National on Facebook ALSO: Washington's deadly mudslide: A survivor's story Washington mudslide's confirmed death toll rises to 16 Girl who goes bald to support pal with cancer gets dress code waiver

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: China demands satellite data used to conclude ... - CBS News Posted: 26 Mar 2014 08:31 AM PDT Last Updated Mar 25, 2014 4:15 PM EDT KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- China demanded Tuesday that Malaysia turn over the satellite data used to conclude that a Malaysia Airlines jetliner had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, killing all 239 on board. Officials sharply narrowed the search area as a result of that assessment, but the zone remains as large as Texas and Oklahoma combined. Australia said improved weather would allow the hunt for the plane to resume Wednesday after gale-force winds and heavy rain forced a daylong delay. Searchers face a daunting task of combing a vast expanse of choppy seas for suspected remnants of the aircraft sighted earlier. "We're not searching for a needle in a haystack -- we're still trying to define where the haystack is," Australia's deputy defense chief, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, told reporters in Perth at a military base as idled planes remained parked behind him. In remarks to the Malaysian Parliament, Prime Minister Najib Razak also cautioned that the search will take a long time and "we will have to face unexpected and extraordinary challenges." Late Monday, Najib announced that the Boeing 777 had gone down in the sea with no survivors. But that's all that investigators and the Malaysian government have been able to say with certainty about Flight 370's fate since it disappeared on March 8 shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. Left unanswered are many troubling questions about why it was so far off-course -- the plane essentially back-tracked its route over Malaysia and then traveled in the opposite direction in the Indian Ocean. Investigators will be looking at various possibilities including possible mechanical or electrical failure, hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or someone else on board. "We do not know why. We do not know how. We do not how the terrible tragedy happened," the airline's chief executive, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, told reporters. Monday night's e announcement unleashed a storm of sorrow and anger among the families of the plane's 239 passengers and crew - two-thirds of them Chinese. Family members of the missing passengers have complained bitterly about a lack of reliable information and some say they are not being told the whole truth. Nearly 100 relatives and their supporters marched on the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing, where they threw plastic water bottles, tried to rush the gate and chanted, "Liars!" Many wore white T-shirts that read "Let's pray for MH370" as they held banners and shouted, "Tell the truth! Return our relatives!" There was a heavy police presence at the embassy and there was a brief scuffle between police and a group of relatives who tried to approach journalists. Relatives of Chinese passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, flight MH370, hold signs in protest outside the Malaysia Embassy in Beijing, China, March 25, 2014. CBS Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng told Malaysia's ambassador to Beijing late Monday that China wanted to know exactly what led Najib to announce that the plane had been lost, a statement on the ministry's website said. Xu Dengwang, whose wife was a passenger on Flight 370, was reeling from the shock Monday in his room at the Lido hotel in Beijing, where many family members have been waiting for days for news. "I learned the news from television. I couldn't handle it. I fainted," Xu told CBS News, speaking through a translator. "How can you announce this news to the world without providing evidence?" Some relatives of Chinese passengers aboard the flight read out an emotional statement Monday, calling for Malaysia Airlines and Malaysia's government to be held accountable, CBS News Shannon Van Sant reported from Beijing. "Malaysia Airlines, the government of Malaysia... and the military forces of Malaysia have concealed, delayed and hid the truth from the relatives and the peoples of the world," the statement said. "This despicable act aimed to fool the relatives of the 154 Chinese passengers have devastated us physically and mentally, while misleading and delaying the rescue operation, wasting a lot of manpower, material resources and leading to the loss of precious rescue time." Malaysia Airlines Chairman Mohammed Nor Mohammed Yusof said at a news conference Tuesday that it may take time for further answers to come clear. "This has been an unprecedented event requiring an unprecedented response," he said. "The investigation still underway may yet prove to be even longer and more complex than it has been since March 8th." He added that even though no wreckage has been found, there was no doubt it had crashed. "This by the evidence given to us, and by rational deduction, we could only arrive at that conclusion: That is, for Malaysia Airlines to declare that it has lost its plane, and by extension, the people in the plane," he said. The conclusions were based on a more thorough analysis of the brief signals the plane sent every hour to a satellite belonging to Inmarsat, a British company, even after other communication systems on the jetliner shut down for unknown reasons. Najib said that an unparalleled study of the jet's last-known signals to a satellite showed that the missing plane veered "to a remote location, far from any possible landing sites" in the southern Indian ocean. Although there have been an increasing number of apparent leads, there has been no definitive identification of any debris. For several days now, search planes have been scouring seas 1,550 miles southwest of Perth, and have spotted several floating objects, but none have been retrieved or proven to be from the missing plane. "It is impossible to predict how long this will take. But after 17 days, the announcement made last night and shared with the families is the reality which we must now accept," Ahmad Jauhari, the airline's chief executive, said. The latest satellite information cannot provide an exact location but just a rough estimate of where the jet crashed into the sea. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he had spoken to Najib to offer help with the ongoing search and investigation. "What up until now has been a search, moves into a recovery and investigation phase," Abbott said. "I have offered Malaysia, as the country legally responsible for this, every assistance and cooperation from Australia." Several countries had already been moving specialized equipment into the area to prepare for a possible search for the plane and its black boxes, the common name for the cockpit voice and data recorders - needed to help determine what happened to the jetliner. CBS There is a race against the clock to find any trace of the plane that could lead them to the location of the black boxes, whose battery-powered "pinger" could stop sending signals within two weeks. The batteries are designed to last at least a month and can last longer. An Australian navy support vessel, the Ocean Shield, equipped with acoustic detection equipment, was expected to arrive in several days in the search zone. And the U.S. Pacific Command said it was sending a black box locator to the region in case a debris field is located. The U.S. Navy has also sent an unmanned underwater vehicle to Perth that could be used if debris is located, said Rear Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman. The Bluefin-21, expected to arrive in Perth on Wednesday, has side-scanning sonar and what is called a "multi-beam echo sounder" that can be used to take a closer look at objects under water, he added. It can operate at a depth of 14,700 feet. The search for the wreckage and the plane's recorders could take years because the ocean can extend to up to 23,000 feet deep in some parts. It took two years to find the black box from an Air France jet that went down in the Atlantic Ocean on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in 2009, and searchers knew within days where the crash site was. "We've got to get lucky," said John Goglia, a former member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. "It's a race to get to the area in time to catch the black box pinger while it's still working." © 2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Obama says new NSA proposal alleviates privacy concerns about surveillance - Washington Post Posted: 25 Mar 2014 09:24 AM PDT President Obama on Tuesday said he believes the plan his administration has given him to address concerns about the National Security Agency's widespread collection of Americans' phone data is "workable," and he hopes Congress will move to enact it. Speaking at a nuclear summit in The Hague, Obama said the plan should alleviate "core concerns" about the government storing massive amounts of data on Americans' phone calls. The White House is preparing a proposal that would end the government's "bulk collection" of such data while, Obama said, preserving its ability to gain information about terrorists who might be plotting an attack against the United States. The plan, senior officials said, would allow data about phone calls made to and from Americans to be kept with the phone companies. The companies would not be required to hold the data longer than they normally would. Obama stressed that the plan would ensure that "a judge is looking at each individual" phone number to ensure it is linked to a suspected terrorist organization before phone companies are asked to search their records for data about the number. Such prior judicial approval of queries is considered a key requisite by privacy advocates. Obama in January gave his subordinates until March 28 — this Friday — to find a way to end the government's mass collection of phone data, a program that has stirred controversy since it was revealed through a leak to the news media in June. The proposal, which is still being finalized, would require phone companies to make data available on a real-time, ongoing basis — an idea embraced by NSA leaders, officials said. Officials said the administration has decided to renew the current program for at least one more 90-day cycle. The current orders expire Friday. Under the program, the government collects telephone numbers and call times and dates but not call content. The administration effort comes as the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee have drafted a bipartisan bill that would also end the NSA's mass gathering of data. Their measure would also keep the records at the phone companies. But some privacy advocates are already expressing opposition to the proposal. The House bill would reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to make clear that the government can no longer collect any form of electronic communication in bulk, said its sponsors, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the committee's chairman, and Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (Md.), its ranking Democrat. "We believe this can be the solution for those of us who want to preserve important national security capabilities while heeding the legitimate concerns of many that the collection of bulk telephone metadata has a potential for abuse," said Rogers, who has staunchly defended the NSA's bulk-collection authority. Ruppersberger, whose district includes the NSA's Fort Meade headquarters, said, "The most important thing is getting the public's confidence that their government is out there protecting them against terrorist attacks" while respecting privacy and increasing transparency. The bill, according to congressional aides, would bar the mass collection of different types of information, including phone call records and records of Internet activity. It also covers location information, aides said. It, too, would not require telecommunication companies to retain data for longer than they do now. And it would require that the government serve a directive on a company that is being asked for data. But unlike other pending legislation, it does not call for judicial approval of a specific phone number before a request for data is submitted to a company. The Rogers-Ruppersberger legislation would have the court make that determination "promptly" after the FBI submits a number to a phone company. If the court did not approve the number as being linked to an agent of a foreign power, including terrorist groups, the data collected would be expunged. "If there is no judicial authorization beforehand, I don't see the civil liberties community getting behind it," said Harley Geiger, senior counsel for the Center for Democracy & Technology. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), who has co-sponsored competing legislation, said the Rogers-Ruppersberger bill "limits, but does not end, bulk collection." He said that provisions in the draft "fall well short" of the safeguards in his bill. Both the administration's and the House lawmakers' proposals would allow data up to two "hops" from a target to be collected.

Washington mudslide rescue operation shifts to recovery mission, official says - Fox News Posted: 25 Mar 2014 09:34 AM PDT Emergency officials say they expect the death toll from a massive mudslide in rural Washington state to rise as volunteers and responders pick through rubble. The mudslide, which struck the town of Oso on Saturday morning, has left 14 people dead and 176 missing, Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots said Tuesday. Hots said authorities offer their "deepest sympathies and condolences to the families affected by this disaster." He added that authorities believe the death toll will increase. "We are expecting that number to go up throughout the day," he said. There are 156 people in the field looking for anyone who may be trapped under rubble, Hots said, but rain forecasted for Tuesday afternoon may hamper search efforts. A 50-member National Guard team is also en route to the area. Earlier in the day, officials looking to narrow down the number of people unaccounted for said the operation is now shifting from a rescue effort to a recovery mission. "I never lose faith and a lot of the people in this community will never lose faith, but there's a realism element that's entered in," John Pennington, Snohomish County's director of emergency management, said Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show, according to Reuters. "We have responded as well as we can, and we will continue to do that, but... we are turning that very delicate corner in the recovery operation." Emergency responders and volunteers resumed searches Tuesday but so far have not been able to locate anyone who still may be trapped under the rubble. A 22-week-old baby injured in the mudslide remained in critical condition Tuesday, Seattle's Harborview Medical Center said. His mother was also injured. Late Monday, authorities announced that the official death toll had increased to 14 after searchers discovered six more bodies in the rubble. The main focus of the search operations has been to pin down the exact number of people unaccounted for after the disaster. Pennington told reporters late Monday that officials were working off a potential list of 176 people, but he stressed that authorities believed that included many duplicate names. "I believe very strongly [176] is not a number we're going to see in fatalities," Pennington said. "I believe it's going to drop dramatically." However, other authorities said they have not been able to determine whether there were multiple calls about the same missing person. The 1-square-mile mudslide struck Saturday morning. Authorities have described the search for additional survivors to be "grim" as crews battle uneven ground and rising waters. Monday's search included specially trained dogs, firefighters, law enforcement, aircraft and search-and-rescue teams. Heavy equipment from the Washington State Department of Transportation helped to move trees, boulders and earth. "Most of us in these communities do not believe we'll find anyone alive," Pennington said Monday, but then added "I'm a man of faith and I believe in miracles." Authorities believe that the slide destroyed 35 homes, as well as 13 manufactured homes, including RVs, and at least one cabin. Part of the difficulty in determining the exact number of missing people comes from authorities not knowing how many of the homes, some of which are kept for vacationing visitors, were occupied at the time of the slide. Authorities also believe some nonresidents may have been working in the area, while some victims may have been passing through in their cars on nearby State Highway 530. Another obstacle has been the chaotic nature of the debris field itself. In some places, the ground is covered by 15 feet of rubble. "It's muddy, in areas it's like quicksand," said Hots. "One of the folks out there told me, 'Chief, sometimes it takes five minutes to walk 40 or 50 feet.'" Searchers are also running into gasoline and septic discharge and dealing with ground that geologists warn remains unstable. Authorities believe the slide was caused by ground made unstable by recent heavy rainfall. Ed Hrivnak, who was co-piloting an aircraft that was first to arrive at the scene Saturday, said a lot of the houses weren't buried. When they got hit, "the houses exploded." He said cars were crushed into little pieces, their tires the only signs that they had been vehicles. He said he saw people so thoroughly covered in mud that searchers could only spot them by the whites of their waving palms. His helicopter rescued eight people, including a 4-year-old boy, who was up to his knees in concrete-like compressed mud. The mud was so sticky, the rescuers were worried about getting stuck so the helicopter hovered about a foot away and the crew chief tried to pull him out. "He was suctioned in that mud so much that his pants came off," Hrivnak said. The boy was taken to a hospital and was reunited with his mom. Hrivnak said the boy's father and three siblings are still missing. Friends and families immediately launched their own rescue missions. Elaine Young and her husband, Don, picking their way through the devastation, heard tapping, a steady beat. They got closer and realized it was coming from their neighbors' buckled home. Trapped in an air pocket, Gary "Mac" McPherson, 78, was banging away for help with a loose stick. The Youngs managed to pull him out, but family members said his wife, Linda McPherson, 69, a former librarian and school board member, did not survive. Chain saws buzzed as friends and families cut toppled houses open on Monday. Buddy, a large chocolate Labrador, was pulled muddy and cut from under the ruins Sunday after a house was searched. His owner has not been found. Gail Moffett, a retired firefighter who lives in Oso and works at the hardware store in Arlington, said she knows about 25 people who are missing. Among them, Moffett said, were entire families, including people with young children. Moffett said some of the people who are missing were working in the area Saturday morning. "There's so much pain going on in the community right now," she said. President Barack Obama Tuesday asked Americans to send their thoughts and prayers to Washington state as search operations continue. He said first responders have acted bravely and people have come forward to help fellow citizens. Obama says he's spoken with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Inslee and signed an emergency declaration for the state, adding that his administration is in ongoing contact with state officials. Evacuation shelters were set up at Post Middle School in Arlington and the Darrington Community Center. Click for more from Q13Fox.com FoxNews.com's Cristina Corbin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Malaysian flight MH370: the detective work that led to the beginning of the ... - The Independent Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:29 AM PDT The heartbreaking news was relayed, it appears, by English-language text message: "Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume that MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean." The decision to communicate news of the tragedy by such an inappropriate method is one of the many controversies surrounding the biggest mystery in modern history.  The search for the Boeing 777 had begun in the South China Sea between Malaysia and Vietnam. It later extended east into the Pacific and west to the Strait of Malacca, the Bay of Bengal and the deserts of central Asia. But the heartbreaking conclusion that the jet had come down west of Australia was drawn in offices in London and Farnborough – headquarters of Inmarsat and the Air Accidents Investigation Branch respectively. The evidence was provided by assiduous analysis of satellite data that was never intended for this purpose. The hourly "pings," or electronic handshakes, between the plane and a relatively elderly Inmarsat satellite over the Indian Ocean, demonstrated that the aircraft was aloft many hours after contact was lost. Inmarsat shared the findings with investigators in Malaysia three days into the search, but it was not shared with the relatives – and the media – until a week after the disappearance. As the search-and-rescue operation switches to the awful task of recovery, there are certain to be recriminations about the apparent delay in acknowledging these vital clues while resources were squandered on futile searches thousands of miles away. Once Malaysia's prime minister revealed the northern and southern arcs that had been derived from the last "ping," scientists in the UK continued working to see what could be deduced from comparing the MH370 data with evidence of other flights in the region at the time. They concluded that the jet could only have taken the southern track. In an investigation in which so much is unknown, at least the fuel load was known – and not enough remained from the final range of possible locations to reach land. We are still nowhere near the end of the mystery, but evidence accumulated 22,250 miles above the Indian Ocean and processed in Britain provides at least a starting point in understanding what happened to MH370, its 227 passengers and 12 crew.

Rescue efforts resume after Washington mudslide - Chicago Tribune Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:43 AM PDT At least 8 people are known dead after the massive mudslide that buried several dozen homes north of Seattle. Authorities plan to search through the night for more victims. (Posted March 24, 2014) Rescue teams resumed scouring the wreckage of a deadly mudslide Monday morning that has claimed at least eight lives, hoping to find survivors in the swath of destruction but fearing there will be more casualties. Although an estimated 30 homes were destroyed when a wall of mud crashed down over State Route 530 in a rural enclave about an hour north of Seattle, "there may be people in their cars. There may be people in their homes," Travis Hots, chief of Snohomish County Fire District 21, told reporters Sunday. What remains on the banks of the Stillaguamish River about an hour north of Seattle is a square mile of damp destruction and a small town's worth of sadness and fear. Elected officials grappled to describe the devastation, which was as bad, one said, as "Mt. St. Helens 34 years ago when it erupted." The landslide was triggered after rain-soaked embankments along State Route 530 near Oso, Washington, about 55 miles northeast of Seattle, gave way on Saturday morning, washing away at least six homes. A spokesman for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said eight bodies had been found in the square mile of tangled debris, rocks, trees and mud by Sunday evening. A further eight people were hurt in the landslide. "We didn't find anybody alive. There was no sign of life" after a search of much of the area on foot, Snohomish County Fire District 21 Chief Travis Hots told a news conference on Sunday, adding that the tally of missing was likely to grow. A press briefing was slated for 9 a.m. PDT on Monday. "I have a sense that we're going to have some hard news here," Washington Governor Jay Inslee said after flying over the affected area on Sunday. Reed Miller was in the grocery store check-out line in Arlington on Saturday morning when ambulances began to scream by. His son Joseph, 47, who has a history of mental illness, was home in the rural enclave of Oso about 12 miles northeast. "The grocery lady said there was a big mudslide in Oso, and to call her back when I got home OK," the 75-year-old resident of a hard-hit neighborhood recounted Sunday. "I never got there. Nope." Instead, the retired sawmill worker spent the night on a hard cot at a Red Cross shelter in the Post Middle School gymnasium here. His home is destroyed. His son is missing. And there is nothing he can do but wait. "I was planning on moving this year," Miller said, looking frail and dazed in outsized aviator glasses and a baggy blue-and-yellow jacket. "But not this way." The Millers planned to sell the house where the elder Miller had lived for a generation. Joseph Miller was at the top of a list for an apartment in nearby Darrington, population 1,359, which has been largely cut off by the slide. His father was next in line. "Joe was going to move in the first of April," Miller said. "It's a few months too late." The slide in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains along the Stillaguamish River piled mud, rock and debris up to 15 feet deep in some places. It blocked the flow of the river, creating floods and a backup of water behind a natural dam of mud and debris, but the threat to people downriver had begun to ease, Inslee said. The highway was closed in both directions, with no timeline for it to be reopened, he said. The Snohomish County sheriff's office has asked people affected by the slide to report to the Red Cross so an accurate count can be made of the missing. Washington state Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen has declared a state of emergency in Snohomish County. Reuters and Los Angeles Times contributed to this report

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NATO concerned over Russian army buildup on Ukraine border - CNN Posted: 23 Mar 2014 09:17 AM PDT STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: NATO commander says Russia has a large force on Ukraine's eastern border NEW: "Russia is acting much more like an adversary than a partner," NATO commander says "We must not allow a new division of Europe," says German foreign minister Pro-Russia rallies planned in southern, eastern Ukraine (CNN) -- NATO's top military commander expressed concern Sunday about the buildup of Russian forces on Ukraine's border, as Moscow's forces consolidated their control of Crimea over the weekend. Supreme Allied Commander Europe Gen. Philip Breedlove said Russia had a large force on Ukraine's eastern border and that he was worried it could pose a threat to Moldova's separatist Trans-Dniester region. "The (Russian) force that is at the Ukrainian border now to the east is very, very sizable and very, very ready," Breedlove, a U.S. Air Force general, said. "There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Trans-Dniester if the decision was made to do that, and that is very worrisome." Pro-Russian militia members evacuate a local resident as Russian troops assault the Belbek air base, outside Sevastopol, Crimea, on Saturday, March 22. On Saturday, six Russian special forces armored personnel carriers broke through the gates of the air base, firing warning shots into the air, a spokesman for Ukraine's Ministry of Defense in Crimea told CNN. Russia's military activities in Crimea and its move to annex the region have been condemned by Ukraine's interim government in Kiev, the European Union and the United States. The standoff has sparked an international crisis, reviving concerns of a return to Cold War relations. Crisis in Ukraine HIDE CAPTION << < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 > >> Russia said its forces complied with international agreements. Moscow annexed Crimea following a controversial snap referendum in the autonomous region last week that produced an overwhelming majority of votes in favor of leaving Ukraine to join Russia. "Russia is acting much more like an adversary than a partner," Breedlove said, speaking at an event held in Brussels, Belgium, by the German Marshall Fund think tank. Other officials expressed concern too. "It's deeply concerning to see the Russian troop buildup along the border. It creates the potential for incidents, for instability," Tony Blinken, White House deputy national security adviser, told CNN's "State of the Union." "It's likely that what they are trying to do is intimidate the Ukrainians. It's possible that they are preparing to move in." Pro-Russia demonstrations planned Pro-Russia demonstrations were planned for Sunday in Ukrainian cities outside Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula. The shows of favor for Moscow were scheduled for cities in Ukraine's south and east, where there are many ethnic Russians. On Saturday, six Russian special forces armored personnel carriers broke through the gates of Belbek air base, firing warning shots into the air, a spokesman for Ukraine's Ministry of Defense in Crimea told CNN. One journalist was injured in the attack, said Vladislav Seleznev. In a separate incident, pro-Russian self-defense forces stormed the Novofederoskoe military base, also in Crimea, taking control of it, a Ukraine Defense Ministry spokesman said. Seleznev also said that Crimean self-defense forces and Russian special forces took a Ukrainian ship, the Slavutych. The ship was captured "after a two-hour assault," he said, though the Ukrainian ship's crew members came ashore and didn't suffer any injuries. Ukrainian forces on the Novofederoskoe base threw smoke bombs during the incident and retreated to the base's headquarters, Seleznev said in a Facebook posting. The base's aviation brigade then sang the Ukrainian national anthem, lowered the Ukrainian flag and left the base, he said. The White House urged Russia to open talks with the Ukrainian government. But in a statement, it also held the Russian military directly responsible for any casualties inflicted on Ukrainian military members -- whether from regular Russian troops or militias not wearing insignias. Crimea remarries -- but that divorce will be messy International monitors The incidents occurred as international observers were set to arrive in Ukraine to monitor the security and human rights situation, in a posting expected to last at least six months. But they will not enter the contested region of Crimea, a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry said, because this "became part of Russia." The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will eventually deploy a total of 100 observers throughout Ukraine in hopes of "reducing tensions and fostering peace, stability and security." They will also check that the rights of ethnic minorities are being protected. The OSCE may widen the mission to include 400 more monitors, and extend it for a second six-month period if requested by the Kiev government. Russia, which is one of the OSCE's 57 member states, approved the mission, according to state-run Russian news agency RIA Novosti. Russia's Foreign Ministry said it hoped the observers' work would stop nationalist extremists, who Moscow says have a strong influence on Kiev's government, and protect linguistic rights. Many Ukrainians speak Russian as their native language. Russia has previously said it reserves the right to enter Ukrainian territory to protect ethnic Russians from what it says is a threat from ultranationalists and fascists. Meanwhile, European leaders have demanded that independent monitors be granted access to the Crimean Peninsula. OSCE monitors made multiple attempts to enter Crimea during the height of the crisis, when pro-Russian militias took control of the region. But armed men at the borders turned them back. Russia sanctions: EU should leave trade alone Claims on Crimea Ukraine, the United States and other Western powers maintain Crimea is still a part of Ukraine. "We must not allow a new division of Europe," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Saturday in Kiev, where he met with with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and acting President Oleksandr Turchynov. Russia insists its actions are legitimate. Crimea had belonged to Russia until 1954, when it was given to Ukraine. The region also has a majority ethnic Russian population and other long historic ties to Russia. Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, making it strategically important to Moscow. Moscow has doggedly pursued its own course, even as Western leaders have denounced its actions as violations of Ukraine's sovereignty and a breach of international law. U.S. President Barack Obama plans to meet with leaders of the G7 group of industrialized nations this week to discuss Ukraine. Russia has been excluded from the talks on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in the Netherlands. A planned EU-Russia summit has also been canceled, as the West seeks to increase Moscow's isolation over its actions in Ukraine. EU leaders imposed a new round of sanctions against 12 individuals last week, bringing the total number of people facing EU asset freezes and travel bans to 33. The United States announced its own new round of sanctions against 20 individuals and a bank which U.S. officials say is linked to Putin and senior Russian officials. Washington had already announced sanctions on 11 individuals. "What we've seen the President do in recent weeks, and what we'll see him do this week, is bring the world together in support of Ukraine, to isolate Russia for its actions ... and reassure our partners and allies in NATO and Europe," Blinken said. Sanctions on Russia: Would World Cup boycott hit harder? Opinion: Putin's breathtaking lies about Russia Journalist Azad Safarov and CNN's Ivan Watson, Frederik Pleitgen, Laura Smith-Spark, Tom Watkins, Matt Smith and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report. 0 Comments » SHARE THIS Print Email More sharing

Missing Malaysia Airlines flight: New sighting of debris - Sydney Morning Herald Posted: 23 Mar 2014 07:32 AM PDT Video will begin in 5 seconds. Missing plane: French satellite spots debris A French satellite reveals a new sighting of objects in the Indian Ocean in the ongoing search for the missing Malaysian Airlines plane. PT0M48S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-35blr 620 349 March 23, 2014 - 10:01PM Kuala Lumpur: A French satellite has revealed a new sighting of objects in the Indian Ocean, further raising hopes of finding the missing Malaysian Airlines airliner and unraveling one of the most baffling mysteries of modern aviation. French authorities say new satellite images show "potential objects" in Indian Ocean where Australia and China have already released images that shown possible debris from the Boeing 777. Malaysia late on Sunday sent the images to Australia's rescue co-ordination centre in Canberra. Indian Ocean search: Malaysia has reportedly handed over new satellite images from the French to Australia as the country heading the operation in the southern corridor. Photo: AP In a statement Malaysia's transport ministry said the images from the three countries "show potential objects, which may be related to MH370" in what they have identified as a southern search area that includes the vast expanses of the southern Indian Ocean. Advertisement "All this information has been forwarded to Australia, as the lead country in the area of concern," the statement said. Authorities in Kuala Lumpur did not release details of the size or of the location of the objects identified by French authorities. Since the plane disappeared they have released only scant information, angering relatives and friend of those on board. Malaysian officials spent six hours with relatives of Chinese passengers in Beijing on Sunday. "The government wishes to reiterate its commitment and continued engagement with the relatives of those on board MH370," the Malaysian government said in a statement. Malaysia Airlines has promised to fly relatives of the passengers to Perth if debris from the plane is found in the Indian Ocean. Perth would become the staging port for the recovery operation. Malaysian officials said a number of search flights due to depart Kuala Lumpur Sunday were cancelled because of Cyclone Gillian that has formed in the Indian Ocean. But they said two Indian search aircraft joined the search. Malaysian authorities cancelled a daily media briefing while search operations headquarters was moved from a hotel near Kuala Lumpur airport to the city centre. An official in Kuala Lumpur said the French sighted objects were in the same general area of the Australian and Chinese sightings. Co-ordinators of a 26-country search for the plane from Central Asia to the far southern reaches of the Indian Ocean are now focusing on how to scour the depths of the Indian Ocean if the objects are confirmed to be from MH370. The ocean is as deep as 7,000 metres in some places. The Australian Defence vessel Ocean Shield, which has a sub-sea remotely operated vehicle, is en-route to the area.

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