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From Washington, this is VOA news. The search continues for a missing Malaysian airliner. Russian trucks reportedly seen going into Ukraine's Crimea. I'm Vincent Bruce reporting from Washington.
Officials say two passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines jet were traveling with stolen passports. Two men listed on the flight's manifesto - one from Italy and another from Austria - never boarded the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing that disappeared early Saturday carrying 239 people. Both had their passports stolen in Thailand within the last two years, and the real identities of those two traveling on the plane [is] are unclear. U.S. officials say they are still looking at the disappearance of the Malaysian jetliner as if it is an accident, but Malaysian officials say they are not ruling anything out. The Pentagon has dispatched a naval destroyer and a surveillance plane to aid in the search. Rescue pilots from Vietnam say they spotted two large oil slicks in the waters off the country's southwestern coast, but no debris has been seen. More details, more details on the story at voanews.com. A convoy of military vehicles, apparently Russian, has entered a base near Crimea's capital Simferopol. Reuters news service, which filmed the vehicles and identified them as Russian, said the convoy included eight armored vehicles, two ambulances and gasoline tankers. The Associated Press said the vehicles traveled to a military airfield over which a Russian flag flew. Ukraine's acting foreign minister has called for a diplomatic resolution and a peaceful end to the crisis in Ukraine. Andrii Deshchytsia [the Ukraine] said Ukraine is open to any possibility that leads to "concrete results," but emphasized that "Crimea is and will be Ukrainian territory" and called for the monitors to be allowed in. "We insist on international observers to be there. However, there is no decision in the OSCE on the level of the international institutions, other international institutions, who could monitor what is going on in the Crimea. And the reason there is no decision because Russia is blocking discussions." Russia has denied it has troops in Crimea beyond those regularly stationed with its Black Sea fleet which is based in Crimea. Four central European countries are asking the United States to make it easier for them to import natural gas from the U.S. so they can reduce their reliance on Russia. In a letter to the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, ambassadors from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia wrote that U.S. natural gas would be welcome in central and eastern Europe and would be a key U.S. interest in the region. Previous disputes over gas payments between Russia and Ukraine have caused Russia to cut off supplies. The same pipelines that bring Russian gas to Ukraine also supply eastern Europe, creating shortages there. Russia Friday warned the interim Ukrainian government of another possible shutdown over unpaid gas bills. Leaders of eastern Libya's self-declared autonomous region of Barqa declared Saturday that they had begun exporting oil from the port of Sidra and intend to share revenues with the central government in accordance with a 1951 constitution. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan told journalists later that government authorities have warned off a North Korean tanker, but been unable to effectively get them to stop. Edward Yeranian reports for VOA from Cairo. Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan repeated an official warning to a North Korean-flagged oil tanker Saturday afternoon to "leave Libyan waters." He says that the North Korean tanker, Morning Glory, entered the Libyan port of Sidra, breaking international law, and was warned to leave or face attack. He stresses that the ship has said it would like to leave, but is being forced by militiamen to load crude. Mr. Zeidan indicated that his government hopes to resolve the crisis "as soon as possible" but that a government attack on the ship "would create an ecological disaster." Edward Yeranian, for VOA news, Cairo. The United Nations calls on this occasion, International Women's Day being celebrated worldwide, to reflect on progress made and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities. Pakistan's renowned teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who spoke with VOA Deewa about International Women's Day, she called on women to speak up. More on these stories and more news stories 24 hours a day at our website voanews.com. I'm Vincent Bruce, VOA news in Washington. |