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From Washington, this is VOA news. Coming up, the latest on tensions in Ukraine, and the search for a missing Malaysian Airlines plane.
Russia on Monday accused far-right activists in Ukraine and the pro-Western Kyiv government of creating "chaos" in [speaking Russian] Russian-speaking, that is, eastern Ukraine, as pro-Russian forces continued seizing Ukrainian military bases in the Crimean peninsula. Meantime, Ukrainian interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is set to meet Wednesday at the White House with President Obama. White House spokesperson Jay Carney spoke Monday about the U.S. efforts to get an international consensus on what's happening in Ukraine: "We have been working with our partners to make clear to the Russians that there is an avenue available to them that would allow for an international effort to monitor and ensure that the rights of all Ukrainians are protected, including ethnic Russians, and that therefore any reasoning that their military intervention was necessary to protect the rights of ethnic Russians becomes defunct, as if it were ever, even if it were ever valid." The U.S. State Department on Monday called on Russia to show evidence it is ready to engage on U.S. diplomatic proposals to end the Ukraine crisis. Malaysian officials say they are set to significantly expand the search area for a missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet that disappeared Saturday with 239 people on board. The mystery deepened on Monday when investigators concluding that an oil slick found off the coast of Vietnam not connected to the aircraft. Officials in Kuala Lumpur say a laboratory analysis showed that streaks of oil found in the Gulf of Thailand were that of a type of fuel used by ships. Malaysian officials say there is still no sign of the missing passenger plane nearly three days after it disappeared. One investigator said searchers [have been] have found nothing that appears to be from the Boeing 777, despite some reports of debris floating in waters south of Vietnam. "We have not found anything that appears to be object from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft." The plane had disappeared from radar Saturday morning about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing. Libyan officials say government forces have seized a tanker loaded with crude oil that a separatist militia was attempting to export in defiance of the country's central authorities. Libya has banned militias from selling crude oil directly to the world market. A rebel spokesperson had earlier denied that they had lost control of the ship. The vessel is North Korean-flagged, but it's not clear who actually owns it. Shipping sources say it is a flag of convenience to keep ownership secret. Israel displayed weapons from an intercepted ship it says were being sent from Iran to militants in the Gaza Strip. Iran denied the charge. VOA's Scott Bobb reports. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu displayed the arms at a news conference in the Red Sea port of Eilat. Mr. Netanyahu accused the world of standing by while the Iranian government arms Gaza militants who threaten millions of Israelis. "There are those who would prefer that we not hold this news conference here today. They feel uncomfortable that we show what is really happening inside Iran. They prefer that we continue to nurture the illusion that Iran has changed direction." But he says, "the facts we are showing on this platform prove the exact opposite." Israel announced the weapons discovery last week after boarding a Panamanian-flagged ship in the Red Sea. Scott Bobb, VOA news, Jerusalem. The United Nations says attacks in Sudan's long-troubled Darfur region have forced more than 45,000 people to flee their homes. Reports from the scene say the attacks were carried out by Sudanese government forces. But there is no independent confirmation of that. Rival communities in Sudan frequently clash over land, water and mineral resources. Conflict has ravaged in Darfur since 2003 when mainly non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Arab-led government, leading to reprisal attacks by government-backed militias. Police in Nepal have arrested at least nine Tibetans as part of the increased security for the 55th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule. After a Tibetan uprising against the rule in 1959, the Dalai Lama and many of his supporters fled into exile. Get more at voanews.com. |