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From Washington, this is VOA news. Coming up, Crimeans vote to become a part of Russia, and the search for a missing Malaysian passenger plane. Hello everyone, I'm Steve Norman.
President Obama told Russian President Vladimir Putin Sunday that Washington and its "European partners are prepared to impose additional costs" on Moscow for backing a secession referendum in Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. News of the phone call came as Crimean election authorities said 95 percent of voters cast ballots supporting secession and a move to join Russia. The data was announced late Sunday with half of the referendum ballots counted. Voter turnout was placed at between 75 and 80 percent. In Kyiv, Ukraine's interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, speaking at an emergency cabinet meeting, called the Moscow-backed Crimea vote "a circus spectacle" directed at gunpoint by Russia. An earlier White House statement said no decision should be made about the future of Ukraine without the Ukrainian national government. Malaysia's government on Sunday asked for help from nearly a dozen Asian countries [about] that the missing Malaysia Air jetliner might have flown over those countries, saying that finding the plane would be very difficult without additional data on its final movements. Hishammuddin Hussein is Malaysia's acting transport minister: "Malaysian officials are requesting support from these countries as well as others. This support includes general satellite data, radar playback -- both primary and secondary -- provisions for ground, sea and aerial search, and assets as appropriate." Meanwhile, police are examining a flight simulator belonging to one of the pilots. A Malaysian Airlines plane which went missing more than a week ago with 239 passengers abroad -- a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The search for Flight 370 has been expanded after satellite data had shown that after loosing contact with air traffic controllers, the plane could have kept flying as far north as Kazakhstan in central Asia or deep into the southern Indian Ocean. Afghanistan's former defense minister has dropped out of next month's presidential election, leaving a field of nine candidates to replace outgoing President Hamid Karzai. Abdul Rahim Wardak announced on Sunday he is dropping out of the race but gave no reason for his withdrawal and endorsed no other candidate for the April 4th vote, April 5th, that is. Mr. Karzai has served two five-year terms and is barred by law from running again for president. He has declined to sign an agreement with the United States on allowing some American troops to remain in Afghanistan past a deadline at the end of this year. U.S. officials have said if Mr. Karzai does not agree soon to the long-delayed deal, all U.S. troops will be pulled out of the country in December. Syrian government forces appear to have recaptured large portions of the bitterly contested mountain town of Yabroud, along [with] the border with Lebanon. Edward Yeranian has details. A Syrian Army spokesman called the capture of Yabroud a decisive blow against "terrorism" and will choke rebel supply-lines to neighboring Lebanon. He says the Syrian Army victory in Yabroud has brought stability and security to the mountains north of Damascus and killed a large number of mercenaries and terrorists. Syrian opposition leader Ahmed Jarba told Arab satellite channels the government victory in Yabroud was largely the work of Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and other Shiite militiamen. He says rebel forces are waging a bitter battle against an enemy with no scruples. Edward Yeranian, for VOA news, Cairo. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "to make the tough decisions that will be necessary" before an April 29th deadline for a peace deal with Israel. Mr. Abbas is scheduled to meet with President Obama later today, nearly two weeks after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the White House. Last month, Secretary Kerry and President Abbas met in Paris for intense diplomatic talks on the Middle East peace efforts. Nigerian officials are saying at least 16 people were killed in stampedes when a half-million people were invited to apply for fewer than 5,000 government jobs. The interior minister said the deaths occurred at five locations around the country on Saturday. He said their loss of lives was through their impatience. Get more at voanews.com. |