Crimea Parliament Declares Independence From Ukraine After Referendum
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Crimea's parliament on Monday declared the region an independent state, after its residents voted overwhelmingly to break off from Ukraine and seek to join Russia.
In the same resolution, it said that all Ukrainian state property on the territory of the Black Sea peninsula will be nationalized and become the property of the Crimean Republic.
Sunday's referendum is not recognized by the West, and the United States and the European Union are preparing sanctions against Russia, whose troops have been occupying Crimea for several weeks.
Crimean lawmakers have asked the United Nations and other nations to recognize it.
Searchers relying on satellite data to find plane
By JOAN LOWYFinding a missing Malaysia Airlines plane may hinge on whether searchers can narrow down where they need to look using satellite data that is inexact and has never been used for that purpose before, search and rescue experts say.
Authorities now believe someone on board the Boeing 777 shut down part of the aircraft's messaging system about the same time the plane with 239 people on board disappeared from civilian radar. But an Inmarsat satellite was able to automatically connect with a portion of the messaging system that remained in operation, similar to a phone call that just rings because no one is on the other end to pick it up and provide information. No location information was exchanged, but the satellite continued to identify the plane once an hour for four to five hours after it disappeared from radar screens.
Crimea votes to leave Ukraine and 'no one has complained about referendum'
Final results say 96.8% are in favour of joining Russia as the head of the referendum commission publicly defends the process
Crimea has voted to secede from Ukraine in a referendum that most of the world has condemned as illegal. Final results showed that 96.8% of voters were in favour of joining Russia, the head of the referendum election commission said on Monday.
Mikhail Malyshev told a televised news conference that the commission has not registered a single complaint about the vote.
Russia's lower house of parliament will pass legislation allowing Ukraine's southern Crimea region to join Russia "in the very near future", news agency Interfax cited its deputy speaker as saying on Monday morning.
PATRICK COCKBURN
Al-Qa’ida, the second act: Why the global 'war on terror' went wrong
In 2014 al-Qa’ida-type groups are numerous and powerful… In other words, the ‘war on terror’ has demonstrably failed
Global warming melts edge of Greenland icesheet
March 17, 2014 - 8:16AM
The last edge of the Greenland ice sheet that had resisted global warming has now become unstable, adding billions of tonnes of meltwater to rising seas, scientists say.
In a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, they say a surge in temperature from 2003 has eased the brakes on a long "river" of ice that flows to the coast in northeastern Greenland.
Known as an ice stream, the "river" takes ice from a vast basin and slowly shifts it to the sea - in the same way the Amazon River drains water.
Coal, gas or nuclear? Power-hungry South Africa must decide now
JOHANNESBURG
(Reuters) - On paper, South Africa's long-term energy plans look solid, with coal, nuclear, gas and renewables all viable options.
But none are likely to prevent potentially crippling future power crunches in Africa's biggest economy unless a decision is made soon on when and how to add capacity to the grid.
South Africa's failure to invest in new power plants nearly two decades ago meant it paid dearly in 2008 when the grid nearly collapsed, leading to power cuts that cost the economy billions of rand in lost output and dented investor confidence.
State-owned power utility Eskom is scrambling to finish new power plants, including Medupi and Kusile, massive coal-fired outfits with a combined capacity of about 9,500 megawatts (MW).
Syrian government forces capture key rebel town near Lebanon border
In a blow to Syria's armed opposition, forces loyal to President Bashir Assad, including Hezbollah fighters, have seized Yabroud near Lebanon's border on a strategic cross-country highway.
Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah fighters seized a key rebel supply town on the Lebanese border on Sunday, driving them from the area and scoring a major blow against them in the three-year-old-conflict.
The fall of Yabroud immediately emboldened government forces to attack nearby rebel-held towns, pressing forward in what has been nearly a yearlong advance against rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar Assad.
Support from the Iranian-backed, Shiite Hezbollah appears to have tipped the balance in the border area, even as it has partly prompted the conflict to bleed into Lebanon where it has ignited polarizing sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites.
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