| Biden to travel to Ukraine amid growing unrest Posted: 12 Apr 2014 02:58 PM PDT  Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Ukraine on April 22 to stress US support for Kiev and steps to improve its energy security amid a crisis with neighboring Russia. During his meetings with government leaders and civil society groups, Biden will "underscore the United States' strong support for a united, democratic Ukraine that makes its own choices about its future path," a White House statement said Saturday. The announcement came just a day after Washington unveiled sanctions against six of Crimea's breakaway leaders, including the official who signed the deal with Moscow to split the peninsula from Ukraine. A first wave of US sanctions unveiled in March had blacklisted officials and businesspeople close to Russian President Vladimir Putin to protest Moscow's takeover of Crimea.
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| Ukraine accuses Russia of 'aggression' amid unrest in east Posted: 12 Apr 2014 12:56 PM PDT  Slavyansk (Ukraine) (AFP) - Ukraine accused Moscow of "aggression" on Saturday after Kalashnikov-wielding gunmen seized two security buildings in its restive eastern rust belt amid spreading protests demanding the Russified region join Kremlin rule. The coordinated attacks and a series of gunfights between militants and police in two eastern towns underscored the volatility of the crisis ahead of first direct talks between EU and US diplomats and their Moscow and Kiev counterparts in Geneva on Thursday. Ukraine's foreign minister blamed the occupations on the "provocative activities of Russian special services" while a prominent nationalist called on militants in his Right Sector party -- branded as a neo-Nazi organisation by Moscow -- to "fully mobilise and prepare for decisive action". And acting president Oleksandr Turchynov convened an emergency security meeting after his interior minster reported that a "gunfight" had erupted between local security forces and militants who had attacked a police station in the eastern town of Kramatorsk.
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| With no new signals, Aussie PM sees long jet hunt Posted: 12 Apr 2014 10:17 AM PDT  PERTH, Australia (AP) — A day after expressing optimism about the hunt for the missing Malaysian jet, Australia's leader warned Saturday that the massive search would likely continue "for a long time."
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| 'Obamacare' under attack at conservative gathering Posted: 12 Apr 2014 07:20 AM PDT  MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is coming under renewed attack as some of the nation's leading conservatives gather in New Hampshire for a summit that some consider the unofficial kickoff for the state's 2016 presidential selection process.
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| Uniformed men occupy Donetsk police HQ Posted: 12 Apr 2014 05:07 PM PDT DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Men in the uniforms of Ukraine's now-defunct riot police on Saturday occupied police headquarters in Donetsk, the eastern city that is one of the flashpoints of a wave of pro-Russia protests, hours after armed men seized local police headquarters and a local branch of the Security Service in a nearby city. |
| Couple: Truck was on fire before deadly bus crash Posted: 12 Apr 2014 01:46 PM PDT  ORLAND, Calif. (AP) — A couple said a FedEx tractor-trailer was already on fire when it careened across a median, sideswiped their car and slammed into a bus carrying high school students, adding a new twist to the investigation of a crash that killed 10 people.
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| Poison gas claims complicate Syrian civil war Posted: 12 Apr 2014 03:32 PM PDT  BEIRUT (AP) — Both sides in Syria's bloody civil war said Saturday that a rural village fell victim to a poison gas attack, an assault that reportedly injured scores of people amid an ongoing international effort to rid the country of chemical weapons.
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| 'Obamacare' under attack as conservatives eye 2016 Posted: 12 Apr 2014 02:35 PM PDT  MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Republicans eyeing the 2016 White House race battered President Barack Obama's health care law and nicked each other Saturday, auditioning before a high-profile gathering of conservatives that some political veterans said marked the campaign's unofficial start.
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| Finance officials: Global economy turns the corner Posted: 12 Apr 2014 03:14 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — The world's top finance officials expressed confidence Saturday that the global economy finally has turned the corner to stronger growth. This time, they may be right.
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| Feds abruptly end cattle roundup in Nevada Posted: 12 Apr 2014 05:00 PM PDT Federal land managers confirmed they released all 400 head of cattle rounded up on public land in southern Nevada from a rancher who has refused to recognize their authority. |
| AP photographer captured humanity amid chaos Posted: 12 Apr 2014 09:38 AM PDT  HOEXTER, Germany (AP) — Hundreds of mourners packed a church in central Germany on Saturday to remember Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed on assignment in Afghanistan last week after a life spent between the chaos of war and the serenity of her rural birthplace.
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| Spieth, Watson tied for lead at the Masters Posted: 12 Apr 2014 04:29 PM PDT  AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Young and old. Even without Tiger Woods, this Masters has a little bit of everything.
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| Disappointment, forgiveness mix in La. scandal Posted: 12 Apr 2014 11:39 AM PDT  MONROE, La. (AP) — To Louisiana voters accustomed to tawdry scandals involving elected officials, disappointment with an eye toward forgiveness is the prevailing sentiment about their new congressman, caught on video embracing an aide married to one of his friends.
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| Iran says has no plans to substitute UN envoy pick Posted: 12 Apr 2014 06:01 AM PDT  TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has no plans to name a new diplomat to the United Nations, its Foreign Ministry said Saturday, after the United States blocked its pick in a rare rebuke that could stir fresh animosity at a time when the two countries have been seeking a thaw in relations.
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| Space station computer outage may force spacewalk Posted: 12 Apr 2014 01:04 AM PDT  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A computer outage at the International Space Station may require a spacewalk by astronauts and threatens to delay next week's launch of a commercial supply ship for NASA.
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| Woman accused of tossing shoe at Clinton released Posted: 11 Apr 2014 10:07 PM PDT  LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Phoenix woman accused of throwing a shoe some 60 feet toward Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared aware during questioning by U.S. Secret Service agents of the allegation against her, authorities said Friday.
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