Global News

The United Nations confirms it is investigating claims that several Saudi Arabian princesses are being held against their will in a royal compound in Jeddah. 

Venezuela’s anti-government protests got worse today with the deaths of three men, bringing the death toll in the current spate of unrest to 25 lives lost.  Three National Guardsmen and several protesters were wounded.

Two people died in Turkey’s worst day of unrest since last summer’s anti-government protests.  The unrest spread from the funeral of a 15-year old boy who died this week, nine months after he was injured during disturbances last June.

If the search for MH370 hasn’t gone completely off the rails, Malaysia’s public relations front certainly has.  After days of conflicting statements and no results the spirit of international cooperation is collapsing.  China accused Malaysia of concealing information and Vietnam temporarily suspended assistance to the multinational effort.

Malaysia's air force chief has thrown the investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 into murkiness again, by denying that he ever said the missing plane had been tracked by military radar to the Strait of Malacca, far from its planned route.

The apparent second place finisher in El Salvador’s Presidential Election is calling for election officials to annul the results and hold a new election.  This, after first count showed the conservative candidate losing to the Leftist by less than 7,000 votes.

Turkey is bracing for the funeral of 15-year old Berkin Elvan.  His death this week, 269 days after being injured in Turkey’s unrest last June, reignited the anger against police and the authoritarian government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

If you’re reading from Darwin, welcome back to the 21^st Century.  Power is gradually being restored to all 100,000+ customers after a 10-hour blackout – A rogue oil tanker escapes out to sea – Israel’s reason for killing a Jordanian judge is rejected – Chile’s first female president takes the oath for a second time – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Regional tensions are showing as frustration grows over the slow pace of the investigation into Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, missing somewhere in Southeast Asia.  China, Malaysia, and Vietnam are pointing fingers at each other.

Authorities have learned the identities of two Iranian men who boarded Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 by using stolen passports, and what they learned has Interpol pretty much ruling out terrorism as the cause of whatever happened to the missing flight.

Malaysia’s military says its radar data shows that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 the plane might have been flying more than an hour after its transponders stopped giving the flight’s location over the South China Sea.  The radar showed it essentially reversed course and flew southwest over the Strait of Malacca.

Kiwi PM John Key is promising a referendum on redesigning New Zealand’s flag if he is reelected in September’s elections.  His preferred design is already familiar to sport fans, favoring a silver fern on a black field - already in use by sporting teams such as the All Blacks.

Crimea is forming its own paramilitary force, days ahead of the vote on whether to split from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.  It comes as the west takes steps to make sure it can get a better view of what’s going on in Ukraine as Russia tightens its grip on Crimea.

The repudiation of a Latin American dictatorship happens today – A UN report shows a terrible girls’ education gap in the developing world – A scientist no longer stands behind his hoped-for stem cell research – And a lot more in your CareerSpot World News Briefs:

Japanese military officials this week will meet with their US counterparts in Hawaii to review bilateral defense guidelines.  The first such meeting in 17 years is accompanied by Tokyo’s growing awareness that the US isn’t in any hurry to confront China militarily.

Still no sign of missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, as the search area now covers the vast waters on either side of the Malay Peninsula off of Southeast Asia.  But there is new information about the two men who boarded the ill-fated flight with stolen passports.

Weeks of protests against the Socialist government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro show no immediate sign of slowing, but they’re not toppling Maduro, either.  And the president’s call for call for talks is deepening divisions between his conservative rivals.

Peru's government is agreeing to extradite convicted killer Joran van der Sloot to the United States to face charges related to the disappearance an American teen who went missing on a high school class trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba.  But only after he completes his prison sentence in South America.

Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk will go to the White House to meet with US President Barack Obama on Wednesday of this week, in a prominent show of support for Kiev’s fledgling government, in the face of Russia’s military occupation of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula.

The Syrian government is using starvation tactics as a weapon of war against civilians, according to Amnesty International.  And so far, it’s working – at least 128 people have died at just one refugee camp as a result.