Fighting Breaks Out During Competing Rallies in Ukraine

Competing rallies in Crimea led to clashes, on Sunday.

Citizens across Ukraine rallied to celebrate the two hundredth birthday of Taras Shevchenko, an ardent nationalist and Ukrainian poet.

In Crimea, they were countered by rallies by proRussian groups, leading to arguing, pushing matches, and in some cases fighting.

Police in Simferopol kept the two sides apart, while in Sevastopol the proRussians attacked the proUkrainians with whips.

A referendum has been set for Sunday, March 16, in which Crime's government plans to let the people decide whether to join Russia or not.

The vote is being prepared while around thirty thousand Russian troops besiege Ukrainian forces, in the region.

Ukraine's government has been joined by much of the world in decrying the "invasion" and calling the referendum illegal.

However, as no one is willing to back up Ukraine, militarily, there may be nothing that can be done to keep Russia from keeping the area.

International objection did keep Russia from sending troops into more of Ukraine.

International Observers Fired Upon in Crimea

International observers were fired upon, on Saturday, as they attempted to enter Armyansk, Ukraine, in the Crimea region. The observers belonged to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE.

No one was hurt in the incident, but it was a clear warning that the controllers of Crimea will not allow international access. For now, the observers have fallen back, and are waiting for things to calm down before deciding to try again.

As many as thirty thousand Russian troops have crossed into Crimea, ensuring that Ukraine is unable to take the region back. Russia still denies that the troops are theirs, and they are unmarked, but they carry Russian equipment, speak Russian, and have been seen crossing the straight from Russia.

Inside Crimea, Ukrainian troops maintain positions on their bases, but are besieged by the unmarked Russian troops as well as pro Russian militias. In several cases the Ukrainian troops have been harassed by Russian forces that Russia says aren't there.

Officials in the Crimea plan a referendum, to decide if they should join Russia or not. However, the referendum has been deemed illegal by Ukraine, the EU, and the UN.

Ukraine and the international community continue to speak out against this "invasion", demanding that Russia withdraw. However, other than sanctions nothing has been done or threatened. It seems that the world can not stop Russia from taking over Crimea, without going to war with Russia.

Libya Threatens to Bomb Ship From North Korea

Libya has threatened to bomb a North Korean flagged oil tanker if it leaves the port of Sidra with oil.

Sidra is controlled by rebel forces and the government does not want the international community dealing with them.

The Morning Glory docked in Sidra, on Saturday, and is reportedly being filled with oil.

In January, a Libyan navy vessel fired warning shots at a Maltese flagged vessel which attempted to dock there.

No one is currently claiming ownership of the ship, leaving Libya with no one to complain to.

They promise to destroy her if she leaves port with a cargo.

Jet From India Catches Fire Upon Landing in Nepal

IndiGo Airlines 6E031 caught fire when it landed in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Saturday.

Upon landing the tires on the right side of the plane caught fire, spewing smoke.

Ground crews were able to put a stop to the fire.

All one hundred and seventy-eight people aboard the Airbus 320 were evacuated safely.

An investigation is underway to determine what caused the tires to burst into flames.

239 Feared Dead After Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Disappears

Early Saturday morning Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared from radar.

No distress call was ever received, the plane simply stopped existing.

The Boeing 770-200 had left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing, with two hundred and thirty-nine people aboard.

Saturday evening an oil slick was found in the Gulf of Thailand, which is believed to be where the plane may have gone down.

Ships and aircraft from Malaysia, Vietnam, and the US Navy are taking part in the search for wreckage and survivors.
 
Concerns that terrorism was involved became heightened after it was revealed two of the passengers had boarded with stolen passports.

However, at this time there are no leads and all options are being considered as part of the investigation.

Aboard the plane had been one hundred and fifty-four citizens of China or Taiwan, thirty-eight Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French, three Americans; two citizens each from Canada, New Zealand, and Ukraine; and one each from Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, and Russia.

Nationalities for the other one hundred and twelve had not yet been released at the time of publishing.

Parker, Colorado's Legend High School Closed by Bomb Threat

Legend High School in Parker, Colorado has been closed for the day by a bomb threat.

School had been underway but was shutdown just before 11:00 MST, when the threat was received.

Police are using bomb sniffing dogs to search through the school.

They are evacuating on a room by room basis and then allowing kids who have been cleared to leave the building.

Douglas County Schools reached out to parents to get information out to them and is using that method to coordinate pickups of students.

Albertsons Buys Safeway in $9 Billion Deal

In a nine billion dollar deal the owners of Albertsons bought out Safeway.

The buy out was unanimously approved by Safeway's board.

Safeway's holdings also include the Vons and Pavilions chains.

All involved companies will retain their names, in the merger.

With the acquisition Cerberus Capital Management now controls the second largest grocery chain, in the US. Previously, Safeway had been second, with Albertsons fifth.

Kroger, which itself owns multiple other chains, such as King Soopers and Farmers Market, maintains it's spot as the largest grocery chain.

At this time, the company has no plans of closing any stores, however locations which are too close to each other may see one closed to avoid competing with each other.

RightChange Steals SooperMexican Meme

SooperMexican's original meme

On Wednesday evening, a conservative political page called RightChange posted what has become a very popular meme.

The meme mocks a phone call between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Over the last twenty-four hours it has received over forty-six hundred shares and seventeen thousand likes.

However, one problem, the meme is stolen.

It was originally posted on the night of Saturday, March 1, by conservative blogger, SooperMexican.

RightChange used the exact same photos and exact same wording, but changed the fonts, removed SooperMexican's logo, and placed their own on it.

SooperMexican quickly found out and reacted on his own blog.

"This is not a small thing – stealing an image steals my work and lets them benefit from my talent, and it happens to all artists, but it should absolutely NOT happen in the conservative community where we’re supposed to be about private rights as one of our philosophical pillars."

He did try discussing things with RightChange, as did we at this site, but they simply aren't responding.

Join us, and SooperMexican, in calling for them to take down the stolen meme, replace it with SooperMexican's original, and if you are supporting RightChange please withdraw that support.

Israel's Defense Forces Seize Missiles Bound For Hamas

Israel's Defense Forces stop and seized a shipment of missiles that was headed for Hamas, on Wednesday.

Dozens of M302 missiles were found aboard the Klos C, a Panamanian flagged cargo ship.

The missiles originated in Syria, were flown to Iran where they boarded the Klos C, were then taken around the Arab Peninsula, and were headed for Gaza.

Had they reached Gaza, they would have given Hamas more weapons to terrorize Israel with.

IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said that a "complex, covert mission" had been responsible for the success in stopping the missile shipment.

US intelligence sources had aided in the mission, and military forces were prepared to assist Israel, if required.

Crimea Standoff Continues as Ukraine's Armed Forces are Harassed by Russia's

Two hundred Ukrainian soldiers marched unarmed back to their airbase, on Tuesday, and requested to be allowed back on it to service the vehicles.

On Monday, they had been forced out, at gunpoint, by unmarked Russian forces, which have taken over most of Crimea. As they approached Belbak airbase, pro Russian militiamen fired into the air, in attempt to scare them off, but the unarmed Ukrainians did not run.

They tried negotiating with a Russian officer, but he would not allow them back onto their base, saying he needed permissions from his commanders. Unable to regain access to the airbase, the men eventually marched back to town, with plans to try again on Wednesday.

In Sevastopol, three Ukrainian ships spent the night harassed by Russian boats. The Russians blocked them from leaving the docks, shine lights at them, and blasted their horns. Ukrainian sailors lashed mattresses to their boats and readied water cannons to repel boarders.

Russian troops had warned of a deadline, Tuesday morning, by which time Ukrainian forces in Crimea were to surrender or be overwhelmed. However, that deadline came and went, leaving only the confrontations in it's wake.

Further complicating matters, former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych continued to call himself the only rightful leader of Ukraine. He asked for Russian troops to help him reclaim the country which was "taken from him in a coup".

Europe, the US, and other nations continue to demand that Russia withdraw from Crimea and end his threats to invade Ukraine. They are threatening Russia with economic sanctions and worsened diplomatic ties.

President Vladimir Putin denies that his troops are currently in Crimea. He states that all sixteen thousand of them are simply militias, despite their driving Russian equipment and being too well armed and equipped to militias. Putin says he is not planning an invasion, but only seeking to protect Russians who live in Ukraine.