Take a tour of the 'doomsday Disneyland'

Guardian Centers may be a place to practice how to respond to a

disaster, but that doesn't mean real danger is nonexistent.

When we headed over to see its mock subway station, complete with eight cars donated from Washington's Metro system, we were told we had a limited window to view it. The reason -- they were going to be pumping actual toxic gas into the building to simulate a chemical attack.

As smoke rose from chunks of concrete representing an obliterated building, Chris Schaff put it this way: "As soon as you come in here, the pretend goes away."He's a fire and rescue battalion chief with Fairfax County, Virginia, and his words carry a lot of weight. His elite team of urban search and rescue operatives has been deployed to numerous disasters, including Hurricane Sandy, the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and the 2010 Haiti quake.Luis Fernandez, a two-decades-plus veteran of disaster response, agreed the Perry, Georgia, facility passes muster.

"The temperature extremes, the building extremes, the noises, the environment, are incredibly lifelike," said Fernandez, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue chief of staff and.a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.From the aforementioned subway station, to a mock bridge with crushed cars, to a devastated structure made to look like the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, Guardian Centers' 830-acre site is designed to allow a variety of responders to do a variety of drills in one location.

This kind of "doomsday Disneyland" owes its vision to Geoff Burkart, a telecommunications executive who was in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. During Katrina, he saw "what was being done there, and what was not being done."

From there the idea was born, and a former Cold War missile plant became the location.

The subway station is especially convincing, fashioned from an elongated building originally designed to be an assembly line for the weapons.Open for less than two years, the Centers facility has changed the game for disaster response training. Clients can tell Burkart's team what their specific needs are. If it's a group from the Pacific Northwest, they can request the ground be saturated to simulate the region's heavy rainfall.

Many agencies have "script writers" that work with Guardian Centers on specifications, from smoke to rebar.

"We're primarily just a tool, and we want to be the best tool," Burkart said.

He doesn't want to slight government training facilities but points out the advantages to being privately run.

"We can adapt and provide everything the client needs almost on demand," he said.

And by being able to provide a number of different training types in one place, Burkart says, he's saving the taxpayers money.

Still, the process to create such scenarios takes time. A recent weeklong earthquake response drill for FEMA and the U.S. Agency for International Development took months to plan, according to spokespeople.

And things must always be changed up. A pair of dog handlers from a New Mexico search and rescue team pointed out that the animals are smart enough to remember where the holes in the rubble are.

As for Burkart, he hopes his vision will extend well beyond the rolling hills of central Georgia.

"If we can make this entire campus successful, we would like to put one of these in (each of) the four corners of the United States," he said.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' teaser trailer released

Cowabunga, it's here and it's totally radical! A teaser trailer for Michael Bay's anticipated "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" film, starring Megan Fox, has been released.
filming a chaotic fight scene on what appears to be a subway platform with her smartphone, glimpses of what appears to be the experiment that led to the accidental creation of the mutant Turtles, who are hero ninja warriors. We see The Shredder mask and the man who will wear it to become the famed villain, warrior and enemy of the Turtles. Unmasked, he tells April that he and her father were the ones who created them in a bid to make "heroes."

The four turtles -- Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael -- are played by Noel Fisher, known for his role as Mickey Milkovich in the Showtime series "Shameless," Pete Ploszek, who appeared on an episode of the show last year, Jeremy Howard, who portrayed Drew Lou Who in the 2000 film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," and Alan Ritchson, who recently played Gloss in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" and portrayed Aquaman on the CW show "Smallville."

William Fichtner, known for roles in films such as "The Dark Knight" and "Black Hawk Down," plays The Shredder and Danny Woodburn stars as his arch nemesis Splinter, a mutant rat who is the Turtles' mentor. "Arrested Development" actor Will Arnett and "SNL" alum Abby Elliott play Vernon Fenwick and Irma Langinstein, who work with O'Neil at her news station, while Whoopi Goldberg plays their editor, Bernadette Thompson -- a nod to a past male counterpart, Burne Thompson.

The is the first big screen adaptation of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's popular 1980s comic that incorporates live action since the 1993 movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III." An animated film, "TNMT," hit theaters in 2007. Several animated TV shows have also aired over the years. In the teaser trailer, Fox sports a yellow jacket. In a 1990s series, O'Neil wore a yellow jumpsuit.

Bay had also directed Fox in the first two "Transformers" films.

Did you know? Judith Hoag, who played April O'Neil in the first "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie that was released in 1990, now stars in ABC's "Nashville" as Tandy Hampton, sister of Rayna James, Connie Britton's character.

Watch the teaser trailer for Michael Bay's 2014 movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" below. The movie is set for release on August 8.

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Flight MH370: 122 'new objects' spotted - Malaysia minister

A further 122 objects potentially from missing Malaysian flight have been identified by satellite, Malaysia's acting transport minister has said.

The images, taken on 23 March, showed objects up to 23m (75 ft) in length, Hishammuddin Hussein said.

Some of the objects captured by France-based Airbus appeared bright and were possibly of solid material.

Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

The objects were located in a 400 sq km area around 2,557km (1588 miles) from Perth in Western Australia, Mr Hussein said.

The information was handed to the Australian Rescue and Co-ordination Centre in Perth on 25 March, he added.

The area being searched in the southern Indian Ocean has now been split into an east and west section, he said.

"This is another new lead that will help direct the search operation", Mr Hussein said.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa), co-ordinating the search, said on Wednesday that flights had resumed and conditions had improved after rough seas and heavy rain forced air and sea operations to be suspended the previous day.

It said seven military and five civilian planes were taking part and a total of six countries were now involved - Australia, New Zealand, the US, Japan, China and the South Korea.

Google tries to NSA-proof Gmail

Google just beefed up the security of Gmail to make mass surveillance of its customers' email nearly impossible. It's not quite NSA-proof, but it's close.

To accomplish the feat, Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) secured how you connect to its servers. Gmail is now strictly using a secure communications protocol called HTTPS, which encrypts your email on its entire journey: from your computer to Google, between Google's servers, and from Google to the person receiving your email.

In a blog post Thursday, top Gmail security engineer Nicolas Lidzborski said the increased security was in response to disclosures about government surveillance made by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

"This ensures that your messages are safe ... something we made a top priority after last summer's revelations," Lidzborski wrote. Google is trying to limit the abilities of the U.S. government's secretive PRISM program, which can spy on citizens' communications. The NSA declined to comment for this story.
As the New York Times explained last year, government spies have been tapping the fiber-optic cables between big tech companies' data centers. Data typically travels unencrypted between giant computer server farms, allowing for easy interception.
But by encrypting the flow of data between company servers, Google has made that kind of mass collection technologically unfeasible.

This drone can hack your phone

"That should be effective," said Mikko Hypponen, a top security researcher in Finland. "By protecting the connection between you and Google servers, they protect you against tons of attackers." Hypponen explained that the HTTPS encryption method is essentially uncrackable at the moment.
That doesn't stop the federal government from eventually worming its way into your personal data, though. The FBI could still send Google a National Security Letter demanding client records -- something it does all the time. In 2012 alone, Google received Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act requests on the content of 20,000 to 22,000 users' communications.
Google is taking the kind of approach to combating surveillance that top privacy researchers advocate: Make mass collection unfeasible by making it more difficult and more expensive to accomplish. "I wouldn't call it NSA-proofing," Eugene H. Spafford, a computer science professor at Purdue University. "But they're doing something reasonable to protect against that and any other similar kind of eavesdropping."
That includes hackers that routinely spy on unsecured Internet connections, including hackers that lurk on public Wi-Fi connections and employers that snoop on workers in the office.
Privacy experts say Google's encryption is long overdue.
"This is something they could have done years ago," Spafford said. "It was a known problem with known solution. They and others have been very slow to adopt it."
The solution also only works if the email stays within Google's walls. The fix won't work if a Gmail user emails someone with a Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) or Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) account, because those companies don't yet support encryption between email providers, according to Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist for the American Civil Liberties Union.
Why haven't they made the change yet?
"Because they're lazy," Soghoian said. "It takes engineers. And these are not features that are salient to regular users. Companies prioritize features that users notice."
In November, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said her company is working on encrypting information that moves between Yahoo servers and its users. She made no mention of that working with outside email providers. But Microsoft is working on all of the above, according to a December blog post from its top attorney, Brad Smith.

Westboro church founder Fred Phelps dies

Fred Phelps -- the founding pastor of a Kansas church known for its virulently anti-gay protests at public events, including military funerals -- has died, the church said Thursday.

The 84-year-old died of natural causes at 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to church spokesman Steve Drain.

Phelps founded Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, in 1955 and molded it in his fire-and-brimstone image. Many members of the small congregation are related to Phelps through blood or marriage.

In a statement Thursday, the church chided the "world-wide media" for "gleefully anticipating the death."

God forbid, if every little soul at the Westboro Baptist Church were to die at this instant, or to turn from serving the true and living God, it would not change one thing about the judgments of God that await this deeply corrupted nation and world."

According to Westboro, the church has picketed more than 53,000 events, ranging from Lady Gaga concerts to funerals for slain U.S. soldiers. Typically, a dozen or so church members -- including small children -- will brandish signs that say "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers."

Phelps was often called "the most hated man in America," a label he seemed to relish.

"If I had nobody mad at me," he told the Wichita Eagle in 2006, "what right would I have to claim that I was preaching the Gospel?"

Under Phelps' leadership, Westboro members have preached that every calamity, from natural disasters to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, is God's punishment for the country's acceptance of homosexuality. Phelps had advocated for gays and lesbians to be put to death.

"Fred Phelps will not be missed by the LGBT community, people with HIV/AIDS and the millions of decent people across the world who found what he and his followers do deeply hurtful and offensive," the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said in a statement.

Phelps began his anti-gay protests in Wichita in 1991 after complaining that the city refused to stop gay activities in a public park. He rose to national notoriety in 1998, when Westboro members picketed at the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming man who was tortured and murdered because he was gay. Phelps and his church carried signs that said Shepard was rotting in hell.

The Southern Poverty Law Center calls Westboro Baptist Church "arguably the most obnoxious and rabid hate group in America."

In 2011, the Supreme Court upheld Westboro's right to picket military funerals on free speech grounds. Congress and several states, though, have passed laws aimed at keeping church members at a distance from funerals.

In 2013, more than 367,000 petitioners called on the White House to legally recognize Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group. The White House called Westboro's protests "reprehensible" but said that "as a matter of practice, the federal government doesn't maintain a list of hate groups."

Born in Meridian, Mississippi, on November 29, 1929, Phelps had his sights set on West Point before he attended a Methodist revival. He said the sermon inspired him to enter the ministry.

"I felt the call, as they say, and it was powerful," Phelps told the Topeka Capital-Journal in 1994. "The God of glory appeared." Later, Phelps was ordained by a Southern Baptist church in Utah.

He bounced around several Christian colleges as his preaching and his theology took a hard right turn.

A Time magazine article from 1951 describes Phelps as a "craggy-faced engineering student" who harangued fellow students about the dangers of promiscuity and profanity.

Tim Miller, a professor of religious history at the University of Kansas who has studied Westboro Baptist Church, said Phelps liked to consider himself a "primitive Baptist preacher who held to the old ways."

Despite its "Baptist" name, Westboro is not affiliated with any larger church denomination. Most Christians criticize the congregation's harsh anti-gay rhetoric and penchant for pursuing the limelight at inappropriate moments.

Phelps married his wife, Marge, who survives him, in 1952. The couple moved to Topeka on May 4, 1954, the day the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated public schools.

Phelps interpreted that as a sign and soon began a law career that centered on civil rights, winning awards for his work and praise from local leaders.

"Most blacks -- that's who they went to," the Rev. Ben Scott, president of the NAACP's Topeka branch, told CNN in 2010. "I don't know if he was cheaper or if he had that stick-to-it-ness, but Fred didn't lose many back then."

Phelps was disbarred from practicing law in state courts, however, after being accused of badgering a witness and making false claims in court affidavits. The Kansas Supreme Court said that Phelps "has little regard for the ethics of his profession."

Phelps surrendered his license to practice law in federal courts in 1989, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal, after nine U.S. District Court judges filed disciplinary complaints against him.

Most of the members of Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church are members of his large family. Phelps has 13 children; 11 are attorneys. One son, Nathan, is estranged from his father and from organized religion. He is an atheist.

Nathan Phelps posted a Facebook message March 15 saying that his father had been excommunicated from the church. Later, though, Nathan Phelps said it was "unclear" whether his father had been expelled from Westboro.

A church statement issued on March 16 said that "membership issues are private" and that eight unnamed elders lead the congregation.

On Thursday, the church added, "Listen carefully; there are no power struggles in the Westboro Baptist Church, and there is no human intercessor -- we serve no man, and no hierarchy, only the Lord Jesus Christ."

For years, Phelps joked about the possibility that his own funeral would draw protests. During a sermon in 2006, he said a CNN reporter once asked how he would feel if that occurred.

"I'd love it. I'd invite them," Phelps told the reporter, according to the Wichita Eagle. "I said: 'I'll put in my will to pay your way. But not first class.' "

But Shirley Phelps-Roper, Phelps' daughter, said Westboro will not hold a funeral.

Truck in Amber Alert Found in Md.; Search for 8-Year-Old Relisha Tenau Rudd Continues

Police have found the vehicle described in an Amber Alert for an 8-year-old girl, but there's still no sign of the missing girl or the man police believe may have her.

Relisha Tenau Rudd was last seen Feb. 26 at the D.C. Shelter for Families on the grounds of the old D.C. General Hospital in Southeast. Police think she is in the company of 51-year-old Kahlil Malik Tatum, who works as a janitor at the shelter.

Police found the white 1976 GMC truck they believed the two were traveling in Thursday night in Hyattsville, Md.

Earlier in the day, Prince George's County Police found the body of a woman who appeared to have been beaten in a room at the Red Roof Inn in Oxon Hill. Sources say that woman has been identified as Tatum's wife. Her death is being investigated as a homicide.

Relisha was reported missing Wednesday by her school because she hadn't been in class for weeks. Sources tell News4 that her mother, Shamika, refused to file a missing persons report. 

Family members say Shamika had told them her daughter was on a school trip to Georgia.

Relisha is four feet tall and weighs 70 to 80 pounds. She has black hair, brown eyes and a medium complexion. Police said she may be in need of medication.

An Amber Alert was issued Thursday for Relisha.

Tatum is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds. Police say he has brown eyes and black hair. 

Sources tell News4 that a witness told police Relisha may have been spotted in D.C. Thursday morning with an unidentified woman.

If you've seen Rudd or Tatum, call police at 202-727-9099 or 911.

Lives, not numbers: Snapshots of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 passengers

Amid the void of information on their fates, it seems at times the passengers and crew of Malaysia Airlines
Flight 370 have been reduced to a number.

Two hundred and thirty-nine.

Yet, as their families and others who love and miss them can attest through their anguish, they are so much more. Hailing from at least a dozen nations, they represent a vast gamut of humanity.

The youngest is 2, the oldest 76. Five passengers haven't seen their fifth birthdays.

They are engineers, an artist and a stunt man, along with Buddhist pilgrims, vacationers and commuters. To those who wait for them, they are fathers, mothers, children, soulmates and the dearest of friends.

As could be said of any large, random group, they are many things, individuals with 239 unique backgrounds, idiosyncrasies and lives.

Here are a few of their stories:

Puspanahtan Subramaniam

The 34-year-old information technology specialist and father was leaving his home to board Flight 370 when his two young children clung to his legs and didn't want him to go. He had to promise them to bring chocolates and presents when he returned from his trip to Beijing, said his father, Gurusami Subramaniam.

"He was responsible for everything, these clothes I'm wearing even. Whatever country he was in, he would call. Once a week, he would come see us with the whole family. He really took care of us."

Gurusami Subramaniam says he worked 20 years as a security guard to put his only son through college.

Ju Kun

Ju's social media account has been flooded with well-wishers praying for his safe return. Many know the 35-year-old martial arts expert from his stand-ins as a stunt man in films like "The Grandmaster" and "The Forbidden Kingdom." The latter starred genre luminaries Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Ju was slated to begin filming on the Netflix series, "Marco Polo" in coming weeks.

Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi wrote on Weibo that Ju "is a sincere, kind and hardworking man," while Netflix said he is "an integral part of our production team and a tremendous talent."

Chandrika Sharma

K.S. Narendran considered going to Kuala Lampur for more information on his wife, but ultimately he didn't see the point. No information in Chennai, India, is the same as no information in Kuala Lampur, so he'd prefer to be "surrounded by family and friends."

Sharma, the executive secretary of the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, was en route to Mongolia for a U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization conference. Narendran says he's received little information from authorities and, like most of the world, has relied on news reports, which "thus far amounted to nothing," he said.

Paul Weeks

Weeks left his wedding ring and watch at home when he took a mining job in Mongolia. The New Zealander instructed his wife, Danica, to pass them on to his two sons "should anything happen."

Danica clutched her husband's wedding ring and fought back tears as she explained that her husband was aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, en route to Mongolia. She describes him as "the most amazing husband and the most amazing father," who always spends time with his boys. She says the hardest part is the cruel mystery: not knowing what happened to the plane.

"He had strength, character. He's just so much. He's my best friend and my soulmate, and I just can't wait for him to come back. I hope. I hope."

Mohammed Khairul Amri Selamat

The 29-year-old Malaysian civil aviation engineer works for a private jet charter company. Police are investigating all passengers and crew, but he is likely to be of particular interest because of his aviation knowledge. "I am confident that he is not involved," his father told . "They're welcome to investigate me and my family."

Gu Naijun and Li Yuan

Gu, 31, uses her Weibo account to keep her oft-traveling husband, Li, 32, apprised of the goings-on of their two "princesses," whether the daughters are swimming, playing on the slide, dressing in frilly costumes or just enjoying a lunch outing, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The Chinese couple fell in love in Sydney, Australia, and moved to its suburbs. They had recently sold their Sylvania home and were spending most of their time in China, the paper reported. Li, who went by Carlos, is a partner with Beijing Landysoft Technology, where one longtime employee said he and his coworkers were shocked. "He's a good boss, kind, and extremely hard-working,'' the employee said.

Muktesh Mukherjee and Xiaomo Bai

Mukherjee, 42, is vice president of China operations for Xcoal Energy & Resources. He and his wife, Xiaomo Bai, 37, who broadcaster CTV identified as Canadians who once lived in Montreal, left their two young boys with Bai's mom in Beijing while they went on vacation in Vietnam, according to Bai's Facebook page.

Matthew McConkey, a friend of the couple's, said Mukherjee "was very much in love with" Bai, and "as parents nothing was more important to them than those kids."

Mao Tugui

Hu Xianquan last spoke to her husband, Mao, a painter, March 2, as he was boarding a plane to attend an exhibition for his work. Like Danica Weeks, she finds the dearth of information frustrating, and her grief has morphed to agonizing frustration.

Mohd Sofuan Ibrahim and Ch'ng Mei Ling

Hasif Nazri, 33, was doubly sad upon learning of the plane's disappearance. Not only did he live in the same dorm as the 33-year-old Ibrahim during their school days in Malaysia, but Mei Ling, also 33, is another former classmate.

While Nazri acknowledges losing hope as the days drag on, he has fond memories of his old friends. Ibrahim, who posted a Facebook photo before boarding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, was traveling to Beijing to begin work for Malaysia's Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A good student and speaker, Ibrahim is also "a good, kind-hearted friend, very helpful, cheerful and definitely no wallflower," Nazri said.

Nazri remembers Mei Ling, meanwhile, as a funny woman with an infectious laugh. She's a "very cheerful girl." Mei Ling works for Flexsys America LP, an Ohio-based manufacturer of chemicals for the rubber industry, and has lived in Pennsylvania since 2010. She "was very adaptable," Nazri recalled from his days doing course work with her

Swawand Kolekar

In Mumbai, India, Archit Joshi, 23, desperately sought information on his classmate, Kolekar, whose family in Beijing was also desperate for any information on his whereabouts.

Joshi described Kolekar as "very reserved but very, very intelligent ... a bit of a techno-freak and he made a lot of circuits and projects at engineering college."

"He didn't have many friends -- he was a bit of a loner -- but he had all the attributes a good friend should have."

Li Yan

Li's aunt, Zhang Guizhi, traveled from central China to Beijing and was hoping to obtain a passport to travel to wherever the plane is found. She wasn't sure how to go about the process and began weeping when she explained Li, 31, had traveled with her husband and four friends to Malaysia for vacation.

Philip Wood

The 51-year-old father of two graduated from Oklahoma Christian University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in math and computer science, said school spokeswoman Risa Forrester. On the school's Facebook page, a man wrote that Wood, an IBM executive, is "gentle, kind, had great taste in music and was a wonderful artist."

"His word was gold," his family said in a statement. "Incredibly generous, creative and intelligent, Phil cared about people, his family, and above all, Christ."

Mary and Rodney Burrows

Neighbors Mandy Watt and Don Stoke say the Burrowses are the hard-working parents of three "successful, all happy" adult children -- two daughters and a son. Rodney Burrows had planned his trip to China after being laid off last year, the Australian Associated Press reported.

Watt further said of the Middle Park, Australia, couple, "I hate to use the cliche, but they were soulmates."

Catherine and Robert Lawton

The Lawtons, a Springfield Lakes, Australia, couple, in their mid-50s, are passionate travelers

, parents to three daughters and doting grandparents, according to the Australian Associated Press.

Robert's brother, David, described him as a "very good father, such a good person." Robert's sister-in-law said the Lawtons had planned their trip with their good friends, the Burrowses. Cathy's last Facebook post before leaving was, "Off to China."

Russia lawmakers vote to annex Crimea; U.S. steps up sanctions

Russia's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a treaty Thursday to annex the Black Sea
peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine, prompting tougher sanctions from the United States.

Russia responded with its own sanctions against a list of U.S. officials and lawmakers.

After Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had presented the treaty and urged lawmakers to accept the region as a part of the Russian Federation, the document was approved on a vote of 443 to 1.

Russia's Federation Council, the upper house of the parliament, will hold a similar vote Friday, completing ratification of a treaty that was signed by President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Speaking "on behalf" of Putin, Lavrov had told the State Duma that folding Crimea into Russia was needed to protect ethnic Russians there.

"I am certain that passing the document will become a turning point in the destiny of multi-ethnic nations of Crimea and Russia, who are related with close ties of the historical unity," Lavrov said.

Russia's moves to annex Crimea have turned a confrontation with Europe and the United States into the biggest crisis in East-West relations since the Cold War.

Approval of the treaty in the State Duma was in no doubt as Russia has stood defiant despite Western leaders denouncing Moscow's actions as a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and a breach of international law.

European Union leaders said Thursday they will sign a political association agreement with Ukraine and add 12 more people to the list of individuals targeted for sanctions.

EU member states also are threatening possible tougher targeted measures if Russia escalates the situation in Ukraine, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy told reporters.

"We all must remain cool-headed," he said.

U.S. and EU officials had already imposed sanctions on more than two dozen Russian and Crimean officials, and urged Russia to avoid escalating the crisis -- a call Moscow has ignored.

But U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday announced more sanctions on individuals and one bank in response to Russia's annexation moves.

He also signed a new executive order that authorizes possible further sanctions on what he called "key sectors" of the Russian economy if Moscow does not act to deescalate the situation.

"This is not our preferred outcome. These sanctions would not only have a significant impact on the Russian economy, but could also be disruptive to the global economy," he said. "However Russia must know that further escalation will only isolate it further from the international community."

Russia must respect "basic principles" of sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said, adding that the United States should also provide financial support for Ukraine's government and people.

"We want the Ukrainian people to determine their own destiny and have good relations with the United States, Russia, Europe -- anyone they choose," he said, calling for continued diplomatic efforts.

Sanctions lists

The new U.S. sanctions target 20 officials, including senior Russians and "cronies" who hold significant influence in the Russian system, as well as one bank that holds "significant" resources, a senior U.S. administration official told reporters.

That bank was listed by the U.S. Treasury Department as Bank Rossiya.

The individuals named by the Treasury include major Putin allies, both in the Kremlin and in business. Among the 16 government officials listed are Putin's chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov; the speaker of the State Duma, Sergey Naryshkin; and Viktor Ozerov, chairman of the Security and Defense Committee of the Russia parliament's upper house.

Four others were named as members of the government's inner circle. They are financier Yuri Kovalchuk, labeled Putin's personal banker by a senior U.S. administration official; magnate Gennady Timchenko, whose activities in the energy sector have been directly linked to Putin, according to the Treasury; and businessmen Arkady and Boris Rotenberg.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told  that the new round of U.S. sanctions would be "significantly more powerful than the first one."

The latest round "hits significant economic interests that are fairly close to the ruling circles in Moscow. It will be noticed," he said.

Russia responded with sanctions against nine U.S. officials and lawmakers, including speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and Sens. John McCain, Robert Menendez, Daniel Coats and Mary Landrieu, according to a list published by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Boehner's spokesman, Michael Steel, said the lawmaker was "proud to be included on a list of those willing to stand against Putin's aggression."

McCain responded, "I guess this means my spring break in Siberia is off, my Gazprom stock is lost, and my secret bank account in Moscow is frozen. Nonetheless, I will never cease my efforts on behalf of the freedom, independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea."

The U.S. Treasury said Bank Rossiya is controlled by Yuri Kovalchuk and is the 17th-largest bank in Russia.

It has $10 billion in assets and handles the accounts of some top government officials, the Treasury said, adding that the bank has relationships with banks in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. The bank also provides services to the oil, gas and energy sectors, it said.

"As a result of Treasury's action, any assets of the persons designated today that are within U.S. jurisdiction must be frozen," the Treasury said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters at the EU Heads of State or Government summit there would likely be more asset freezes and travel bans.

Finland's Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Alexander Stubb told more names would be added Thursday.

"There will probably be over 10 new names on the list and then of course people are going to argue, are these people good to be on the list, bad to be on the list are they to be taken seriously and so on, but there will be more names," Stubb said.

Lavrov told lawmakers that sanctions "have never brought any positive results" and that there were no legal grounds for them.

Kiev defiant

Russia's defense minister assured U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in phone call Thursday that Russian troops on the Ukraine border do not intend to cross the border or take aggressive action, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said.

Hagel made it clear in the lengthy and sometimes "direct" talk with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu that the Russians bear responsibility for what happens in Crimea, including the recent violence, since they are in control there, Kirby said.

While Russia insists its actions are legitimate, Ukraine's parliament said Thursday that Kiev will never stop fighting for Crimea, even if the country's new leaders have discussed evacuating military personnel from the region.

In a declaration published online, the Kiev parliament said "Crimea was, is and will be part of Ukraine."

"The Ukrainian people will never, under no circumstances, stop fighting for the liberation of Crimea from the occupants, no matter how hard and long it is."

Putin announced the annexation of Crimea after voters in the semi-autonomous territory approved a hastily called weekend referendum on separating from Ukraine.

Kiev officials unveiled new measures against Russia and the "self-proclaimed" authorities in Crimea.

In a televised briefing, Andriy Porubiy, secretary of the national defense and security council, said that if the United Nations designates Crimea a "demilitarized zone," Ukraine is prepared to evacuate its military personnel and family members. Ukraine has facilities ready to accommodate 25,000 evacuees.

A statement on the Ukrainian presidential website said former Presidents Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma had asked Turchynov to redeploy soldiers who are still in Crimea to the mainland.

The call was "to protect and save lives of Ukrainian servicemen who bear service in difficult and dangerous conditions in Crimea," the statement said.

Porubiy had also said the measures included a full-scale visa system for Russians.

Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Kiev was in no hurry to impose a visa regime on Russia, since it could negatively affect Ukrainians living in the predominantly Russian-speaking east of the country.

Yatsenyuk is in Brussels to sign the political part of an association agreement with the European Union.

Lavrov said the intention to introduce visa regulations was "surprising and regrettable."

As diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis continue, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon traveled to Russia Thursday, where he met Putin and Lavrov. He will then head to Kiev where he will meet acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov and Yatsenyuk on Friday.

Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Ban as saying during a meeting with Putin that he was "deeply concerned" by the situation involving Ukraine and Russia.

Navy chief released

Ukraine's navy commander, detained when supporters of Russia took over the naval headquarters in Crimea, was released, the presidential website said Thursday.

Amid signs the uneasy standoff between pro-Russian and Ukrainian forces could ignite into bloody conflict, about 300 armed men stormed the naval base in Sevastopol on Wednesday. They took away Ukrainian navy chief Sergey Gaiduk.

Turchynov issued a 9 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) deadline for Crimea to release all hostages and stop all provocations. Kiev's new leaders had warned that if all hostages, including Gaiduk, were not released by then, authorities would take action of "technical and technological character," probably meaning turning off utilities.

A statement on the presidential site said Gaiduk and several other hostages had been freed. They were released during the night and were on their way to Kiev Thursday.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu had asked authorities in Crimea to free Gaiduk and allow him safe passage out of the region. The incident at the navy headquarters came a day after one member of the Ukrainian military was killed when masked gunmen seized their base near the Crimean regional capital, Simferopol.

After that fatality -- the first Ukrainian military death since the Crimean crisis erupted about three weeks ago -- Ukraine's Defense Ministry authorized its forces to open fire in self-defense.

Qatar World Cup 2022: FIFA reformer calls for vote rerun

 Leading former FIFA insider Alexandra Wrage is calling for a new vote over the selection of the 2022
World Cup hosts given the ongoing controversy surrounding the decision to award Qatar the event.

Without any football pedigree and despite concerns over staging the world's most prestigious tournament in a desert climate, the Middle East nation emerged as the surprise winner of the vote by FIFA'S Executive Committee in December 2010, when beating the United States in a 14-8 vote in the decisive round.

The choice has raised far more questions than answers.

Notably regarding the season in which the World Cup would be played. There has been repeated talk of switching the tournament to winter in a bid to avoid the sweltering heat of Qatar's summers.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has also admitted that the vote to decide both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups led to possible collusion among bidding nations.

Another issue has been many allegations of corruption -- with the latest surrounding former FIFA official, Jack Warner, which were revealed earlier this week.

The Qatari World Cup committee as well as prominent FIFA officials have steadfastly denied the allegations. But the questions prompted FIFA to create an Independent Governance Committee (IGC) in 2011.

The aim was for the IGC to propose methods to restore the reputation of football's global body.

Yet former member Wrage -- an anti-corruption authority who resigned in April 2013 over frustration at what she described as FIFA's resistance to reform -- believes drastic action is needed to correct the decision to award the tournament to Qatar. Even current Executive Committee member Theo Zwanziger has described it as a "blatant mistake."

"The only way to restore confidence in the World Cup selection process is to rerun the vote," Wrage, the president of non-profit international anti-bribery group Trace, told .

"Having said that, I don't expect it to happen and expect, instead, that the process will be further contorted with a controversial move to winter and a great deal of stalling and shifting on the human rights issues raised by the selection of Qatar."

The treatment of migrant construction workers toiling around the clock to deliver new stadiums and, in some cases, whole new cities ahead of the finals has been another unwanted aspect of FIFA's decision to hand the finals to Qatar.

The global body has since tasked Germany's Zwanziger with addressing the convoluted issue of labor rights in Qatar. A report is expected at this week's FIFA conference in Zurich, which starts on Thursday.

FIFA's Ethics Committee, headed by the former United States attorney for the Southern District of New York -- Michael Garcia -- is also busy, currently investigating allegations of corruption regarding the vote for the 2022 World Cup site.

The American may have more paperwork to sift through after a British newspaper published a damning story this week.

The Daily Telegraph claims a company owned by former Executive Committee member Jack Warner invoiced one owned by Qatar's former FIFA vice-president and Asian football chief Mohammed Bin Hammam for a substantial sum of funds within a month of the 2022 voting decision.

"I have no comment to make on any article -- but feel free to write whatever you wish," Warner told CNN in response to the claims.

Qatar's 2022 World Cup Organising Committee has also issued a statement to refute the allegations made in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.

"The 2022 Bid Committee strictly adhered to FIFA's bidding regulations in compliance with their code of ethics," it read.

Amidst the constant questioning over the decision to take the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time since the competition started in 1930, Wrage believes more still needs to be done by FIFA.

"To restore confidence, the public needs to see a serious and broad investigation of all allegations - with prompt and meaningful consequences for any wrongdoing," she argues.

"In spite of some recent governance improvements, there is still a widespread sense that FIFA provides far too little transparency."

Shortly after her resignation from the IGC, Wrage wrote a piece for Forbes.com stating her belief that the "only entity capable of insisting on transparency at FIFA is the Swiss government."

This came after FIFA rejected proposals from the IGC to introduce two members to the Executive Committee who were independent as well as a compromise proposal that the Chairman of FIFA's Audit Committee should be an independent observer at all ExCo meetings.

Seeking comment, CNN contacted the four other nations beaten by Qatar: the U.S., Australia, South Korea and Japan. Only the latter replied, saying that it "does not have a comment on a supposition."

Australia has previously said it will pursue compensation if the 2022 finals are switched from summer to winter months.

Michelle Obama arrives in China for official visit

First lady Michelle Obama is in China for an official visit to expand Sino-American relations, but she will
refrain from talking about political differences.

Mrs. Obama, who flew Wednesday from Washington, D.C., is making a week-long trip to three Chinese cities and will speak with children at several schools about the importance of education and youth empowerment.

The U.S. first lady has several activities and events scheduled Friday with Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan.

"Her visit and her agenda sends a message that the relationship between the United States and China is not just between leaders, it's a relationship between peoples," said Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes.That's critically important, given the roles that our two countries are going to play in the 21st century, that we maintain the very regular contacts that we have at the leader-to-leader level, but that we're also reaching out and building relationships with people, particularly young people."

President Barack Obama is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week during the Nuclear Security Summit at The Hague. White House officials told reporters on a conference call that issues on which the U.S. and China differ, such as human rights and trade, will be discussed directly between the two leaders and other representatives of the governments.

"We don't expect the people of China to agree with all of our policy positions at any given moment, but the more they understand the United States, the more they understand the President and the first lady and their values and their priorities, we think the better it is for both of our countries," Rhodes added.

Mrs. Obama plans to visit the cities of Beijing and Chengdu, where she will speak to students and discuss cultural exchanges and the benefits of studying abroad. China is the fifth most popular country for American students studying abroad, and more students from China study in the United States than from any other country.

Beyond her message on education, Mrs. Obama will join Madame Peng in a tour of the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Mrs. Obama will then travel to Xi'an to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. In Chengdu, she will tour the Chengdu Panda Base, which houses approximately 50 pandas.

The first lady will be accompanied by her mother, Marian Robinson, and her daughters, Malia and Sasha, something that White House officials believe will resonate with the Chinese people.

"I think they understand the significance as well of family and of three generations of family traveling together, which I think the Chinese will appreciate, and will appreciate the ties and the bonds that the Obama family have with one another across generations," said the first lady's chief of staff, Tina Tchen.

"This is a great opportunity for the Obama family to experience that, and I think for the Chinese to see that as well in an American family."

Australian PM: We owe it to families to try to solve Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 riddle

-- Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Friday that his country owes it to the families and friends of
those on board the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 to try to solve the "extraordinary riddle" of what happened to the plane.

But he reiterated a warning that two objects spotted by satellite in a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean, which are now being sought by aircraft and ships, may not be related to the search for the plane.

It could just be a container that has fallen off a ship," he said during a visit to Papua New Guinea. "We just don't know."

Abbott was responding to a question from a journalist about whether he had "jumped the gun" Thursday by publicly announcing the discovery of the possible objects in satellite imagery and the decision to send search teams to investigate them.

His words have focused worldwide attention on Australia's part in the massive international hunt for the jetliner, which disappeared March 8 over Southeast Asia with 239 people on board.

Search teams that flew over the area where the two objects are thought to be located drew a blank Thursday, with poor visibility reported. Flights to the zone by long-range reconnaissance planes resumed Friday, Australian authorities said.

The search area, thousands of kilometers southwest of Perth, the main city on Australia's west coast, is "about the most inaccessible spot you could imagine on the face of the earth," Abbott said.

Aircraft from Australia and the United States have staggered their departures to the area. The first plane, an Australian air force P3 Orion, arrived in the search area early afternoon local time, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

Given the distance from Australia to where the objects were spotted by a commercial satellite, the aircraft will only have about two hours in the search area before having to start the return journey, the maritime authority said.

"We've been throwing everything we've got at that area to try to learn more about what this debris might be," Abbott said Friday.

Along with the aircraft, a motley collection of merchant ships are heading to the search area, where they will join a massive Norwegian cargo ship diverted there Thursday at the request of Australia.

The sailors aboard the Norwegian ship worked throughout the night looking for the objects, said Erik Gierchsky, a spokesman for the Norwegian Shipowners Association.

"All men are on deck to continue the search," he told,"They are using lights and binoculars."

New pound coin designed to combat counterfeiting

A new £1 coin, billed by the Royal Mint as the "most secure coin in the world", is to be introduced in 2017.

The move comes amid concerns about the 30-year old coin's vulnerability to counterfeiting, with an estimated 45 million forgeries in circulation.

The new coin is based on the design of the old threepenny bit, a 12-sided coin in circulation between 1937 and 1971.

A competition will be held to decide what image to put on the "tails" side of the coin.

'More resilient'

In his Budget statement to the Commons, Chancellor George Osborne said: "The prerequisite of sound money is a sound currency."

He said the £1 coin was one of the oldest coins in circulation and had become "increasingly vulnerable to forgery".

"One in 30 pound coins is counterfeit, and that costs businesses and the taxpayer millions each year," Mr Osborne continued.

"So I can announce that we will move to a new, highly secure, £1 coin. It will take three years.

"Our new pound coin will blend the security features of the future with inspiration from our past.

"In honour of our Queen, the coin will take the shape of one of the first coins she appeared on - the threepenny bit.

"A more resilient pound for a more resilient economy."

'High-speed authentication'

The government said it would hold a detailed consultation on the impact of the change on businesses, which may face costs from having to change vending machines, supermarket trolleys and lockers at gyms and leisure centres.

The Royal Mint said the move would increase public confidence in the UK's currency and reduce costs for banks and other businesses.

Earlier, the chancellor tweeted this picture of the £1 coin next to the Budget box, captioned: "Today I will deliver a Budget for a resilient economy - starting with a resilient pound coin."

The current £1 coin was introduced in 1983 as part of the phasing-out of the £1 note, which was withdrawn five years later.

Of the 1.5 billion estimated to be in circulation, as many as two million counterfeit ones are removed every year.

The proposed new coin will be roughly the same size as the current one and will be based on the threepenny piece that disappeared after decimalisation in the early 1970s.

The new coin will be made in two colours and will incorporate state-of-the-art technology to ensure it can be "authenticated via high-speed automated detection at all points within the cash cycle", the government added.

While the Queen's head will be on the obverse side of the coin, as it is on all legal tender in the UK, the Treasury has said there will be a public competition to decide the image on the other side.A Treasury spokesman said the time was right to "retire" the existing £1 coin and using the threepenny bit as inspiration for its replacement was a "fitting tribute" to such an iconic design.

"With advances in technology making high-value coins like the £1 ever more vulnerable to counterfeiters, it's vital that we keep several paces ahead of the criminals to maintain the integrity of our currency," he added.

Adam Lawrence, chief executive of the Royal Mint, which is based in Llantrisant, south Wales, said the process could change the way coins were made in the future.

"It is our aim to identify and produce a pioneering new coin which helps to reduce the opportunities for counterfeiting, helping to boost public confidence in the UK's currency in the process."

The Bank of England, which earlier this year announced banknotes would be made out of plastic rather than cotton from 2016, said the move would "enhance the security and integrity of the currency".

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Globe in Ukraine: Russian annexation of Crimea turns bloody

Under glittering chandeliers in a Kremlin hall – and with his audience chanting “Russia! Russia!” 

Russian President Vladimir Putin ignored sanctions imposed by the West and went ahead Tuesday with the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

Hours later, the first shots were fired. A gun battle broke out in Crimea when pro-Russian gunmen attacked a Ukrainian military building, leaving a Ukrainian soldier and one of the attackers dead and three others injured. The shooting in Crimea, which the Kremlin now considers Russian soil and the West insists is part of Ukraine, underscored how volatile the situation remains.

The question of what Mr. Putin will do next hangs in the air in Moscow, Kiev and far beyond. Many fear a new and more dangerous phase to this conflict is about to begin in eastern Ukraine, and perhaps even other parts of Eastern Europe.

The signs are worrying. After his speech, capped by the quick signing of a bill incorporating Crimea into the Russian Federation, Mr. Putin proceeded to a stage just outside the Kremlin walls. “Together we have done a lot, but a lot more remains to be done, more tasks to resolve!” he told a cheering crowd of several thousand that didn’t quite fill Red Square. The crowd waved Soviet-era banners, as well as newly printed flags with Mr. Putin’s face on them.

“Past Crimea’s acceptance into Russia, we are into a new stage of the game,” said Pavel Andreev, executive director of the Valdai Discussion Club, a foreign-policy think tank which last year hosted a keynote speech by Mr. Putin.

Mr. Putin’s extraordinary speech to both houses of the Russian parliament bounced between celebration at gaining Crimea and bitter recriminations aimed at Washington and Brussels.

Following initial sanctions announced Monday by Western powers – including the United States, the European Union and Canada – on Tuesday, they reiterated their rebukes and considered next steps.

On a visit to Poland, U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden called Moscow’s action a “land grab” and stressed Washington’s commitment to defending NATO allies on Russian borders. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Moscow against any incursion into eastern Ukraine.

Britain suspended military co-operation with Russia.

And German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who spoke Tuesday with U.S. President Barack Obama, said Russia was guilty of repeatedly breaking international law.

However, Mr. Putin extended no olive branch. Instead, he accused the West of having crossed a “red line” by supporting the uprising in Kiev that ousted the Moscow-backed government of Viktor Yanukovych.

Laying out a list of Moscow’s grievances with the West including U.S.-led military actions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, Mr. Putin said the West had finally gone too far by backing the revolt in Ukraine. He suggested its sole aim had been to keep Ukraine from joining his proposed Eurasian Union of former Soviet states.

“They’ve deployed a well-trained army of gunmen [and] we do understand the reason. These were actions against Ukraine, Russia, against the integration processes in Eurasia,” he said, reading from a prepared text.

“Everything has its limits. In the case of Ukraine, our Western partners have crossed a line, a red line. They’ve been unprofessional, they’ve been irresponsible,” he said, pausing for applause.

“They knew perfectly well that there were millions of Russians in Crimea and Ukraine [but] they were shortsighted. They didn’t think of the consequences. And Russia found itself at the stage where it couldn’t give up. If you press the spring too hard, it will recoil.”

Mr. Putin also hinted, ominously, that he believed the same circumstances that necessitated Russian intervention in Crimea now existed in parts of eastern Ukraine as well. “Residents of Crimea and Sevastopol turned to Russia for help in defending their rights and lives, in preventing the events that were unfolding and are still under way in Kiev, Donetsk, Kharkov and other Ukrainian cities.”

Donetsk and Kharkov are predominantly Russian-speaking cities that last week saw bloody clashes between rival crowds of pro-Moscow and pro-Kiev protesters.

On Tuesday, the president of Moldova, which borders Ukraine and hosts the pro-Russian breakaway region of Trans-Dniester, warned of “a repeat of the Ukrainian scenario” in his country. And Paddy Ashdown, the British diplomat who oversaw the peace process in Bosnia-Herzegovina, accused Russia of stoking separatism among ethnic Serbs there.

Mr. Putin, for his part, is stoking patriotism and nostalgia at home. He is at his most popular when he’s standing up to the West, according to Lev Gudkov, director of the Levada Centre, Russia’s country’s lone independent polling agency. Mr. Putin’s approval ratings, he said, last week hit a three-year high of 72 per cent following the success of the Sochi Olympics and the intervention in Crimea.

Mr. Gudkov said Mr. Putin’s move to annex Crimea is popular among Russians who saw it as only an accident of history that left the peninsula outside Russia when the Soviet Union fell apart. (Crimea was part of Russia until Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gifted it to Ukraine in 1954.)

But while Mr. Putin was dismissive of Western sanctions in his speech – and the Duma passed a unanimous resolution asking that all 436 deputies present be added to the list of those targeted by the U.S. and the EU (which currently includes only a handful of Russians and Crimeans, including members of Mr. Putin’s inner circle) – Mr. Gudkov said his popularity would quickly tumble if sanctions led to economic suffering at home.

“His support will weaken if there are economic problems,” Mr. Gudkov said. “People are tired of waiting for Mr. Putin to deliver. It isn’t yet noticeable, but the level of economic health is already starting to fall. Inflation will soon be a major concern.”

In his speech, Mr. Putin again denied that there were any Russian soldiers in Crimea beyond the 25,000 previously permitted by agreement between Russia and Ukraine. But he acknowledged that Russia did “enhance” its forces in the peninsula to defend the rights of Russian-speakers who felt threatened by the “nationalists, neo-Nazis, Russophobes and anti-Semites” he said had taken power in Kiev.

There is little doubt, in the West and among many Ukrainians, that most of the uniformed men who flooded into Crimea last month are Russian soldiers, and not local “self-defence” forces as Moscow has described them. The Ukrainian defence ministry, in describing the deadly shootout Tuesday in Simferopol, said “attackers [who] were dressed in military uniforms of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” had stormed its base.

According to the Ukrainian army, the base was completely overtaken by pro-Russian forces and the Ukrainian troops were placed under “arrest.” Acting Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called the attack a “war crime” and warned that “the conflict is moving from a political one to a military one because of Russian soldiers.”

Mr. Andreev, the think-tank director, said Russia had made what it considers a bid for peace in the form of a document that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov presented last week to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. The proposal calls for a government of national unity in Ukraine, which would usher in a new constitution making Ukraine a decentralized federation with powerful regions – akin to Bosnia-Herzegovina – and Russian elevated alongside Ukrainian as an official language.

Moscow was hoping the West would convince the Ukrainian government that it needed to make concessions in order to avoid bloodshed, he added. “The other path might go very nasty,” he warned. “It’s very much a Plan B for Russia. If it happens, it would go very bad, most of all for Ukraine and Kiev.”

Mr. Lavrov’s proposal was rejected on Monday as “absolutely unacceptable” by Kiev, but on Tuesday there were signs Ukraine was prepared to meet some of the conditions.

In his own televised address, Mr. Yatsenyuk spoke directly to those living in eastern Ukraine, promised a new constitution that would include added powers for the regions. He said the central government would do more to protect the Russian language and would give additional responsibilities to locally elected mayors and councillors, allowing them to run regional affairs instead of officials appointed by Kiev. “All changes associated with the decentralization of the administration will be reflected in the new constitution. We should write the constitution together,” he said.

On the streets of Kiev, there is real fear about Russia’s intentions and the possibility of more Russian military action. Many people believe an invasion is only days away.

“I’m not so sure about Kiev, but in the south, there is definitely going to be some sort of war. … Not only in the south but also in the east, [Mr. Putin] is looking at those provinces and he is very interested in those provinces,” said Sasha Radchenko, a chef who was walking through central Kiev with his wife. “He sees us as not a nation and he needs to have influence on us.”