World/Nation
Putin foe found guilty; protest erupts in Moscow
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin's chief political foe was convicted along with his brother on Tuesday in a fraud case widely seen as a vendetta by the Kremlin, triggering one of Russia's boldest anti-government demonstrations in years.
Police allowed a few thousand protesters to gather just outside Red Square for about two hours - a show of relative restraint for Russian authorities, who have little tolerance for dissent - before moving in to break up the unsanctioned rally by pushing the demonstrators toward subway entrances.
The rally came hours after anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny was found guilty of what activists said were trumped-up charges and given a suspended sentence of 3? years. His younger brother was sent to prison, a move that drew comparisons to the Stalin-era practice of punishing family members of enemies of the state.
The 38-year old Navalny, a lawyer and popular blogger, rose to prominence with his investigations of official corruption and played a leading role in organizing anti-Putin demonstrations in Moscow in 2011 and 2012 that drew hundreds of thousands.
Navalny, who has been under house arrest since February, violated its terms to attend the rally and was rounded up by police as he approached the site. He later tweeted that police drove him home and blocked him from leaving his apartment.
Search teams hunt for more bodies from jet
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia - A massive hunt for the 162 victims of AirAsia Flight 8501 resumed in the Java Sea on Wednesday, focusing on an area of the aqua-colored waters where the first bodies and debris were located a day earlier. But wind, strong currents and high surf hampered recovery efforts as distraught family members anxiously waited to identify their loved ones.
The first proof of the jet's fate emerged Tuesday in an area not far from where it dropped off radar screens. Searchers found as many as six bodies and debris that included a life jacket, an emergency exit door and a suitcase about 10 miles from the plane's last known coordinates.
On Wednesday, divers were deployed, but heavy rain and clouds grounded helicopters, said Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency chief Henry Bambang Soelistyo.
The airliner's disappearance halfway through a two-hour flight between Surabaya, Indonesia, and Singapore triggered an international search for the aircraft involving dozens of planes, ships and helicopters. It is still unclear what brought the plane down.
The plane needs to be located and its cockpit voice and flight data recorders, or black boxes, recovered before officials can start determining what caused the crash.
Resolution to end Israel occupation rejected by UN
UNITED NATIONS - The Security Council rejected a Palestinian resolution demanding an end to Israeli occupation within three years late Tuesday, a blow to an Arab campaign to get the U.N.'s most powerful body to take action to achieve an independent state of Palestine.
The United States, Israel's closest ally, had made clear its opposition to the draft resolution, insisting on a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, not an imposed timetable. It would have used its veto if necessary but it didn't have to because the resolution failed to get the minimum nine "yes" votes required for adoption by the 15-member council.
The resolution received eight "yes" votes, two "no" votes - one from the United States and the other from Australia - and five abstentions.
"We voted against this resolution not because we are comfortable with the status quo. We voted against it because ... peace must come from hard compromises that occur at the negotiating table," U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power said.
She criticized the decision to bring the draft resolution to a vote as a "staged confrontation that will not bring the parties closer." She added that the resolution was "deeply unbalanced" and didn't take into account Israel's security concerns.
Official orders ferry back to Italy for investigation
BRINDISI, Italy - Italian authorities warned Tuesday that more bodies will likely be found when the blackened hulk of a Greek ferry is towed to Italy, as part of a criminal investigation into the fire that engulfed the ship at sea, killing at least 11 of the more than 400 people on board.
Survivors continued to reach shore two days after the accident, amid confusion over the number of missing due to huge discrepancies between the names on the manifest and those rescued.
The fire-tinged Norman Atlantic was adrift for a third day off the Albanian coast, where two sailors were killed earlier Tuesday when a tow line attempting to secure it to a tugboat apparently snapped, Albanian officials said.
The Italian coast guard said another body from the ferry was found Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 11. Three of the victims were Italian truck drivers who worked for the Naples-based Eurofish company and had gone to pick up eel shipments in Greece.
More than 400 people were rescued from the ferry, most in daring, nighttime helicopter sorties that persisted despite high winds and seas, after a fire broke out before dawn Sunday on a car deck.
- The Associated Press