Rostov-on Don, March 11
Ousted leader Viktor Yanukovich insisted on Tuesday that he remained Ukraine's legitimate president and commander-in-chief, saying he would return to Kiev and appealing to the armed forces to defy any "criminal orders" handed down by his foes.

In a defiant statement delivered in Russia, to where he fled last month, Yanukovich attacked what he called the "band of ultranationalists and neo-fascists" that have replaced his government, and criticised their Western backers.

"I want to ask the patrons of these dark forces in the West: Have you gone blind? Have you forgotten what fascism is?"

Yanukovich told reporters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don in his second such appearance since his overthrow on February 22. "I am certain the officers and soldiers of Ukraine ... know what you are worth and will not carry out your criminal orders," said Yanukovich, who claims opposition forces shot police and civilians during protests that led to his downfall.

He said those who seized power who would answer for their orders to shoot at people. The former opposition leaders who came to power after his overthrow, which followed three months of demonstrations against his decision to spurn pacts with the European Union and draw closer to Russia, blame government forces for the deaths.

Yanukovich made his appeal to the army after Ukraine's acting president told Parliament of plans to raise a new national guard to protect against internal and external threats. He said Ukraine's current leaders "want to include fighters from nationalist organisations into the armed forces, put weapons in their hands" and "unleash civil war".

Turning to politics, he said a May 25 presidential election that Western governments hope will help cement the political change in Ukraine would be "illegal and illegitimate", and said he would return to Kiev "as soon as circumstances allow". "I'm sure the wait will not be long," he said.

That was a bold promise for a man whose authority has been dismissed by the West and questioned by Russia, and who began his statement by saying simply that he was still alive. At the end, he strode from the room without taking questions.

The upheaval in Ukraine has escalated into the biggest showdown between Russia and the West since the Cold War but Yanukovich has been relegated to the sidelines since his overthrow and had not been seen publicly since a news conference on February 28. At the time, Yanukovich said the Crimea region should remain part of Ukraine but enjoy autonomy.

On Tuesday he seemed to hold out little hope for that, saying only that Crimea was "breaking away" from Ukraine and that his foes were to blame. Russia has taken control of Crimea, though it denies pro-Russian forces there answer to Moscow, and has threatened to send the armed forces into Ukraine it deems it necessary to protect its citizens and other Russian-speakers there. — Reuters

Kiev/Sevastopol, March 11
Ukraine's interim leaders established a new National Guard on Tuesday and appealed to the United States and Britain for assistance against what they called Russian aggression in Crimea under a post-Cold War treaty.

Blaming their ousted predecessors for the weakness of their own armed forces, acting ministers told Parliament that Ukraine had as few as 6,000 combat-ready infantry and that the air force was outnumbered nearly 100 to 1 by Moscow's superpower forces.

Acting Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, who will visit the White House and United Nations Security Council this week, said a 1994 treaty under which Ukraine agreed to give up its Soviet nuclear weapons obliged Russia to remove troops from Crimea and also obliged Western powers to defend Ukraine's sovereignty.

He said a failure to protect Ukraine would undermine efforts to persuade Iran or North Korea to forswear nuclear weapons as Kiev did 20 years ago. The terms of the Budapest Memorandum oblige Russia, Britain and the United States as guarantors to seek UN help for Ukraine if it faces attack by nuclear weapons.

Parliament passed a resolution calling on the United States and Britain, co-signatories with Russia of that treaty to "fulfill their obligations ... and take all possible diplomatic, political, economic and military measures urgently to end the aggression and preserve the independence, sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine".

NATO powers and the authorities in Kiev have made clear that they want to avoid a military escalation with Moscow, which has denied its troops are behind the takeover of Crimea 10 days ago by separatist forces, a denial ridiculed by other governments.

The European Union and United States have been preparing sanctions against Russia, though with some reluctance, especially in Europe, which values commercial ties with Moscow. Direct diplomacy has stalled this week. — Reuters

Kuala Lumpur, March 11
Malaysia’s military believes a jetliner missing for almost four days turned and flew hundreds of kilometres to the west after it last made contact with civilian air traffic control off the country's east coast, a senior officer told Reuters today. In one of the most baffling mysteries in recent aviation history, a massive search operation for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER has so far found no trace of the aircraft or the 239 passengers and crew.

Malaysian authorities previously said flight MH370 disappeared about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.

“It changed course after Kota Bharu and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Malacca Strait,” said the senior military officer. That would appear to rule out sudden catastrophic mechanical failure as it would mean the plane flew around 500 km at least after its last contact with air traffic control, although its transponder and other tracking systems were off.

A non-military source familiar with the investigations said the report was one of several theories and was being checked. Police today said they are probing four possibilities, including hijacking and sabotage, to solve the aviation mystery, even as it emerged that two Iranians travelling on stolen passports had no terror link. Interpol confirmed the identities of two young Iranian men, who used stolen passport to board Malaysia Airline flight MH370. The two have been identified as Pouri Nour Mohammadi (19) and Delavar Suyed Mohammad Reza (30).

One of them was trying to emigrate to Germany and authorities were in contact with his mother, who had been expecting her son to arrive in Frankfurt.

Richard K Noble, international police organisation’s secretary-general, said the two flew from Doha to Kuala Lumpur with Iranian passports and then switched to the stolen Austrian and Italian passports to board the Boeing 777-200 plane to Beijing. — PTI

Namie, March 11
Japan observed a moment of silence today to mark the third anniversary of the quake-tsunami disaster which swept away thousands of victims, destroyed coastal communities, and sparked the nuclear emergency that forced a re-think on atomic power.

People pray for victims of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami as tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is seen in the background at Namie town. Reuters

Survivors bowed deeply at remembrance ceremonies in towns and cities around the disaster zone and in Tokyo, where Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko led tributes to those who died in Japan's worst peace-time disaster.

A national moment of silence followed the cry of tsunami alarm sirens which were set off at 2:46 pm (0546 GMT), the moment a 9.0-magnitude undersea quake hit.

It's raw force unleashed a towering wall of water that travelled at the speed of a jet plane to the coast. Within minutes, communities were turned to matchwood, and whole families drowned.

Giant waves also crashed into the Fukushima nuclear plant, sparking reactor meltdowns and explosions, and setting off the worst atomic crisis in a generation.

The crippled plant remains volatile and the complicated decommissioning process is expected to last for decades, as fears persist over the health effects of leaked radiation.

Tens of thousands were evacuated from the stricken area. Emperor Akihito paid tribute to victims killed in the tragedy, and those struggling in its aftermath.

"Many victims still lead difficult lives in devastated areas and places that were evacuated," he said from a national theatre hall in downtown Tokyo.

"It is important for all people to join together and show their support in the long-term... I pray for a return of peaceful times to devastated areas." Although no one died as a direct result of Fukushima, about 1,650 area residents passed away from complications related to stress and other problems following the accident. A total of 15,884 people are confirmed to have died in the tsunami with another 2,633 still listed as missing. — AFP 

Istanbul, March 11
The police and protesters clashed in Turkey's two biggest cities on Tuesday following the death of a 15-year-old boy who suffered a head injury during anti-government demonstrations last summer.

Berkin Elvan, then aged 14, got caught up in street battles in Istanbul between police and protesters on June 16 after going out to buy bread for his family. He was struck in the head by a tear-gas canister and went into a coma.

The police fired tear gas and water cannon in the capital Ankara to disperse more than 2,000 people, mainly students from the Middle East Technical University (ODTU), who blocked a main highway to protest against the teenager's death.

The police also used tear gas in Istanbul after a crowd outside the hospital where Elvan died began pelting a police minibus with objects. Up to 1,000 people gathered outside a 'cemevi', an Alevi place of worship, where Elvan's body was to be taken after an autopsy.

Alevis are a religious minority in mainly Sunni Muslim Turkey who espouse a liberal version of Islam and have often been at odds with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government. The crowd outside the cemevi chanted: "Murderer state", "Berkin is everywhere, resistance is everywhere" and "Shoulder to shoulder against fascism". — Reuters