Kim Jong-un has been elected to North Korea Supreme People’s Assemblywith an unanimous vote from his district, state media say.
Meanwhile, state media on Sunday identified a woman accompanying Kim Jong-un to a polling station.
Kim Yo-jong, who state media described as a “senior official”, is thought to be the younger sister of Kim Jong-un.
Various reports say Kim Jong-un’s sister may be 26 or 27 years old.
Kim Yo-jong accompanies her brother Kim Jong-un on touring campus of Kim Il-sung University of Politics in east Pyongyang
It was not her first appearance, Kim Yo-jong, who is believed to be 26 years old, was seen at her father Kim Jong-il’s televised funeral in 2011, and occasionally accompanying her brother on his “field guidance trips.”
In 2012, state TV showed Kim Yo-jong with her aunt, Kim Kyong-hui, riding a white horse, the representation of a symbol associated with the Kim family, AFP says.
In her latest appearance, Kim Yo-jong was seen in a black skirt suit, closely walking behind her brother, and casting her vote.
She is believed to be the events director in Kim Jong-un’s Secretariat office, but her price position was never detailed.
The Kim family has ruled the country for over six decades.
Kim Jong-un has been elected to North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament with a unanimous vote from his district, state media say.
Kim Jong-un’s 100% approval from his Mount Paektu constituency reflects the “absolute support” of people in the country, KCNA news agency says.
The elections for the Supreme People’s Assembly on Sunday had just one name on the ballot for each district.
It was the first time such a poll had been held since Kim Jong-un assumed power.
He became leader of North Korea following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in 2011.
North Korea usually votes once every five years to approve members of the highest legislative body, the Supreme People’s Assembly.
Each of the 687 districts had only one candidate running for office, with voters required to write “Yes” or “No” on the ballot paper.
Kim Jong-un has been elected to North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament with a unanimous vote from his district (photo AFP)
KCNA said of Kim Jong-un’s victory: “This is an expression of all the service personnel and people’s absolute support and profound trust in Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un as they single-mindedly remain loyal to him.”
The results of the other districts have yet to be announced.
Kim Jong-un holds many titles, including Supreme Commander of the armed forces.
Analysts say that the only real value in these polls is in watching for any signs of change in the list of state-approved candidates.
The democratic duty for voters in these elections is not so much deciding who they want to represent them, but whether they agree with the ruling party’s choice.
In the election held in 2009, turnout was 99%, with 100% of votes in favor of the named candidates.
Meanwhile, state media on Sunday identified a woman accompanying Kim Jong-un to a polling station.
Kim Yo-jong, who state media described as a “senior official”, is thought to be the younger sister of Kim Jong-un. Various reports say she may be 26 or 27 years old.
Kim Yo-jong was seen on state television riding a horse in 2012, and beside Kim Jong-un as they attended Kim Jong-il’s funeral in 2011, AFP news agency says.
William Clay Ford Senior – the last surviving grandson of Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company – has died at the age of 88.
William Clay Ford Sr. was a director at the company for almost six decades and owner of the National Football League’s Detroit Lions.
In a statement, the Ford Motor Company said that he was instrumental in influencing the designs of vehicles the company made.
William Clay Ford Sr. died of pneumonia at his home in a suburb of Detroit.
William Clay Ford Senior was the last surviving grandson of Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company
“My father was a great business leader and humanitarian who dedicated his life to the company and the community,” William Clay Ford Junior, the executive chairman of Ford Motors, said in a statement.
“He will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him, yet he will continue to inspire us all.”
William Clay Ford Sr. was a director at Ford for 57 years and Forbes magazine put his fortune at $1.35 billion.
US researchers have discovered that a blood test can accurately predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists at Georgetown University in Washington DC showed that testing levels of 10 fats in the blood could predict – with 90% accuracy – the risk of the disease coming on in the next three years.
Their findings, published in Nature Medicine, will now be tested in larger clinical trials.
Experts said the results needed to be confirmed, but such a test would be “a real step forward”.
The number of people living with dementia stands at 44 million around the globe and is expected to treble by 2050.
The disease silently attacks the brain for more than a decade before any symptoms emerge. Doctors think drug trials are failing because patients are simply being treated too late to make a difference.
Georgetown University researchers have discovered that a blood test can accurately predict the onset of Alzheimer’s disease
This is why discovering a test that predicts the risk of dementia is a major priority for the field.
Researchers analysed blood samples from 525 people over the age of 70 as part of a five-year study.
They took 53 of them who developed Alzheimer’s or mild cognitive impairment and compared their blood with 53 who stayed mentally agile.
They found differences in the levels of 10 lipids, or fats, between the two groups.
And when the research team looked in the other blood samples, those 10 markers of Alzheimer’s could predict who was likely to enter mental decline in the following years.
The full power of the test has not been investigated either. So far they know a diagnosis of dementia can be predicted three years ahead of time, but the researchers are now investigating whether the test works even earlier.
It is not clear exactly what is causing the change in fats in the blood, but it could be a residue of the early changes in the brain.
One of the most alarming pieces of information to come out of Malaysia Airlines plane mystery is how easy it may be to use a stolen passport to board an international flight.
Two passengers using passports on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight were recorded in Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database, the international police organization confirmed on Sunday.
Vietnam’s navy planes have spotted possible debris of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet that disappeared almost two days ago.
Officials said it was too dark to be certain the objects were from Flight MH370, which had 239 people on board.
A multinational team is searching for wreckage and ships will try to confirm the find after dawn.
Investigators are also checking CCTV footage of two passengers who were travelling on stolen passports.
There are now 40 ships and 34 aircraft from nine different nations taking part in the search for the missing plane in the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia.
Other teams are investigating the identities of some of the people onboard.
Malaysia’s civil aviation chief, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, said five passengers booked on the flight did not board and their luggage was consequently removed.
It has also been confirmed that two passengers were travelling on stolen passports.
The passengers – travelling with Italian and Austrian passports that had been stolen in Thailand – purchased their plane tickets at the same time, and were both booked on the same onward flight from Beijing to Europe on Saturday.
Luigi Maraldi’s passport went missing in Thailand last year and was reported shortly thereafter (photo EPA)
Both had purchased their tickets from China Southern Airlines, which shared the flight with Malaysia Airlines, and they had consecutive ticket numbers.
Both tickets were bought at identical prices in Thai currency, according to China’s official e-ticket verification system.
European authorities on Saturday confirmed the names and nationalities of the two stolen passports: One was an Italian-issued document bearing the name Luigi Maraldi, the other Austrian under the name Christian Kozel.
A telephone operator on a China-based KLM hotline on Sunday confirmed to Reuters “Luigi Maraldi” and “Christian Kozel” were both booked to leave Beijing on a KLM flight to Amsterdam on March 8.
“Luigi Maraldi” was then to fly to Copenhagen on KLM on March 8, and “Christian Kozel” to Frankfurt on March 8. She said the pair booked the tickets through China Southern Airlines so she had no information on where they bought them.
“Whilst it is too soon to speculate about any connection between these stolen passports and the missing plane, it is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in Interpol databases,” the Secretary General of international police agency Interpol, Ronald Noble, said in a statement.
Ronald Noble said no checks of Interpol’s database had been made for either passport between the time they were stolen and the departure of the flight, and expressed frustration that few of Interpol’s 190 member countries “systematically” search the database.
Given their travel itinerary, it’s just as possible that the misidentified flyers were drug mules as terrorists.
The passport of the Italian man was stolen last year. Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Weiss said the passport of the Austrian man was stolen two years ago. Both documents went missing in Thailand and were reported shortly thereafter, according to Interpol.
Passports reported lost or stolen are invalidated and, technically, can no longer be used for travel – yet individuals, including members of terrorist organizations, still manage to get across international borders with falsified travel documents.
Such documents are often obtained on the black market and put to use after a photograph swap. Investigations into the operations of terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda showed that operatives traveled with falsified travel documents.
Malaysia’s Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said all angles were being examined in the search for the what happened, but he added: “The main thing here for me and for the families concerned is that we find the aircraft.”
The passengers on the flight were of 14 different nationalities. Two-thirds were from China, while others were from elsewhere in Asia, North America and Europe.
Malaysia Airlines is the country’s national carrier, and one of Asia’s largest fleets, flying nearly 37,000 passengers daily to some 80 destinations worldwide.
Correspondents say the route between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing has become more and more popular as Malaysia and China increase trade.
New details have emerged about some of 227 passengers and 12 crew on board Malaysia Airlines’ Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing that has been missing since early Saturday.
There were 14 different nationalities on the Boeing 777 that mysteriously vanished south of Vietnam without sending a distress call.
Among them was a 19-member group of prominent artists, who were returning home after an exhibition in the Malaysian capital.
Everyone in the group, led by Hou Bo, was “very famous in China”, exhibition organiser Daniel Liau was quoted as saying by the Star newspaper.
Some were China’s leading calligraphy artists, he added.
Another eight Chinese nationals as well as 12 Malaysians were employees of America’s Freescale Semiconductor company.
It is also known that five children – aged two to four – were on board the plane: three Chinese and two Americans.
There were 14 different nationalities on Malaysia Airlines flight that mysteriously vanished south of Vietnam
The third American was identified as Philip Wood – a 51-year-old IBM employee from Texas.
The oldest person on the board the plane was 79.
The pilot, who led the 12-member crew, was named by Malaysia Airlines as Zaharie Ahmad Shah.
Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, joined the carrier in 1981 and had 18,365 hours of flight experience.
But, perhaps, the most puzzling questions remain over the true identities of two people registered as Austria’s Christian Kozel and Luigi Maraldi of Italy.
The foreign ministries in Vienna and Rome later said the two men were not in fact on the plane.
It is understood that their passports have either been stolen or lost in Thailand in recent years.
Malaysian officials say international counter-terrorism agencies from a number of countries have joined an investigation and all angles are now being examined.
Manifest for Flight MH370
153 Chinese
38 Malaysians
7 Indonesians
6 Australians
5 Indians
4 French
3 Americans
2 each from New Zealand, Ukraine and Canada
One each from Russia, Taiwan, Italy, Netherlands and Austria (although both Italy and Austria deny any of their nationals were onboard)
According to new reports, Vietnamese navy planes have spotted possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet that disappeared almost two days ago.
Officials said it was too dark to be certain the objects were from Flight MH370, which had 239 people on board.
A multinational team is searching for wreckage and ships will try to confirm the find after dawn.
Investigators are also checking CCTV footage of two passengers who were travelling on stolen passports.
Malaysian military officials said on Sunday that the plane may have turned back from its scheduled route shortly before vanishing from radar screens, further deepening the mystery surrounding its fate.
Relatives of the missing passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight have been told to prepare for the worst
Relatives of the missing passengers have been told to prepare for the worst.
Flight MH730 left Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing, at 00:41 local time on Saturday. But radio contact was lost at 01:30, somewhere between Malaysia and Vietnam.
Late on Sunday, the Vietnamese authorities said possible debris from the plane had been spotted in the sea off south Vietnam.
“We received information from a Vietnamese plane saying that they found two broken objects, which seem like those of an aircraft, located about 50 miles to the south-west of Tho Chu Island,” an unnamed official from the National Committee for Search and Rescue told AFP news agency.
“As it is night they cannot fish them out for proper identification. They have located the position of the areas and flown back to the land,” he added.
The potential debris was in a similar area to a possible oil slick seen by Vietnamese navy planes on Saturday, but officials have cautioned that this too may be nothing to do with the disappearance of Flight MH370.
There are now 40 ships and 34 aircraft from nine different nations taking part in the search for the missing plane in the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia.
Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have held rival pro-unity and pro-Russian rallies, as Moscow continues to strengthen its grip on Crimea.
Pro-Russia supporters beat up their opponents in Sevastopol, Crimea.
In the eastern city of Luhansk, pro-Russian activists seized regional offices forcing the governor to resign.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UK’s PM David Cameron telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to urge him to pull back from Crimea. The region is to vote to secede on March 16.
Addressing a huge crowd in Kiev to mark the 200th birth anniversary of national poet Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine’s PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk pledged not to give a “single centimetre” of Ukrainian land to the Kremlin.
Ukraine’s defence minister has said Kiev has no plans to send the army to Crimea.
In the eastern city of Donetsk, pro-Russian protesters take down a Ukrainian flag near the regional government building, replacing it with a Russian flag.
Pro-Russian rally in Simferopol, Crimea
In Kharkiv, also in the east, some 10,000 people reportedly march to support Ukraine’s unity, chanting “No to war!” and “Ukraine, Kharkiv, Crimea!”.
Russia’s ex-tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who spent a decade behind bars, accuses Moscow of being complicit with Ukraine’s ousted government in using deadly violence against protesters
In Yevpatoriya, western Crimea, pro-Russian forces threaten to storm the command point of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile unit if the personnel there do not surrender their weapons.
In Sevastopol, the violence erupted when pro-Russian groups attacked dozens of people guarding a rally to commemorate Taras Shevchenko.
The crowd threw missiles at a car as the activists tried to flee the scene, smashing windows.
Some of the attackers were Russian Cossacks with whips.
The rally was attended by about 200 people.
A rival pro-Russian demonstration was also staged in the city – the base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has told visiting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton that a nuclear deal could come in the next four months.
Mohammad Javad Zarif held talks lasting more than an hour with Baroness Catherine Ashton, who is making her first visit to Tehran amid a thaw in relations.
“We can do it in four or five months and even shorter,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said.
Catherine Ashton cautioned there was “no guarantee” her talks would lead to a comprehensive agreement.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton
World powers want Iran to scale back its nuclear work to ensure it cannot assemble a nuclear weapon.
The election of Iranian moderate Hassan Rouhani as president last year led to an improvement in ties between the Islamic Republic and the EU.
In November, Baroness Catherine Ashton helped broker a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme in return for limited sanctions relief.
Analysts say the war in Syria is also expected to be discussed, as Iran is a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad.
It is the first visit to Iran by an EU policy chief since 2008.
Madrid’s Teatro Royal director Gerard Mortier has died from cancer at the age of 70.
Gerard Mortier, who was born in Belgium, spearheaded an operatic production of Brokeback Mountain at the Spain’s opera.
In a career spanning more than three decades, Gerard Mortier was also head of the Paris Opera from 2004 to 2009 and ran the Salzburg Festival from 1990 to 2001.
Gerard Mortier spearheaded an operatic production of Brokeback Mountain at Teatro Royal in Madrid
His tenure at Teatro Royal had come to an end the previous September when he announced that he was being treated for cancer and urged the institution to consider a list of non-Spanish successors.
In a statement, Teatro Royal said Gerard Mortier “contributed to promoting Spain’s operatic and cultural landscape and placing the Teatro Real among the world’s leading international opera houses”.
Gerard Mortier was due to become director of the New York City Opera (NYCO) in 2008 but resigned before he took up the post over budgetary constraints.
The Office star Jenna Fischer showed off her bare baby bump while celebrating her 40th birthday at the beach on Friday.
Jenna Fischer tweeted: “Thanks for all the sweet birthday messages.”
Jenna Fischer showed off her bare baby bump while celebrating her 40th birthday at the beach (photo Twitter)
“I think I found a good place to celebrate!”
The actress posed near the beach with her hands on her hips. She wore tight-fitting white pants and flaunted her growing belly in a blue bikini top.
Jenna Fischer and her husband Lee Kirk are expecting their second child. They married in 2010 in Malibu, California, and are already parents to son Weston, 2.
Miley Cyrus is posing for the Marc Jacobs Spring 2014 ad campaign.
The 21-year-old singer looks lost in thought as she pouts her way through the images, taken by legendary photographer David Sims.
Miley Cyrus, whose somber face first made its debut on the Internet back in January, looks fierce in brand new campaign photos released on February 28.
The star of Marc Jacobs’ spring ad campaign is joined by two models, who in the other photos, serve as props in the backdrop.
Miley Cyrus features Marc Jacobs Spring 2014 ad campaign (photo Marc Jacobs/David Sims)
The images show a different and softer side of Miley Cyrus, who has been inciting controversy in the last year for her wild onstage antics.
As previously reported, Marc Jacobs revealed that his typical go-to photographer Juergen Teller refused to shoot Miley Cyrus for the spring 2014 ad campaign.
“He just didn’t want to shoot her,” Marc Jacobs told WWD in January.
“There’s nothing I don’t like about her. She is just genuine and very natural,” Marc Jacobs said of Miley Cyrus.
US authorities are trying to figure out how LSD got into a Wal-Mart steak that sent a nine-months-pregnant Florida woman, her two daughters and her boyfriend to the hospital.
All four were doing fine after the incident Monday night.
While being treated at the hospital, Jessica Rosado gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor said at a news conference Friday there was no indication that Jessica Rosado, 31, her boyfriend, Ronnie Morales, 24, or her daughters – Elyana Serrano, 7, and Rayna Serrano, who celebrated her sixth birthday Friday – had any idea that the bottom round steak they ate Monday night was contaminated with the hallucinogen.
According to a Tampa police report, Ronnie Morales started feeling ill and called 911, but as he got sicker, Jessica Rosado decided to take him to St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Authorities are trying to figure out how LSD got into a Wal-Mart steak that sent a Tampa family to the hospital
Once at St. John’s, Jessica Rosado also started feeling ill. Then her daughters started hallucinating.
Ronnie Morales and the girls were released Wednesday in good condition. Jessica Rosado went home Thursday with a healthy new son.
Police retrieved what remained of the steak and yanked the oven out of the family’s home for forensic tests — which the Hillsborough County medical examiner said Friday showed the presence of LSD.
The steak was traced to a Tampa Wal-Mart, which turned over all of its meat of that type for testing.
Police praised Wal-Mart for its cooperation and said that “at this point, it appears this is an isolated incident.”
Dianna Gee, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said it wasn’t clear where or how the meat was tampered with or whether it was contaminated before or after it was bought. She confirmed that the company had “pulled the remaining product from the store”.
Wal-Mart is “deeply disturbed about this situation” and is “committed to working with officials to get to the bottom of this,” Dianna Gee said.
A 71-year-old South California woman is believed to have suffered about 1,000 stings after being attacked by a swarm of killer bees that covered her entire body.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Williams says the woman was expected to recover after Thursday’s attack in Palm Desert. He said five firefighters were also hospitalized for stings.
The woman is believed to have suffered about 1,000 stings after being attacked by a swarm of killer bees that covered her entire body (photo National Geographic)
A bee removal specialist told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that up to 80,000 Africanized honey bees found in an underground electrical vault stung a Verizon employee who opened the vault. Lance Davis said the bees then attacked the woman, who had just gotten out of a car nearby.
He said her relatives tossed a blanket over her and rushed her indoors.
Lance Davis said he removed the bees and planned to donate them to farmers.
Malaysia Airlines plane that has been missing for more than 24 hours may have turned back, radar signals showed.
Rescue teams looking for the plane have now widened their search area.
Investigators are also checking CCTV footage of two passengers who are believed to have boarded the plane using stolen passports.
Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared south of Vietnam with 239 people on board.
Air and sea rescue teams have been searching an area of the South China Sea south of Vietnam for more than 24 hours.
Malaysia’s civil aviation chief, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur the search area had been expanded, to include the west coast of Malaysia.
Five passengers booked on the flight did not board, he added. Their luggage was consequently removed.
Twenty-two aircraft and 40 ships are now involved in the search, armed forces chief Gen. Zulkefli Zin said.
Malaysia Airlines plane that has been missing for more than 24 hours may have turned back, radar signals showed
Air force chief Rodzali Daud said the investigation was now focusing on a recording of radar signals that showed there was a “possibility” the aircraft had turned back from its flight path.
Vietnamese navy ships which reached two oil slicks spotted earlier in the South China Sea found no signs of wreckage.
Malaysia’s Transport Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, initially said at least four names on the passenger list were “suspect”.
However, he later said there were in fact only two suspect names.
Reports suggest two of the passengers listed as travelling – an Italian and an Austrian – were not actually on the flight.
They had both reportedly had their passports stolen in Thailand in recent years.
Hishammuddin Hussein said international agencies including the FBI had joined the investigation and all angles were being examined.
The passengers on the flight were of 14 different nationalities. Two-thirds were from China, while others were from elsewhere in Asia, North America and Europe.
When he was asked earlier whether terrorism was suspected as a reason for the plane’s disappearance, Malaysian PM Najib Razak said: “We are looking at all possibilities but it is too early to make any conclusive remarks.”
Malaysia Airlines plane vanished at 01:30 local time on Saturday, March 8.
Students and opposition supporters have joined an anti-Nicolas Maduro rally in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.
The government deployed hundreds of government security forces to prevent a crowd banging pots and pans from marching towards the food ministry.
There were similar marches in at least five other Venezuelan cities.
In eastern Caracas, police fired tear gas against protesters trying to erect barricades in the streets.
For a month, demonstrators have been complaining about the high levels of violence and shortages of food staples like bread, sugar, milk and butter.
The authorities say 21 people have been killed in the weeks of unrest.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles told the crowd in Caracas that detained students and others must be released before any talks with the government.
The opposition criticized the heavy security operation put in place by the government to prevent the march from reaching the food ministry.
The government said it wanted to contain the march because it “had not been authorized”.
Venezuela demonstrators complaining about the high levels of violence and shortages of food staples
In the eastern Caracas district of Altamira, National Guardsmen clashed with protesters who were setting up a street block.
At least two people have been injured, according to local newspapers.
Peaceful protests have been reported in the cities of Maracaibo, Isla de Margarita, Puerto Ordaz, Valencia and San Cristóbal .
President Nicolas Maduro has repeatedly invited all parties to take part in a “dialogue for peace”.
But during Saturday’s rally, leaders demanded the release of detained students and the suspension of the “repression of the people” before any participation.
Henrique Capriles spoke to thousands of women, students and opposition supporters at the “March of the Empty Pot”, that coincided with the International Women’s Day.
“Let’s transform this protest into the greatest social movement in this country’s history,” Henrique Capriles told the crowd, many banging empty pots as a symbol of the food shortages.
Most of the people supporting opposition protests are reportedly disgruntled Venezuelans from the middle and upper classes.
The opposition leader also repeatedly asked the crowd to refrain from violent acts.
Since February 12, at least 21 people have died in protests, Venezuela’s ombudswoman, Gabriela Ramirez, confirmed on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters in Caracas, Gabriela Ramirez said that members of the security forces were suspects in four cases, 10 allegedly died at street barricades and another five in violent episodes near roadblocks.
North Korea is voting in a five-yearly election to approve members of the rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly.
Each of the 687 districts has only one candidate running for office, with electors required to write only “yes” or “no” on the ballot paper.
Campaign posters across the capital, Pyongyang, have urged a “yes” vote.
Observers say the candidate list is an opportunity to see who is in or out of favor with the leadership.
In the last election in 2009, turnout was 99%, with 100% of votes in favor of the given candidates.
North Korea is voting in a five-yearly election to approve members of the rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly (photo AP)
The election is the first to be held under the leadership of Kim Jong-un, who came to power in December 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il.
Kim Jong-un is reportedly registered as a candidate in Mount Paekdu, venerated in party propaganda as the birthplace of Kim Jong-il.
The vote is being held in a holiday atmosphere in the capital, Pyongyang, with performances taking place in the street.
“Through this election we will fully display the might of the single-hearted unity of our army and people,” said Hyon Byong-chol, chairman of a preparatory committee for one of the sub-districts in the election.
He told the Associated Press news agency that North Koreans were “firmly united” behind their leader.
Pyongyang resident Ri Song-gun told AP he had cast his vote of approval for his district’s candidate.
“I will devote all my intelligence and strength to fortify our socialist system centred on the masses, which was built and developed by our great generalissimos,” he said.
The vote comes three months after the brutal and sudden execution of Kim Jong-un’s once-powerful uncle, Chang Song-thaek.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Russia that any moves to annex Crimea would close the door to diplomacy.
John Kerry told Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Crimea is part of Ukraine and Moscow should avoid military escalation.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has been discussing the deepening crisis with world leaders.
It comes as warning shots were fired as a team of international observers was turned back from entering Crimea.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said that no-one was hurt in the incident at Armyansk.
John Kerry told Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that Crimea is part of Ukraine and Moscow should avoid military escalation (photo Reuters)
It was the third time the OSCE has been prevented from entering Crimea, now in the control of pro-Russian forces.
Moscow has been tightening its military grip on the Crimean peninsula, and the pro-Russian authorities there have called a March 16 referendum to secede from Ukraine and join Russia.
The exchange between John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov came in a telephone conversation on Saturday, a US State Department official said.
“He [John Kerry] made clear that continued military escalation and provocation in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine, along with steps to annex Crimea to Russia would close any available space for diplomacy, and he urged utmost restraint,” the official said.
President Vladimir Putin has insisted he has the right to protect Russian interests and the rights of ethnic Russians in Crimea.
According to new reports, US officials are investigating terrorism concerns after revelations that two people apparently boarded the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner with stolen passports.
The officials told NBC News that they had found no clear link to terrorism. There are other criminal reasons, for example drug smuggling, that stolen passports might be used to board a plane.
Two names on the passenger manifest of the plane, Malaysia Flight 370, matched passports reported stolen in Thailand, one from an Italian man and the other from an Austrian man, according to foreign governments.
The news, hours after the Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared over the South China Sea with 239 people on board, significantly changed how US officials looked at the disaster. The officials said they were checking into passenger manifests and going back through intelligence.
There was still no sign of wreckage more than 24 hours after air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane, a red-eye from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.
The aircraft vanished in relatively clear weather, without sending a distress signal, at what analysts said would have been cruising altitude. In a possible clue, Vietnamese planes spotted two oil slicks consistent with jet fuel in the water off Vietnam.
Malaysia Airlines asked the world to pray for flight MH370 missing over South China Sea
On board were 227 passengers and 12 crew. Most of the passengers were Chinese. Three were Americans – one adult and two children, according to the passenger manifest.
Search teams from Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and China were looking for wreckage, and the US sent a naval destroyer into the South China Sea to help. The air search was called off during the night but was to resume at daylight Sunday, or early Saturday evening Eastern time.
The Italian on the passenger list was Luigi Maraldi, 37. His father, Walter Maraldi, told NBC News on Saturday that Luigi was vacationing in Thailand and had called to check in.
Walter Maraldi said his son had his passport stolen a year ago in Thailand.
In Austria, the foreign ministry confirmed that police had made contact with a citizen who was also on the passenger list, and who reported his passport stolen two years ago.
“We believe that the name and passport were used by an unidentified person to board the plane,” a spokesman for the ministry said.
It is unusual, but not unheard of, for one person to board a plane with a stolen passport. It is very rare for two people with stolen passports to board the same plane, terrorism analysts say.
Asked earlier whether terrorism was suspected in the disappearance of the jet, Malaysian PM Najib Razak said authorities were “looking at all possibilities,” The Associated Press reported.
Malaysia has not seen significant terrorist activity, and airport security there has tended to be exemplary.
The investigation will probably take some time, partly because authorities would have to find wreckage and perform forensics tests. In the crash of TWA Flight 800, in 1996, it took more than a year to rule out terrorism.
While flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders, the so-called black boxes, can emit signals from underwater, it can be extremely difficult to find planes that disappear over the sea.
U2 are reportedly delaying the release of their next album until 2015 just weeks after frontman Bono told USA Today he and his bandmates were hoping to release new material this summer.
U2 are reportedly delaying the release of their next album until 2015
New reports suggest U2 has also axed a planned tour that was to begin in September.
The dates are now expected to begin next summer. Last month, drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. blamed the group’s work on Oscar nominated song Ordinary Love for the album delay.
An advertisement by an Illinois-based weapons company showing Michelangelo’s David holding a rifle has sparked outrage in Italy.
Italy’s Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said the image was offensive and violated the law.
A number of Italian media web sites carried the image of the advertisement showing David holding a bolt-action rifle.
ArmaLite advertisement carries the line “a work of art” in promoting the $3,000 rifle.
Dario Franceschini urged ArmaLite to withdraw the advertisement for the AR-50A1.
The ArmaLite advertisement showing Michelangelo’s David holding a rifle has sparked outrage in Italy
He said in a tweet: “The image of David, armed, offends and infringes the law. We will take action against the American company so that it immediately withdraws its campaign.”
Historical Heritage and Fine Arts Board curator Cristina Acidini has issued a legal notice to ArmaLite to withdraw the image, saying it distorts the artwork.
The Italian government says it has copyright on the commercial use of images of David.
Angelo Tartuferi, director of Florence’s Accademia Gallery, where the statue is on display, told Repubblica newspaper: “The law says that the aesthetic value of the work cannot be distorted.
“In this case, not only is the choice in bad taste but also completely illegal.”
The marble statue of David was created by Michelangelo between 1501 and 1504 and is considered a masterpiece of the Renaissance.
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo Season 3 finale revealed that Mama June is two weeks late and she might be expecting.
June Shannon is experiencing all the classic symptoms: mood swings, exhaustion, and out-of-control appetite.
Honey Boo Boo’s mom figures it’s either a baby or menopause, but she is only 33.
Here Comes Honey Boo Boo Season 3 finale revealed that Mama June is two weeks late and she might be expecting (photo TLC)
As far as Mama June is concerned, a new baby is the last thing she wants. The four she has are plenty. So she keeps her fears to herself and goes about planning Honey Boo Boo and Anna’s joint birthday party as they were born on the same day 11 years apart.
They agree to celebrate at a local carnival, but Anna didn’t show up. A mean move that really devastated her mom, but it was clear what the teen was up to. Anna is still intent on moving out and Mama June is giving her a hard time about it. She was probably trying to assert her independence. Mama June can’t help but lament about what it will be like without Anna and Kaitlyn in the house.
Finally, Mama June takes a pregnancy test and gets the answer she was hoping for. It’s negative.
Warning shots have been fired in Armyansk city, northern Crimea, as a team of OSCE observers was turned back from entering the region.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said that no-one was hurt in the incident at Armyansk.
It was the third time the OSCE has been prevented from entering Crimea, now in the control of pro-Russian forces.
In another development, Russia’s deputy foreign minister has held talks with Ukraine’s ambassador in Moscow.
Warning shots have been fired in Armyansk as a team of OSCE observers was turned back from entering Crimea
The foreign ministry gave no details but said the talks on Saturday between deputy minister Grigory Karasin and ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko were held in an “open atmosphere”.
Also on Saturday, President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Francois Hollande warned of “new measures” against Moscow if it failed to make progress on defusing the crisis in Ukraine.
The French presidency said that, in a phone call, the two leaders insisted on the “need for Russia to withdraw forces sent to Crimea” and “to do everything to allow the deployment of international observers”.
It was not clear what “new measures” could entail.
Witnesses travelling with the OSCE said several shots were fired in the air as a convoy of vehicles approached a checkpoint manned by pro-Russian forces on a road leading from mainland Ukraine into the Crimea peninsula.
An OSCE spokeswoman said that the mission was withdrawing to the nearest big city, Kherson, to decide on its next steps.
The Vienna-based OSCE was invited by Ukraine’s interim government, but Russian separatist authorities in Crimea say it does not have permission to enter the region.
Libyan rebels, who seized oil ports in the country’s eastern region, say they have loaded oil on to a North Korean-flagged tanker.
The Morning Glory docked at Sidra port earlier on Saturday, after a failed attempt to dock on Tuesday.
“We started exporting oil. This is our first shipment,” a rebel spokesman said.
The rebels demand more autonomy – and oil wealth – for Libya’s east.
Analysts have said it is unlikely the ship is owned or controlled by Pyongyang.
Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) had warned tankers against approaching the port, and two others in Libya’s volatile east that are also controlled by armed groups.
It is not the first attempt to ship oil from the rebel-controlled port.
Rebels who seized oil ports in eastern Libya say they have loaded oil on to a North Korean-flagged tanker
On Monday, the Libyan navy ship Ibn Auf fired warning shots at a Maltese-flagged oil tanker to prevent it from docking and loading oil.
The owners of the ship complained it was fired on in international waters.
Libya’s government has tried to end a wave of protests at oil fields and ports, which have slashed vital oil revenues, but there has been little progress in indirect talks between the government and former militia leader Ibrahim Jathran, now leading the protests.
His men seized three eastern ports last year, which previously accounted for 600,000 barrels of oil a day.
Libya is struggling with armed groups and tribesmen who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but who have kept their weapons.
Ibrahim Jathran’s demands include an independent commission representing the three regions of Libya. He wants the commission to supervise the sale of oil and ensure the east gets a fair share of the revenue.
The government has so far not acted on threats to retake Sidra, or other rebel-controlled ports.
Libya’s oil output has slowed to a trickle since the protests started in July last year, depriving the OPEC producer of its main budget source.
