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Scores killed in deadly Ukraine protest day KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Protesters advanced on police lines in the heart of the Ukrainian capital on Thursday, prompting gov- ernment snipers to shoot back and kill scores of people in the country's deadliest day since the breakup of the Soviet Union a quarter-century ago. The European Union imposed sanctions on those deemed responsible for the violence and three EU foreign ministers held a long day of talks in Kiev with both embattled Pres- ident Viktor Yanukovych and leaders of the protests seeking his ouster. But it's increasingly unclear whether either side has the will or ability to com- promise. Yanukovych and the opposition protesters are locked in a battle over the identity of Ukraine, a nation of 46 million that has divided loyalties between Russia and the West. Parts of the country — mostly in its western cities — are in open revolt against Yanukovych's central government, while many in eastern Ukraine back the president and favor strong ties with Russia, their former Sovi- et ruler. Protesters across the country are also upset over corruption in Ukraine, the lack of democratic rights and the country's ailing economy, which just barely avoided bankruptcy with a $15 bil- lion aid infusion from Russia. The clashes in central Kiev may have only hard- ened protesters to contin- ue their push for Yanukovych's resignation and early presidential and parliamentary elections. Despite the violence, peo- ple streamed toward the square Thursday after- noon as other protesters hurled wood, refuse and tires on barricades. Heavyweight champion shocked at Ukraine deaths SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Heavyweight champi- on Wladimir Klitschko expressed shock and revulsion Thursday at the deaths in his country, and said Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych must step down before civil war engulfs the nation. Klitschko, the brother of opposition leader Vitali Klitschko, said the situa- tion in Ukraine had spi- raled out of control because of government provocation. ''My own people are killing each other. It's something worse than a dream,'' Klitschko said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Hamburg. ''I am just speechless. I can't believe something like this is happening in my country.'' Klitschko, who was in Kiev last month when the demonstrations were still peaceful, claimed the deaths in recent days were part of a government plan to break the opposition by forcing the Army to come in and impose martial law. He called on the world to hold Yanukovych responsible for the vio- lence, which he compared to some of the worst actions of dictators of the past. Judge throws out lawsuit challenging NYPD surveillance of Muslims NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Police Department's intelligence unit didn't discriminate against Muslims with far- reaching surveillance aimed at identifying ''budding terrorist con- spiracies'' at Newark mosques and other loca- tions in New Jersey, a fed- eral judge ruled on Thurs- day. In a written decision filed in federal court in Newark, U.S. District Judge William Martini dismissed a civil rights lawsuit brought in 2012 by eight Muslims who alleged the NYPD's sur- veillance programs were unconstitutional because they focused on religion, national origin and race. The suit had accused the department of spying on ordinary people at several mosques, restaurants and grade schools in New Jer- sey since 2002. The plaintiffs, includ- ing the former principal of a grade school for Mus- lim girls, ''have not alleged facts from which it can be plausibly inferred that they were targeted solely because of their religion,'' Martini wrote. ''The more likely explanation for the sur- veillance was to locate budding terrorist conspir- acies.'' The judge added: ''The police could not have monitored New Jersey for Muslim terrorist activities without monitoring the Muslim community itself. ... The motive for the pro- gram was not solely to discriminate against Mus- lims, but to find Muslim terrorists hiding among the ordinary law-abiding Muslims.'' The ruling also singled out The Associated Press, which sparked the suit with a series of stories based on confidential NYPD document show- ing how the department sought to infiltrate dozens of mosques and Muslim student groups and inves- tigated hundreds in New York and elsewhere. Israel sets off debate by demanding recognition JERUSALEM (AP) — Is Israel ''the Jewish state''? The answer may seem as obvious as the Star of David on the Israeli flag. Yet the question is start- ing to complicate the ambitious U.S. effort to ram through a peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel. A broad-based group of Israelis plans to lobby the Knesset to declare the country, for the first time, a Jewish state by law. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that the Palestinians rec- ognize Israel's Jewish sta- tus explicitly as part of any agreement. ''This is the Jewish land. This is the Jewish state,'' he said in a speech this week to assembled U.S. Jewish leaders. ''When we make an agreement it is an agree- ment between the nation state of the Jewish people and a nation state of the Palestinian people.'' Leading Palestinians made their opposition clear this week, insisting that by introducing the Jewish factor, Israel is drawing a red line that could doom negotiations. Health law outreach targets taxi drivers, other pockets of uninsured CHICAGO (AP) — Like most taxi drivers, Sebti Boukarit doesn't have health insurance. And because he works up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, he hasn't had much time to sign up under the nation's new health care law. But when he arrived at a Chicago city office to renew his taxi license one recent morning, the opportunity was impossi- ble to miss. Enrollment workers had set up a table in the waiting room to snag drivers just like him, who are among the health law's most desired prospects. ''We have a captive audience,'' said Salvador Cerna, a coordinator for the outreach campaign for Get Covered Illinois, which gave enrollment information to 50 cab dri- vers and began the sign- up process for 18. As the March 31 enrollment deadline creeps closer, time is run- ning out for supporters of the law to make up for the months of technical prob- lems that hampered the new insurance exchanges and depressed enrollment. The latest figures show nearly 3.3 million Ameri- cans have signed up for private insurance plans on the insurance market- places, about a million short of where the Obama administration had hoped to be at this stage of the rollout. Study says Afghanistan will need much larger security force WASHINGTON (AP) — A new assessment of Afghanistan's future says the country could revert to a terrorist haven unless U.S. and international partners underwrite a larger — and more expen- sive — Afghan security force than is currently planned beyond 2014. The study released Thursday also concludes that this larger force and the government ministries to support it will require international trainers and advisers at least through 2018. U.S. military com- manders have recom- mended such a role fol- lowing the withdrawal of all U.S. and NATO com- bat troops in December, but the Obama adminis- tration has not yet com- mitted to it. The study was ordered by the Congress and con- ducted by CNA Strategic Studies, a federally fund- ed research group. It describes in detail what is at stake for the U.S. at an important junc- ture of the war, which was launched by President George W. Bush in response to the 9/11 attacks orchestrated by al- Qaida, then based in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama is weighing his options in Afghanistan, aware of the American public's war-weariness as well as the risks of failing to ensure that Afghanistan does not once more become a sanctuary for al-Qaida. Will Facebook's purchase of WhatsApp ruin it? NEW YORK (AP) — When I used WhatsApp to tell my family about Facebook's $19 billion purchase of the company that makes my favorite app, I punctuated the mes- sage with a string of cry- ing emojis (cartoon faces). I'm paranoid that Face- book's massive data-gath- ering operation will enable advertisers to stalk me based on intimate con- versations I have with loved ones on WhatsApp. I started using the phone messaging service six months ago at the urg- ing of my cousin, who was visiting New York from Israel. Since then, it's become the primary way I connect with friends and family across three continents — cheap- er, easier and more fun than calls, texts, video- conferences or email. What makes What- sApp so great? Sending photos and videos that you take on your phone is simple and quick, just a few taps, even for my technophobe mother. It lets Android and iPhone users talk in groups, which doesn't work well with standard text mes- saging. A group chat is easy to set up, and once you create the group, it's always there. Conversa- tions with people overseas are instantaneous and free. You don't need to remember a password or sign in after you've set up an account. It's always on, but the app doesn't bug you unless you have a message. It lets you know your messages have been delivered and seen. Also, there are no annoying ads. WhatsApp is my respite from Facebook. For me, the world's largest social network has become a junkyard of updates from people I don't really know and ads for products I don't care about. It's all about peo- ple jostling for publicity and craving approval, seeking likes and com- ments from near- strangers. 6 charged with bilking investors in phony movies LOS ANGELES (AP) — Six Southern Califor- nia men have been charged with stealing mil- lions of dollars by offer- ing investments in phony movies with names like ''The Smuggler,'' federal prosecutors said Thurs- day. The men were charged with fraud in two federal grand jury indictments and could face up to 20 years in prison if convict- ed, authorities said. Four were arrested on Thurs- day and one other man agreed to surrender to authorities, prosecutors said. The men ran compa- nies that used ''boiler room'' telemarketing operations to call people around the country and convinced some 140 peo- ple to invest nearly $5 million in bogus film pro- jects, prosecutors con- tend. ''While one movie script was written, no movies were ever actually produced,'' the U.S. attor- ney's office statement said in a statement. One movie initially was called ''Marcel'' but in 2011 the Alabama Securities Commission filed an order against the company for violating state investment law. The company name was changed and the movie was renamed ''The Smug- gler'' to hide the order from potential investors, the federal indictment alleged. Investors were told that well-known actors had contracted to appear in the film, prosecutors said, although the indictment doesn't mention any spe- cific names. The other movie was called ''Beyond the Mat,'' authorities said. Drugs on Maersk ship where 2 ex- SEALs died NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A company spokesman says police found drugs and other paraphernalia aboard the Maersk Alaba- ma during their investiga- tion into the deaths of two former Navy SEALs on the ship, featured in the film ''Captain Phillips.'' Mark Daniel Kennedy and Jeffrey Reynolds were found dead Tuesday in a cabin on the Norfolk- based ship while it was in the island nation of Sey- chelles. Police have not given a cause of death. Maersk Line, Limited spokesman Kevin Speers says the police report includes observations about the presence of drugs and paraphernalia in the room Kennedy and Reynolds were found in. He says the type of drug is unknown. The Maersk Alabama became famous after a 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates that was drama- tized in the movie ''Cap- tain Phillips'' starring Tom Hanks. BNSF plans to upgrade tanker fleet after accidents BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — BNSF Railway Co. said Thursday it intends to buy a fleet of 5,000 strengthened tank cars to haul oil and ethanol in a move that would set a higher safety standard for a fleet that's seen multiple major acci- dents. The voluntary step by the Texas-based subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berk- shire Hathaway, Inc. comes as railroads in the U.S. and Canada are under intense pressure to improve safety for hazardous materials shipments. There's been a string of recent train accidents involving oil and ethanol, punctuated by a crude ship- ment that derailed in Que- bec last July and killed 47 people. A boom in domestic oil drilling and rising ethanol production spurred a dra- matic increase in shipments of the materials by rail. Much of it is being hauled by an old fleet of some 78,000 tank cars that are prone to split during acci- dents. Thursday's announce- ment marks a potential major step in addressing that problem. 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