Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/281845
By David Crary The Associated Press NEW YORK » The number of foreign children adopted by U.S. parents plunged by 18 percent last year to the lowest level since 1992, due in part to Russia's ban on adoptions by Americans. Adoptions from South Korea and Ethiopia also dropped sharply. Figures released Friday by the U.S. State Department for the 2013 fiscal year showed 7,094 adoptions from abroad, down from 8,668 in 2012 and down about 69 percent from the high of 22,884 in 2004. The number has dropped ev - ery year since then. As usual, China accounted for the most children ad- opted in the U.S. But its to- tal of 2,306 was far below the peak of 7,903 in 2005. Ethiopia was second at 993, a marked decline from 1,568 adoptions in 2012. Ethi - opian authorities have been trying to place more aban- doned children with rela- tives or foster families. Russia had been No. 3 on the list in 2012, with 748 of its children adopted by Americans. But that num - ber dropped to 250 for 2013, representing adoptions com- pleted before Russia's ban took effect. The ban served as retali- ation for a U.S. law targeting alleged Russian human-rights violators. It also reflected re- sentment over the 60,000 Russian children adopted by Americans in the past two de- cades, about 20 of whom died from abuse, neglect or other causes while in the care of their adoptive parents. Moving into the No. 3 spot for 2013 was Ukraine, currently engaged in po - litical conflict with Russia. Ukraine accounted for 438 adoptions, followed by Haiti with 388, Congo with 313 and Uganda with 276. ShaRp DROp Fo re ig n adoptions by Am er ic an s way down By Kristen Gelineau The Associated Press pERTh, auSTRalia » Air- craft and ships from China headed to the desolate southern Indian Ocean to join the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, now lost for two full weeks, and Aus - tralia promised its best ef- forts to resolve "an extraor- dinary riddle." A satellite spotted two large objects in the area ear- lier this week, raising hopes of finding the Boeing 777 that disappeared March 8 with 239 people on board. Sur - veillance planes scoured the region — about 1,550 miles southwest of Perth —for a second day on Friday but came back empty-handed after a 10-hour mission. A u s t r a l i a n o f f i c i a l s pledged to continue the ef - fort even as they tried to tamp down expectations. "It's about the most inac- cessible spot that you could imagine on the face of the Earth, but if there is any- thing down there, we will find it," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said at a news conference in Papua New Guinea. "We owe it to the fami- lies and the friends and the loved ones of the almost 240 people on Flight MH370 to do everything we can to try to resolve what is as yet an extraordinary riddle," he added. Two Chinese aircraft are expected to arrive in Perth on Saturday to join the search, and two Japanese aircraft will arrive Sun - day. A small flotilla of ships from China is still several days away. Abbott spoke with Chi - nese President Xi Jinping, describing him as "devas- tated." The passengers in- cluded 154 Chinese. In Kuala Lumpur, where the plane took off for Bei- jing, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein thanked the more than two dozen countries in - volved in the overall search that stretches from Kazakh- stan in Central Asia to the southern Indian Ocean. The search area indi- cated by the satellite im- ages in the southern Indian Ocean is a four-hour round- trip f light from western Australia, leaving planes with only enough fuel to search for about two hours. The images were taken March 16, but the search in the area did not start until Thursday because it took time to analyze them. Five planes, including three P-3 Orions, made the trip Friday. While search conditions had improved from a day earlier, with much better visibility, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said there were no sightings of plane debris. Searchers relied mostly on trained spotters aboard the planes rather than ra - dar, which found nothing Thursday, Australian offi- cials said. The search will focus more on visual sight- ings because civilian air- craft are being brought in. The military planes will continue to use both radar and spotters. "Noting that we got no ra - dar detections yesterday, we have replanned the search to be visual. So aircraft flying relatively low, very highly skilled and trained observ - ers looking out of the aircraft windows and looking to see objects," said John Young, manager of the maritime safety authority's emergency response division. Malaysia asked the U.S. for undersea surveillance equip - ment to help in the search, said Rear Adm. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman. De- fense Secretary Chuck Hagel promised to assess the avail- ability of the technology and its usefulness in the search, Kirby said. The Pentagon says it has spent $2.5 million to oper - ate ships and aircraft in the search and has budgeted an- other $1.5 million for the ef- forts. EaST aSia 'Extraordinary riddle' of lost Malaysian jet two weeks old Lai Seng Sin — The aSSociaTed PreSS a relative of passengers aboard a missing Malaysia airlines plane sits outside a cafe at a resort in cyberjaya, Malaysia, on Thursday. By amir Shah The Associated Press K a Bu l , a fGh a N i STa N » The luxury hotel was con- sidered one of the safest spots in the Afghan capital. Yet four gunmen walked in, proceeded to the restau - rant and pulled out pistols hidden in their shoes. They killed nine people, including an AFP journalist, his wife and two children who were shot in the head. The Taliban boasted that the bold assault Thursday night shows they can strike anywhere, and Afghan offi - cials issued a string of con- flicting statements as they scrambled to explain how the attackers penetrated the Serena Hotel's tight security. It was a major embar - rassment to government security forces less than two weeks before national elections and came on the heels of an uptick in bomb - ings and shootings against foreigners in the capital, something that had been rel- atively rare. A Swedish jour- nalist was shot on the street earlier this month, and a Lebanese restaurant popu- lar with foreigners was at- tacked by a suicide bomber and gunmen in January. The attack in the Ser- ena was particularly bra- zen because it was consid- ered one of the best-pro- tected sites for civilians in Kabul. Sheltered behind a nondescript wall, entrants must pass through a secu - rity room at the gate where they are patted down and go through a metal detector as bags are put through an X- ray machine and sometimes searched. The attackers hid their small pistols and ammuni - tion in their shoes and socks, Interior Ministry spokes- man Sediq Sediqqi told re- porters, but he could not say how the weapons went un- detected. The hotel security has been known in the past not always to act when the metal detector beeps. At the time of the at - tack, Café Zarnegar, one of the main restaurants, was packed with foreigners as well as Afghans celebrating the eve of the Persian New Year, Nowruz. The hotel is popular among foreign aid workers, journalists, con - tractors and diplomats who often come for brunch or dinner. The dead included five Afghans, two Canadians, an American and a Para - guayan. Six people were wounded, including a child, a foreigner, two policemen, a hotel guard, and an Afghan lawmaker. afGhaNiSTaN Journalist, family and 5 others killed in hotel attack | NEWS | redBLUFFdaiLYneWS.coM SaTUrdaY, March 22, 2014 6 B