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Western leaders have stepped up pressure on Russia to abandon efforts to annex¹ Ukraine'sCrimea region or face sanctions. President Obama spoke² at the White House after talks withthe interim³ Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

“We will continue to say to the Russian government that if it continues on the path that it is on,then not only us, but the international community, the European Union and others will beforced to apply a cost to Russia's violations⁴ of international law.”

Earlier, the European Union and the G7 Group of industrialized nations spoke that they wouldtake action against Russia if the referendum went ahead. The American Secretary of State JohnKerry will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in London on Friday to present a seriesof options for resolving the crisis.

Palestinian militants⁶ in the Gaza Strip have fired rockets into southern Israel, the heaviestbarrage since 2012. The Israeli military responded with artillery⁷ fire into the north and south ofGaza. Quentin Sommerville reports from Jerusalem.

Dozens of rockets could be seen being fired from the southern outskirts⁸ of Gaza city accordingto an eyewitness⁹. In southern Israel, siren sounded and those in range were told to takeshelter. One rocket landed near a library, another beside a petrol station. The militant⁵ groupIslamic Jihad said it carried out the attack in response to an Israeli raid on Tuesday which killedthree of its fighters.

The militant group Islamic Jihad said it fired the rockets to avenge¹⁰ the deaths of three of itsmembers killed in an Israeli air strike.

Riot police in Turkey have fired water cannon¹¹ and teargas at thousands of demonstrators inIstanbul. Mass protests broke out after the funeral of a teenage boy Berkin Elvan who died onTuesday from injuries caused by a teargas canister during unrest last year. The boy's fatherSemi told the BBC he wanted his son to be remembered as a child who was killed by the state.But he said he shouldn't be seen as a political symbol, because he wasn't part of any protest,he'd only gone out buy bread. One of the protesters A explained why he was taking part.

“Today we are here to protest the government's, their fascist¹² behavior, actually to mourn thedeath of a young boy, a younger adult, all his guilt¹³ was to buy a lot of bread, and we are hereso this doesn't repeat.”

The Chinese authorities have published images of what they suggest maybe three pieces ofwreckage from a Malaysian airliner¹⁴ that vanished on Saturday on its way to Beijing. The websiteof China's State Administration of Science carries three satellite images taken a day after theplane went missing. Coordinates¹⁵ alongside them will place the objects in the South China Sea.

World News from the BBC

Supporters and opponents of the Venezuelan government have filled the streets of Caracas inrival marches, marking one month since the current protests movement began. At least 22people from both sides of the political divide have been killed in the unrest. One oppositionleader Maria Corina Machado told the BBC that most Venezuelans wanted an immediate¹⁶ changeof leadership albeit¹⁷ through peaceful means. But a government minister..criticized theopposition's tactics.

“We're seeing a scheme, that we've in the past, it's the effort to destabilize our country, thisis a democratic country, we just came out of an election this last December which we wonmay over 10%, we had four elections in the last two years before that we had presidentialelections in April， before that we have Chavez we elected in October. So we've won by animportant majority for the last four elections. ”

The mayor of New York Bill de Blasio says an explosion that destroyed two five-storeybuildings in the city was caused by a gas leak. Two women died, and a number of people areunaccounted for following the blast.

And the Italian parliament has backed plans by the new Prime Minister Metteo Renzi for electoralreforms designed to ensure a more stable and long-lasting government. After securing acomfortable victory in the lower house of parliament, he twittered the message politics one,defeatism? Nill. As Alan Johnston reports from Rome. Mr. Renzi has also announced hiseconomic plans.

He's ordered a tax cut for the poorest Italians. The tax burden will also be eased onbusinesses. They'll pay less for their electricity and huge debts owed to private companies bygovernment agencies will be settled. So how will all these be funded? Well, Mr. Renzi insistedthat much of it can be covered by spending cuts. There will also be a rise in capital gains tax.