USA – The corporate media has literally spent over a week obsessing endlessly over conspiracy theories involving the alleged disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. These propaganda pushers have logged countless hours engaging in speculation and conjecture over what may or may not have happened with this airplane. Meanwhile, historically significant events are unfolding in Ukraine that could impact the world for years to come. The corporate media have intentionally chosen to provide little coverage of these developments in favor of discussing hours upon hours of Flight 370 conspiracy theories. It'd be one thing if they were providing real analysis but all of their coverage is designed for the purpose of distraction.

ISRAEL - Isaac Yeffet, who served as head of global security for Israel’s national carrier in the 1980s and now works as an aviation security consultant in New Jersey, said investigators were correct in honing in on the two fake-passport carrying Iranian passengers on the doomed flight, and they have wasted valuable time by exploring other leads.

“What happened to this aircraft, nobody knows. My guess is based upon the stolen passports, and I believe Iran was involved,” he said. “They hijacked the aircraft and they landed it in a place that nobody can see or find it.”

MALAYA - Malaysia has been forced to admit Flight 370 was, indeed, “diverted” from its flight path as the GRU had previously reported, and as at least 25 nations are now involved in searching for it, it remains a mystery as to what is actually occurring. Also known, this report concludes, is that Diego Garcia as a designated ETOPS emergency landing site for flight planning purposes of commercial airliners transversing the Indian Ocean, and as one of 33 emergency landing sites worldwide for the NASA Space Shuttle, it is “inconceivable” that any type of aircraft, let alone Flight 370, can fly anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere without being tracked, monitored and recorded in totality.

UK - A chilling theory suggests the missing Malaysian Airlines plane could have been hijacked using a mobile phone or USB stick. An anti-terror expert believes the speed, altitude and direction of the aircraft could have been changed, simply by sending radio signals from a small remote device. A framework of 'codes' created by cyber terrorists would also be able to get into the plane's in-flight entertainment system and override the security software. Police in Malaysia have searched the homes of pilots Zaharie Ahmad Shah and Fariq Abdul Hamid after officials confirmed the plane was taken over by a 'deliberate act'. It is also believed, once the systems have been successfully hacked, the plane could be landed by remote control.

BELGIUM - Modern science has given us another disturbing gift in the form of “selected breeding,” the process which turned a Belgian Blue bull into a hulking mass of muscle. But it’s not so much GMO as a story about GMO feed being used to nourish these animals; they are modifying the genetics externally to the point of mutation just to satisfy our consumer needs for “high quality” beef. So the question is: Where is the line? How much can we actually abuse these animals and still maintain our dignity and humanity? Well, the answer would seem to be that we have crossed the line by miles and miles already. We need to find a balance. Sure, the population needs food, but there are other ways than this!

USA - The magnitude 4.4 earthquake that struck near Westwood is the most significant shake in Southern California since a 5.5 earthquake hit Chino Hills in 2008, a US Geological Survey seismologist told reporters at a news conference Monday morning. Robert Graves said there have been at least six aftershocks since the 6:25 am earthquake. The largest so far has been a magnitude 2.7 earthquake that struck five miles northwest of Westwood. Graves said there is always the small possibility that the 4.4 earthquake was only a prelude to an equal or stronger shake.

ITALY - Italians in Venice and its surrounding region are voting this week on whether to break away from the rest of the country and form their own state. The online vote, organised by local independence parties, is not legally binding but aims to galvanise support for a bill calling for a referendum on whether the region of Veneto should split from Italy. The new Republic of Veneto would be inspired by the ancient Venetian republic - a rich economic, cultural and trading power which existed from the 7th century until its fall to Napoleon in 1797. The Indipendenza Veneta party behind the bill told AFP the separatist movement was fuelled by the government's apparent inability to stamp out corruption, protect its citizens from a damaging recession and plug waste in the poorer south. "We no longer want to be part of a country that has gone to the wall. Nothing works anymore," party coordinator Nicola Gardin said.

CANADA - Canada is bracing for another fight with Quebec separatists. Premier Pauline Marois today called an election for April 7 as she met Lieutenant-Governor Pierre Duchesne to ask him to dissolve the provincial legislature. Polls show Marois’ separatist Parti Quebecois may have enough support to form its first majority government in more than a decade. “Today, I have summoned my ministers and we have taken the necessary steps to dissolve the National Assembly and call an election,” Marois said in televised remarks in Quebec City. “It’s now up to you, Quebeckers, to decide.” A majority would set the stage in the French-speaking province for a possible referendum on secession from the rest of Canada, roiling credit markets and threatening to push the Canadian dollar lower.

UK - David Cameron sets out the seven major changes he wants to make to the European Union to stop Britain being “sucked into a United States of Europe”. “People are worried that Britain is being sucked into a United States of Europe. That may be what some others want, but it is not for us.”

USA - Williamsburg will play host to world leaders beginning Monday as part of a discussion about the state of European affairs in the second instalment of a global forum.

UKRAINE/CRIMEA - Crimea's parliament has formally declared independence from Ukraine and asked to join the Russian Federation. It follows Sunday's referendum in which officials say nearly 97% of Crimeans voted to break away from Ukraine. The government in Kiev has said it will not recognise the results. The US and EU say the vote was illegal and have vowed to impose sanctions on Moscow. The Crimean peninsula has been under the control of pro-Russia forces since late February. According to the vote in Crimea's parliament on Monday, Ukrainian laws no longer apply in the region and all Ukrainian state property belongs to Crimea. Speaking in parliament, interim President Oleksandr Turchynov described the referendum as a "great farce" which "will never be recognised either by Ukraine or by the civilised world".

EUROPE - The billionaire financier says in its tepid response to Russia’s Crimea land grab, the EU flubbed a key chance to breathe new life into the stale union. George Soros, one of the world’s leading investors, has warned that the European Union is in danger of falling apart if it fails to confront Vladimir Putin’s naked aggression in Ukraine. The billionaire financier told The Daily Beast that European governments should have seized on Russia’s land grab in Crimea to breathe new life into a union that is disintegrating and stumbling towards oblivion. Instead, he argued, squabbling European nations have failed to meet the challenge and continued to act in their own narrow self-interest. “Europe was totally unprepared for this crisis and Putin outmaneuvered Europe with no difficulty,” he said.

USA - A US regulator has sued 16 banks for allegedly manipulating the London interbank offered rate (Libor). The Libor rate is used to set trillions of dollars of financial contracts, including mortgages and financial transactions around the world.

RUSSIA - Russia vetoed the UN Security Council resolution that declared Sunday’s referendum in the autonomous republic of Crimea invalid. The draft resolution, drawn up by the United States, urged nations not to recognize the results of the vote, widely expected to back Crimea, a southern Ukrainian region with a narrow ethnic Russian majority, joining Russia. Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow will respect the choice of people in the region that has refused to recognize the legitimacy of the new central government in Kiev. China, a close ally of Russia, abstained from the vote.

ISRAEL - In the wake of "conclusive" suspicions of hijacking in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished without a trace along with its 239 passengers last Saturday, Israel has decided to tighten its security measures for foreign aircraft entering Israeli airspace. Security and airport officials discussed the changing security situation in light of the disappearance, and eventually decided to change regulations for foreign aircraft, which now will be required to identify themselves well before entering Israeli airspace, reports Channel 2. A list of similar procedures tightening security were decided by the officials, but due to security reasons the list has not been made public.