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Around the World: February 5, 2015

Here's what's happening across the United States and around the world today.

A year after Sochi Olympics, Russian oligarchs unload some assets, recoup millions of dollars

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — The ski jump sits shrouded in mist, its coat of snow undisturbed by any athletes hurtling down the ramp to take off into the air.

A year ago, the jump bustled with activity at the Sochi Olympics as the world's best ski jumpers — including women, for the first time — competed for gold. But it made some unwanted history as well, becoming a stark symbol of how some of the plans for President Vladimir Putin's $51 billion Winter Games went terribly wrong.

The cost of the facility soared during construction from $40 million to nearly $300 million. The overrun embarrassed the Kremlin, which publicly shamed the businessman involved, and he fled the country in the face of a corruption investigation.

Russia had vowed to pay for what became the most expensive Olympics of all time by getting super-rich private investors to take the cost from the state. Instead, as the first anniversary of those games approaches, at least two of those oligarchs are quietly dumping their increasingly toxic assets on the state — forcing Russian taxpayers to pick up the bill.

For the oligarchs, it's a way to recoup billions of dollars as they struggle in an economy battered by plunging oil prices and Western sanctions. For Putin's critics, it's evidence of the crony capitalism that shields Russia's rich and powerful businessmen from economic pain.

Jordan's king pledges to wage a 'harsh' war against Islamic State group after pilot's killing

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's king vowed to wage a "harsh" war against the Islamic State group after the militants burned a captive Jordanian pilot in a cage and released a video of the killing.

The images have sent waves of revulsion across the region.

King Abdullah II consulted with military chiefs Wednesday, after cutting short a U.S. trip, to formulate a response. Jordan is part of a U.S.-led military alliance that has been bombing IS targets in Syria for nearly five months.

In a statement, the king said Jordan is waging a war of principles against the militants. He said that Jordan's response to the killing of the pilot "will be harsh because this terrorist organization is not only fighting us, but also fighting Islam and its pure values."

Abdullah pledged to hit the militants "hard in the very center of their strongholds."

French, German leaders heading to Ukraine with new peace initiaitive

PARIS (AP) — The leaders of France and Germany were carrying a new peace initiative to the Ukrainian and Russian capitals Thursday, amid a flurry of high-level diplomacy to end what French President Francois Hollande called a war on Europe's edge.

Hollande said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel would travel to Kiev on Thursday and then to Moscow the following day, with a proposal "based on the territorial integrity of Ukraine." In a sign of the importance of the initiative and urgency of the situation, this will be Merkel's first trip to Moscow since Ukraine's conflict broke out a year ago.

"It will not be said that France and Germany together have not tried everything, undertaken everything to preserve the peace," Hollande said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is also in Ukraine, to show support for the government amid a fast-moving flurry of international diplomacy.

"Given the escalation of violence in the past days, the chancellor and President Hollande are intensifying their months-long efforts for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine," Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a statement.

How SUV ended up on the train tracks center of probe into New York crash that killed 6

VALHALLA, N.Y. (AP) — An investigation into what caused a fiery crash that killed a motorist and five rail riders is focusing on how a mother of three described by friends as safety conscious ended up between two crossing gates in her SUV as a commuter train barreled toward her.

"The big question everyone wants to know is: Why was this vehicle in the crossing?" Robert Sumwalt, a National Transportation Safety Board vice chairman, told reporters in suburban New York a day after the deadliest accident in the 32-year history of Metro-North Railroad, one of the nation's busiest commuter railroads.

NTSB investigators were working Thursday to examine the tracks, interview the crew and find out whether Ellen Brody's Mercedes SUV had a data recorder of its own.

Brody, 49, was driving home from her jewelry-store job Tuesday night when a witness said she got out of her vehicle to check after a guardrail came down on top of it. She then got back into the car, driving forward onto the tracks just before she was struck by the train, motorist Rick Hope told The Journal News.

"She wasn't in a hurry at all, but she had to have known that a train was coming," Hope told the newspaper, adding he backed up and motioned for her to do the same.

Jersey shore town raising money to get last 2 families displaced by Superstorm Sandy back home

BELMAR, N.J. (AP) — Just before the floodwaters of Superstorm Sandy inundated Krista Sperber's home, she had her two young children grab what they could from their rooms and hop in the car for a ride to a relative's home away from the coast. She figured they'd be gone for a few days.

That was nearly 2 ½ years ago.

Belmar saw about 2,000 families displaced by the Oct. 29, 2012 storm; all but two have been able to return to their homes, Mayor Matt Doherty said.

Now the town is launching an "It's A Wonderful Life"-type effort to raise the $200,000 needed to get them back in their homes by the start of the third summer after the storm.

"They didn't know when I took them out of the house that night that they wouldn't be back for years," Sperber said of her children, Jack Held, 14, and Maisie Held, 12. "We're out of time, out of money, and out of options. We did everything right: we went through all the proper channels, and the proper channels failed us."

Mayday call issued just moments before deadly Taiwan plane crash into river in the capital

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Moments before the TransAsia Airways propjet banked sharply and crashed into a river, one of its pilots said, "Mayday, mayday, engine flameout," according to a Taiwanese aviation official.

"Engine flameout" refers to flames being extinguished in the combustion chamber of the engine, so that it shuts down and no longer drives the propeller. Causes could include a lack of fuel or being struck by volcanic ash, a bird or some other object. "Mayday" is an international distress call.

At least 32 people on board the ATR 72 were killed and 15 survivors were injured in the crash in Taiwan's capital, the latest in a series of aircraft disasters befalling Asian airlines. Divers were searching in the river for the remaining 11 people on board, including the two pilots. The plane's black boxes were found overnight.

Video images of Flight 235's final moments in the air captured on car dashboard cameras appear to show the left engine's propeller at standstill as the aircraft turned sharply, its wings going vertical and clipping a highway bridge before plunging into the Keelung River in Taipei minutes after take-off Wednesday.

An audio recording of the pilot's communications with the control tower at takeoff and during the brief, minutes-long flight were widely broadcast. A Taiwan Civil Aeronautical Administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the distress call and its wording Thursday, but did not say how it might relate to a cause for the crash.

As North Korea sidles up to anti-money-laundering watchdog, experts remain dubious

TOKYO (AP) — North Korea, long accused by the U.S. and others of engaging in counterfeiting, drug trafficking and even online gambling scams, is trying to repair its international image by courting a little-known but influential body that fights money laundering and terrorist financing.

Most mainstream financial institutions won't go near North Korea, which is isolated by U.N. sanctions over its nuclear weapons program and by accusations it uses illegal activities to prop up its anemic economy.

So many North Korea watchers have been surprised and puzzled to see it engaging with the Asian affiliate of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, a key body supported by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. North Korea remains one of just two countries on the task force's blacklist, the other being Iran.

In a rare interview this week in Pyongyang with an AP Television News crew, the deputy governor of North Korea's central bank said the country has taken several measures to cooperate with the task force since July, when Pyongyang announced it had joined the 41-member Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering as an observer.

The official, Jang Sam Ryong, said the moves are aimed at countering attempts by Washington to "disgrace the image of our country by abusing this organization."

Annual prayer breakfast draws Obama and Dalai Lama but not word of an official meeting

WASHINGTON (AP) — How much will President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama interact during the National Prayer Breakfast? Heaven only knows.

Obama is to sit at the head table Thursday with other speakers for the annual event, which brings together U.S. and international leaders from different parties and faiths for one spiritual hour. Event organizers say the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism will be in the audience of about 3,600, seated close to the dais and actor Richard Gere, a friend and follower.

With such close proximity, a chance encounter is possible between Obama and the Dalai Lama, who spoke Wednesday at a luncheon closed to the media. But the White House downplayed the prospect of any official engagement, saying there is no specific meeting between the fellow Nobel Peace Prize winners to announce.

Still, the event drew criticism from China, which considers the Dalai Lama an anti-Chinese separatist because of his quest for greater Tibetan autonomy.

China protested each of Obama's three meetings with the Dalai Lama, which were always held privately without any news coverage because of the sensitivity of the encounter. But President George W. Bush ignored furious Chinese objections when he presented the Dalai Lama with the Congressional Gold Medal at the Capitol Rotunda in 2007.

George P. Bush quickly seizes spotlight in Texas politics after just a month in new office

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — George P. Bush's new job as Texas land commissioner has nothing to do with abortion, and it lacks any authority to funnel public dollars to private schools. But after barely 30 days in office, he's already headlined high-profile rallies on both issues.

The 38-year-old has a political surname far better known than his obscure office, which administers Texas' vast public lands and mineral rights. Though he insists he's not yet eying any moves up Texas' political ladder, the newest Bush in politics has wasted no time becoming a leading voice for top conservative causes and seizing the spotlight in a state already full of powerful Republicans.

"He's a rising star in our state and nationally," said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican strategist based in Austin. "He's going to be in very high demand this year. They're going to have to get good at saying no."

His grandfather and an uncle are former presidents.

In the past, the land commissioner's post has led to loftier political heights in Texas. David Dewhurst served in it before his 12 years as lieutenant governor, which ended last month. Bush's more immediate goal might be to buoy his father, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, if he seeks the White House in 2016.

New king in town: Saudi Arabia's Salman reshapes policy team rapidly, but reform plans unclear

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia's new monarch isn't wasting time.

Since assuming the throne Jan. 23, King Salman has elevated some of his closest relatives and sidelined previous power-brokers, tightened decision-making and promised lavish payouts designed to win early goodwill.

While his new administration gives greater prominence to younger generations, it remains to be seen whether the swift housecleaning will lead to greater political rights and other reforms in the ultraconservative kingdom.

One clear winner in the shake-up is Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who has been interior minister since 2012 and spearheads counterterrorism efforts.

King Salman named the 55-year-old as deputy crown prince in one of his first acts as king. That's a historic change, because for the first time it puts a grandson of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, on course to rule. He becomes second in line to the throne behind Salman's half brother Crown Prince Muqrin, who is 69.


That's what's happening. Read more stories to jump start your day in our special Breakfast Buzz section.

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