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Ukraine situation is dire and worsening
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"In Ukraine, violence is getting worse and the
crisis is deepening. Russia continues to
disregard international rules and to support the
separatists with advanced weapons, training and
forces," said NATO Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) is considering a new proposal that
would mean setting up dedicated teams in Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland.
"These units will make it easier to deploy NATO
forces rapidly," said Stoltenberg. "They will
support collective defense planning. And help
coordinate multinational exercises. Russia is
unlikely to welcome the prospect of more NATO
forces stationed close to its western border.
Eastern Ukraine is in a "dire" security
situation, and Russia is failing "miserably" in
its seriousness to negotiate an end to the
crisis. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry,
French President Francois Hollande, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel are due to meet with
Ukrainian leaders, including President Petro
Poroshenko on Thursday. They will then go on to
Moscow on Friday to meet with Russian President
Vladimir Putin in an effort to ease the tensions
between these two nations. It emerged this week
that the United States is now considering sending
lethal aid to help the Ukrainian government fend
off attacks from pro-Russian rebels in the
eastern part of Ukraine. Asked if France would
join the United States in providing such
equipment to the Ukrainian military, Hollande
said "the option of negotiation, of diplomacy,
cannot be extended indefinitely."
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In Other News

• Millions of people will buy Apple Watches,
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  base of fans will line up for just about
  anything. At 349 per watch, Apple has to sell
  "just" 3 million Apple Watches to reach 1
  billion in sales. Here's why Apple knows the
  Apple Watch won't be an instant hit It costs
  350. That's a lot of money to fork over for a
  device that adds a slight bit of convenience. It
  doesn't do anything more than your iPhone does --
  it just allows you to do some iPhone functions on
  your wrist. Battery life is going to be awful. If
  the rumors of 10-hour battery life hold true,
  that's truly dreadful. That'll barely get most
  people through their work day and commute.
  There's no mistaking the Apple Watch -- it's
  boxy, fat and, compared to Apple's other
  products, it's ugly.
• It was a dramatic account from the early stage of
  the Iraq War, one that placed NBC News anchor
  Brian Williams aboard a U.S. military helicopter
  that had drawn enemy fire. The story was told
  repeatedly by Williams and NBC. Williams, the
  anchor of the "NBC Nightly News," apologized on
  Wednesday for claiming -- as recently as last
  Friday -- that he'd been on a helicopter that was
  "forced down after being hit by an RPG." The
  incident happened on March 24, 2003. A Chinook
  helicopter was forced down by enemy fire. But
  Williams was not aboard. "Williams arrived in the
  area about an hour later on another helicopter,"
  one that "took no fire and landed later beside
  the damaged helicopter."